《RWBY: World Beyond》 Chapter 0: Me and Her ========================== Chapter 0 ========================== -BEEP--BEEP--BE-*Click* Eyes opened, Robin sat up and scanned the room. On his right was a small wooden desk with two drawers on the side and an old, creaky wooden chair. Sitting on the desk was a black lamp and his laptop; next to it desk was a bookshelf with three layers completely filled with stories ranging from Harry Potter to manga. Yes, he was an avid manga reader and anime fan despite the world looking down on him with the bias that ¡°cartoons are for kids¡± and other nonsense. After getting out of bed, Robin walked towards his closet to the left of his bed, took out a plain blue shirt and khakis, and changed into them. Throwing his old clothes into a basket in the corner, he opened the door and walked out into the hallway. Moving towards the bathroom he turned the knob and pushed it open, suddenly stopped by the impact of a 14-year-old boy on the other side. "Hey! Watch where you''re going!" It was Jackson Cunningham, his younger brother. "Jeez, for someone who likes to stay away from people, you sure love making trouble for them." = It''s not like I wanted to run into you! = Robin retorted in his mind but kept those thoughts to himself. If he spoke up, then that would cause more trouble than he would have liked, so he stayed silent and merely looked to the side. Jackson left and headed to the kitchen. Robin quickly brushed his teeth and combed his black hair paying extra attention for any stray strands. Afterwards, he headed towards the kitchen. Sitting at the table was Jackson and our father. Looking upward from his newspaper (yes they still exist), he said "Up already? I thought you would sleep in knowing you keep watching those cartoons." "Honey" mother said from the kitchen, "It''s his decision what fetishes he wants in a woman. There''s no need to call him out on it." = And just how was his actions any different from yours?! = Yes that was exactly how things were. His parents have high paying jobs as a lawyer and doctor. They had a good education and grew up knowing cartoons as something nothing more than an small entertainment for children. That''s why they could never understand watching T.V. and playing video games were acceptable habits of the modern teenager. "Whatever he''s not gonna stop anyway. Forget that dad, I wanted to tell you my report card came home. All 100''s. What do you think?" Jackson grinned as he proudly proclaimed as if it was the greatest thing in the world. Problem was that to them-- "That''s fantastic son! I couldn''t be more proud. Keep it up and you''ll be extremely successful.'''' "Our little Jackson is growing up to be such a fine man." Mom exclaimed. "Thanks dad." Jackson looked at me with a sneer. -it practically was. = This is disgusting. = Robin quickly ate, swallowed his milk, grabbed the toast and stood up. "I''m going ahead." Father slightly nodded without raising his head and mother didn''t even bother to look up. As for the little booger he just went back to eating and humming a tune. He grabbed his backpack in the corner and the letter on the table, and then quickly left the house without another word. That was Robin Cunningham''s morning. Every day since childhood, he was a shy and introverted kid, who was always fascinated by technology and fantasy. Thus he developed a hobby for indulging in video games and books. However, to his parents that seemed like nothing more than a waste of time. Admonishing him for it, his parents tried many times to get rid of his "weird" tastes as it was "unbecoming of a Cunningham." As Robin walked to school he contemplated his life and squeezed his backpack strap. As his parents came to realize that despite his equally good grades, his hobbies didn''t seem to fit their so-called status, so they decided to turn their efforts to Jackson. As it turns out, Jackson was just as smart but much more willing to follow his parents'' every order. Easily becoming the favorite, Jackson was doted on and Robin was consequently ignored, leading to the current situation where Robin was mocked and treated like an outsider from his own family. "Oh hey there Robin. Was fapping to porn fun last night?" "Hey man what''s the point of asking, he probably does it every night anyway." "Right right considering how much of a weeaboo he is, he probably has a disgusting amount of those cartoon posters on his wall huh." "Ew what a freak." Walking into the school, jeers and cruel comments were told in not inconsiderately loud voices from the boys and girls alike. As it so happens, Robin never was talkative in class but earlier last year he spoke up and tried to open up to people. He spoke about his hobbies and this resulted in the bullying. Add in his shy nature and hesitance for trouble he never tried to speak up to try to defend himself. Being the sole person who watched anime, he understood standing out to defend his hobbies made it seem more true. Besides there was one silver lining in all this nonsense. "Morning Robin." A tall, slender 10th grader was standing next to his desk. She had beautiful blonde hair and an even more prominent rack that seemed to sway as she shifted from leaning one side to the other. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Morning Reah, how are you today?" Reah was one of the few people who didn''t make a big deal out of his hobbies, and she was the only one who even tried to talk to him. "Good, good. I got a B last semester in Math. It really didn''t sit well with my parents. Ugh always so demanding you know?" = Oh do I = "Yeah..well I hope things work out for you." "Thanks." "You''re welcome....um.." "Hm?" Reah has always been kind from the beginning of high school up till now. Despite being shy and alone, he had desires just as any other man. Thus, today was the day Robin would confess his feelings for her. "um...well...I uh.." "..." "Nothing..." Or so he thought. = Damn it nerves why can''t you work for the one time I need you?! = "Well anyway I''m gonna move back to my seat. Talk to you later." "Yeah...later." Reah walked back over to her seat near the other class beauties. Unlike Reah though, they were known to be mean and totally bitchy. Robin never liked them, but just waved off their interaction as a connection all girls had or Reah''s good nature. Considering they never bothered him, he didn''t give it a second thought. = Sigh I still couldn''t tell her. I need to give her the letter at lunch or else I''ll never do it. = At Jefferson High School, Robin shared classes with her only in 1st, 4th, and 6th periods, the 4th ending right before lunch. Since he knew he didn''t have the courage to upright tell her never mind pull her away from her group after school, he came with a written letter inscribed with his feelings for her. = Yes I have to do it. No I WILL do it = And so the time passed, slowly but surely toward the appointed time. Robin ignored the occasional insult thrown his way, or the lesson altogether considering he would probably ace the test anyway. All of his attention was on the back of his goddess, gathering his courage. -DING-DONG---DING-DONG-- It was time for lunch. = Go Time! = Waiting for her friends to leave to get food first, Reah coincidentally had to walk back to her desk to put up a notebook she left. At that moment-- "R-Reah?" She looked up to find an average sized kid with black hair and a bang slightly covering his right eye. "Yeah what''s up Robin?" "We-Well I uh.. I''m thankful for your kindness with me over the last year and a half...and I kinda wanted to um... " A painful throbbing occurred in his head. "..express it in a way for you to understand so I uh...wrote this." Sticking out both hands while slightly leaning forward, a small envelope containing his confession was held. "Please read it." "...Ok" Reah took the envelope and opened the letter. His heart beating fast and the throbbing getting worst, he couldn''t handle the embarrassment of watching her reaction to his confession, so he immediately took his bag and scrammed out the door and into the hallway. Finally stopping after reaching the building next door he gathered his wits. His heart was slowly calming down and the throbbing was gone. He had did it. = I did it! I''ve confessed. God now if I could get a reply before the day is over that would be fantastic. = Feeling like he could fly, he briskly walked to the cafeteria and grabbed some grub. All throughout 5th period he couldn''t keep his mind off of Reah. = What if she refuses? Will she stop speaking to me? I don''t want that. She''s the only good thing that''s happened to me ever since I''ve entered high school. = Jackson just so happened to start getting attention and a haughty attitude a month before that so starting high school didn''t help his depression either. Only Reah was his beacon. His hope for waking up day to day. = Even if she doesn''t want a relationship, at the very least I want to still be able to talk to her. I''ll convince her of that no matter what. = Confident with himself now, a throbbing headache hit him again halfway through class. = Ouch what the fuck is this? = -THROB--THROB He held his fingers to his temples in an effort to stop it, whatever was causing it. = For the love of god STOP = As the throbbing got more intense nearly fell out of his chair, but as sudden as it came, it left. "Mr. Cunningham?" He looked up at the teacher and students staring at him. Curiously were the students, worried was the teacher. "It was nothing sir. Just a slight headache." "Very well. If you need to go to the infirmary, go ahead." "I think I''ll be fine sir. Thank you though." The teacher nodded and then resumed his lesson. = What was that? A migraine? I hope I don''t have a medical condition. = Getting diagnosed with medical problems was the last thing he wanted his parents to know. = Whatever it was, it''s gone so I should be fine. = -DING-DONG--DING-DONG- Getting his bag, he stepped out of the classroom and towards his last period. As his palms gripped the door handle, he got sweaty at the thought of making eye contact with Reah. Turning the knob and walking inside, he was greeted by something he never would''ve imagined. "Huh?"
Chapter 1: Light to Dark to Gray =============================== Chapter 1: Light to Dark to Silver ===============================
I cannot begin to describe these feelings that were nurtured inside of me. They began as a small grain of hope inside me. You were like a lighthouse in a raging storm. My beacon, my salvation. I was always bullied and mocked for the most retarded of reasons. You, however, did not. You walked up and talked to me when no one else would. Through all of my time at school, your kindness towards me was like a ray of hope and gave me courage to move forward. Reah, I like you. Every time I see your smile, my heart fluttered. Every time I saw you move, my eyes followed. I like you so much I cannot describe it in words. I do not expect you to have similar feelings towards me. Whatever your feelings may be, I request at least to let me continue to talk to you, to know you. You are amazing Reah and I like you. - Robin Cunningham
... Robin could not speak. His mouth merely opened and closed as he tried to form words. In the front of the filled classroom, the projector was displaying a love letter for all to see: his love letter. "Oh and here comes the man himself." Turning around in his seat, the boy named Carl loudly informed to the class that Robin had arrived. "Wh-what" =What is going on? Isn''t that the letter I gave to Reah? Why is it being projected? = "What''s going on Carl? Did you do this?!" He smirked. "Nope, not me. You would probably be better off if it was me though." "What do you--" "I did it." Robin turned in the direction of the voice, not believing who it belonged to. "Re-Reah? What do you mean "I did it"? You''re behind this?" The blonde beauty had a wry smile. "That''s right. I showed it to everybody. I mean something so hilarious, how can I not right?" = What? Hilarious? That was filled with my feelings from the bottom of my heart!!! = "Reah I still don''t --" "It means she played you." Robin shifted his eyes. It came from one of the girls that hung out with Reah. "You see, we made a bet a while back. If Reah could get you to confess, she won. If you never had the balls, we win." Robin couldn''t speak. Still not believing what he was hearing he turned to his angel, his salvation--or what used to be it. "That''s right guys now cough up the dough. It took a while but a bet is a bet." Reah held out her hand as a couple twenties left the pockets of their classmates and into her hands. ---THROB--- "God that took a while though. I didn''t think I could stand another week of all that staring and gawking. At first I was teasing your virgin ass by swinging my rack in your face, but staring at me the whole day? GROSS." ---THROB------THROB--- "I figured trying to set you up with opportunities to get me alone was what you needed to grow a pair since you seem to be content just staring at my ass. I was kinda relieved you finally confessed but man, I didn''t think you''d do something as lame as writing a letter. Who does that nowadays? It''s worse than confessing by a text message HAHAHA!" She suddenly started to cackle, clutching her stomach and money as tears of joy starting forming on the edge of the seemingly pure and innocent eyes. Her friends and classmates joined together-- laughing -- mocking--ridiculing him for who he is--what he is: a moron. ---THROB--- "You.." ---THROB--- "all this time I was suffering." ---THROB--- "Just when I finally thought I found someone who cared. someone special.. you.." ---THROB--- " YOU MONSTER!" He threw himself at her. Grabbing and pulling her hair. She shrieked and started kicking and clawing his hands to get him to let go. The throbbing started getting worse and worse, but he didn''t care. Pulling and smacking, the fight continued as her friend and Carl joined the fray trying to separate them. Chaos broke out in the class, as the scramble got ugly and dirtier, Carl starting punching Robin. Anywhere he see: the face, the arm, the ribs and then the gut. ---THROB--- At that moment, Carl punched Robin in the gut. The pain in his head and the beat of the blood pumping got louder and louder and his vision got darker and darker. ----------------- *rustle* *Pant*pant* Deep within the night, two figures were sprinting. Despite the darkness, their vision was near perfect and if examined closely, it could be seen that they all had yellow eyes and furry ears on the top of their head. "Damn, damn, damn why was there Ursa here?! Didn''t the rest of the Grimm get taken out by the hunting group?" "There''s nothing we can do darling. We gotta run! Hopefully, we''ll get back in time for someone to take care of them for us." image of said Ursa Chasing them were a group of bear-like creatures. Completely covered in black fur, these creatures of Grimm resembled bears, but was easily distinguished by it''s glowing red eyes and bones with markings that jutted out and covered it''s back and head. "Shit! Keep going Hon! We''re almost there. I''ll hold them off for as long as I can!" "But dar-" "KEEP OUR CHILD SAFE!!" Swallowing her urges to bring her husband with them, she faced forward and sprinted. Applying her aura to her feet and arms, she carried the child at a pace one would never think a human could accomplish away from the fight and towards the town. The man now applied his aura to his whole body and his eyes turned from yellow to blood red. "COME AT ME YOU OVER-SIZED STEAKS!" ------------------ ... *silence* Opening his eyes Robin found himself in an empty room. = This is the infirmary? Why am I here? = Quickly recalling the events that transpired, he sat up suddenly "Awake now are we?" A feminine voice reached out to him. He turned. It was the school nurse. "Since you''re awake now I''ll let you know, you suddenly fainted while attacking a student. The other boy had knocked you out in an attempt to save his friend. You''ve committed a serious crime you know." A crime? He who was bullied, spat on, and toyed with was a deplorable criminal? What sick joke is this? "Both parties parents will arrive in about 20 minutes. Seems like they''ll be pressing charges. You better hope to get a good lawyer in court kiddo. Of course in my opinion you should just plead guilty. There were many eyewitnesses that seem to say you attacked first. Honestly, people like you who try to hurt women because of your insecurities are call scum you know? Try to learn from your mistakes kid." She stood up. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "I''m gonna get some coffee." She then left the room and all was silent again. ... That it? That''s what he gets for confessing his feelings? For opening up to people and showing who he was on the inside? Only to be mocked, hated, ostracized, and toyed with? What did he do wrong? What could he have done? Only-- = She''s right. = = I attacked her out of anger, not towards her, but towards myself. Sure the shock of her betrayal was sudden, but in the end, it was the same thing everyone else did. They played with me. They poked me, seeing how far they could push me and I let them. Out of anger at myself for letting them do so much I hit her. A good lawyer? Ha, yeah right. My parents wouldn''t do something so bothersome. That would be a disgrace to the ''Cunningham''. They would probably tell me to beg for forgiveness and get this over with. That ass Jackson would sneer at my misfortune and smile at how good he had it. Reah would fake tears and extort money out of me. And now I''m stuck in this grave I dug myself into. She is right. I''m not pitiful. I''m scum. = Kicked and laughed at, he truly had nothing left. The beacon that was his light was gone. He was left with nothing but himself in the darkness. It was so painful he wanted to die. "..die?" = Suicide?.. Would it be that easy? Just ending my life here? Nobody needed me, wanted me or loved me. I was just a joke, nothing worth acknowledging, not even by my parents. If I was gone would anyone miss me? ...Probably not. In fact it would better for everyone if I died huh. = Reaching out to the wooden chair, he placed it under the ceiling fan and unbuckled his belt. Wrapping the belt and fastening it to his neck, he tied it to the fan above. Looking around the room he took in the place where he would rest. = A shitty life ending in a shitty room. How fitting. = Robin searched his thoughts for happy moments. any at all. His parents weren''t always cold to him. They used to love him and cherish him, and now even that was lost. There was nothing to live for and yet he could not step off the chair and kick it away. Despite everything that happened and his resolve to end it all, thoughts echoed. = I don''t want to die. I''m scared. Will it hurt? How quickly is it? Will I go to hell or heaven? = As his mind was yet again filled with thoughts, a sensation once again returned. ---THROB------THROB--- "Agh" Grabbing his head he suddenly froze with pain. ---THROB------THROB------THROB--- = What is going on? Why is my head hurting so much? = ---THROB------THROB------THROB------THROB--- As if fate itself hated him, the chair leg suddenly broke and Robin lost his footing. "ACK--" The belt instantly tightened, his throat clogged and unable to breathe. His head filled with pain and panic, he was unable to grab a proper footing on the fallen chair. ---THROB------THROB------THROB------THROB------THROB------THROB------THROB------THROB------THROB--- = Is this some sick joke?!! I considered suicide but at the moment I was contemplating it I am forced to die anyway?!!! why is the world so unfair! WHY ME! WHY! ---THROB--- wHY WHYWHYWHYWHY---THROB---IT HURTS SO MUCH---THROB--- MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP" His vision going dark and the pain fading away. ....why me? Robin Cunningham committed suicide at 2:34 p.m. at Jefferson High School. ----------------------------- *pant..*pant...*pant ... *wheeze Standing in the forest, one man riddled with cuts and bruises stood slouched barely supporting himself with his sword. Surrounding him were the corpses of so many Ursas. Some decapitated, others dismembered. Blue and red dust floated in the area. "*gasp...Thank you.. if it wasn''t for you, I would be dead right now." *rustle* Out of the darkness, stepped at a middle-aged man carrying a giant silver-green collapsible metal rod with a blade attached to it. It was a scythe. The man had silver spiky hair and wore a gray scarf over his black trench-coat. Near his neck was a noticeable gray cross embedded on the collar. "..It was nothing. Considering how huge the horde of Ursa was, you wouldn''t have stood a chance alone." "hehe.. and yet it looks like you''ve barely broke a sweat. No matter. If I be so daring to ask, could you help me to the village nearby? My wife is there protecting my son. They''re probably worried sick about me." The man nodded and proceeded to carry the injured man to said village. ".. You''re a faunus?" "Yep. Wolf actually. Why? you got something against us?" The silver haired faunus smirked. "Not at all. Just thought that explained your excellent night vision was all." the man retorted. As they approached the village a silver-haired beauty approached carrying a child in her arms, along with some men from the hunting group. "DARLING! You''re alright! I was so worried. I thought I would never see you again." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she softly grabbed the cheeks of her loved one. "I''m alright hon. In fact you should be thanking this man for saving me. If it wasn''t for him. You would be widowed right about now." She turned to the man in question. "A human? Fighting in the darkness nevertheless. Thank you. Thank you so much for saving my husband. If you could be so kind, what is your name?" "Qrow. And who are you?" "My name is Christina Wolfheart. This is my husband Joseph. and this--" raising the baby slightly "is Robin."
**WHOOOO That took a while. I decided to not wait for tomorrow since more and more ideas kept popping into my head. So what did you guys like? Hate? Tips? I''ve set the stage and now can really dive into the world of Remnant. So i''m excited. All art i link to is not my works and their creators deserve the credit. This is just what is used in RWBY or stuff I found that inspire a story i wanted to attach to the image.
I''ll be honest. When I was trying to make that confession letter, I had no idea what I was doing. Never saw one before, so I didn''t know how it should be written and felt like. So i decided to make it sincere, heartfelt, and cheesy to correspond with the amount of books of literature (and manga) he''s read. I was gonna make a couple short remarks ridiculing certain lines but I felt nah this is a good point for him to snap. Tell me what you think and I''ll try my best to improve. Next Chapter won''t come for two days. I will be busy and I plan to use tomorrow to outline where I want this story to go. Maybe even tweak the chapters a bit. Here''s a map for the world of Remnent. He''ll be near Vale just south of the kingdom. Chapter 2: Robin S. Wolfheart ============================ Chapter 2: Robin S. Wolfheart ============================ ¡°Ara? His face is so dirty.¡± ¡°It must be from all the Dust and dirt floating in the air.¡± Robin heard soothing voices as he felt something damp pressed on his face. ¡°No good no good. My cute little baby can''t be dirty.¡± = Wha... is this the afterlife? = Opening his eyes, he found himself facing a pretty woman with silver hair tied in a ponytail. ¡°Waa, he opened his eyes. Say hi to mama and papa Robin.¡± She casually waved her hand in front of his face. = Who are you and why do you know my name? = --was what he was trying to say. ¡°waa¡ªuuu.. iii uuu¡± = ...Dah fuq?! My voice! What happened to my voice! = ¡°Ooh so he''s awake is he? Hey there little guy.¡± A younger man showed himself this time, and next to him was a middle-aged man. ¡°He truly does look like you guys. He has your eyes Joseph, but it seems his face takes after your wife.¡± Just like the woman, one of the men had silver hair. However, there were two appendages that the young adults had but the middle-aged man did not: furry ears. = Why are they cosplaying? Is it a fad among the afterlife to wear ear headbands?... Wait... They''re not wearing headbands! What''s going on! = Turning his head, Robin noticed he was in a plastic cage of sorts. It was big enough to keep his body inside but it was significantly smaller compared to the size of his bed he usually slept in. Speaking of which... = My body is tiny! And it''s so hard to move. It''s like I became a baby again..wait.. Didn''t that old man say I looked like them? Could I actually be their son? But last thing I remembered I accidentally killed myself thanks to the stupid chair. Ugh I can''t make heads or tails of this situation. = ¡°Ah! He closed his eyes. He must be tired. Lets leave him alone for now. Qrow let me thank you again for helping us. You cannot believe what it means to us.¡± ¡°No it was nothing. I was on my way to complete my mission anyway. In fact, I should get going.¡± ¡°So soon? It''s still dark out.¡± ¡°Yes I must go. I stopped to help you guys out, but I must leave.¡± Joseph scratched his head and had a guilty look. ¡°Is that so? I really wish we could thank you somehow.¡± Qrow wryly smiled. ¡°Don''t worry. If you really want to see me again, come to the Vytle festival in 4 years. I''ll be there with my nieces, so you can bring your child and his friends as well.¡± ¡°Ah.. the festival huh.. well alright then.¡± Holding out his hand Joseph said with a firm look ¡°We''ll see you then.¡± Nodding, Qrow shook his hand and waved goodbye to the family. He then left the premises and just like how mysteriously he appeared, he vanished into the night. Finally calmed down, Robin observed the scene with his eyes and then once again closed them. = It really does seem like I''ve been reborn. I guess reincarnation really is a thing. But where I am now I have no clue. I must remain calm and collect info. I also can''t act suspicious since that would just cause trouble. I''ll stealthily gather information slowly and surely, but for now-- = *yawn* = --I should sleep = *************************************** As time passed, Robin listened to stories and conversations, and pieced together who they were and where they are. *************************************** This world was called Remnant. In the darkness rose the race of man. Born strong, wise, and resourceful, they gathered and prospered. However, man was born in an unforgiving world. In the inevitable darkness, creatures of darkness, creatures of Grimm, set their sights on man and all of his creations. Facing them, it seemed man''s brief existence would return to the void. ¡°However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change. In time, man''s passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help them even the odds. This power was named Dust. With nature''s wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness. And in the shadow''s absence, came strength, civilization, and most importantly-- life. To date mankind has formed four different kingdoms: to the north, Atlas, to the west, Vacuo, to the east, Mistral, and in the center, Vale.¡± Map of Remnant ¡°Mother.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Christina looked at 4 year old Robin as they sat on the porch of their home staring into the night. She was reciting the history of how they came to be. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Is our village one of those civilizations?¡± ¡°Kuku. No Robin, we are nomads living just outside the kingdom of Vale north of us. We venture and live where we please and eat how we wish. Nomads can be divided into two groups: the wanderers and the hunters. Wanderers live a much less constricted life to location. They wander the world, exploring and living off the land through hunting. However, since they are never in a single place for too long, their weapons and technology tend to be limited. You would rarely see any guns in their weaponry since such tools require so much dust, maintenance, and other supplies.¡± = So there are guns in this world. Interesting. = ¡°What about hunters?¡± ¡°Hunters, Robin S. Wolfheart, are what we are. We live outside the kingdoms but generally stay within the vicinity of the borders. We wander on the outskirts, living off the land while taking requests from time to time, eliminating various Grimm concentration that get too large and is too expensive for the kingdoms to mobilize armies for. This is especially true since we are in times of peace. In return for our services, we receive discounts and payments. This is why our weapons and living conditions are much better, and we generally stay in one place until mobilized to move towards a new target. Since we are generally paid well, our homes that seem stationary actually can move much like cars. Also the jobs can overlap with hunters and huntresses inside the kingdom as well, so you will from time to time come across people like them.¡± = I see. So that''s who that old man was. = Robin quickly recalled the image of the silver haired man that was present on his first day here. ¡°One more question mother.¡± ¡°Of course, son. What''s on your mind?¡± Christina was very happy to answer her curious son. Ever since he was young Robin was obedient and polite. Not to mention he seemed naturally smart, quickly learning language and etiquette. Add in the fact that he was their only child, the parents were very doting towards him. ¡°Why does the moon crack like that?¡± Robin pointed towards the sky. ¡°It cracks more and more every night, but then it starts reforming again until it''s complete again. Why?¡± ¡°That is the cycle of our moon son. When it is full, we call it a full moon, and when it is completely broken, we call it a new moon. There is no true reason why or maybe we just don''t know yet. It has done this cycle all our lives and will mostly likely do it through yours as well.¡± ¡°Has someone walked on the moon? Maybe then they''ll know why.¡± = The fact that it somehow reforms could be a result some weird side affect of Dust. = Robin contemplated. ¡°Fu-HAHA! Walking on the moon. Amusing concept son, but even though it''s certainly possible to get there and back, we have much more pressing concerns son.¡± ¡°What do yo--... Oh.¡± Blushing, Robin looked down to hide his face. Humanity is already fighting to survive against the Grimm. If they could only support four kingdoms on the entire planet, of course something like the moon would not be on the top of their priority list. ¡°Well that''s enough for tonight. It''s getting late son so lets go to sleep.¡± ¡°Yes, mother.¡± Stepping inside and into their respective rooms, Robin laid there and looked up towards the ceiling. ¡°This world is really nothing like Earth...Remnant huh?¡± Living in Earth, everyday life was nothing more than a torture. It was a game for masochists. Even the only woman he had feelings for played him for a fool. In contrast, here he had a mother and father that cared for him, no sibling to look down upon him, and furthermore, the world combined aspects of technology and fantasy together, both of which he loved reading about in manga. Faced with these things, how could he not get excited about living in such a world filled with adventure. = So what if it''s dangerous? Compared to the constant fear of a foreign country dropping an atomic bomb on my home, this world''s humanoid race clearly works together to survive. Amazing... My reality is no longer the same so why should I be? I''m done with being the victim, letting people trample me underneath. I will live my life to the fullest! = And so taking a vow to change himself, Robin Cunningham was no more and was finally a new man. The next morning Robin Silver Wolfheart took his place and thus taking his first step forward. Chapter 3: Good Morning! ============================== Chapter 3: Good Morning! ============================== -BEEP--BEEP---BE-*CLICK* Smacking his palm on the clock, Robin woke up feeling rested and ready to take on the world -- or at least, as much of the world a 4-year old could take. Getting out of his fluffy bed, Robin opened the door and walked out of his room. On the way to the dining room, he passed through the kitchen, where he heard his parents greet him. "Good morning, Robin." "Good morning son." "Morning mother, father." Currently setting up the table, his mother and father looked up to greet their son as they heard him open the door. Happy that he was acknowledged, Robin volunteered to help set the silverware and plates as his parents place the dishes on the table. ¡°Son, before you eat why don''t you go wash up in the river outside. We can finish setting the table.¡± His dad pointed towards the door. ¡°Of course.¡± Grabbing a towel on a rack as he moved towards the entrance, he turned the lock and opened the door to be greeted by sunlight and a pleasant breeze. Stepping outside and off the porch steps, Robin walked towards the river ahead of him. For the sake of convenience, the majority of homes were lined up near the river allowing quick and easy access to water that can be gathered, filtered, and stored for later use. Thus, as he traveled to the riverside, he could see many doors opening and other residents getting up and heading to the river to wash up and freshen up. Slinging his towel over his shoulder, Robin knelled down and started splashing and cleaning himself. As he was finishing up he ended up cleaning his wolf ears last. They sat on the top of his head, each one a litter smaller than the size his hand. = No matter how many times I see my reflection, I still can''t believe I have a new body. And this feels completely weird to have two sets of ears. = Twitching his wolf ears up and down, Robin stared at his reflection examining his new looks. His facial features resembled his mother. He had smooth skin and soft silver hair, one side extending long enough to form a bang over his right eye. One could call him handsome and reserved if not for the deep yellow eyes that could be seen through his hair. They looked full of life yet seems to pierce into your soul if gazed upon long enough. Mesmerized by his looks, Robin was too busy examining himself to notice a creeping presence behind. He didn''t notice until he was kicked in the back and sent splashing into the river. Landing face-first into mud, Robin wiped his eyes and stood up to find the culprit sprinting away. ¡°DINKLEBERRRRRG!¡± ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Laughing as he made his escape, a fox faunus ran away as quickly as he had came behind him, his orange tail trailing behind. Conner Dinkleberg. He was an orphan child. Apparently, he was taken in by the village chief and his wife, and despite their efforts to teach him manners, he continued to play pranks on everyone. In the beginning it was funny since they played pranks on the adults. However, he also pranks the children, quickly becoming hated by most of the kids after getting pushed into the freezing river so early in the morning. Speaking of which, his figure could now be discerned sneaking up to yet another victim: a red-haired boy completely oblivious to his surroundings. Quickly trying to finish up cleaning himself once again, Robin splashed his head underwater a couple of times to rid himself of the mud. He then stood up to grab his towel. ¡°Aw crap¡± After falling headfirst into the river, his towel had also been soaked, so now he was stuck soaked through his clothes and freezing. ¡°Here¡± Robin turned to find a young girl who was a bit taller than him and holding out a towel. ¡°Thank you Blake¡± Blake Belladonna. She had wavy black hair, and upon examining her head, two small black ears can be seen. She was slightly older than Robin by two months, born in April. Blake liked to read books about as much as Robin, so they ran into each other frequently at the library. She had a pale white complexion and amber eyes that were slightly tilted upwards. Along with her thin black eyebrows, her image made her look.. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. = Just like a cat. = Robin thought, taking the towel from her. After wiping his face dry, he tilted his head and smacked his palm against the side. Hoping he got rid of most of the water, his ears twitched and he gave back the towel. ¡°What about your clothes?¡± ¡°I''ll have to change them anyway. I''m thankful just for the fact you lent it to me to wipe my face. I better hurry up. My breakfast is probably gonna get cold.¡± Nodding in understanding, Blake walked to the river and Robin headed back to the house. As he opened the door, he hung the towel back on the rack since it had been squeezed of excess water on the way to the house. He then made his way back to his room, changed into shorts and a fresh gray shirt, and then went back to the dining room. ¡°So what happened to make you so wet?¡± father questioned as Robin sat down. ¡°It was Dinkleberg and one of his pranks again.¡± Robin grumbled. ¡°Haha. Well no harm done son. Don''t hold it against him.¡± father pressed the button on a remote, turning on the TV hanging on the wall, and the news channel popped up. ¡°At most, all he did was help wake you up. So really, you could say he helped you.¡± = Pfft. Yeah right. I''ve dealt with more than my fair share of annoyances in my past life. Unlike the guys who specifically targeted me for fun, he''s one of those people. The kind that do anything for attention. He has no target audience, and tries to grab attention from whoever he can. Unlike me, who tried to avoid attention, he is like my polar opposite. = Grabbing his fork and knife, he devoured his breakfast: milk, eggs, bacon, and toast. It was pretty standard. The amount of similarity between food here and on Earth was pretty surprising. He was glad he wouldn''t have to live off of something ridiculous like raw meat or something. When their breakfast was eaten, mother decided to speak up. ¡°By the way Robin, today we''ll have you start going to classes.¡± ¡°Classes?¡± Nodding she explained, ¡°Yes, you''re four years old now and you seem pretty smart, so I think it''s safe to say you can start going to lessons. They''ll teach you more about Dust and how to survive. And if that isn''t enough, you can always ask your father and I if you have questions.¡± = Lessons huh. That''s a good place to start learning more about specifics. All I know so far is lore that''s common knowledge. Yes, it''s decided then. = ¡°So where do I go to take lessons?¡± ¡°You''ll head to the Town Hall that''s near our local library. They''ll give a short exam to see how much you already know and place you in your corresponding class. Then they''ll send you to the building next-door; there you take lessons every morning from Monday to Friday when we don''t have meetings for missions and hunts. After breakfast from now on you will head there to learn. You''ll need these.¡± She got up and grabbed a backpack and thin metal popsicle stick. ¡°This will be your backpack so you can carry your books and supplies. And this--¡±, she pressed the button in the middle of the stick. With a *beep* noise it split in the middle and extended to the size of a modern day smartphone, and inside the frame a holographic screen appeared. ¡°-- will serve as your status plate. They''ll teach you how to set it up. It can also be used as a phone to contact people, but that''s for later.¡± = Status? You mean like an RPG game? This world gets more and more interesting with every day! = ¡°Thanks Mom! I''ll go there now! Bye dad!¡± ¡°Bye son. Be safe and do your best.¡± Heading out the door, his parents stood on the porch, smiled and waved as their son took off toward the center of the village with high hopes for his new school life.
Writing details takes a lot of space. On the upside, this means I''m probably gonna post the next chapter very soon. On the down side, story progression is gonna be slow. As always tell me what you guys think. Out of curiosity, who here got the reference to Fairy God Parents? Chapter 4: Lets take a Test *NOTE: I changed a small detail in the last chapter. Instead of the lessons taking place at the town hall, he takes a test gauging his knowledge there and is then assigned to a classroom in the building next-door. I thought that made more sense than putting all those kids in the town hall everyday. ***************************************** Chapter 4: Lets take a Test ***************************************** The village of Rakshata was a relatively small community when compared to the kingdom of Vale. In total, there are about 1000 residents. And although the buildings are stationary now, they are able retract their front steps and be ready to move in a moments notice. Larger buildings like the library or the townhall actually consist of multiple tall trailers. They line up next to each other and then transfrom. One side''s wall would lift up and form the ceiling, and the other would shift down to form the floor. After connecting, residents can move collapsible pillars and walls into certain areas to support the building and create rooms as they saw fit. After extending and snapping them into place, you have a building capable of holding a meeting with a couple hundred people easily. As he was growing up, the village has already moved twice. Thus he was able to witness this transformation. The first time it occurred, he had stared in awe, being the fan of technology he was. = They already have transforming trailers. What''s next? A transforming robot? = Contemplating the idea, Robin stepped into the townhall. The first thing he noticed was all the trophies on the wall. Hanging there were plaques; each one had a model of the head of a Grimm. In the large room were ten rows of desks, all facing the whiteboard in the front of the room. Above it was a clock, indicating that it was 9:45. Lined up against the windows on right side of the room were more desks and tables that would be used during meetings. However, since they weren''t being used at the moment, they were stacked and put to the side. On the other side were cabinets and shelves filled with books. Walking towards the front, he noticed a woman with thin, white antlers sitting at a desk in a corner of the room. Noticing his presence, she looked up from the book she was reading and her dark brown eyes looked him up and down. "What''s your name?" the brunette questioned him. "Robin S. Wolfheart ma''am." She checked his name off on a clipboard. "Well Mr.Wolfheart, find a seat. As soon as all of the students arrive, we will begin testing.¡± Nodding, Robin walked to a seat in the middle of the second row and waited. Soon, more faunus entered and also greeted the woman in a similar fashion. The rows were quickly filled with young faunus. Surprisingly, the village of Rakshata was comprised of only faunus. In his four years in this world, he had yet to see a regular human. Not that he was complaining. Unlike his experiences with humans, faunus didn''t tease him for having a hobby for spending a lot of time in the library; generally, they treated him kindly if he did the same. In addition, the residents were much more accepting of other faunus species which can range anywhere from rats and hawks to mermaids and lizardmen. ¡°Alright students, you''ve been sent here to learn how to survive. First, we''ll take a small test for how much knowledge you already possess. You will be tested on mathematics, history, and English. Depending on the results, you will be separated into different classes next-door. Classes are separated by year and pace. If you score well, you will be put in higher level classes. Score low, and you''ll be put in lower level classes. However, regardless of your results, you will be starting off at the very first levels of Aura, D&G, Mechanics, and survival classes. Are there any questions?¡± Scanning the room, there were no response. She grabbed a bundle of pencils and a stack of papers, and proceeded to pass them out. ¡°I will provide you a pencil if you need something to write with. If yours breaks I will hand you a new one, and one more very important thing to remember during this test.¡± She paused and a brown aura briefly covered her body. ¡°If you cheat, I WILL catch you, so don''t even think about it. ¡°You will be given 1 hour to complete this test. Testing will end at 11. Watch the clock. Begin.¡± Quickly flipping the test packet over, Robin began filling out answers at lightning speed. He might have the body of a 4 year old, but had the mind of a 16-year old. He was naturally smart in his previous life, so math and english wasn''t a problem. This was the same for history, thanks to the amount of time he spent reading in the library, as soon as his parents had allowed him to. The test was finished before 30 minutes had passed. Bored out of his mind, Robin decided to take a nap. ¡°Stop. Put your pencils down. I will now collect all of your materials.¡± After the said materials were collected, she bundled them up and another woman walked into the townhall. This one had light blue scales covering the sides of her face and back of her neck. She wore a red scrunchie tying her blue hair into a ponytail and a black cloak that had blue wavy markings along the borders. Underneath, a torquoise blouse and jeans could be seen. Walking up to the front of the room, she turned and faced the students. ¡°My name is Liss Kertenkela. You will refer to me as Mrs. Kertenkela from this moment on. While Mrs. Gera here grades your tests, I will begin introductory lessons. Before we begin I want all of you to head over to the cabinet over there and grab a notebook and a textbook. These contain basic information on Dust and the creatures of Grimm that we will be using all year.¡± After everyone gathered their materials, she continued. ¡°You do not need to take notes. This is just a basic overview while we wait for Mrs. Gera to finish. ¡° As you all know, all races refer to the planet as Remnant. On Remnant there are five continents. However, only three of them are inhabited by mankind, and on these continents there exist only 4 known kingdoms: Atlas in the north continent, Mistral in the east continent, Vacuo and Vale in the middle continent. The other two regions are officially unexplored. Any attempts to immigrate over and establish a foothold has been halted by extremely high Grimm concentrations. It is known that there are no obvious evidence of human civilizations due to extended investigations done by airships. To this day, 500 years after the most ancient records of history, only our four kingdoms still exist. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. All of this is possible, thanks to the existence of Dust. But what is Dust? Dust is a naturally occurring energy propellant, that forms underground in the earth beneath us. We mine Dust and then process it to use it in more diverse and practical ways. Its most natural form is a crystal. As we dig underground, veins of crystal Dust can be seen and mined. But this is not the only form which we can have Dust in. While Dust can only be found naturally as crystals, mankind has developed ways of creating other forms, such as powdered Dust. This form, when mixed with a specific amount of other materials, creates gunpowder which we use in our weapons. Furthermore, this form is extremely efficient. One small bottle of powdered Dust can be used to create a crater 3 meters wide. The other form is liquid form. This form is flammable and is used in our vehicles as gasoline, and in flamethrowers as oil. Now who gets us these huge amounts of Dust? All of our Dust is gathered through companies whose job is to go work the mines, gather the Dust and sell it to people like you and me. The most prominent Dust production company is the Schnee Dust company. They hold the monopoly of all Dust that we purchase and use in everyday life. Now if they just fix their bad habits of forming alliances with questionable business partners as well as they unjustified hatred for---¡± ¡°LISA!¡± Abruptly interrupting Mrs. Kertenkela was Mrs. Gera, who was glaring at her with her glowing brown eyes. ¡°Fine, fine. Well, it seems like Mrs. Gera is finished grading, so we''ll move on to the next topic.¡± = Huh? There has to be about a hundred kids here. Taking in the fact that some of those were short answer questions, how did she finish grading so quickly? Were there a lot of unanswered questions? = Robin was confused. Either Mrs. Gera was a super fast reader or he was missing something. Robin seriously doubted all 99 other students skipped the 25 short answer questions, so he was confused as to how she had finished grading during that short lecture--- but that would have to be on hold for later. Mrs. Kertenkela was not finished. ¡° The other topic I wish to speak about today was Aura. All living beings, with the exception of the creatures of Grimm, possess aura. Each person''s aura is unique and acts as protection, keeping you out of harm''s way. Who here has activated their status card already? Only a few hands were raised. ¡°Your status cards are activated by you inserting your aura into the device. It registers your aura and thus shows information about yourself that you will use to gauge your ability in combat. If you haven''t activated your status card, you probably haven''t activated your aura yet. But that''s a small problem. Today all of you will activate your aura and learn about your own abilities. You will learn more specifics about both Dust and auras in your classes. Now, will all of those who have already activated their cards get their tests from Mrs. Gera? Everyone else who have not, make two lines. One in front of me and the other in front of Mrs. Gera. A stamp has been put on each of your test. This will tell you what schedule you have. Once you get them back, head over to the other building and find your schedule.¡± The exceptions got their scores and left the building. Then, both teachers placed their hand on the head of the student in the front of their respective lines. As they stood there silently, their bodies glowed softly emanating a blue and white glow respectively. Not too soon after, each of the students also starting glowing faintly, then the glow gradually died. ¡°Now, remember that feeling and put your aura into the card. Then press the button. That will activate your card.¡± The students closed their eyes and did as they were told. Soft noises were heard. *beep* *beep* They were then handed their test back and sent on their way. Slowly but surely, the line got shorter and then it was eventually Robin''s turn. Mrs.Kertenkela placed her hand on his head and he closed his eyes. Suddenly he heard her soft voice resonating through his skull. = For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee. = A warm sensation filled his chest --it spread to his limbs -- then his fingers and toes, vitalizing his body. Opening his eyes, he found his body glowing a bright silver aura. Evidently, it was much brighter than the other students. ¡°..interesting. You seem to possess a large amount of aura. Go ahead and activate your card.¡± Grasping the metal popsicle stick in his hand, Robin felt and sent the sensation to his fingers and pressed the button. *beep* *beep*
Schedule is pretty much established. Still working on a status that would make sense. I''m still trying to decide how much I will go into Virtual Reality genre. Fighting scenes will be a new experience for me. Let me know what you guys think. Do you want to see some skills (or my failure at naming them)? Combos? or very detailed combat? or maybe both?
Yo Give your thoughts like always. I appreciate any and all advice. I may or may not use them though so no promises. I haven''t gotten around to editing last chapter yet but i''ll get to it soon. I''m gonna be busy for next few days. Tests suck. So no chapters. However, that means extra time for planning. So I''ll get right back on it as soon as I can. Updates should be expected to be every two days from now on. If you see stuff every day it''s cuz I made some free time that shouldn''t be free time >.> Office of Grimm inspiration. Credit goes to ZeroSenPie Chapter 5: Lets not be a Genius =============================== Chapter 5: Lets not be a Genius =============================== *beep *beep A table appeared in the corner of his vision. It read:
Robin S. Wolfheart (Lvl 1)
Health:50/50
Aura:150/150
= Wow, my aura is three times my health. Is that normal? = ¡°Alright here''s your test... !...¡± receiving his test, Robin found that he scored a perfect 100 as expected. The teachers had made a general test containing simple questions that would have been difficult for the uneducated children. Normally, a test wouldn''t be given on the first day. However, since many parents tend to teach some basics to their offspring, a test would be used to gauge their knowledge. Regardless of how smart some students may be, they would have never guessed that a 4 year old could understand algebra. Thus, a perfect score had appeared on a test that was meant to be impossible to ace. Robin picked up his backpack and left towards the next building. As he entered, he found himself in a hallway. There were classrooms on both sides of the hallway, and further down a bathroom could be seen. On one side of the hallway, a bunch of students were gathered. Walking towards the crowd, he found that there was a piece of paper designating classrooms. = Lets see.. I''m in room 1A. = After finding his classroom, Robin found himself with kids slightly older than his age group, and sitting in the second row was a familiar face. ¡°Hey there Blake. Looks like we in the same class huh?¡± Sitting down in the desk next to her, Robin greeted the cat faunus girl. ¡°Hello Robin. It looks like it. I wonder what we''ll learn today. I''m a bit nervous.¡± Blake was fidgeting in her seat while her looks were filled with the thirst for knowledge ¡°Oh come on now Robin. Aren''t you gonna greet me? I know you two are bookworms, but at least greet people you know.¡± Sitting in front of Blake was a brown haired girl. She was currently crossing her arms and pouting at Robin. ¡°My bad Ophelia. I didn''t mean anything bad by that, so you can stop pouting now.¡± Ophelia Zittori She was a snake faunus. She wore her smooth brown hair in a ponytail, revealing several light brown scales on her neck. She had two small fangs, wore a tan shirt and blue jeans. Similar scales could be seen on her arms. As a close friend of Blake, Robin had met her from time to time as they left the library together. Just like Blake, she was a lot brighter than most of the kids their age, and had a relaxing presence whenever they spoke with each other. Apparently her parents worked as doctors in the village. Go figure. Looking away, her pouting lips turned upwards. Then it disappeared and a smile appeared instead. ¡°Okay I forgive you. So what did you score on the test?¡± ¡°100. What about you two?¡± Both their jaws dropped. ¡°I knew you were smart Robin, but really? A perfect score? How?¡± ¡°...is it really that surprising?¡± Blake nodded. ¡°The test is made so people aren''t supposed to ace it. I bet most of the other students didn''t even get past the 50 mark.¡± = Damn. Did I just do something really bad? It was so easy that I didn''t really think about it, but hearing this now means I just drew unnecessary attention to myself. Hmm.. some attention is unavoidable since I''m way smarter than my age group, but I should put a limit to how much knowledge I actually show. = ¡°So what did you guys get?¡± Robin reiterated the question he asked earlier. ¡°I got a 87.¡± Blake said. ¡°Unbelievable. you guys are too smart. 65 for me.¡± ¡°I got a 60! Am I a genius or what?¡± Jumping into the seat behind Robin, a wild Conner Dinkleberg appeared. ¡°Conner a genius would be someone like Robin here. You would be at the level where people refer at you as knowledgeable, though I seriously doubt it.¡± Ophelia looked at him with a wry smile. Unfazed by the insult, Conner continued. ¡°Hey now, I think I''m very knowledgeable. After all, I have pulled countless pranks on nearly everyone in the village. It takes serious skill to do that and not get caught.¡± A proud smile plastered on his face as his tail wagged happily from side to side. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Oh is that so? Then how about I be the first to administer justice to your sorry behind?¡± A red-haired kid appeared behind Conner. Two thin, brown horns could be seen on the top of his head. Unlike most horns that jutted forward, his pointed backwards. He was glaring with his red eyes at the back of Conner''s head. Conner shivered and turned around. ¡°He-Hey there! I don''t know what you''re talking about. I totally didn''t push you down into the river while you were cleaning your face. Definitely not.¡± = Ah so he''s the other victim from this morning. Poor Conner. The kid looks like he''ll murder him. = Just when it looked like a beating would occur. Blake spoke up. ¡°Good morning Adam. Are you in our class too?¡± Just like that, his face calmed down and the boy named Adam looked up towards Blake. ¡°Yes, morning Blake. You too Ophelia. It seems like I''ve also scored pretty high on the test.¡± ¡°Really? What was your score?¡± Ophelia questioned. With a look of pride, Adam shoved out his chest and announced, ¡°90. And you guys?¡± ¡°87¡± ¡°65¡± ¡°60¡± ¡°I wasn''t asking you, Dinkleberg.¡± A look shut Conner up. However a mocking smile appeared when he heard Conner''s score. Then his eyes shifted to Robin. ¡°And this is...?¡± ¡°This is Robin Wolfheart,¡± Blake explained. ¡°Robin, this is Adam Taurus. He''s a friend of mine. He''s a bull faunus, but you can guess from his name and appearance.¡± ¡°Hello Adam, my name is Robin.¡± Nodding at Robin, Adam questioned him, ¡°And what was your score?¡± ¡°Perfect 100. I aced it.¡± His jaw dropped. = How many jaws am I gonna see drop today? I definitely need to be careful about my knowledge from now on. = A hint of jealousy could be seen in Adam''s eye. ¡°No way. You obviously cheated to get that score. Don''t you have any shame?¡± ¡°Excuse me?!¡± Robin stood up glaring at Adam with his yellow eyes. Robin was already tired of playing the fool in his past life. Thanks to his experience with others, he became observant in people''s behaviors. Those he found to hold no animosity, he treated with respect. This was why he was able to trust Blake and Ophelia despite them being girls. This was also why he didn''t openly reject Conner like Adam had done. He had judged that Conner was just trying to converse with them and meant no harm. However, it was another story with Adam. He looked down on Conner and openly accused Robin of cheating in front of his face. This quickly rose his ire and a strange thing occurred. Robin suddenly was able to sense the presence of all the students inside and outside the classroom. He was also able to judge their heartbeats. At that moment, Ophelia stood up and got between the two. ¡°Stop stop stop! Adam! That was incredibly rude to accuse Robin like that! You should know that something like that is impossible since the teachers write it the day before the test and don''t even keep an answer key. Apologize!¡± Thanks to Ophelia''s intrusion, both kids calmed down. ¡°...You''re right. That was rude of me. I''m sorry.¡± ¡°No I almost got into a fight with you over something like a test. I should have known a perfect score is suspicious.¡± A satisfied look appeared on Ophelia''s face and Blake looked relieved that her two friends didn''t start a fight. ¡°Good. Now, I wanted to ask something since we''re all here.¡± Everyone looked at her. ¡°What are your stats?¡±
Hey there! I''m back with a double update! Maybe even triple if I feel like it. I hate decimals so I''m gonna try to keep all damage and stuff whole numbers. Team COBRA is official! As always tell me what you guys think. I didn''t get to check for grammar mistakes yet so I''ll go back and correct them later. At first I was gonna make it Team CBRA (cobra) but I felts Blake needed a girl friend since too many men. What do you guys think? I think I could easily run with 5 people. After all, too many people >> mistakes in combat >> fighting >> character development. Chapter 6: Status Plate (Fixed) ================================ Chapter 6: Status Plate (fixed) ================================ At that moment, the door opened and Mrs. Kertenkela stepped inside the classroom. All the students turned her way. ¡°Take a seat children.¡± We shuffled to our seats. ¡°From this day onward I will be your teacher for Aura, D&G, and mechanics. Physical training will be done by Instructor Braun; math and history shall be taught by other instructors depending on how well you scored on the test. With the exception of PT, all other classes with be in this building.¡± As she was explaining this she passed out a schedule specific to each student. Receiving his paper, Robin looked it over. ============================= 10 -11 Dust and Grimm * 11-12 Aura * 12-1 Lunch 1-2 History *** 2-3 English **** 3-4 Mechanic * 4-5 Math **** 5-7 Physical Training * ============================= ¡°Now for those of you who don''t understand, each ''*'' mark represents a level of difficulty for the class. There are 6 levels of difficulty and you shall all move up a level each year. If you were deemed smart enough- ¡° she gave Robin a look, ¡°you had been moved up in difficulty level. However, none of you will be able to skip levels in Aura, D&G, Mechanics, and PT. Knowledge and training are a necessity to survive. Are there any questions?¡± = So I basically skipped two grades in history and three in English and math. Definitely weird for a four year old. Although I am curious what this Mechanics class is. = ¡°Yes I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it Robin?¡± ¡°What''s mechanics?¡± ¡°Mechanics is a course which we shall teach you knowledge about technology. Once you get a decent understanding we will start teaching you about the basics of weapon development.¡± Robin''s eyes lit up. = They''re gonna teach me how to build a gun?! Hell yes! = ¡°Any other questions?¡± Blake held her hand up. ¡°Yes Blake?¡± ¡°What is today''s schedule? It''s already 11:30 but there''s no class set for 11:30.¡± ¡°Good question. Today we had to give you guys a test, so there will be no D&G lesson. However, we will still teach you some basics about aura and your status plates before lunch begins and we''ll let you talk to your friends and compare stats.¡± ¡°Any other questions?...No? Alright then lets begin. Take out the notebooks in your desks. You may keep them to take notes and write in it however you like. Now as some of you may have noticed, there are two bars in the upper left corner of your vision. This is a permanent display that occurs after activating your aura. As you live and fight, transparent windows with information will pop up as well. You can also call upon your status by saying ¡°Status¡±. This will make it pop up in a similar window. Go ahead and try it.¡± ¡°Status¡±
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:1
Experience:0/10Semblance:Bloodlust
Health:50/50
Aura:150/150
Strength:5(+3)Dexterity:1
Agility:3Endurance:1
Vitality:21
Robin was thrilled. The status was just like those he played in video games. Upon examining closely, he found a term he was unfamiliar with, and became a bit crestfallen when he found out his class. = ¡­ my class is Mercenary? I thought it would be something like Mage given how much aura I had.=
Mercenary
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+2) Hand-to-Hand Combat. Current Skills: Identify.
= Wow that is deep. So aura give insight to people''s nature and history? I guess that makes sense since it is unique to the person. = ¡°To begin lets look at your health and aura. The numbers next to them indicate how much you have of each. As you get hurt in fights and use your aura, the numbers will get lower and lower. When your aura hits zero, you no longer have protection of your aura and cannot use your semblance until your aura regenerates. However, when health reaches zero, you die. It goes without saying you should never let it hit zero. After fighting, both health and aura can be regenerated naturally through rest and potions. Having health however does not mean injuries or status effects are gone. You need to treat your body or else you will get sick. Next are stats. Their titles are self-explanatory. Strength makes you stronger. Dexterity determines your reaction time and ability to dodge. Agility makes you faster. Endurance gives you more health, and Vitality gives more aura. These stats can be increased through training, but will naturally increase by themselves as you level up. Leveling up is done through exercise and fights with Grimm. Depending on the difficulty of the Grimm you are fighting, you get different amounts of experience. Semblance is an ability that all of you are born with. It can be hereditary or unique depending on the individual. It all depends on your nature as a person and your race. This is the same for your class. You are born with your class already chosen. How you utilize it is up to you. Some embrace it, others reject it. Regardless of whether you like it or not, you need to use everything you can to survive. The classes help boost your abilities in some aspects but is not the final thing that determines your strength. It is your training that makes you stronger. Many of us faunus also have unique bonuses depending on our race. That is the ''*'' mark that appears beside your race. You can press it to learn the details.¡±
Wolf:As a member of the wolf faunus, you fight stronger in a pack. The more members in your pack the stronger you are. Your strength increases +1 per member. As you reach certain levels, the bonus per member increases.
Current strength: 5(+1)
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. = Whoa that''s pretty cool. So the bigger my party, the stronger I am. What about my semblance? =
Bloodlust (Passive):Thanks to your experiences and innate ability, you''ve gained the sixth sense able to sense animosity towards you.
Bloodlust (Active):When activated, you are able to sense the presence of anyone within a set distance. However, in return they are also made aware of you. Upon activation, there is a chance of foes being Intimidated. Weaker foes are more prone to the status effect than stronger ones. Cost (10 Aura/sec).
= !! Jackpot! With my unique traits as a wolf I''m stronger with every ally I have, and with this I can always keep an eye out for enemies. Although I can only keep it active for 15 seconds at the moment, there''s no reason I can''t use it for longer periods of time later. = Smiling at his situation, Robin was very pleased with his status allowing him to potentially become very strong. ¡°Alright kids, that''s enough ogling your statuses for now. Remember stats aren''t everything and experience can save or kill you. All pop up windows can only be seen by you since they are fueled by your unique aura. If you want to display your status to others, you need to use your status plate, but enough of that for now. Lets begin the lesson on auras.¡± ¡°All living things have auras. For those with activated auras, it passively acts as protection and increases the body''s ability to heal. For instance, say you got a paper cut from flipping the page. Aura will make the wound heal faster than you normally would regularly. Normally though, you wouldn''t even get scratches if you still had aura. Please remember that even if it protects you from minor harm, the sensation of pain is still there. We can also take this a step further. By purposefully sending more aura to body parts, we can enhance the protection to withstand more stress, while at the same time allowing that body part to perform even better than normal. This is common in combat when we protect ourselves when we get hit with something sharp. Although it is impossible to completely prevent our bodies from getting hurt, we can minimize the damage. Today I will be teaching you the most basic of aura enhancements. Mind- enhancements. By doing mind enhancements, you will be able to see things in slow motion, read faster, and react quicker. First I want you to watch the board.¡± Mrs. Kertenkela took a marker and then a blue aura enveloped her arms and eyes. Then, in an instant she completely filled the board with words and quickly erased it. = So fast! = ¡°Did any of you see what I just wrote?¡± All the students shook their heads. ¡°Of course not. With unenhanced minds, the most you could do was recognize I did something, and that was because you were specifically told to watch the board. In any other case, a normal person with inactivated auras would just see me standing still.¡± = Of course! That''s how she graded those tests so quickly. She used aura to enhance her ability to see and read. Aura is surprisingly practical. = Now to do this is easy. Simply remember the sensation of aura and focus it inside your head. Once there, send it into your eyes. Plain and simple. Everyone close your eyes and concentrate.¡± Robin closed his eyes, remembering the warm sensation filling his chest. Slowly he sent it to his head and then his eyes. ¡°Now open your eyes and see if you can read it this time.¡± Robin opened his eyes to see Mrs. Kertenkela once again writing extremely fast. However, this time was different. He was able to catch a glimpse of the board before she erased it. It was the same sentence over and over, making him wonder how he missed it the first time. ¡°Raise your hand if you can read this. Raise your hand if you can read this. Raise your hand if you can read this. Raise your hand if you can read this. Raise your hand if you can read this.¡± = Wow that WAS pretty simple. = Raising his hand, he was greeted with shocked faces from both the teacher and students. ¡°Hoho. Looks like we have a genius among us. Normally you would only be able to glimpse it after practicing for the entire period the first time. Since you seem to be able to do that already, just keep practicing with everyone else and try to get better at it. Same goes for anyone else that finishes early.¡± = God damn it I did it again! And I literally just promised myself I would keep a low profile. = With a sigh, Robin once again concentrated. Mrs. Kertenkela displayed a video of her doing the exercise from a projector to avoid the tedious repetition for the remainder of the time. Instead she began watching the students'' eyes. Trying to guess who was the next to surprise her today. After Robin, Blake and Adam rose their hands five minutes after the exercise started. After that, Conner and Ophelia. After them however, nobody had raised their hands until the very end of the period where one or two more were able to comprehend the writing. By that point, Robin had slowed down the instant to just very fast writing that lasted no more than a second, and his body was abnormally tired. Very pleased with the result, Mrs. Kertenkela spoke up. ¡°Very good, there are certainly more than I had expected to do it. I actually lied to you guys telling you people get this stuff within 15 minutes. If it was that simple, everyone would be able to fight Ursas.¡± This comment put Robin into a further conflicted mood, unable to decide whether he was happy things came so naturally or nervous that he stood out. At that moment a bell rung out signaling the end of the class period. -Ding-Dong__-Ding-Dong ¡°By using your aura you''ve already begun training your vitality. Every morning you will practice an hour of using your aura with me and by the time your Physical Training class starts, you''ll have fully rested.Your assignment for Aura class will be to be able to read the board by the end of the week. Dismissed.¡±
God that was embarrassing. Sorry about that guys. Tell me what you think. Next chapter I''ll show the rest of Team COBRA''s status plates and then we''ll get some real training going.(FINALLY). Ingro, Emperor-zero, your comments were deleted cause I re-posted so I''ll give you my thanks on my new one. Thanks for reading! Sorry about the inconvenience everyone! Chapter 7: Exhibitionist When I wrote this it was one chapter, but when I put in all the status plates, apparently it took too much space >.> So technically you guys get two chapters today. ========================================= Chapter 7: Exhibitionist (part 1) ========================================= Getting up from their seats the group gathered up around Blake. ¡°So where do we go now?¡± Conner spoke up. ¡°Well,¡± Ophelia placed her finger on her chin. ¡°it''s lunch time now, so lets go eat somewhere.¡± ¡°There''s always the cafeteria outside. Don''t most students eat there?¡± Robin asked. ¡°Don''t we have to pay though?¡± ¡°We''re four Conner. Nobody is gonna pay. Our parents do by helping out the hunting.¡± Adam retorted. ¡°Let go then.¡± Robin said. With a nod from everyone, the group headed out to the outdoor cafeteria. Getting in the line at the outdoor cafeteria, the group waited chatting idly while getting their food. ¡°School seems pretty fun so far don''t you think Blake?¡± Ophelia asked. ¡°Yeah, it''s really informative about how to use our skills. Plus the instructors seem really skilled. We can probably learn a lot from them.¡± Nodding his head, Adam agreed. ¡°Yeah, I thought it was so cool how Mrs. Kertenkela did all that in an instant. I can''t wait to see what kind of moves we''ll be able to do by the time we''ve learned everything.¡± Adam''s eye held a sparkle. ¡°I totally agree! Quick, efficient, and cool. I could learn so many different ways to prank people.¡± Conner joined Adam in his reverance with a slightly different reason. ¡°They look like a bunch of kids.¡± Robin murmured. ¡°That''s because they ARE kids Robin.¡± Blake retorted, apparently hearing Robin''s voice. The group grabbed their food and sat down at a round table. Blake sat next to Adam and Ophelia; Robin was next to Ophelia and Conner, and Conner was next to Adam. Conner, Adam, and Robin all got meat dishes while Blake got fish and Ophelia got a salad. ¡°So,¡± Ophelia said as she took a bite out of her vegetarian meal. ¡°since we got time to look at our status plates now. Lets share.¡± ¡°Eh? Isn''t it kinda personal? I''m not sure if I wanna do that.¡± Adam gave Conner and Robin = Oi why are you looking at me? = a skeptical look. Crossing her arms, her brown eyes stared into the soul of the red ones. ¡°We''re all friends here. There''s no reason for us to hold out on each other. Don''t tell me you''re still hung up on what happened earlier?¡± Adam''s eyes stared back with a defiant look, but finally looked away from the piercing pair of eyes. Smirking at her victory, a fang was exposed in Ophelia''s mouth. Meanwhile, in conflict over his pride, anger for losing, and logic, Adam weighed the pros and cons and then finally admitted, ¡°Fine. I''ll do it, but only if every else does it as well.¡± Nodding, Ophelia reached for her status plate, as did the others. With the sounds of the devices opening, five statuses were revealed on the table. Leaning forward, Robin scrutinized the other four.
-Blake Belladonna-
Race:Faunus (Cat)*
Class:Ninja
Level:1
Experience:0/10Semblance:Schrodinger
Health:50/50
Aura:75/100
Strength:1Dexterity:5(+1)
Agility:3Endurance:1
Vitality:11
Ninja
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your interests, you like keeping to the shadows and announcing your presence when it is convenient. As a ninja, you are able to mask your presence and move silently. As a result, you gain bonus Agility and your Agility is doubled when approaching unsuspecting targets. At night, all class-related bonuses are doubled. Thanks to your unique Semblance, a new set to skills are available to you. Current Bonuses: (+2) Way of the Ninja, Undetected Menace Current Skills: Identify, Hide Presence, Shadow Rush
Cat:As a member of the cat faunus, you are agile and have a keen sense of balance no matter what situation you''re in. Fall damage is reduced by 20% and your Dexterity is increased by 25%.
Current Dexterity: 5(+1)
Schrodinger (Active):When activated, you are able to create a second persona occupying the same space as yourself. You are able to separate from this persona unaffected by whatever external forces were being applied to it. The persona has physical substance allowing you to use your existing body as a platform to rapidly change directions. Personas fade away after separating from the main body. Cost (10 Aura/clone).
= A Ninja? I didn''t think she was interested in things like that. =
-Ophelia Zittori-
Race:Faunus (Snake)*
Class:Druid
Level:1
Experience:0/10Semblance:Miasma
Health:50/50
Aura:55/80
Strength:1Dexterity:1
Agility:3Endurance:1
Vitality:7Sadism:1
Druid
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. You value a person''s life more than you like to play with it. Thus, you have become able to use abilities that can affect the lives of others. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Current Bonuses: None Current Skills: Identify, Heal, Paralyze, Poison, Cure
Snake:As a member of the snake faunus, you are knowledgable about poison. This allows you to treat those afflicted by it and have a natural resistance towards it.
Current Bonus: (+30%) Poison Resistance
Miasma (Passive):Thanks to your personality, you secretly enjoy making people suffer, granting a unique stat ''Sadism''. In battle the stat is set to zero and climbs the longer you are in battle. The maximum it can reach is based on the stat. Sadism grants bonus damage.
Miasma (Active):When activated, you can create a cloud that can afflict your enemies with poison. The effects can change with the skills you are using in conjuction. Current Possible Combinations: Poison cloud, Paralyze cloud, Healing cloud Cost (10 Aura/sec).
= What kind of mix-up is this? A poisonous snake druid that is a sadist? That is the last person I would trust to heal me. = Sighing inwardly, he looked to the next one.
-Conner Dinkleberg-
Race:Faunus (Fox)*
Class:Jester
Level:1
Experience:0/10Semblance:Masquerade
Health:50/50
Aura:65/80
Strength:1Dexterity:5(+1)
Agility:5(+1)Endurance:1
Vitality:7Mockery:1
Number of creations:0
Jester
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you have become extremely prone to make a fool out of others for attention and acceptance. As a result, you are able to hide your intentions and create inventions trapping or affecting your enemies. As a prankster, you are able to learn skills to find such opportunities. Current Bonuses: Unique stat ''Mockery'' Current Skills: Identify, Invent, Lockpick, Hide Presence, Mock
Fox:As a member of the fox faunus, you are quick and agile. Additional 25% Dexterity and Agility.
Current Dexterity: 5(+1) Current Agility: 5(+1)
Masquerade (Active):Thanks to your experiences, you are able to disguise yourself and hide your true appearance. Activating this skill allows you to change into the appearance of anyone you imagine. Lasts 30 minutes Cost (20 Aura per transformation).
= ¡­ Somehow I''m not surprised. = And last was Adam.
-Adam Taurus-
Race:Faunus (Bull)*
Class:Samurai
Level:1
Experience:0/10Semblance:Iaido
Health:100/100
Aura:75/100
Strength:5(+1)Dexterity:1
Agility:1Endurance:5(+1)
Vitality:11Exhibitionist:1
Samurai
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. You value your honor and pride, as well as admire the sleek image of katanas. As a samurai, you are able to quickly master the sword and receive benefits from using it as your main weapon. Current Bonuses: None Current Skills: Identify
Bull:As a member of the bull faunus, you enjoy making a display of strength and endurance. You receive increase of 25% in both stats.
Current Strength: 5(+1) Current Endurance: 5(+1)
Iaido (Passive):Thanks to your personality, you love to make a show of your skills. Thus you''ve been granted the unique stat, ''Exhibitionist''. At the start of every battle you start off with zero E-stacks. As you do more exciting and cool moves, more E-stacks pile up and granting you more damage. Maximum of 10 E-stacks possible. The power increased per stack corresponds to Exhibitionist stat. Stat can be trained by continuously showing off.
Iaido (Active):When activated, your next attack, consisting of drawing your weapon, attacking once, and resheathing it, will triple in power. In return, the rest of your Aura is diminished. Cost (Remainder of Aura).
Yo I''ve been thinking about their setup for some time. I had a stroke of genius to add that unique stat. CLick the link to read the rest of the chapter. Tell what you guys think. Example of Blake''s Semblance Creator: Monty Oum Chapter 8: Exhibitionist part 2 =================================== Chapter 8: Exhibitionist part 2 =================================== ¡°Pft¡± ¡°Hi-¡± Stifling their laughter, the group looked at Adam with a mixture of pity and mocking stares. Conner had the latter and failed to hold in his laughter. ¡°HAHAHA! Exhibitionist! What kind of stat is that! HAHAHA! Oh my sides are killing me--OOF¡± With a thud, Conner fell onto the floor. ¡°If your sides hurt so much, I guess it wouldn''t make a difference if I kicked it now would it.¡± Adam was livid and would''ve been intimidating if it weren''t for the intense blush across his face. Wiping her tears, Ophelia also commented. ¡°Haha! Gosh, now we definitely know what to call you by when we need you. Won''t we Mr. Samurai Exhibitionist?¡± Adam''s face turned a shade redder. ¡°Oi speaking of names, your middle name should be Irony, Ophelia. Who ever heard of a snake being a druid?¡± ¡°That''s pretty funny Conner, but unlike you I like to help people more than hurt them. On the other hand, your class seems to fit you perfectly.¡± = No I think the problem here is the fact you like hurting at all. = Robin shook his head and turned to Blake. ¡°Blake, you''re a ninja? Do you perhaps like reading ninja novels?¡± Blushing slightly, Blake answered ¡°Yeah I''m kinda a fan. I found a section filled with it in the library, and I kinda got hooked on it. It''s kinda embarassing having it found out this way. Although this one novel I''m currently reading isn''t that interesting. It''s called Gay-ruto. It follows some guy that chases after his friend Sasu-gay. The heroine isn''t even noticeable, so much I''ve already forgotten her name. Furthermore, the entire series could be condensed into a single book, but the author deliberately extends it to milk more money. It so frustrating because I''ve followed it for so long and it''s getting NOWHERE.....*huff*huff*¡± Surprising everyone, Blake had started ranting. Running out of breath, she stopped and calmed down. ¡°But I think out of everyone here, yours is the most powerful Robin.¡± Ophelia and Conner nodded, while Adam had a sour look on his face. ¡°I don''t think it''s that special. Remember what Mrs. Kertenkela said. Stats don''t mean everything. Experience and knowledge does.¡± ¡°...right. They aren''t everything.¡± Adam started murmuring in a voice too low to be heard by anyone. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°..!! Ah we need to finish our food! We spent too much time talking and now lunch is almost over.¡± Hurrying to finish their food, the group devoured the last of their meal just in time for the bell to ring. Getting up and disposing of their trash, they went back into the building. Leaving for their separate classes, they dispersed and went their own ways. Upon entering history class, he found himself with the antler woman from the morning examination for the teacher, and a class full of six to seven year old. ¡°Welcome, have a seat. Now class for those who don''t already know me my name is Elizabeth Gera. You will all refer to me as Mrs. Gera. With that lets start the lesson.¡± History was refreshing. Because he went all out in the exam, the class was pretty interesting and taught him some new stuff. The same was for Mechanics. They went over the basics of electricity and gave a relatively simple assignment of finding 10 sources of technology. Math and English, however, was indescribably boring since the teachers had put nothing more difficult than 7th grade math, and he was an ''A'' sophomore student as Robin Cunningham. He thanked the fact that the world of Remnant''s universal language was English while cursing the boring years to come. His mind began to wander, and Robin started rethinking his situation. = ...Even though I don''t like being the center of attention, I''ve already been marked as a genius by my classmates and teacher. Do I really have to lay low for no reason? Isn''t that something the old me would do? ¡­ On one hand, it means more trouble; on the other hand, I would actually be changing myself and I won''t have to spend my days sleeping off in these classes. = Before Robin reached a decision, the bell rung signaling the end of math class. It was time for Personal Training.
I did some research into comedy. What did you guys think? I tried to add in moments to lighten the mood. Now I have to go research clothing, cuz other than shirt, dress, pants, and jeans, I am clueless >.> A battle system is really time-consuming and now I realize just how much time it takes to come up with this stuff. Comment what you like about it, what you hate. What made you cringe or laugh. Next chapter we talk about Grimm. See you in a few days :D Chapter 9: Personal Training ======================================= Chapter: 9 Personal Training ======================================= With the sound of the bell, Robin proceeded to the last period of the day: Personal Training. According to the schedule they were supposed to meet in another building. Stepping outside, Robin walked across the street and entered the gymnasium. In there he found the group gathered on the bleachers.
Your pack has increased by 4.
Current Strength: 9
= Sweet, that''s a huge increase. = ¡°Hey guys.¡± The group smiled and exchanged pleasantries. ¡°So who''s our teacher for this class?¡±, Conner asked. Ophelia pondered a bit before answering. ¡°If I remember correctly it should be someone named Braun. Do any of you know who that is?¡± Everyone shook their head. At that moment, a tall man entered the gymnasium. He had a green sweatsuit on and wore thick, brown boots. The most noticeable feature was the fur that covered most of his skin-- or at least the skin visible. ¡°I am Altair Braun. I am a bear faunus.¡± =... God he must be hairy. = ¡°From this moment on, you will refer to me as Instructor Browning. As your Physical Training instructor, it is my duty to teach you the basics of survival and train you on how to fight, no matter how you intend to. First things first, you guys need to line up and hold out your status plates. I need to keep track of how well you''re training.¡± The students lined up and Instructor Braun took down notes about each student. Upon looking at Robin''s status he visibly flinched, then quickly took his stern visage again. ¡°Alright kids, line up. We''re running laps around the village. Robin will move ahead of us so he won''t get the pack bonus under any means. This''ll make training you easier. Alright look alive. We''ll start off nice and slow.¡± They started the light jog around the village. Just like he said, Robin began first. As he was jogging, Robin pondered about the conditions of his pack passive. = The definition of a pack was very vague. Is it based on my understanding? If so, then that would include those I consider friendly and physically close to me at the moment. I should test this out. It would be good reference in the future. = Robin began going slower to let the distance close between him and the group. Even though he got closer, no message popped up. When he checked his status, he noticed that in reality his strength did not go down after separating from the group. His actions also did not go unnoticed; it qualified him for a reprimand from Instructor Braun. ¡°ROBIN! Pick up the pace or I will pick YOU up with my boot!¡± Robin quickly sped up and returned to the original distance and pondered as they continued jogging. ¡°If it didn''t change, does it mean my pack must be connected spiritually only? But that wouldn''t make sense based on the definition of a pack. There''s no merit to having a pack connected spiritually but not near each other physically. Does that mean they aren''t far enough yet? Hm.. in a hunt, the wolves separate and surround their targets. In this case, we''ve separated but are still doing the same thing. So I guess I would have to accept them both as a party and be traveling together to receive a bonus. Otherwise, I would have a bonus of over 30 if it was based on just the people present here.¡± Satisfied with his answer, he once again concentrated on exercising. His breath was getting more and more rapid, and the group hadn''t even made it to the halfway point yet. As the jog continued, more kids got tired and started slowing down. Instructor Braun gave them a look and they sped back up. When they finally made it, everyone collapsed on the ground. Still outside, the kids laid sprawled across the dirt and grass panting, huffing, and puffing. Desperately trying to control his breathing, Robin began to realize just how out of shape he was. Ever since being born into Remnant, Robin was relatively docile. He enjoyed being loved by his family again, and since a one year old reading a book was more normal than running around and physically training, Robin never really thought it was necessary to spend an enormous amount of time exercising. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. = Damn. I never thought about it, but I really should have done some exercise. I always knew that I needed to train to fight, but I never took the first step to train myself. From the looks of it, everyone else did the same thing. I''m glad I realized this mistake so early on. = *Ding*
Endurance +1 Agility +1
= Oh yeah, that was exercise right? So I increased it just like that? = Instructor Braun was looking over all the students. After two minutes of rest he gave his instructions. ¡°Since your legs seem to be tired lets move to your arms. Twenty push-ups from all of you right now.¡± Everyone started the exercise. Thanks to their rest, they quickly finished the required set. At that time another message popped up.
Strength +1
During that time, Instructor Braun had set up two thin beams held 3 feet off the ground. Next to each of them were steps leading up to them. ¡°After exercising for longer period of time, you''ll increase your endurance and strength naturally. Now we''ll practice your sense of balance. Cross from one side of the beam to the other in under 15 seconds. Those who fall off walk to the other side. GO!¡± Blake and Conner crossed the beam no problem. Adam was a bit unsteady and Ophelia was a bit slow, but they got across nevertheless. Robin went slowly and took too long, so he had to jump off and walk to the other side. Nevertheless a message popped up.
Dexterity +1
Past the beams, cones were lined up. ¡°Now we''ll practice your weaving. Zigzag through all the cones and rest once you reach the end.¡± Weaving was not a problem for most of the students. It was the quickest exercise to finish.
Dexterity +1
¡°Good. That was the entire course. Now for rest of the next hour, we will repeat this over and over. First, jog around the village. Then rest. Then do ten push-ups and cross the beams. Then zigzag through the cones. I will set up drinks for you to grab once you sit down to rest. GO!¡± And just like that, the students took off. The long hour of running, weaving, and resting took more time as they did more laps. The huge group that used to be a single entity had stretched out with Adam at the very front, Robin and Blake not so far behind, and Conner and Ophelia behind them. As he was exercising, Robin ignored the messages. He would look at how much he improved at the end of the day. After the fourth lap, the Instructor called them into the gymnasium. The gymnasium had a court inside with bleachers to the side just like when they had came in at the beginning of the class. Now, halfway down the middle of the court but at the edges were two machines that had a metal tube at the bottom, pointing at both sides of the court. The instructor turned around. ¡°Let''s play dodgeball.¡±
Hey there good news! Double update! Bad news! I''ll tell you later. I did a minor name change of the PT teacher. Browning >> Braun I thought it sounded cooler and they both mean brown. Btw Altair means bear. Chapter 10: Dodgeball ======================================= Chapter 10: Dodgeball ======================================= ¡°These two machines,¡± Instructor Braun explained, ¡°will shoot and distribute balls a side of the court randomly. After training your endurance, strength, agility, and balance, here we will train dexterity in a game of dodgeball.¡± All the kids'' eyes lit up. Dodgeball was extremely fun. In addition, they were faunus, so many had a natural tendency for violence. Of course there were exceptions. ¡°But this won''t be any game of dodgeball. Instead of two teams, there will be three. Black, white, and grey. The black and white teams will be on both sides, grabbing balls that they can find and throwing them at the gray team. The gray team will be in the middle of the court. They are forbidden to throw any balls. The gray team''s job will be to gather balls that roll in your territory-- or catch them, whichever you prefer ¨C and put them back into the machine. All players will have 50 points to start off with. For the gray team, every time you catch a ball, you gain a point. Every time you get hit, you lose a point. Every time you put a ball into the machine, you gain a point. For the black and white players you start with ten points. Every hit, you receive a point; every caught ball, you lose two points. Every time you get hit by a ball thrown by someone else, you lose a point. After ten minutes, you will have a final score that I will keep track of. Everyone who hits zero will have to do push-ups. Then teams will rotate. Gray to black, black to white, and white to gray. Then we''ll start a new game and scores will reset. Grab your ribbons and get to your sides.¡± At this point, he went around splitting the students into the three groups by handing a colored ribbon to tie around their head. Blake and Adam were on the black side. Robin was on the grey. Ophelia and Conner was on the white. = Great. So I''m gonna be bombarded with balls. Fantastic. Welp. At least I have my semblance, dodging shouldn''t be too hard. = He was completely wrong. Even though his Bloodlust passive gave him a tingly feeling in the area that was gonna be hit, reacting to it was difficult. Robin would dash farther than he needed to or not move far enough because he was too slow, making him get hit. Furthermore, the balls came from both sides; it was 20 vs 10. He needed to keep an eye on both areas. Catching a ball was out of the question. Unless he caught it instantly without preparation, the other side would aim right at him when his back was turned. Just like this every student in the gray team got pummeled with foam balls. Naturally, they were engrossed by the game itself to keep track of their score, but the instructor''s eyes darted back and forth and continuously kept tallies on his clipboard. But it wasn''t all bad. Robin began reacting quicker and began being more cautious. At first he relied purely on his semblance, but he quickly realized that wasn''t enough. Just because you can feel it coming, didn''t mean you could dodge everything. Robin calmed down and began paying attention to both sides. He began dodging in smaller, efficient movements, and reacting quicker. Also, the balls themselves began to become more accurate as the students got more practice with the ball, making the game more difficult and interesting. Then a shout suddenly got his attention. ¡°Hey!¡± It was Adam and Blake. Blake held two balls while Adam had one in his hand and the other hand behind his back. On the white team, Conner and Ophelia also walked up with two balls each. = Oh great, so it''s 1v4 huh? = ¡°Bring it on.¡± The group smirked and 4 balls flew at once from 4 different directions. All of them aiming at his limbs. Robin quickly jumped sideways, but was greeted by two more balls coming from Ophelia and Blake. Stretching out his hands, he caught each of the balls. At this moment, Conner threw his remaining ball at Robin''s legs. Robin jumped up smiling at his victory. But then, a tingling sensation turned his attention to Adam. A huge amount of bloodlust came from his body. Turning his head, he saw Adam had hidden a ball behind his back. With a full power throw, Adam chucked it straight at his head. = Shit! Gotta....move! = In that moment time slowed down, and Robin tilted back into a back-flip midair. As he was flipping, the ball skimmed centimeters before his face before flying past and smacking Conner dead on and floored him. Completing his back-flip, Robin landed on his feet. = ... That was totally awesome! Oh wait Conner! = Robin turned to see Conner clutching his nose. Holding his nose, Conner screeched at Adam. ¡°OW! Are you trying to kill me? Look, my nose is..huh? It''s not bleeding?¡± ¡°Of course not Dinkleberg. Your aura protects you remember?¡± With the sound of the whistle, the match ended. ¡°Switch!¡± The teams were shuffled and the match began again. After the third round, Instructor Braun gave the punishment. Apparently, everyone that participated on the gray team had zero points. This made sure that everyone had to do the ten push-ups. After the punishment and drinking up to satisfy their thirst, he rolled out a long table with a whit cloth over it. ¡°Listen up, now we''re gonna begin the last part of the training section: training your form. What I have here--¡± He lifted the cloth, revealing a bunch of wooden sticks ¡°-- are wooden replicas of weapons. Now you will all choose a weapon to start training. You might like to use more than one weapon. That''s completely fine, but for now I want you to choose something to start off with. After you''ve learned the basics, I''ll let you learn more weapons. ¡± Robin was unsure. He never really was interested in weapons in particular. He only fawned over the drawings and animation in anime or manga. Then he remembered his class. = Screw it, why don''t I just learn everything I feel like learning. I guess the ones I want to learn are two-handed sword, dual sword, axe, and dagger. First I''ll start off with one sword. = Robin grabbed a sword replica. He then glanced at the others. Adam had chosen a katana replica, while Blake also chose a single sword. Conner chose two daggers, and Ophelia chose a naginata, which was a long handle like a spear with a blade attached to it. ¡°Spread out and start swinging. I''ll come by each of you and correct your postures.¡± And so practice began. Each of them found a secluded spot in the giant gymnasium, and began swinging. By the end of the day, Robin had learned how to slash, pierce, and counter. At this point, a message popped up.
Acquired Sword Combat (+5)
Whenever you equip a sword, you receive a bonus increase in Strength. Other weapon bonus are lost with the exception of Hand-to-Hand Combat. Upon mastery of the sword, ''Sword Combat'' becomes ''Sword Mastery'' and bonus is doubled.
The period was nearing the end, and the instructor gathered them. ¡°Today I''ve trained you in various ways. What do you think is the most important stat in battle?¡± ¡°Strength?¡± Adam questioned. ¡°No, it''s Dexterity and Agility. When you are in a fight, a hit that cannot connect, cannot kill. Today I''ve heavily concentrated on training your ability to react to threats, because someone who dodges and runs away is better off than a slow person that constantly gets hurt. Of course, training your strength isn''t a bad thing, but your life is more precious than the enemy''s. Remember that.¡± Everyone nodded. ¡°Good, now for me to bring up another thing. I bet you guys didn''t even realize you were training your aura this entire time now did you?¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. They were shocked. Glancing in the corner of his eye, Robin found his aura had definitely depleted. Before training, he had already recovered to full. ¡°After activating your aura, you have been constantly using it. Of course, normally this wouldn''t decrease the value by even one point, but you were constantly using it all day: from training your mind, pushing your body to the limit, and playing that dodgeball game. During that dodgeball game, all of you subconsciously applied aura to your body parts and made yourselves move faster, dodge quicker, and throw harder. This is what we want. We call this the threshold of normality. As your body gets stronger, you will be able to apply more aura naturally and comprehend things faster or slower. For example, when you hold a glass cup, you unconsciously will take away some aura to decrease the chance of crushing it with you hand. In another instance, you will see something fast and your eyes will follow it. While concentrating, you will apply aura to comprehend things faster.¡± --Ding--Dong-----Ding--Dong ¡°In the morning, you practice using your aura consciously. Here, you''ll practice applying them as a habit and in combat. Tomorrow we shall focus on your strength. Wednesday shall be agility. Thursday shall be endurance. Friday shall be dexterity and vitality. You may keep the weapons and practice at home. Dismissed!¡± Robin said his goodbyes and left for home. Along the way, he had already come to a conclusion about his earlier debate. = Screw laying low. This world is too much fun to just sit back and watch like last time. I''ll go all out to improve myself, and having the village know I''m a genius isn''t that bad. I get complimented unlike before. But there''s no need to show off to strangers. Friends ok. Strangers no way. = Walking into his home he opened the door. ¡°I''m back!¡± ¡°Welcome home Robin.¡± His father was sitting on the couch watching the T.V. ¡°Where''s mom?¡± ¡°Your mother off with the hunting group. It''s her turn today, but she''ll be back soon so just wash up and rest till it''s time to eat.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± Despite using the river to wash up in the morning, that was just for the sake of saving energy. All the trailers had showers and used filters to clean and recycle the water. Furthermore, a lot of the appliances inside the house ran off of the world''s advanced solar energy technology. As he was relaxing in the shower, Robin once again appreciated the new life he was given. = God I love Remnant. My family loves me. I have great friends..well Adam''s an ass but a friend. It''s like a video game and technology is way advanced. It makes me wonder why nomads even exist if the kingdom has even better living conditions.... Oh yeah! What''s my status? =
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:1
Experience:8/10Semblance:Bloodlust
Health:70/70
Aura:100/170
Strength:14(+7)Dexterity:9
Agility:7Endurance:5
Vitality:25
Mercenary
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+2) Hand-to-Hand Combat, (+5 Inactive) Sword Combat Current Skills: Identify, Enhance
Wolf:As a member of the wolf faunus, you fight stronger in a pack. The more members in your pack the stronger you are. Your strength increases +1 per member.
Current strength: 14(+5)
= Sweet. My first step towards becoming stronger...Hm. It seems I still get the Hand-to-Hand Combat bonus even though I use weapons. Speaking of which, I should learn how to fight bare handed just in case, but I already started with the sword. Who could I ask to teach me? = Pondering, Robin cleaned himself up, and as he was dressing, he remembered the words from that morning. Robin threw the dirty clothes into the laundry pile and walked towards the living room. ¡°Hey dad. Can I ask for a favor?¡± ¡°Sure thing son. What do you need?¡± Joseph looked over from the T.V. ¡°I wanna learn how to fight bare-handed, but I already started practicing with a sword first. Can you teach me?¡± Nodding, he smiled at his son while saying, ¡°Of course, I did that when I was younger too. It''s a perfect way to efficiently use your time. How about this? You''ve already taken a shower now, but from now on we''ll do our own little practice session after school. Yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah sounds perfect!¡± At that moment, Christina came home. She was wearing a metal armor covering most of her body. On the armor there were patches of white fur on the shoulder and legs. In her hands were thin, blue, twin swords with a white Dust crystal in the middle of the handles. ¡°I''m back. Oh Robin, did you have fun at school?¡± ¡°Yep! I was just asking dad to teach me how to fight.¡± ¡°That''s great honey. I''m gonna go wash up and I''ll cook up dinner alright? Tell me all about it later.¡± ¡°Ok!¡± Just like that, Robin spent another day enjoying his new chance given to him. He thought everything was perfect and wouldn''t ever change. This world was different, he thought. Nobody he knew was there, he thought. Oh how wrong he was.
Hey guys! Good news and bad news. Bad news is I''m gone for weekend so no updates Friday and Saturday. I''m also pushing away the Grimm explanation yet again (Sorry) for two chapters. Good news is Double update! And tomorrow I''m gonna post another chapter. Other good news (or bad news), I''ve put Reah back into the story for next chapter, so thanks to Aeon-Supreme for giving me the idea. Let me know what you guys think. Rate it, Comment on it, tell me what you found stupid or incredibly awesome or even if it''s unimpressive. Anything helps. Thanks. See you guys soon. Side note: It broke 800 average views! Like What! Totally didn''t expect that. Thank you guys for reading my story :) Chapter 11: What I lost ======================================= Chapter 11: What I lost ======================================= Reah grew up in a very logical world. If you do this, you''ll be rewarded. If you do that, you''ll be punished. In her eyes, that was the logic of this world. Everything had an order. The strong bullied the weak. The weak get hurt. When people get hurt, turn your cheek. What''s their business isn''t yours. Cold and methodical. That was how she survived. Because it was shunned on, she didn''t show off. Because people like nice beauties, she studied fashion and smiled. It just so happened that Robin was someone she smiled to. At the time, there was nothing between them. No bet, no relationship. She just smiled and did her thing. If anything, she pinned him as someone not worrying about and left it at that. Then in one of their social gatherings, he did something as grand as confess his obsession with anime and video games. ¡°What an idiot.¡± she thought. Didn''t he know people like them were shunned? Does he want to kill himself? If he said nothing, he could live in the dark, but now he was be the honorary butt of all jokes. The world had an order, and he was at the bottom of it. Then her ''friends'' brought it up. ¡°Hey Reah, I bet you can get that loser to fall for you.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°No way Liss.¡± Carl said. He was Reah''s boyfriend at the time. The public saw them as an item, so an item they were. ¡°That guy''s too timid. There''s no way he''ll confess.¡± = That''s all you have to say about your girlfriend flirting with another guy? = But in reality, Reah already expected that kind of attitude. All of her relationships were like that. Reah couldn''t just ignore this though. They were questioning her beauty. If she backed down at this point, she would be destroying the image she worked so hard for. ¡°Oh yeah? I think I can do it. By the end of next year, I''ll get him to confess.¡± ¡°No way.¡± ¡°20 bucks each says yeah way.¡± ¡°You''re on.¡± And so Reah began building yet another ''relationship''. Every morning she would greet him. Grabbing his attention little by little, but nothing happened for an entire year. = God damn it! He''s too timid! At this rate my image will be up in smoke. = She doubled her efforts, and then he finally confessed in the middle of their second year. She was shocked. He had done something as lame as writing a letter. = How shy is this kid? Even during his confession, he couldn''t even tell his feelings to my face. What a loser! = She shared it with the class. Watching his reaction was so funny she couldn''t help laughing-- because he was just gonna take it and cry about it-- because he was too shy to do anything about it. She was dead wrong. Robin screamed in rebellion and grabbed her. Reah shrieked. The suddenness of his assault was completely unexpected. He was just supposed to be a shy kid with balls the size of a marble. ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Lisa said. They were in the classroom after Robin''s unconscious body was carried to the infirmary. ¡°We can all vouch for you. He definitely attacked first. You''ll be fine.¡± = Right. I''m at the top. He''s at the bottom. There''s no way he can touch me. = Then, both parties'' parents had arrived. Her own confirmed her safety while Robin''s had disdainful looks. ¡°I can''t believe he would sink so low.¡± Robin''s mother said. ¡°Doesn''t he know whose family he''s representing?¡± Robin''s father said. = Heh. Even his family doesn''t love him. There''s no way he''ll touch me. = But the next thing they saw changed everything. Robin was hanging from the ceiling fan. A belt wrapped around his neck and was tightly fastened. His arms were limp and his face purple. Robin''s eyes were still open but dead; a trail of tears could be seen on his cheeks. Her parents screamed. Robin''s mother fainted. His dad just stood there taking in the image of his deceased son with wide eyes, not quite registering the reality. Reah immediately made a bee line for the toilet. ¡°Bleeaagu¡±, vomiting into the toilet, Robin''s image was forever imprinted in her mind. What happened after that was a blur to her. They had gone to court and lost to the Cunninghams. Apparently, despite their coldness, Robin was still their first born. The mother was devastated to see the first child she held in her arms to be nothing more than a cold corpse. She sobbed the entire trial. The father misdirected his guilt for driving his own son to death at Reah''s family. As a lawyer, he got every accusation. The so-called friends that promised to have her back had confessed her actions of revealing the letter. They said nothing about themselves being involved. She was left to rot by the same system that kept her safe for so long. Reah looked up at the bathroom mirror. Days had past since the trial. Her former beauty was nowhere to be seen. She had bags under her eyes. The usual tanned skin had turned pale from staying indoors. Her usual wavy, blonde hair was tangled and messy. She looked like a complete mess. In the corner of her eyes, a thin figure made her gasp in surprise. It was Robin, in the very same clothes that day she last saw him. Out of his mouth came the last words she heard from him. ¡°You monster.¡± *CRASH* Reah threw the cup that held her toothbrush at the mirror, breaking it and sending fragments all over the bathroom. ¡°I''M NOT A MONSTER! I''M ONE OF THE TOP BEAUTIES! I TOOK THE EFFORT TO STAND AT THE TOP! TO BE THE BEST! SO I WOULDN''T BE LIKE YOU!! ISN''T THAT HOW THE WORLD WORKS?! I''M NOT WRONG!!¡± As she ranted at the phantom, she leaned against the wall and slowly slid down onto the floor, her voice getting smaller and smaller. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°.. I''m not wrong.¡± Her parents had ran up the stairs to see what the commotion about. Her mother, upon seeing her daughter in such a miserable state had no clue what to say. It had never happened before. Her father untactfully yelled. ¡°My god Reah! Get a grip over yourself! You''ve need to stand up. You''re not so weak tha--¡± ¡°I''M NOT WEAK!!!¡± she screeched. Her parents froze up. She immediately went back to bawling into her lap, whispering to herself. The weak loses to the strong, she wasn''t wrong, he was. Yeah, he was the outlier. He messed everything up, but outliers are one in a few. As long as she stood up and ignored this, it would all go away. Just like every other time. Yeah. This scene repeated itself many times over the weekend. Whenever she did anything, his face popped up. When she went to sleep, the image of his dead body flashed across her mind. After the long suffering, she went back to school. They would accept her, she thought. It was the place that was proof she did the right thing. But reality isn''t so happy. Outliers might be few in number, but the effect they leave behind is truly outrageous. By the time she went back, rumors had already spread. Reah''s no longer rich. Reah''s figure is terrible. Missing those few days last week started rumors everywhere. Reah''s appearance didn''t help. Although she could fix her hair and somewhat cover her face with makeup, anyone could see she just wasn''t the same. ¡°Hey Reah.¡± It was Carl Simpson, her boyfriend...or he was, but in his arms was her best friend Lisa. ¡°Morning Carl, Lisa.. why are you?¡± ¡°Because we''re going out now.¡± Reah was speechless, her mouth open wide with no sound coming out. ¡°What do you mean? I''m the one ranked number 1. I''m supposed to be going out with you.¡± ¡°Things have changed.¡± Carl coldly announced. Everyone''s eyes were on them. ¡°You''re no longer the beauty you once were. Plus, we don''t really want to get involved in whatever punishment you have now. We don''t want to be condemned as murderers. You understand right?¡± Tears started forming, she couldn''t believe it. Her sanctuary, her image, all her work gone. Turning around, she started to run. It was over, the one place she had left was gone. = It''s over, everything''s gone. Everything I worked so hard to gain. It''s all gone. Just like Robin, gone forever. Oh god, is this your revenge? I''m so sorry Robin. I''m so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn''t know I hurt you so much. I''m so sorry.¡± She ran and ran. Tears blurring her vision. Somewhere along the way, she had dropped her bag, but that was the least of her worries. ¡°I don''t want this kind of life. If I left you alone, could I have kept my life? Why? Didn''t I follow the rules? Didn''t you follow the rules? I was the beauty. You were the joker. What went wrong? The roles are clear, so isn''t everything supposed to fit? Why? Why did you have to kill yourself?¡± Running out of breath, she slowed down to a walk. ¡°...Did you hate your life? Did you maybe wanted to be like me? To be liked, to joke, to laugh instead of being laughed at? Oh god, I''m so sorry Robin. Please forgive me. I''m so sorry.¡± Holding her hands to her face, she cried a long time. Whispering-- murmuring to the person that was no longer there. At that moment, a car ran around the corner. It was going way too fast and she was still in the middle of the road just holding herself, crying. Looking up at the vehicle, Reah couldn''t even react to it. She had been running for so long. Strangely enough, she never felt the need to get out of the way. ¡°Ah..¡± Just like that, her body collided with the vehicle. Her body doing somersaults in the air before landing with a splat on the ground. Reah died 9:34 in the morning. -------------------------------------------------- At that time, an middle-aged man was making his way through an enemy hideout. The only thing was, there were no enemies. It was a completely abandoned base. The man wore a black trench-coat with a gray scarf wrapped around his neck. His spiky silver hair stood up as he moved his eyes, watchful of any sounds and movement. At that moment, a wail could be heard. The man pulled out a mass of metal colored green and silver from behind his back. At a push of a button, the mass of metal extended and transformed into a long scythe. Approaching the room containing the source of the noise, he activated his Detect skill to see if there were lifeforms or traps in the vicinity. What he saw shocked him. There was only one existence, small enough to hold in his arms. He put away his weapon and rushed to the baby. It was wrapped up in a cloth, but was left all alone in the hideout. ¡°I can''t believe it..This is without a mistake HER daughter, but to leave her here..¡± The baby starting crying more intensely, as if it went through a lot a pain. Picking it up, the man named Qrow started rocking it to and fro. ¡°Shhh..¡± Gradually, the baby calmed down and fell asleep. The man looked around to check if there was really nobody else. Satisfied he was alone he used the skill identify. ¡°... unbelievable. No worries child, I''ll take care of you. I''ll make sure of it.¡± He walked out of the room and left the hideout. ¡°I''ll raised you like my own child, Reah.¡±
I was gonna do work, but nah. Dialogue filled my head, so I typed it out. Alright this means no update tomorrow, but hey. more for you guys right? So tell me what you think. How well did I portray Reah? Your thoughts? Questions? Next chapter we go back to Robin. Chapter 12: What I gained ======================================= Chapter 12: What I Gained ======================================= On the first day, Reah panicked. After the car crash, she had found herself in a dark room all alone. She had a sudden urge to cry. When she did, a middle-aged man entered the room and turned on the light. She was carried in his arms and lulled to sleep by his voice, whispering to calm her down. Upon waking up the second time, she had thought things through to some extent. This was thanks to her logical mindset in her past life. = This isn''t hell.= she thought. = I haven''t been forsaken yet. = Thinking to get up and find her way home, she tried to move and realized her body would not move the way she wanted. She was back as a baby, reborn anew. = Oh fuck no. = She had reincarnated didn''t she. Her death was still fresh in her mind. Robin''s was just as fresh, and now she''s transformed into a baby again. She understood, but at the same time was confused. This was not logical, but it made the most sense out of everything else. All she could do was wait and see. The old man came back every morning to change her diaper and feed her. He spent a lot of effort to make sure she had everything she needed. When they went to bed, she would listen to his stories and found out that she had not reincarnated as a baby on Earth, but a world called Remnant. He spoke of heroes and warriors fighting the evils that were the creatures of Grimm. Does this mean she would get a new chance to live her life? Had Robin forgiven her? As if, but she didn''t know that. Every night, she would go to sleep, and every night, Robin would appear. First he was smiling at her. Then, he was hanging there on the ceiling fan as a corpse. His final words whispering into her ear. ¡°You monster.¡± = I''m sorry, Robin. I''m so sorry. Please forgive me. I''m so sorry. I''m sorry. I''m sorry. = Stricken with fear, her childish body had frequently started crying in the middle of the night. The man would rush into the room and quietly hold her and comfort her to sleep. The soothing voice calmed her down and sent her to sleep. As time past, she forced herself to face reality. Robin was dead, gone forever from her life. The ghost of her nightmares was nothing more than a nightmare. However, she was not in denial. She was perfectly aware these nightmares were a result of her guilty conscience, but she was at a lost. The one man who could possibly give her a sense of closure was not there. So how could she possibly find it in her to forgive herself for murdering him? How could she know that he would forgive her? The only thing she could do was remember his last words. In order to maintain her sanity, she turned her attention towards her new home. It was small home outside of the kingdom. There were two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Rather than calling it a home, it was more like a secret hideout. Two years had past since her transition inside the body. Currently, she was now three years old. When she walked around and looked outside, there was no other houses nearby. The home was in the middle of a clearing of some forest south of the kingdom of Vale. The only other person who lived there was the man that took care of her. Apparently, his name was Qrow Xiao Long. He was gentle and doted on her. Whenever she had a question, he answered to the best of his ability. The only thing he always avoided was... ¡°Uncle Qrow, where is mom and dad?¡± His facial expression stiffen slightly, but immediately returned to his normal facial expression. As expected of a professional Huntsman. Unfortunately, Reah had repeated this conversation more than enough times to notice this little detail. ¡°It''s too early for you to know right now, Reah; you wouldn''t understand. When you get older, I''ll tell you.¡± Qrow waved off the topic, but Reah was determined to get the answer. Information was precious; in her past life, she literally lived off of rumors. ¡°Uncle Qrow you always say that. I do understand, and I want to know why is it I''m living here all alone with you.¡± Qrow stood up and hushed her. Before he could get to the front door, Reach blocked the path. Sometimes, he would leave and not come back until the end of the day. Whatever it was he did, it took all day. Today, she would get answers. ¡°Uncle Qrow, I understand that my mother and father are not like normal parents in those stories. Our family can''t possibly be normal if you hide me from the world like this. Please tell me.¡± Reah looked up at his face. Qrow looked deep into these red eyes and observed her short, wavy black hair flowing back and forth as she moved. He was baffled as to why a child would have such a deep understanding. Despite his confusion, he could see in her eyes an unrelenting spirit. He sighed. ¡°I knew you were gonna have to know sooner or later, but I wanted you to forget it for as long as possible.¡± ¡°Uncle Qrow, keeping me all alone in a forest isn''t something to do to keep me from figuring out you''re not hiding something.¡± ¡°...I suppose you''re right. Come sit down if you''re that determined. I must warn you. This will hurt you more than you think.¡± They sat at the dinner table. Reah stared at him, and he stared at her back. After a couple of seconds, he began. ¡°You know from the stories about the four kingdoms where the heroes fight the creatures of Grimm to protect their land right?¡± Reah nodded. ¡°Well the four kingdoms know for a fact that no person can live forever, and these heroes were talents that would become legends. However, even after their passing, the kingdoms needed military might in order to oppose the Grimm. You are familiar with the fact that Dust is extremely important yes? Well, that''s not the only thing. Aura is also important. All the living beings had auras and are natural enemies of the Grimm. If trained and used correctly, humans could fight and defeat the Grimm. Thus, the government in each the four kingdoms seeked the knowledge of Aura-- or more specifically, how to replicate it. The more aura one has, the stronger you are naturally. Understanding this, the kingdoms started three projects: Project A, Project G, and Project D. They stand for Aura, Dust, and Grimm. The one related to you is Project A. They started starting experiments to investigate aura and how to use it. This boosted the development of our modern day weapons which are conduits for aura and can use Dust. One of the main ways they used to study aura was to make use of a living being to be a living supply source for experiments. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Naturally, they couldn''t get people to volunteer for such a task. It was hidden from the public. Since there are no slaves, they used clones. Clones of people at a very young age, so they grow up in a test tube supplying auras in their experiments. The children wouldn''t even know why and once they were too old, they were disposed of. The Project directors'' argument was that they weren''t supposed to exist, so it was fine, but the government thought otherwise and shot it down. Reah, your father is still alive. His name is TaiYang Xiao Long, my brother. Three years ago, he and your mother gave birth to their first child. Her name is Yang. However, unknown to both me and him, she was actually a part of a Project A remnant group. She used her own daughter''s cells from when she was still in the fetus stage to be used in the experiments. Shortly after giving birth to Yang, she disappeared. We didn''t realize why she had left until one day I was assigned a mission from the kingdom. To eliminate the remainder of Project A. In that list, Reah, was your mother. Chasing clues and hunting dead ends after dead ends, I finally found the hideout. But it was empty. All was abandoned, devoid of life except for yours. Reah, you are a byproduct of Project A.¡± All of this was too much to take in. Reah collapsed against the chair, leaning back and holding her head. ¡°I.. need a bit of time to think.¡± Reah stood up and walked over to her room and collapsed on the bed. Her mind was swimming with thoughts. Then she started laughing. =.. hahahahaha. WOW! So in essence, my entire existence is a lie. This body is already tainted-- injected with who knows what drugs. HAHAHAHAHA! My own mother used me as a lab rat and tossed me aside when she needed to escape! Holy shit this is so messed up! Haha..... huk = Tears started rolling down her cheeks. Even if she was reborn, she had nowhere to go. Stricken with a guilty conscience and an existence that wasn''t even meant to be, what was she supposed to do now? What happened had already happened before she came into this body. And there was no changing it. That was the rule. The order of this world. They needed to fight, so they did anything to get there. It was just like before, and just like before, she got the short end of the stick. Only this time, she can''t do a damn thing about it. All she had left was a guilty conscience. So what could she do? = ¡­ what can I do? This world is so unfair. Putting people in situations they didn''t ask for. Making them suffer for no reason. God damn it! Why me?!...was that how you felt Robin? = In all her suffering, she once more turned to the figure that she would never meet again. Somehow along the way, the figure of the boy she killed became a support in her life. Everything had begun revolving around him. She began starting to talk to herself, questioning.. = Did it feel like this? To be betrayed by someone who you thought you could trust? To be played with and then thrown away like some disposable toy? God I wish you were here Robin. I want to tell you how sorry I am. How much I regret putting you through so much pain. Even if you don''t forgive me, please let me see you again. I can''t take this anymore. = Curling up into a ball, Reah cried and cried. Qrow had opened the door and entered the room. He sat on the bed next to her and patted her head gently. ¡°It''s ok Reah. Even if you think everyone looks at you like you''re worth nothing, you must understand that your life is just as precious as the next one. You can''t look at yourself as if you are a worm. You are special, just like everyone else.¡± Reah gradually calmed down and asked, ¡°Where is dad now?¡± ¡°Your father lives in Vale. Along with your twin sister Yang and her younger sister Ruby.¡± ¡°Younger sister? I thought you said she left after having Yang and I.¡± Qrow shook his head. ¡°No no no. Ruby is the daughter of your father and another woman. Just like your mother, she was also on our team when we fought together. We were truly a fantastic team.¡± ¡°You were on a team together?¡± ¡°Yep. Me, Udane, Summer, and your father Taiyang. We were Team QUEST (QUST). Fighting Grimm and keeping our country safe.¡± A light bulb went off in her head. Reah immediately sat up and looked at Qrow in the eyes. She knew what she wanted to do. ¡°I want to become a Huntress.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I want to become a Huntress. To become strong and do justice. Not something pure like protecting the weak, but for peace and order. I don''t care how dirty it is Uncle. I''ll do it all. Ah, one more thing: I want a new name.¡± Reah on Earth died once already, killing an innocent youth in the process. The Reah in Remnant died when her mother abandoned her. This life she had now is new and fresh. Even if Robin would never forgive her, she would use this life to do the one thing she felt was right: Keeping order. But it wouldn''t be like before. No, she learned her lesson. Her order would keep peace, and in order to do that, she would be willing to do anything. Maybe, just maybe, when this life ends she can walk up to Robin in heaven and beg for forgiveness there. First, she needed to redeem herself. ¡°...Are you sure? The kind of job I do is in no way clean. A girl like you should be living inside the kingdom normally.¡± ¡°I''m sure. Please give me a new name Uncle.¡± ¡°..very well. I''ll teach you all I can about fighting and Huntresses. From this moment on, your new name shall be-- Raven.¡±
What can I say? I''m a liar. You get another chapter. So, RWBY fans. You surprised yet? What do you guys think?
I was a bit worried this chapter was gonna be too long. I hope nothing came out unnatural. Tell me what you guys think. Was her mindset change weird or plausible? Your opinions help me shape my story to help you understand the nonsense in my head. Chapter 13: Time to Leave ======================================= Chapter 13: Time to Leave ======================================= Some classes were boring, some interesting. Basically, it was just like how it normally was. One of few things that was interesting was the Dust&Grimm class. There the students learned about the basics of the existence of Grimm and the different ways to apply Dust. The creatures of Grimm can be divided into groups based on race and age. Race is an obvious indicator of the type of Grimm, and different races of Grimm can be found in different locations. For example, in the forest, you can find Beowolves or Ursas; in caves, you can find Wingbats and Dimsnakes. All creatures of Grimm take forms similar to animals. Some of them can stand on their hind legs allowing dangerous reach and speed. The other factor is age. The longer Grimm live, the more intelligent they become. This is because when they are young, Grimm come into contact with humans. This results with combat, and those that live on after each fight, fight smarter and engage only when they know they have an advantage. An indicator of age is how much of their outer body is covered in bones. As they age, the creatures of Grimm''s bones start poking outside of their body. Some of them form armor that protects them while other bones add to their assets and increase their ability to kill. Currently, there are four categories which society has divided the Grimm into. The first level are the Shadows. They are very young and have no outer bones. Thanks to this and their black fur, they give the images of moving shadows in the darkness, hence the name. They are generally very weak and small in size thanks to their young age. Many young warriors start off fighting them to train themselves. They are the most abundant types of Grimm. The next category are the Skull Grimms. They have a few bones covering their outsides. The first outer covering they get would be on their faces. Thanks to being older, their bodies are slightly bigger than Shadows and sometimes hide their existences to strike at their unsuspecting targets. Many of these Grimm can bee seen to lead some small groups of Shadow Grimms. Their power are about ten levels above that of their Shadow counterparts. After them are the Armored Grimm. Their entire back and limbs are covered in armor. Even the weakest Grimm are powerful enough to split the body of an untrained warrior in half. These Grimm can be seen commanding huge groups of Grimms, both Skulls and Shadows. They are huge and all are bigger than the size of humans but vary depending on their race. For example, the Shadow Nevermore is the size of a pigeon, but an Armored Nevermore is the size of the Town hall, wings spanning across a dozen meters each. In comparison, an Armored Ursa would reach the height of a room.Their power is about twenty levels above their Shadow counterparts. Finally, there are the Exotic Grimm. Just like the Armored Grimm, they are extremely powerful. Their outer armor is so thick that a sniper rifle round at point blank would only annoy the beast, let alone scratch it. Their power are fifty levels above their shadow counterparts. Unlike the other Grimm, they do not attack on sighting a human. They acknowledge that attacking humans would only unnecessarily bring more humans to fight them. Instead, they move in groups, circling the borders of the kingdoms and waiting for the time to strike. The last time anyone fought an Exotic Grimm was over 100 years ago. If sighted, humans are to retreat immediately or wait for them to pass. Thanks to their seemingly passive nature, their groups are entirely composed of Exotic Grimm, making them hard to wipe out. The creatures of Grimm are strange creatures. For some strange reason, they only aggressively attack humans and all the creations left by mankind. Therefore, any old civilizations would leave no ruins to indicate their existence. This would often leave to many roaming nomad villages to be completely wiped out, and nobody would know. Based on current research, Grimm do not attack other wildlife, and do so more out of territorial disputes than actual need for substance. Adding more to their mysterious nature, their corpses start to immediately disperse into black dust. At death, bones, fur, and meat immediately start to evaporate, making it difficult to study. Any said trophies are just replicas made from very realistically dyed animal fur. The main points that differentiate them from other animals in nature are their glowing red eyes and aggressive nature to humans. This was all Robin had learned about the Grimm in general. His D&G class now concentrates on usage of Dust and learning the different species of Grimm. They learn their weaknesses and practice application of Dust. The most old-age technique was soaking it into thread and weaving it into clothing. Many schools nowadays just teach the fact that it exists, but not many use it thanks to its tedious need to weave it again after using it for some time. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Robin''s homework and classwork was just practicing to put it into a piece of clothing given to them, because every weapon that can be used, should be used. A complaint about it being ''tedious'' and ''boring'' deserved a slap to the head, since that tedious work can save their life. Their village was surprisingly wise, but he supposed living in the wild had something to do with it. It had been three months now, and they started practicing extreme Dexterity practice in PT. Planted in the ground were stakes. Some tilted, others flat, and many were unstable. The goal was to dash back and forth on the stakes while carrying weights. Currently, Blake was in the lead with Conner close behind. Robin was trailing behind them a bit while Adam and Ophelia were even further behind. *Tweet* ¡°Alright that''s enough. Class Dismissed!¡± Instructor Braun announced. And just like that, another day was over. Robin headed home after saying good bye to the gang. When he entered the house, there was nobody there. On the dinner table was a note saying.. =============== Robin, your mother and I are currently at a town hall meeting. We''ll be back soon so just get cleaned up and rest until we get back. =============== ----- Meanwhile in the town hall, the adults were gathered discussing issues. A fox faunus with gray hair was looking at a stack of papers. This was the village chief, Barney Dinkleberg, and the man who adopted Conner. ¡°Alright, that settles the bills for the month. All seems to be in check. Hunting Team, report on the mission.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± a woman started her report. ¡°All Ursa populations have been eradicated. Reports deem to find only young Shadows lurking the area every now and then. The request by the Kingdom is complete.¡± ¡°Good, we''ll send someone to turn in the request soon. After that, we''ll need to get ready to move out again once we receive the next request. How are the children?¡± Mrs. Kertenkela started talking. ¡°The children are learning at an accelerated pace. All of them are exceptional and not arrogant in the slightest. If compared to the children inside the kingdom, they are leaps and bound ahead. Some of them seem to be capable of hunting at an early age, but I believe we should hold that off for a few years.¡± ¡°Very good. They''ll need it. That should be all. Are there any questions?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Joseph Wolfheart raised his hand. ¡°Go ahead Joseph. What''s the matter?¡± ¡°The Vytal Festival is this weekend. I wish to bring the kids to attend it.¡± Murmurs and shuffling could be heard. ¡°Silence. Joseph you know the reason why we haven''t participated up till now. For what reasons do you believe we should participate?¡± ¡°Qrow is our benefactor. He saved both me and my child. I wish to properly thank him for helping us that day. The number of Ursas were much higher than we expected and almost killed many of our people. The other reason is that the Vytal Festival is a time to celebrate peace and UNITY. We might be fine with ignoring it all our lives, but our kids won''t.¡± ¡°Our children,¡± Mrs. Kertenkela interjected ¡°deserve to be treated like equal human beings. At such a young age you want to expose them to discrimination? The humans treat us like monsters! Do you want to scar our kids?¡± ¡°Hold on now, Lisa. Joseph has a point. The way we get rid of unequal treatment is through changing with the generations. If all we taught our children was to run away, how could they learn from us and not confront the problem? Even if the majority of humans are racist, we know many that there are kind and gentle as well. There shouldn''t be a problem if we expose them to both. The main reason we refrained from doing so was because the discrimination was very intense these recent years. Besides, we need to turn in the request and apply for a new one. We should use this as an experience to teach them more about this world, not put them in a cage. As for future involvements, we''ll just see how this one goes and decide from there. Are there any disagreements?¡± Nobody disagreed though many were uneasy of the idea. ¡°Good. Then, we''ll begin preparations for leaving immediately. All families should be informed to go celebrate in the Kingdom. We''ll leave in two days. We can also stock up on supplies after the festival is over. Meeting adjourned.¡±
I''m back guys! Updated for now. I''ll give status plate in later update. In case you haven''t noticed, I prefer giving infodumps. I''m not sure if it''s interesting. I just prefer doing it rather than doing some side release later in the series *coughRoosterteeth*cough. Tell me what you think. Rate it. Etc. Love your comments guys. Makes me feel loved. : D Chapter 14: Vytal Festival (Part 1) ======================================= Chapter 14: Vytal Festival (Part 1) ======================================= Currently, Robin was riding inside of the moving trailer. This trailer was his home, but today the village was moving towards the Kingdom of Vale in celebration of the Vytal Festival. ¡°Dad, what''s so special about the Vytal Festival?¡± ¡°Well Robin,¡± Joseph began, ¡°the last Great War was fought between the Four Kingdoms 70 years ago. Some issues were over territory, others wanted money or power, some even wanted to fight just to fight. A large issue of the war was over treatment of its citizens and rights of the people. When the government started to become oppressive, the citizens fought back and began forming their own powers independent of the Kingdoms. They became the Hunters and Huntresses. That''s why there are two separate entities of power: the military and the hunters. By the way, we''re also Hunters and Huntresses, but they''re officially trained by the Kingdom so employees find their work more reliable. Anyway, one of the ways people started fighting back was by expressing themselves in art. In turn, people began naming their children after the core of art itself ¨C color. That Robin, is why you have the middle name Silver. After the war ended, the Vytal Festival is a way of expressing peace and unity between the kingdoms. Hunters and Huntresses from all four kingdoms come and fight to display their strength and skill while citizens enjoy their comfortable lives.¡± ¡°Wow, that sounds pretty cool!¡± = Celebrating peace and unity huh? What an easygoing world. A common enemy really does bring people together. = Christina sat in the living room which was near the drivers seat, so she could speak with his father as they drove. Robin sat in the seat next to Joseph, and he looked out at the window at the scenery. Currently, his skills and level had improved immensely.
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:12
Experience:98/140Semblance:Bloodlust
Health:345/345
Aura:515/515
Strength:69(+7)Dexterity:105
Agility:62Endurance:60
Vitality:94
Mercenary
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+2) Hand-to-Hand Combat, (+5 Inactive) Sword Combat, (+7 Inactive) Dual Sword Combat Current Skills: Identify, Enhance
Wolf:As a member of the wolf faunus, you fight stronger in a pack. The more members in your pack the stronger you are. Your strength increases +1 per member. As you reach certain levels, the bonus per member increases.
Current Strength: 69(+5)
Bloodlust (Passive):Thanks to your experiences and innate ability, you''ve gained the sixth sense able to sense animosity towards you.
Bloodlust (Active):When activated, you are able to sense the presence of anyone within a set distance. However, in return they are also made aware of you. Upon activation, there is a chance of foes being Intimidated. Weaker foes are more prone to the status effect than stronger ones. Cost (10 Aura/sec).
Enhance (Active):Your training with Aura has given you fine control over it. Thanks to this you are able to send varying amounts of Aura to specific locations on your body to strengthen it. The performance of the location is proportional to how much Aura is sent. Cost: --- Aura/minute
Contrary to what he originally believed, skills were few in number and came mainly due to his class. So far, Robin had been training his body and didn''t learn anything new from others yet. Fighting ability is heavily oriented on individual skill than reliance on Skills themselves. ¡°We''re here.¡± Joseph announced. Looking out the window, Robin found himself staring at huge walls of steel encircling the Kingdom of Vale. As they entered the gates, the village chief showed a passport and documents indicating why they were there. The guard gave a sympathetic look towards the faunus village and let them in after giving a prayer for a safe time in the kingdom. ¡°Dad, why did that man seem sorry for us?¡± ¡°So you noticed huh?.. One of the main disputes in the last Great War was between faunus and regular humans. The kingdoms wanted to spread their control over the villages outside, but they refused. As a result, fighting broke out between the races. This resulted in a deep hatred for us faunus. It even drove some of the faunus to go into hiding or leave the kingdom and start a nomadic lifestyle, even though we were born and raised inside of Vale.¡± Robin was shocked as reality was once again put in front of him. = So humanity has an ugly side no matter what world it is. Bullying and discrimination still exists huh? Unforgivable. = The village went to a huge designated area for trailers just like theirs. They went inside the building and parked. Leaving the building, the family met up with others and decided their route for the day. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Alright kids.¡± Mrs. Kertenkela announced. ¡°First we''ll do a small little tour and tell you guys about the kingdom. Then we''ll set you free with your family after they finish filling out forms and such.¡± They started walking among the streets. It was nothing too strange. The buildings were similar in construction to his world. Vehicles were the same too. Cars and trucks could be seen driving to and fro on the streets. The things that were new to Robin were the holographic traffic lights and displays. Being in their small village, Robin always knew they were technologically advanced but never really saw much. The other kids had similar reactions. Blake could be seen bending over and feeling the concrete floor with her hands. Ophelia and Conner were listening to all the new sounds. Adam was staring at a weapon shop down the street. However, near them they could hear the sounds of voices of other pedestrians. ¡°Heh. Are those more of those faunus? They look like a bunch of country bumpkins.¡± ¡°Hey don''t speak too loudly, they''ll hear you. Don''t want those monsters starting a fight.¡± Many kids were flustered at their insults. Blake and Adam were shocked speechless. They had never been treated in such a way before. Robin was furious, but calmed down thanks to his experience. Before, he restrained himself due to being shy. Now, he didn''t want to make trouble for the people he cared about. Conner and Ophelia exchanged worried looks. ¡°That, children, is how a lot of humans looks at us. Do not be confused. We are just as much human as they are. We just have developed some traits similar to animals. Their reasons are just like you heard from your parents. It''s unjustified and cruel, but I want you kids to understand that not all humans are like that ok?¡± They all nodded. As they walked on, Mrs. Kertenkela pointed to a huge building down the street. ¡°That is the Hunter''s Guild. There, Hunters and Huntresses of all kinds gather and take requests for jobs. This is also where our village gets requests. The people there are nice and understanding towards everyone so just visiting there will show you that not everyone is bad.¡± ¡°Over there,¡± She pointed up into the horizon. On top of a cliff, there was a huge waterfall. Next to the waterfall, huge buildings that could be seen. One of them stood above the rest and had a pointed top. ¡°-- is Beacon Academy. The best and most famous Hunter Academy designed for training the best to become professional Hunters of the Kingdom of Vale. The other Kingdoms also have their own academies, and who knows. Maybe some day all of you will attend that academy and show the world how strong kids of the village of Rakshata really are. The headmaster there is kind so that might happen.¡± A hint of pride could be seen on her face. These kids showed a lot of promise, especially Robin and his gang. It wouldn''t be wrong to say they had the greatest chance of getting into the academy. ¡°Unfortunately, they generally accept students after reaching the age of 16 years old. That will be when you''ve received training from combat schools and the like. That''s enough of that for now. That concludes the lesson. Look, your parents are waiting for you. Go and have fun kids.¡± They said their goodbyes and left for their parents. After walking around, Mrs. Kertenkela brought them to meet up at the entrance to the center of Vale. There, they found a lot of stalls and games set up for the citizens to enjoy. Robin and his family roamed around. They went from stall to stall eating various food and playing games that varied from horseshoe to shooting balloons. There was even a reverse hammer game. Since many people could control their aura and become strong enough to defeat Grimm, they invented a game where it tested how weak they could make their strike. The hammer is extremely heavy and had a magnet that attracted to the end of the spot where they hit. The finer the control of strength, the lower the score, and the better prizes they got. Some stalls refused to serve them, but they found many that were open-minded and let them eat. It was very enjoyable. Currently, the parents left to find an acquaintance, and Robin was hanging out with Blake and the others in an open dining area. They sat at a table and were chewing on snacks and drinking carbonated soda. ¡°This is so fun! We should come more often!¡± Conner exclaimed. Ophelia nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah there were many kind people and the food is so delicious. Don''t you agree Blake?¡± Blake nodded while chewing on her fish snack. In front of her was a huge pile of different snacks. There were gummy fish, sour fish, hard candy fish, and a small can of tuna. = Just how much do you like fish? = ¡°I found a bunch of cool sword replicas. They''re made of plastic and are colored so it looks a lot realer than our wooden ones.¡± Adam said. At that moment, voices were heard. ¡°Eeew. It''s more of those faunus. Why are they even inside the kingdom?¡± ¡°I know right Cardin? They''re just a bunch of animals. I doubt they understand what this festival is for anyway.¡± A group of four kids could be seen mocking the kids about six feet away. Since their group had distinct features as faunus, not many people sat near the kids. This made it easy to discern the source of the insults. Robin and Adam glared at the group threateningly with their eyes. ¡°Whoa, they look angry. Maybe they might hurt us?¡± A thin kid said in a mocking voice. At this point, the group of four had walked closer to them. Robin and Adam stood up. Ophelia grabbed Adam while Conner did the same to Robin. ¡°Calm down Adam.¡± ¡°Yeah Robin, we don''t need to start a fight here.¡± ¡°What''s this? Picking a fight doggy?¡± The kid named Cardin said while looking down on him. Robin''s blood was boiling. His innate violent nature started to show and his body was trembling. ¡°You look like you understand speech, but you''re all a bunch of monsters anyway.¡± *Splash* The kid''s face was soaked with Coke. It was dripping down his face and on his shirt. The kids turned to the culprit. Surprisingly, the one that snapped was neither Adam nor Robin, but Blake. ¡°You look a little thirsty. Have a drink.¡± She said with cold eyes.
Yay Kiddy fight! Well I tried to make it start out as natural as possible. Tell me what you guys think of the chapter. I decided skills are unnecessary so I made skills to exist merely for each class and profession. After the time skip I''ll give him more skills that he learned from the group. As always comment on your thoughts, rate, etc. Thanks for reading guys! Chapter 15: Vytal Festival (Part 2) The Jackass ======================================= Chapter 15: Vytal Festival (Part 2) The Jackass ======================================= Robin looked back at the bully and used his skill. Identify
Cardin Winchester (Lvl 8)
HP:150/150
Aura:320/320
The soaked kid turned and glared at Blake. Stepping forward, he began speaking. ¡°Oi kitty cat. You wanna get hurt?¡± ¡°The only one who''s going to get hurt here..¡± Robin stepped in front of Blake. ¡°is you.¡± ¡°Stupid dog! I''ll show you your place!¡± The kid threw his right fist at Robin''s face. In return Robin stopped it by catching it with his left hand unembued with aura. = As I thought, he''s weaker than me. = ¡°!!.. So you can fight doggy. Not bad. But I''ll show yo--¡± ¡°Hey guys.¡± Robin interrupted the kid and addressed his friends. ¡°Let me handle this.¡± Adam raised an eyebrow while Blake and the others looked confused and worried. However, they trusted Robin and backed off just like he said. Earlier, Robin found out that the other kids'' levels were no more than eight with the one named Cardin being the strongest. After purposefully stepping out in front of Blake, he caught Cardin''s fist in an attempt to estimate his power. By doing so, Blake was no longer the target of their wrath and Robin was given the perfect test subjects. After coming to Vale, he was curious about where he stood in terms of power. This was the perfect opportunity. = Now, become fodder for my growth. = Robin waved his hand out in front, provoking them to come forward. The Cardin kid was furious. Not only was he interrupted, him and his group were being challenged by one mere pup. ¡°Don''t get cocky!¡± Enhance Their auras covered their bodies. Cardin donated 50 Aura while Robin donated 20. Observing this obvious mockery, Cardin rushed forward to swing at Robin. Robin didn''t even put up his guard and merely followed the punches with his eyes while moving to dodge them. = So slow. And all the swings are too wide. He obviously trained his Aura but he''s had little to no practice in fighting. = Seeing his blows were not connecting, Cardin donated more aura to his fists and legs. His right fist burst forward, straight for Robin''s face. Robin merely took his left hand and redirected the fist to the side. After doing so, he stepped forward and did a quick blow to the gut. A transparent window appeared in the side of his vision.
-30
Cardin''s control was that of an amateur. When applying aura to his hands and feet, the aura at his midsection had thinned out. Noticing this, Robin delivered a blow strong enough to knock the wind out of Cardin. Robin pushed the boy away. As he was caught by his friends, Cardin began wheezing and gasping for breath. ¡°Gasp... He''s...wheez.. stronger than.. he looks.¡± = Darn, finished already? = ¡°..Gasp...Get him!¡± Pointing forward, the other three charged. = Or maybe not. = Bloodlust Robin activated his semblance as the next biggest kid rushed forward to fight him. This one had even worse form and thanks to his hesitation from Bloodlust''s activation, Robin easily dodged the attempts at injuring him. After a jab to his head missing completely, the boy swung his fist to the side and towards his head. Robin blocked it by raising his arm up and stepped forward. He swung a quick jab to the ribs with less force this time.
-20
At this point, Robin noticed that the last two kids went to the side and tried to catch him on both sides. Robin grabbed the arm and shirt of the kid in front of him as he donated 30 more aura to his upper body. Spinning to the side, he lifted and threw the kid at the boy approaching from the left. Running in a straight line, they collided and fell to the floor. Robin turned and faced the other one. = Alright, I''ve tested my strength and dexterity. How''s my defense? = This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.Raising both arms up, he guarded his face and slouched slightly. The last boy started pummeling onto Robin. A smile could be seen as his hits connected, unlike his comrades. It vanished just as quickly when he observed the numbers appearing.
-0 -0 -0
= ¡­ Wow, how boring. = Desperate for a breakthrough, the child swung an uppercut at Robin''s chin. Robin casually stopped it with his right palm and rammed the kid''s face with his other one.
-10
Robin was careful not to do anything worse than a nosebleed, but to the green-behind-the-ears amateur, that pain was intense. He immediately backed off and turned around while clutching his face. Robin took this chance to jump onto the slouching kid''s back and use it as a launchpad. With a burst of strength, he kicked the kid into the tables nearby while flying in an arc towards the remaining kid who had just gotten up from being knocked down. With his fist connecting with its target, the kid was floored.
-30
As he landed, he noticed the last kid tried to get up and resume the fight. Robin merely glared at him with his now red eyes and shook his head. The kid immediately laid down and played dead. Robin now turned to Cardin who was staring at his friends all taken down by one faunus. ¡°Your turn brat.¡± Cardin''s face flushed and rushed towards Robin. Just as he neared him, his fist was caught in Adam''s hand. Cardin was shocked and glared at the red-haired boy. Adam merely looked back and applied more pressure to his hand. Succumbing to the pain, Cardin gradually knelt down and pleaded for him to let go. ¡°We aren''t just some pushovers for you to toy around with.¡± = Who is this ''we'' you speak of? That was all me! = ¡°We deserve to be treated just the same as everyone else. The next time you try to do something like that.¡± He leaned forward and whispered into Cardin''s ear. ¡°I''ll destroy you.¡± Releasing his hand, Cardin stumbled backward and rushed to get his friends up and out of there. Robin now examined the window in front of him.
+ 65 experience Level Up! +2 to all stats
= Well they give good experience, that''s for sure. = Turning to Adam, Robin lifted an eyebrow. ¡°Not cool, man.¡± ¡°That was very cool. I got my stat to upgrade because of that.¡± Adam started looking the windows in front of him. After seeing something, his face blushed as red as his hair. ¡°What? What is it?¡± Ophelia asked. ¡°..I got a title.¡± Adam murmured. ¡°So? Let us see it¡± Conner walked up close. ¡°No, it''s embarrassing.¡± ¡°You stole Robin''s glory.¡± Blake reasoned. ¡°We deserve to see what you got out of that.¡± Faced with everyone''s urging, he took out his status plate and the group leaned forward.
The Jackass
Your quick judgement and impeccable timing has allowed you to steal the glory from one of your best friends. As such, they ridicule you in their minds and have given you a title suitable to their thoughts. +10 Exhibitionist
The group immediately burst into laughter. ¡°Hahaha! Oh god my sides. I''m dying.¡± Conner howled. ¡°*snicker* Adam it suits you well.¡± Blake commented. ¡°Great! Now we can call you JES!¡±, Ophelia proclaimed. ¡°JES?¡± ¡°Jackass Exhibitionist Samurai.¡± Adam turned a deeper shade of red as the group gathered their things and headed back to their homes with their parents. Meanwhile, a young girl also made her entrance into the kingdom. ¡°... So this is Vale.¡±
Hey there! So this is my first fight. Tried hard to make it intense and nice as possible. I did some embarrassing things to think this through. I got weird looks all around me when I accidentally started moving my fists in public. Oh the shame. Anyway tell me your thoughts. Areas of improvement or what you liked and stuff. Comment, rate, critique, etc. Thanks for reading! Chapter 16: Vytal Festival (Part 3) Tournament ======================================= Chapter 16: Vytal Festival (Part 3) Tournament ======================================= Morning was the same as usual. The only difference was that their home was inside of a huge parking lot instead of out in the wild. The Wolfhearts had breakfast and gathered outside with various friends. The group then headed towards the coliseum. Today was the first day of the Vytal Tournament for Hunters and Huntresses of the kingdoms. ¡°I wonder what kind of people professional Hunters are like?¡± Conner wondered. ¡°No no Conner. These aren''t professional ones. They are trainees from the academies. This is supposed to serve as a way to represent the kingdoms and give practical experience.¡± Ophelia corrected. ¡°Ok, ok. Whatever. Point is, I''m really excited.¡± The group all nodded. The only Hunters they knew were the people inside their village. How could they not be? Unlike the kids, the parents of Robin were worrying over a different matter. ¡°We couldn''t find him at all yesterday.¡± Robin''s dad had a sour look on his face. ¡°Oh hush hon.¡± Christina said. ¡°It''s only the first day. Not everyone comes the first day. The Vytal Festival lasts four days. Give it some time. We''ll run into him eventually.¡± When they came up to the entrance of the coliseum, they were refused entrance by the man at the front desk. ¡°What do you mean we''re not allowed in? We paid in advance for these.¡± ¡°Well,¡± he began, ¡°the number of VIPs increased substantially at the last minute. We need to use the regular seats, so there is nothing we can do.¡± The man shrugged after giving the obvious lie. The coliseum was huge. It had over 100,000 seats and there were many VIP seats at the very front. Furthermore, they reserved front row seats right after the VIP ones so in no way should they would be the first to go anyway. That is, if this was a normal situation. Just when a fight was about to break out between Joseph and the man, a larger, muscular human stepped forward. ¡°Holy Remnant! I leave for a potty break and you''re already rejecting people. Get out of here. I''ll handle this from now on.¡± ¡°Thomas! I thought you''re supposed to be at the Hunter''s Guild. Why are you working the desk here?¡± ¡°Haha! Do you really think there will be any work during the Festival? No worries though. Some of us switch out every day, so we can enjoy ourselves while keeping an eye out for those who actually work. The tournament is also broadcasted, so it''s not like we''re missing much. Besides, I took this job because I knew someone was gonna do this.¡± The man named Thomas winked at Joseph. ¡°Here you go! Enjoy!¡± Their seats were at the very front, just like the man promised. In the middle was a giant field with metal covering the entire space. Stepping out into the spotlight was the announcer. At the same time, a huge holographic screen appeared before the audience showing the same man but in a close up view. = How convenient. = As the man began talking, the floor opened up and a stage rose from the ground. Standing on it were hundreds of Hunters and Huntresses. ¡°Ladies and gentleman. I, Carl Buckman, am your host for the famous Vytal Tournament. Behind me are Hunters and Huntresses of all kinds from all our various kingdoms. Today we will begin the tournament to see who is the most powerful upcoming Hunter in all of Remnant!¡± Huge applause began. As everyone cheered, Robin scrutinized the people on stage. Enhance Sending aura to his eyes, he squinted to see their silhouettes. = Wow there are so many people out there.. Where are their weapons? All I see is that they''re carrying a bunch of masses of different colored metal on holsters. = ¡°Now as you all know, this is a bit too many for us to start off with. So!¡± He turned to the unsuspecting Hunters and Huntresses. ¡°Here and now eliminate each other. When your aura is too low, you''re disqualified. If you fall off the stage, you''re disqualified. If you deliberately attempt murder, you''re disqualified. Last sixteen to survive moves on to the next round. BEGIN!¡± And just like that, all of the Hunters took out their masses of metals and pressed a button. To Robin''s surprise, they all started transforming into weapons. Some were swords, others lances. As the fight began, Robin became even more surprise when some weapons had multiple forms and even functioned as a gun. = Holy Crap! That staff just became a bazooka! Unbelievable, do all of them function as guns? = Not only Robin, the other kids were shocked speechless. They only used wooden replicas and saw their parents with their own weapons in one form. How could they know it all could transform? ¡°Hahaha. Surprised son?¡± Joseph asked. Robin turned to face him. ¡°Dad. Mom. Do all of your weapons do that?¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.¡°Yep,¡± Christina responded. ¡°One of the reasons why you are taught different weapons is that you never know what kind of weapon is more useful in a situation. Furthermore, you will eventually learn about how to make your own weapon that can transform into whatever form you desire. Of course, how many forms is limited to how well you design it. I bet you''re gonna love Mechanics class now, won''t you?¡± She grinned at Robin. Robin grinned back, a look of excitement on his face. = Transformers but for weapons! That is so badass! = ¡°Wait, but that will take forever to learn. How long will it be before I can make my own?¡± Robin was not delusional and did not think he could learn college level mechanics soon, but obviously these Hunters and Huntresses were no more than 19 years old. He was obviously missing something. ¡°Come on now son,¡± Joseph began. ¡°think outside the box. Can''t you read many times faster thanks to aura?¡± He slapped his head as he had an epiphany. When he spent time in the library, he didn''t think to use his aura because he enjoyed reading at a slow pace and treasuring each line of the book. The obvious answer was right in front of him. ¡°Can I go to the front to see?¡± ¡°Sure son. Go ahead.¡± Robin got into the aisle and walked to the edge of the spectator''s seats. Standing there was also Blake and the group. Their faces were also in awe. ¡°Awesome, there are so many different weapons.¡± Conner said. ¡°Yeah I can''t wait to see what ours will be like.¡± Ophelia commented. Adam and Blake nodded. ¡°Whatever mine is, it has to be the coolest one out there. Simple, but awe-inspiring.¡± A gleam could be seen in Adam''s eyes. ¡°Cool! You guys sound like you know what you want already. What''s your favorite weapon?¡± Calling out to them was a four year old blonde girl next to them with wavy hair. She had purple eyes and wore an orange infinity scarf around her neck. Wearing a light brown shirt, the beauty addressed them. ¡°Um who are you?¡± Robin asked. ¡°Oh sorry. I''m Yang Xiao Long. This is my baby sister, Ruby!¡± She pointed to the girl next to her. This one looked to be two years old. Her black hair showed hints of red. She was completely ignoring the older sibling and was intently staring at all the people fighting in the tournament. ¡°Hello Yang. I''m Robin Wolfheart. I likes swords.¡± The human girl was kind and he sensed no animosity, so he introduced himself. ¡°Hello, my name''s Blake Belladonna. I also like swords.¡± ¡°Adam Taurus. I''m a fan of katanas.¡± ¡°Hey, I''m Conner Dinkleberg. I use daggers.¡± ¡°And I''m Ophelia Zittori. I use a naginata.¡± ¡°Cool!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°I prefer my fists. Nothing feels great like a good-old punch.¡± = Definitely a problem child. = The group began to talk and watched the tournament together. The preliminary round ended already and the tournament moved on to 1v1''s. As the last 1v1 ended, the announcer signaled the end of the festivities. ¡°Alright and there you have it! The top eight upcoming Hunters in all of Remnant! Tomorrow we will move on to find out our top four in events style matches. On the last day, we shall find out who is the best Hunter in all of Remnant! See you guys soon!¡± The blonde girl once again talked to them. ¡°Hey guys, are any of you signing up for the tournament?¡± Robin raised an eyebrow. ¡°What tournament? This is for actual Hunters. We can''t join.¡± ¡°No, silly. I meant the Junior Hunter Tournament that''s happening later tomorrow. No weapons, just hand-to-hand combat! Registration ends today! I''ll be there! See you guys!¡± With that the blonde girl grabbed her sister and headed towards their parents. = A tournament? Awesome! That Cardin kid was way too weak for me to use anything. Maybe I''ll test myself there. = As the kids left the coliseum, they passed a man in a trench coat that was talking on the phone. He spoke in a whisper so nobody could hear. A voice came from the phone. *How long till the device is ready? ¡°Research is still in preliminary stages. It''ll be at least ten years before we have a finished product.¡± *I am lenient, but your audacity is testing my patience. ¡°I''m sorry, but this isn''t something you can do on a whim. We''ll have something for you by then.¡± *Ten years. Remember that. I''ll contact you then. The man hung up the phone and threw it into the nearest trash can. Walking away, nobody could see his face that was covered by his collar and hat.
Cuz releasing one chapter is too boring for me, so you guys get more chapters. Tell me your thoughts as always. Rate, comment, etc. Thanks for reading! Chapter 17: Vytal Festival (Part 4) Junior Hunters ======================================= Chapter 17: Vytal Festival (Part 4) Junior Hunters ======================================= It was still around 3 in the afternoon, so the group went to eat together. The kids and adults when to an outdoor cafe and ate their lunch. In the middle of devouring his sandwich, Robin spoke up. ¡°So are any of you guys going to join the tournament?¡± Blake exchanged looks with Conner and Ophelia while Adam held his chin as he contemplated. ¡°Well, none of us really know hand-to-hand combat. Only you do here Robin. I''ve only trained with Single and Dual Sword Combat.¡± Blake said. Ophelia gave a wry smile. ¡°Yeah, I''m more of a mid-range fighter. I don''t think I would do very well with just my fists.¡± ¡°Haha, I''m only good with daggers. I only know how to run, so I would probably lose really easily.¡± Conner laughed nervously. ¡°JES? What about you?¡± Ophelia asked. ¡°I''m a katana user, not a brawler. Doing something like that would just make me look stupid, so no thanks. And don''t call me JES!¡± ¡°Well there you have it.¡± Ophelia ignored Adam and faced Robin. ¡°We''ll cheer you on if you go, but it''s your choice.¡± The decision was made before he even asked them. ¡°I''m joining the tournament. Is that ok dad?¡± Robin looked to his father. ¡°Of course, son. Lets go and sign up after lunch, but where is it?¡± At this they had no answer. The girl named Yang had not told them where it was located. After lunch they traveled to and fro, asking around about the tournament. Apparently, signing up was done outside at the front desk of the coliseum. After they signed up, the man named Thomas explained to Robin the rules. ¡°The maximum level of participation is 20 and the oldest you can be is ten. Outside help is strictly forbidden. Tomorrow, show up at the arena of Myriad School of Combat at four p.m. There you will compete in a preliminary round to shorten the numbers. Then you''ll do simple knockout rounds on a stage. We''ll provide all the potions necessary to replenish you after each round. Weapons are not allowed, but you may use your semblance if you want. However, all attacks are strictly physical. Kicks are allowed, but we''ll give you shoes so you don''t hurt each other too much. Here''s your number.¡± He handed Joseph Robin''s card. ¡°Good luck.¡± After that they went around and enjoyed the festival yet again. This time, no Cardin appeared, so it was fun and peaceful, with the occasional rejection from anti-faunus people. Every time it happened was depressing, but overall they enjoyed their day. The festivities definitely had something to do with how many people treated them differently. Robin couldn''t imagine how it must be when it wasn''t the Vytal Festival. The next day, they went to the coliseum and watched the fights. They were intense matches but were mainly competitions with points rather than actual fighting. Apparently, the fights would be for the top four tomorrow. At four, they made their way onto the campus of the combat school. Arriving in the arena, the parents and Robin''s friends sat in the bleachers while Robin stepped up to the stage and presented his number. It was like a smaller version of the coliseum, but the excitement was just as high. In the entire group of kids, a blonde girl stuck out her hand and waved to him. ¡°Heeeey Robin. Over here!¡± ¡°Hello Yang.¡± Robin greeted. ¡°You forgot to tell us where to sign up yesterday.¡± She waved her hand and dismissed it. ¡°Oh whatever, you still got here on time right? So no problem. Anyway good luck. I want us to fight in the finale. That''ll be awesome.¡± = Hoho. So she''s that confident huh. = Identify
Yang Xiao Long (Lvl 10)
HP:340/340
Aura:350/350
= Hm. She looks like she has decent stats. She even has more health than me. I don''t know what her semblance is so that something to worry about, but I seem to have the upper hand. = ¡°Wow, you have a lot of aura,¡± Yang said. Apparently, she was also checking him out. ¡°The finale looks like it''ll be interesting.¡± As the two competitors grinned at each other, a man stepped forward. It was Thomas. Yang said good luck and moved towards a different spot. They wanted to fight at the end. No reason to knock each other out now. As he moved his eyes among the kids, he found Cardin glaring at him. = Oh, so the fodder is here as well. Free exp is always appreciated. = ¡°Alrights kids, I''ll once again go over the rules. No potions, outside help, or weapons are allowed. You may use your semblance as long as the hitting is done physically by your own body. This is strictly physical and we will be watching for any cheaters. First is the preliminary round where we''ll reduce the number of fighters to 8. Then, we''ll do seven more 1v1''s to decide the champion. Defeat is ruled as when your aura or health falls too low or when you''ve been knocked unconscious or off the stage. Ready? Begin!¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Enhance All at once, the stage began glowing with a multitude of different colored auras. Robin used 40 aura to boost him entire body. = Alright, judging from what I''ve seen so far, not many kids have more than 300 aura. For every minute that passes, we have to spend more aura to keep up Enhance. Danger level is approximately 50 aura, so I can last about 11 minutes if I don''t use my semblance. Alright lets do this. = Bloodlust was a trump card for Robin, so he was saving that for the later rounds. At this point, he just went around knocking out as many of the level 7 and 8 fighters as much as possible. With quick jabs to the gut, hand chops to the neck, and shoulder rams, more fighters left the ring. There was no need to worry about the really weak ones. Since in the long run, the average level ones would be harder to defeat and outlast as the round dragged on. As he fought, he noted the strongest fighters. Yang was brutal and didn''t hold back on her punches at all. She used a form of kick boxing, generally just overpowering all of her opponents. She fought using instinct more than actual techniques. In another corner of the stage, a boy was elegantly throwing and pushing anyone who came at him off the stage. Finally, in the last corner was a young girl with black flowing hair tied into a ponytail. Her red eyes darted back and forth as she efficiently took out anyone she laid eyes on. Other than those three, there was nobody worth mentioning, and all three of them looked to be the same age as Robin! Then something unexpected happened. Thirty kids surrounded Robin. He was confused as to why they suddenly started to turn their attention towards him. Then, he noticed that one of them was Cardin. ¡°He''s one of the strongest ones here. We''ll gang up on him and take them down one by one. Get him!¡± As he pointed forward, the kids charged. Robin cursed under his breath. = Damn it! This little cunt actually rallied people to get to me! This is bad. It''s been 7 minutes and if I don''t put more aura into Enhance I''ll be knocked down. But if I do, I won''t last long after that. I''m totally gonna beat him to a pulp! = Enhance Robin pumped more aura and rushed towards the kids. He tried to knock out as many as he could in one blow to conserve his aura. He guarded as best as he could, but there were just too many kids, and they pumped too much aura into their fists like idiots.
-10 -10 -23 -30 -23 -19
His health dwindled more with each hit. As he was about to take yet another punch, the kid who was attacking got kicked in the face and flew out of the ring. Landing in his spot was the black-haired girl from the other corner. ¡°1v20 is a bit unfair. How''s 2v20?¡± She looked at Robin. At the offer of help, Robin nodded and resumed combat. They easily wiped the floor with the idiots. Having two strong people was actually a lot easier than fighting by himself. Robin stopped getting hit and Cardin turned to target someone else after seeing his plan had failed. = Oh no you don''t! = Grabbing a kid on the floor, Robin threw him at Cardin. He was knocked over and Robin rushed towards him. As Cardin stood up, he received a victory stamp by Robin''s feet. He was sent flying off the stage and buried in the grass.
-5 -30
*Whistle* ¡°Stop! The preliminary round is over. Lets introduce the winners! Over in this corner we have Yang Xiao Long!¡± Yang smiled and waved her hands. However, her purple eyes was now red, and her yellow hair glowed as if it was on fire. ¡°In this corner, we have Bill, Bob, Steve, and Joe!¡± ***cuz background characters don''t deserve my brainpower. ¡°And over here we have Lai Ren!¡± The boy waved with a serene expression on his face. Calm and collected. Robin, at this point, turned to face the young girl who helped him. He was surprised to find that she looked surprisingly similar to Yang. ¡°And last not but not least we have Robin Wolfheart and Raven Branwen!¡± Thomas smiled and spoke into the microphone. ¡°Looks like this tournament is gonna get interesting.¡±
She''s here!! She''s here!! Cuz you know, I''m the guy who can''t even stick to his own schedule. And why make you wait for the fight am I right? Depending on how easily I come up with material for the fight, you''ll get the next chapter soon. Time to go watch some kung fu movies. As always, comment, rate, and let me know what you guys think. Thanks for reading! Chapter 18: Vytal Festival (Part 5) Round 1 ======================================= Chapter 18: Vytal Festival (Part 5) Round 1 ======================================= ¡°Hey. Thanks for helping out earlier.¡± Robin looked at the girl in front of him. She wore a black t-shirt with red markings on the sleeves. On the back, the white silhouette of a bird could be seen. Identify
Raven R. Branwen (Lvl 18)
HP:274/320
Aura:153/645
Robin''s eyes bulged out. If one included the experience gained through the preliminary, Robin would have advanced three levels and was at level 16 at the moment. This was beyond his expectations. = Not only is she two levels above me, but she has innately more aura as well! And even after volunteering to help me out, she only took 46 damage? Unbelievable! = Robin mentally noted her name and stats. Out of all of the competitors here, she definitely had the most aura. Not only that, her skills in hand-to-hand was nothing to laugh at either. The fact she didn''t get so hurt proves she didn''t rely entirely on aura. However, he wasn''t the only one taking notes. Identify
Robin S. Wolfheart (Lvl 16)
HP:223/385
Aura:95/605
= Hoh. So there''s someone else here with decent aura. He also seems to have experience with fighting too. = Raven thought. The only reference Raven had was Qrow. Although he said she was gifted with huge amount of aura and rapid growth, she had no idea anything over 600 was preposterous for a four year old. ¡°Hello. No problem. It just didn''t sit right with me to see that happen. Just like the announcer said, my name is Raven.¡± When she was fighting, the sight of the boy getting bullied by the group of older kids had reminded her of the one she betrayed not too long ago. With her new resolve, she hurried to help him in order to help alleviate her flustered heart. However, hearing his name did not help. ¡°I''m Robin. Nice to meet you.¡± The sound of the name caused her to flinch, but her face soon returned to normal. Maybe helping this kid was a sign she was on the right path, she thought. Well, who would have thought it was more than just a sign. It''s the real thing! ¡°It''s nice to meet you Robin. I hope we ca-¡± ¡°OI!¡± Thomas called out to them and hurried them over. After they came over, a vial full of purple liquid was given to each of them. Identify
Lesser Elixir
A potion created through modern alchemy and Dust. It''s effects are not so great, but are adequate for beginners. +500 HP +500 Aura
= So I''m still classified as a beginner? Well alright. Looks like I can still improve a lot. Sweet. = Opening it, Robin swallowed the elixir. It tasted like graped-flavored soda. He hated graped-flavored. ------------------------------------------------------------------ As the kids were resting up and the officials were determining the match-ups, a man and his daughter sat in the stands to watch the tournament. ¡°Daddy! Daddy look! Yang got in!¡± Rose jumped up and down on his lap, excited that her sister made it through. ¡°Haha. I know. Your sister is amazing isn''t she?¡± Taiyang smiled at his daughter, all the while hiding his worried thoughts. = Branwen? Isn''t that Udane''s last name? She couldn''t be Udane''s daughter. Not unless... = ¡°Mind if I sit here?¡± A silver haired man walked up to him. ¡°Brother! You''re here! Go right ahead.¡± ¡°Uncle Qrow!¡± Ruby exclaimed. ¡°Hello Ruby! How are you today?¡± Qrow smiled at his niece. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°I''m good uncle. Daddy and sis took us to the coliseum and we saw people fight!¡± As the young girl went on and on about her day, Qrow smiled and listened. He was very caring towards children. Once Ruby was done, she turned back towards the front and stared at her sister. The two brothers sat close and whispered so Ruby couldn''t hear. ¡°If you''re here, then that''s my daughter isn''t she?¡± Taiyang asked with a gloomy face. Qrow nodded. ¡°Yes, that''s Raven.¡± ¡°Raven.. Why did you change her name from Reah to Raven? Even if it reminds her of her mother, how is it any different from her last name?¡± ¡°She was very stubborn about it. Every time I ''accidentally'' called her Reah, she would pout and refuse to budge unless I called her by the name I gave her. In the end, I forced her to keep it as a middle name and her mother''s last name as her own.¡± He sighed. ¡°Sometimes I wonder if she is really four years old.¡± ¡°... You don''t think she has brain problems?¡± Taiyang looked worried. ¡°No, I''ve checked and even gone to the doctor''s. She is just naturally bright so don''t worry.¡± Taiyang sighed in relief. ¡°By the way, where is Summer?¡± Qrow questioned. ¡°She''s still out on her mission. She''ll be back tomorrow, so you''ll need to convince her that keeping Raven with you is for the best. You know how she is. She takes her role as a loving mother very seriously. I think it might have something to do with Udane''s treachery.¡± ¡°Sigh..I''m sorry Taiyang. If I was just a bit quicker in finding the hideout, Raven would''ve been saved.¡± ¡°Don''t even talk like that Qrow. I know just how hard you tried for our sake, and for Yang''s. I just hope when she finds out, she doesn''t break down even worse than Raven.¡± Taiyang looked at both of his daughters at the arena. One he couldn''t bear to tell the truth and let her know her mother was not the one she grew up with. The other he could not show his affection as a father, in fear of giving his other daughter a wound that could not heal. The two beauties stood side by side. One smiling without a care in the world, the other with a burden unknown to all. The holographic screen then popped up to show the match-ups. ------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 1
Robin S. Wolfheartvs.Lie Ren
Yang Xiao Longvs.Bob Frank
Raven R. Branwenvs.Joe Cunningham
Steve Gatesvs.Bill Jobs
= Oh great. I''m up first. Ha.. Lets see how far I can go without using my semblance. Though other than the intimidation, there''s really no point in using it... I''ll just use it when I''m in a pinch. = The stage at this moment, transformed into a smaller version. The previous one that could hold the hundreds of kids for the preliminary round now had dimensions of 30x30 feet. (9.144 meters for you metric people < 3) At a closer look, the kid named Lie Ren had a small thin line of hair that was dyed pink to match his eye color. He wore a green shirt with a design of a dragon on it. He looked at Robin and bowed his head. ¡°My name is Lie Ren,¡± he said. ¡°Lets have a good fight.¡± ¡°My name is Robin Wolfheart. Likewise.¡± The two kids stood at opposing sides of the stage. Thomas, who was to the side, raised his hand into the air. ¡°Are the combatants ready? Begin!¡±
Heeeeeeey. Since I am still trying to figure out the entire fighting sequence. Filler! Also I''m gonna be pretty busy this week. So I might not get to updating it so soon. I''ll try my best though! Comment, rate, and tell me your thoughts! *psst I hope I did better at getting the kiddy voice go through. Although it wasn''t really much. Thanks for reading! Chapter 19: Vytal Festival (Part 6) Acupuncture ======================================== Chapter 19: Vytal Festival (Part 6) Acupuncture ======================================== As the whistle blew, the boys covered themselves with their auras. Silver and green covered their bodies as the match started. The boy named Ren charged forward and began throwing quick jabs in succession. Robin raised his arms to block the damage as he examined the status of his enemy.
Lie Ren (Lvl 9)
HP:255/255
Aura:262/310
-13 -15 -16
= Ok so his strength isn''t that high and neither is his health or aura. Good, I can out-trade him then. = Ren then gave a wide left swing. This time, Robin didn''t block and leaned back to dodge it. The other boy used the momentum to turn and send a high kick aimed at Robin''s face. Robin caught it with both hands and sent more aura to his upper body. Turning around, Robin lifted and threw Ren towards the edge of the ring-- or that''s what was supposed to happen. Ren, however, grabbed Robin''s shoulders on the way there and stopped himself from flying. The momentum pushed Robin forward, and he found Ren''s other knee heading towards his face. He quickly moved his arms in front to guard the attack, but at that moment Ren''s thumbs pressed into Robin''s shoulder. A feeling of numbness filled his arms as pain shot through his shoulders and face when the knee broke through his guard. The blow sent him staggering back.
-33 -40
When Robin tried to hold his face with his hands, he found them hanging limply at his side. A window popped up in front of his face.
You''ve lost feeling of your arms for 58 seconds. Thanks to your class, you''ve identified the technique as Acupuncture. As you study and experience more of the technique, you will become able to use it.
He cursed under his breath. Ren landed on the ground. His hands could be seen to glow brighter as more aura was sent to his fingers. = Acupuncture! How could I be so stupid to forget that just using fists isn''t the only way to fight. Techniques can change the whole battle. His hit then was also a lot stronger than before. Hiding his strength, was he? I underestimated him. = Ren advanced and started throwing out kicks at Robin. Unable to use his arms, Robin responded in kind. Their legs connected mid-air, stopping each other. Both fighters exchanged various kicks until Ren used the momentum of one to once again spin into a low sweep. Robin jumped up as Ren''s leg passed by underneath. However, this was a bait. Ren immediately jumped forward, his hand heading toward his face. Robin kicked Ren in the stomach and widen the distance between them once again. As he landed, Robin noticed he was rapidly getting closer and closer to the edge. Robin took this chance to run away from Ren, and towards a more favorable position with his arms dangling by his sides. = I can''t do this. I need to wait it out until I can use my arms again. = Robin put more aura into his lower body. This time he concentrated on speed rather than strength. Of course, Ren did not just idle sit and wait. He also increased his speed and tried to catch up to Robin. The game of cat and mouse continued. Robin ran and evaded any attempts to catch him as Ren followed and attempted to grab anything with his hands. More aura was pumped out as one would increase the distance and the other would close it. Finally, Ren backed Robin near the corner. There was only couple feet before Robin was near the edge. At this point, Robin did the one thing he hadn''t done yet ¨C rushing forward. Ren also charged, but Robin had faked it and instead jumped backwards. Ren continued on, thinking Robin had nowhere to go. However, the moment Robin landed, he pumped aura to his legs and jumped up into the sky. Ren slowed down to avoid accidentally falling over while Robin did a front-flip into an axe kick. The force broke through the guard and Ren fell to the floor.
-68
In the process, Ren gripped Robin''s leg and once again pressed a pressure point. A numb feeling spread through his left leg.
-23
You''ve lost all feeling in your left leg for 30 seconds.
Robin jumped over Ren''s body using his remaining appendage, towards the middle of the stage, and rolled on the ground. As he sat up, Robin noticed Ren had gotten up and turned towards him. Ren charged towards Robin with his hands aimed for Robin''s neck. If they connected, it was his lost. However, Ren''s hands were stopped by Robin''s own. The numbness was finally gone. With a tight grip, Ren could not budge no matter how hard he tried. ¡°My turn.¡± Robin smiled. He pulled Ren forward and greeted him with a headbutt. After doing so, his kicked his working leg into Ren''s stomach while rolling backwards. After that, he let go and Ren''s body flew a couple of feet away. Robin rolled over and got into a pounce position. When a burst of force, his body flew towards the boy. Grabbing onto Ren, Robin continued to roll towards the edge of the stage. After spinning a bit, Robin once again kicked Ren and sent him flying off the stage. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. *Whistle* ¡°Lai Ren has left the stage, therefore the winner is Robin Wolfheart!¡± The crowd erupted into a mixture of cheers and boos. Many had been thoroughly impressed with the fight, but there were those that didn''t like the concept of a faunus child besting a ''regular human''. However, Robin heard the loudest applause coming from the seats of his friends and family. They all had smiles on their faces. = Man, these racists just have to ruin everything. Don''t they? = Robin frowned at the lack of sportsmanship in the crowd. Ren at this moment walked up to Robin and held out his hand. ¡°That was a good fight. Your instincts are really good.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Robin said as he shook his hand, ¡°your techniques were a lot more difficult to deal with than I thought.¡± ¡°Thank you. I still need to practice though. I let my guard down at the very end.¡± As the boys chatted a bit, an elixir was handed to the both of them. They drank the vial and headed to the bleachers where their friends sat waiting for them. Feeling refreshed, Robin sat down between Blake and Conner. ¡°Good job Robin.¡± Blake smiled at him. ¡°That was sooooo intense!¡± Conner exclaimed. ¡°Yep, we were all on the edge of our seats. I thought you were gonna lose for a second there.¡± Ophelia agreed. ¡°You are showing off too much.¡± Adam had a sour look on his face. = Wow, can I hit you? = ¡°But it was pretty good though.¡± As he said thanks to his parents as well as the other parents with them, he noticed a window in the corner of his vision.
You have acquired a basic understanding of pressure points. Thanks to this, you can now use the skill ''Acupuncture''.
Acupuncture
Thanks to your experience and previous knowledge, you have a basic understanding of pressure points. When activated, all known pressure points will light up on the areas indicated on your enemies to guide your hits. The number of spots that show up depends on how vast your knowledge is. Current Number of PP: 4 Cost: 10 Aura per minute
= Ohohoh. So this is want it meant by me being able to learn general skills? I really do need to expand my skill set. Even if using it depends on the user, just having it is very useful. I''ll have to invest some time into this later. = As he was pondering on his new skill, the next battle had started. This time it was Yang vs. Bill. The boy was heavily outmatched, and Yang toyed with him the entire time. Eventually she got tired of it and gave an uppercut that lifted his body up in the air. As it descended, she punched in the gut, sending him flying and tumbling off the stage. *Whistle* ¡°Once again, Bob Frank has left the stage, the winner is Yang Xiao Long!¡± The next battle was between the mysterious girl named Raven and Joe Cunningham. The entire fight she was lost in thought with a frown on her face. = What is heck is this? First I save a kid that is named Robin, and now I''m beating up another one that has the last name Cunningham? Does the world like to toy with me or something? = As she was thinking about this, she absently dodged all the slow hits dished out by the boy. Since she wasn''t really paying attention, she got hit on the cheek by a punch that was filled with desperation. Glaring at the boy, a chill went down his spine as he suddenly felt a pressure on his chest. The next thing he knew, he was off the stage and sitting in the grass. *Whistle* ¡°Ended in one hit, Raven Branwen has won her match! Let us move on to the final match.¡± Steve Gates and Bill Jobs stepped up to the stage. Their eyes showed an intense light probably hinting a tense rivalry. The fight was horrendously pitiful as they both relied on their aura to outlast the other. Eventually, the last one standing was Steve. *Whistle* ¡°In a brilliant blow, Steve Gates has won! This ends Round 1 in the Junior Hunter Tournament! Please take a look at the match-ups for Round 2!¡±
Round 2
Robin S. Wolfheartvs.Yang Xiao Long
Ravin R. Branwenvs.Steve Gates
Looking to the side, Robin noticed a blonde girl making a hand motion. She pointed her finger at him and moved her thumb across her throat. Robin smirked. = Bring it on. =
Yay. Our first real (?) skill. I hope you liked the fight as much as I had thinking it out. I''m gonna wait a couple of days before I churn out another chapter. I feel sick recently. Comment, rate, tell me if I gave crappy material cuz of my sickness, etc. I''ll be back soon guys! Thanks for reading! Edit: I wanted to clear up any confusion from last chapter. I made a mistake chp 18 and called the guy Bill Frank. He was supposed to be Bob Frank. There is only one Bill as said in chapter 17. Yes I know I switched Steve Jobs last name with bill gates. That was on purpose. I''m sorry for the confusion. Chapter 20: Vytal Festival (Part 7) Berserker ====================================== Chapter 20: Vytal Festival (Part 7) Berserker ====================================== Robin and Yang walked up to the stage. Yang was in brown shorts and boots which complemented her yellow t-shirt. She started shadow-boxing a bit in front of her while waiting for the signal. Robin also started stretching his arms and legs. When they were done, Thomas spoke into the microphone. ¡°Alright, are you ready? Begin!¡± Enhance Yellow and silver covered their bodies as they rushed towards one another. In a split second, both fighters threw a right punch. Their fists connected and they proceeded to close quarters combat. Yang would alternate between jabbing, swinging, and kicking. Robin would either dodge the attempts or block them completely, taking minor damage from her attacks. Then, Yang threw a swing that was too wide. = Chance! = He ducked underneath and swung an uppercut. Yang was a bit too slow and the blow connected with her chin.
-45
At the same time, her own fist flew sideways and slammed against Robin''s face. Both fighters backed off and examined the trade.
-40
= Hm. She about even with me in strength, but her fighting is more instinctual than through training. Plus, I have more aura than her. If it''s like that, I can expose that weakness. = This time, Robin took the initiative. Rushing forward he swung his right arm to her face. Yang blocked it and Robin repeated the action with his left. Blocking it again, Yang used both arms to guard against Robin. He grabbed her arms and delivered a kick to her stomach, sending her backwards. Robin jumped into a front flip to deliver an axe kick to her head, but Yang leaned to the side and dodged the blow. Robin''s leg smacked the ground and a small dent appeared where he hit. Yang grabbed his leg and started to spin him around. After a while, she threw him towards the edge of the stage. Tumbling, Robin grabbed the floor to stop himself. Upon stopping, he was greeted by the same axe kick he tried on her. The blow landed on his back and knocked the wind out of him. ¡°Urrg.¡±
-57
Robin lifted himself off the ground as Yang jumped back to re-position herself. Enhance Robin pumped more aura into his body and rushed to throw a punch toward Yang''s face. Suddenly faced with an increase of speed, Yang moved both arms to block it. However, that left her midsection wide open. ¡°Oof.¡±
-53
Robin had thrown two punches simutaneously. The first to Yang''s face and the other to her gut. Yang''s instincts was to protect her face, so she raised both hands. With her sight blocked, she didn''t respond to the second blow. Robin took this chance to spin and deliver a low kick. Losing her balance, Yang tilted and fell to the left, only to receive a fist to her face.
-51
The blow sent her flying a couple of feet. After rolling a bit, she laid face-down on the ground. Robin took this chance to gather his breath and check their statuses.
Yang Xiao Long (Lvl 14)
HP:241/390
Aura:307/390
Robin S. Wolfheart (Lvl 16)
HP:281/385
Aura:483/605
= Looks like I''ll be able to win if this keeps up. = ¡°..hahaha.¡± Laying there on the ground, Yang suddenly started laughing. Her hair started to glow, giving the illusion as if it was on fire. Getting up, she looked right at Robin. Her eyes had changed from purple to red. ¡°I knew you were strong. This is gonna be fun.¡± Licking her lips, she suddenly dashed forward with a much faster speed than before. She had pumped more auras into her legs but the amount in her arms were still roughly the same. Regardless of this, she still threw a punch out towards Robin who had strengthen his arms and legs to an even greater extent than before. Expecting to easily block it, Robin put out his hand to catch the blow while readying his fist to counterattack.
-60
Yang''s fist easily broke his guard and slammed Robin''s face. This sent him flying as he was once again punished for underestimating his opponent. Robin had paid extra attention to any techniques Yang might use to crush him, but he was greeted with a simple brawl match. Faced with yet another punch, he forgot they had another weapon they were able to use. = Damn it! It''s her semblance isn''t it? = Yang had increased her speed and did not give more aura to her arms, yet the hits were obviously much stronger than before. If one looked at her, her fiery yellow hair and red eyes were obvious indicators this was different than before. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Looks like you realized it huh?¡± On Yang''s face was the hugest smirk Robin had seen. Confident in her victory, she began foolishly revealing her secret. ¡°My semblance is Berserker. The harder I get hit, the stronger I am. This doesn''t increase speed, but all I have to do is use my aura for that you know?¡± She banged her fists together and looked at Robin with expectant eyes. ¡°Now lets start the real fight.¡± Her figure became a blur as she approached him. Robin quickly jumped to the side to avoid the girl. With her punch hitting nothing but air, she frowned and looked at Robin. ¡°Aw come on, don''t run. That''s boring.¡± = I can''t be stingy with this girl. The longer I fight, the worst this gets. I''ll need to end this now. = Enhance Robin avoided her attempts to start a fight. If he didn''t land a decisive blow, she would only get stronger. However, he knew becoming stronger didn''t make her invincible. The fact her health decreased was something he saw with his own eyes. All he had to do was render her unable to fight back while he beat her down, and this was something he was able to do thanks to his new skill. Acupuncture Four spots on Yang''s body emitted a small circle of white light. Two on each shoulder and two on each legs. The same spots Robin had been attacked in the last match by Ren. This time, however, it was gonna help him instead. Yang had become impatient. Robin was doing nothing but avoiding her ever since she powered up. After finally getting fired up, she was now playing a lame game of cat and mouse. Then in one step, Robin had landed wierdly and lost his balance. = There! = With his side wide open, Yang delivered a strong punch to the ribs to decide the match. Unfortunately for her, this was purposefully done by Robin. He lightly jumped up and spun in the air. As he rotated, Yang''s body passed by and Robin''s two fingers formed a hook in each hand. Pressing them down on her shoulders, Yang felt a feeling of numbness in her arm as pain shot through her shoulder.
-7 -32
The two backed off and when they were a bit farther apart, Yang clutched her left shoulder. Despite how much she tried, she could not get a response. A window popped up in front of Robin.
You''ve successfully disabled Yang Xiao Long''s left arm for 60 seconds.
= Darn, I missed her other shoulder. But this is good. I have to win this match in the next minute. = Yang''s face changed. She immediately recognized this situation was similar to Robin''s earlier match. However, she was not confident in being able to fight as well with her legs as Robin had. Robin did not give her the chance to run away and immediately ran towards her. Desperately trying to block, Yang raised her right arm to reduce the damage as much as possible as she tried to back away. However, her form was based on her instincts, so naturally, she couldn''t block Robin who used both arms and his legs to attack her. Slowly, but gradually, her health started to dwindle.
-10 -30 -9 -12 -34
Yang poured more aura to protect herself and reduce the damage, but in the end it resulted in her reaching the danger zone. *Whistle* ¡°Stop the Fight!¡± Robin froze his fist midway as Yang turned to Thomas who interrupted them. ¡°Yang''s aura has slipped into the danger zone! Thus the winner of this match is Robin Wolfheart!¡± Shocked at her lost, Yang turned to Robin and gave him a glare. ¡°Next time, I''ll definitely win!¡± She walked towards Thomas, pouting all the while drinking her elixir. ¡°..Sigh..¡± Robin walked over and drank it as well. Refreshed, he went to the bathroom inside the academy to change clothes. = ...Even though I won, both matches were very close even though I was stronger than them. Now, I have to fight against HER. = Robin recalled the image of Raven as he took a quick shower to cleanse his body. She surpassed him in aura and skill. Not only that, he wouldn''t have gotten past the preliminary round without her help and she still didn''t break a sweat. Even though he had higher health, she could easily take care of him. He fought two battles while making mistakes, and now he had to fight one where he could lose without even making any. ¡°... Sigh..¡± Once again sighing, he put on his new clothes as the sound of the whistle blew outside. Looks like Raven had once again won her round without difficulty.
Final Round
Robin S. Wolfheartvs.Raven R. Branwen
Still feel like crap. But since I''m better than before, I typed out the next fight that was half finished on my laptop. I''m gonna wait till i''m fully recovered for Raven and Robin''s fight. Rate, comment, etc. Thanks for reading! I''m out. Edit: I did minor changes of the numbers to match their strength. Before you guys mention Robin''s health doesn''t match, I said at the beginning he ''took minor damage''. Chapter 21: Vytal Festival (Part 8) Winner is.. ======================================= Chapter 21: Vytal Festival (Part 8) Winner is.. ======================================= NOTE: I''ve made slight changes to Robin''s Semblance for clarification. It now gives status effect Intimidation which is basically the foe hesitating to attack but weaker ones are more prone to than stronger ones. I''ve also updated Robin''s Wolf pack thing to mention that the bonuses increase at certain level benchmarks. I figured to mention that in later chapters but some of you were a bit anxious about Robin''s bonuses being really poor so I updated it. More on that later, I''m concentrating on the story part of my ff rather than the numbers atm. ============================================ As Robin stepped up to the stage, he noticed the girl was closely watching his movements. = Great. And she''s super observant too. = Robin had no doubt that when Raven watched his earlier fight, she figured out he had acquired the skill Acupuncture. Unlike other kids, she seemed very cautious. ¡°Lets both do our best.¡± Robin called out to her. ¡°Yeah,¡± she nodded, ¡°Lets.¡± ¡°Are you both ready to begin?¡± The two of them nodded. ¡°Alright! Begin!¡± The whistle blew but neither of them moved. Instead they cautiously circled around one another, their red and silver auras enveloping their respective bodies. Each of them waiting for the other to move. Robin purposefully did so to learn more about her fighting style since she probably learned more about his style through his earlier bouts. = My only chance is to defeat her using Acupuncture but she''ll be on her toes to avoid me from getting a good grip. However, she doesn''t know about my [Bloodlust]. If I can somehow combine my Intimidation with Acupuncture, I might stand a chance. = Evidently, Robin wasn''t going to budge no matter how long she waited, so Raven decided to make the first move. With a sudden burst of movement, she approached him with a right kick. Robin caught the leg between his arm and side. Raven kicked her other leg to his right side this time, and he caught it with the same method.
-19 -17
He had put more aura in that area for a moment for protecting himself against her kicks, resulting in taking less damage. Raven used Robin''s arms as support to lift herself up and then smashed both her elbows downward only to be caught by his hands. Raven immediately bent them outward, causing Robin to form an awkward position between holding her legs and her elbows. Raven used this opportunity to use both her hands to choke Robin. Struggling to breathe, Robin jumped off the ground and they both landed on the ground. Raven took most of the impact and lost her breath.
-14
Her grip loosening up, Robin freed himself and backed away. Raven quickly got up and rushed Robin yet again to throw a right punch this time. Carefully distributing his aura, Robin caught her fist while being careful not to underestimate her power. But she didn''t stop with her fist, and the moment her hand was held she moved her elbow forward instead and smacked Robin face.
-37
Immediately after that, she used her left hand to punch him in the gut.
-25
In response, Robin swept his left leg at her feet and knocked her down. Falling with her, his elbow landed on her gut.
-44
Raven used their proximity to grab Robin''s head to prevent his escape as her knee rushed up to smack him in the face. Robin, instead of escaping, leaned down toward her crotch to nullify any force behind her hit. Acupuncture Four spots glowed white on Raven''s body. With her knee missing, Robin used the opportunity to strike her pressure point in her leg. It successfully landed.
-19
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
You have successfully disabled Raven R. Branwen''s right leg.
= Yes! = But his victory was short-lived as he felt an all-too-familiar sensation on his own shoulder. With the sensation of numbness once again reaching his left shoulder, Robin got up and forced some distance between the two.
-22
You''ve lost feeling in your left arm for 60 seconds.
¡°You don''t think you''re the only one who can use Acupuncture do you?¡± Raven questioned as she sat up. If there was any silver lining, Raven was also crippled, but as if to mock his thoughts, she pressed against another spot on her body and stood up. = Oh for the love of all that is Dust. Are you kidding me?! = This was not looking good. Not even a minute had passed and he already was in deep trouble. Stronger, more skilled, and uncrippled. FANTASTIC. Raven did not hesitate to rush towards him. In response, he tried to keep their distance by backing off and using swift kicks to keep out of range of her attacks. Eventually she started to get too close, so Robin turned and ran. Pumping more aura into his body, Robin dashed away like a coward. Raven followed suit and also pumped more aura into her body. Raven was not battle-crazy like Yang nor slower like Ren, so she effectively cut off his escape routes quickly. Faced with a confrontation and about fifteen seconds left before he regained control over his left arm, Robin started to sweat. In an attempt to break past her, Robin tackled her to buy himself time. However, Raven saw through the attempt and jumped up into the air. As Robin went underneath her, he felt a soft sensation around his neck. Raven landed on her hands and used her legs to lift Robin off the ground and throw him off the stage. The speed was too quick, and even if he stumbled on the ground, Robin knew he would fall off the stage. In order to avoid that, Robin increased the amount of aura in his right arm momentarily as he stabbed it into the stage to forcefully slow himself down. The pain causing some damage to himself.
-18
¡°..Wow. Nice guts.¡± She nodded approvingly. ¡°Thank you.¡± The two approached each other and began throwing rapid punches and kicks. Eventually, he regained feeling in his arm, and he chose that moment to make his move. Throwing a punch to her face, Raven leaned to the side and threw one of her own. At the exact same time, Robin threw his other fist to catch her off guard with the arm that wasn''t moving up till now. Raven had been keeping tabs on the timer though, so she wasn''t surprised and merely moved her hand to block. At this moment, Robin activated his two skills. Bloodlust Acupuncture Robin''s eyes turned as red as Raven''s as a feeling of blood-thirst emanated from his body. Raven stiffened slightly thanks to her weak state and shock at feeling a vague feeling of fear throughout her body. That moment was all Robin needed to strike the two spots on her shoulders, effectively rendering her arms useless.
-27 -25
Robin kept up the attack. He pounded her body with kicks and punches to quickly end the match. And then, when his punch looked like it would connect, it was instead caught in the same arms that were supposed to be useless a moment ago. However, this time Raven''s body was covered in a mixture of black and red aura and her eyes were faintly glowing. As she held his fist, the aura spread to Robin''s own body and a bizarre feeling washed over him. Robin backed away in panic, only to find the aura that covered his body had disappeared. The strength that he used throughout the fight was gone. ¡°Sorry. But it''s my win.¡± With a step forward, Raven punched Robin in the gut and sent him flying. Without being able to muster any aura or having any to enhance his body, his reaction was too slow and the single blow knocked him unconscious. Chapter 22: Vytal Festival (Part 9) Bow ======================================= Chapter 22 Vytal Festival (Part 9) Bow ======================================= ¡°Robin has been knock unconscious. The winner of the Junior Hunter Tournament is Raven R. Branwen!! ¡° Cheers erupted from the audience, indicating the end of the event. Raven took her elixir and silently apologized to the boy that was being fed his own elixir while being unconscious. = Sorry Robin, but I need to be strong enough to defeat the bad guys in this world. I can''t lose. Not to anyone. = Raven went to cleanse her body in the school''s bathroom. In the process, she jabbed two spots on her body with Acupuncture before checking her own status. Unfortunately for Robin, she hadn''t even used her semblance the entire fight. That black aura was a side ability due to the experiments performed on her body.
-Raven R. Branwen-
Race:Human/???*
Class:Assassin
Level:19
Experience:28/190Semblance:Pursuit
Health:325/325
Aura:655/655
Strength:90Dexterity:119
Agility:78Endurance:56
Vitality:122
Assassin
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. You value order and peace more than anything. Thanks to your past experience, you''ve come to recognize justice is also an important part of your order and peace. Since you understand that peace cannot be withheld with pretty words alone, you are willing to dirty your hands to keep the status quo. You receive +25% damage using any weapons. Backstabs do 50% more damage. +5 Agility at night. Current Bonuses: (+2) Hand-to-Hand Combat, (+5 Inactive) Sword Combat, (+3 Inactive) Dagger Combat Current Skills: Identify, Acupuncture, Throw, Sneak, Hide Presence, Lock-pick
Human:As a human you receive no bonuses, but unlike other humans, your abilities have been boosted. Receive rapid Vitality growth.
???:As a ??? you have been given the unique ability to control the ??? which when activated, integrates with your aura. When used, it temporarily returns your body to prime condition. If you attempt to spread your aura to other living beings while integrated with ???, it will devour their aura. Using ??? rapidly consumes aura.
Pursuit (Active):Thanks to your personality, you have a strong urge to bring evildoers to justice. Thanks to this, you''ve been blessed with the ability to jump through space to ensure no criminal ever escapes your grasp. When activated, you are able to create a portal connected to your target location. However, you must have a clear, accurate understanding of where you are trying to go or the portal shall not open. You cannot create more than five portals a day. Cost: 200 Aura per portal.
Now that she finished the tournament, she had a rough idea where she stood in strength. As far as she knew, all the other kids, both humans and faunus, were much weaker than her. All but a select few stood out, and even though her victory was assured, Robin still gave her a difficult time. A feeling of respect was felt for the young faunus. = Even though I knew I was stronger, he was much stronger and cunning than all the other kids. Throughout the whole fight, he still had an ace up his sleeve. Other kids would normally show off or get distracted by minor details, yet he responded quickly to any threat I gave him and talked only when I started the conversation. If I was a normal girl, he definitely would have won. I need more training. = As she put on her new change of clothes, she stepped back outside to meet up with her uncle. Meanwhile in the infirmary, Robin woke up to find himself alone in a room. He stared at the ceiling with empty eyes. ¡°...Fuuuuuuuuuuuck!¡± A scream full of anger and annoyance resonated throughout the room. = I had her! I fricking had her! What the heck was that at the end? Does her semblance give her the ability to nullify aura? But then how did she move her arms? Maybe it dual functions as a buff and debuff? God damn it I was so close. = Rolling over on the bed, he started to pound his fist onto the pillow. Never had he tried so hard for victory, and that made defeat taste all the more bitter. ¡°What''s with the long face?¡± Entering the room were Robin''s parents and his friends. They were smiling with pride and began to shower him with praise. ¡°Come on Robin. No need to be so down.¡± his mother said. ¡°Yeah yeah,¡± Conner agreed. ¡°You''re the second strongest kid and the strongest faunus child in all the four kingdoms.¡± ¡°Don''t act like a baby. It''s not like you,¡± Ophelia said. Blake smiled at Robin and handed him a medal. Inscribed on it was the figure of a hunter in a fighting stance. ¡°You did well. You should be proud of yourself.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Faced with the endless compliments, Robin could not help but smile. ¡°You''re already getting praised and awarded with a medal but it''s still not enough for you? How much do you want attention?¡± ¡°I don''t want to hear that from you, JES.¡± ¡°My name is not JES!¡± ¡°Alright kids let''s go home. It''s been a long day.¡± And with that, ended the third day of the Vytal Festival. The next day, the group went to the coliseum to watch the final matches between the hunters and huntresses. The first round was competition based, and the second round was 1v1 matches. During those 1v1 matches, Robin paid close attention to their techniques and actions. = Clearly I lacked a variety of skills the entire competition. I need to learn more in order to counter anything anyone throws at me. I should also get stronger in general. Brute force could also make things a whole lot easier. = Robin watched the hunter pressed the attack, quickly alternating between attacking with their blade and gun form. = Having a variety of weapons should also help. Maybe I should use make my weapon be able to use a gun form and a sword form at the same time? Like a bayonet-variant maybe? = As he was contemplating, the match finally ended and the announcer signaled the end of the tournament. The crowd went wild, and the announcer, Carl Buckman, took the stage once more. ¡°And there you have it folks. Our champion in this year''s tournament is Caesar Nikkos!¡± The man handed the Hunter a trophy and turned back to the crowd. ¡°Thank you all for coming to witness the Tournament! I hope you all enjoy the rest of the festival! Have a safe trip home everybody!¡± Thus, the group left the coliseum and traveled around to play various games and visit the many stalls that offered toys, sold accessories, and candy. Racism was never too far away, as the kids got turned away from some stalls to refused to let them participate. Blake was looking down and depressed. ¡°What''s the matter Blake?¡± Robin asked. The others had gone off to find their favorite food stall they found in their time here. Currently, it was just Robin and Blake that walked to see if they could find anything new they haven''t tried yet. ¡°It just..are we that different from humans?¡± She asked. ¡°I mean, between you and me alone, Robin, the only difference between us and humans is that we have another set of ears on our heads.¡± To emphasize her point, she twitched her black ears. The adorable little things waving back and forth. Robin held his own silver ears. Yeah, they were pretty obvious. How people make a big deal out of an extra pair of ears, but not out of darker skin was beyond him. In the first place, discrimination never made any sense to him anyway. You can hate the people who killed your family in the war. That''s understandable. But to hate the kids that didn''t do anything? What would that accomplish? ¡°People sometimes look for a way to relieve their stress,¡± Robin began. ¡°Sometimes, they see it''s easier for them to use something that already exists than something else that won''t hurt others.¡± ¡°But why?¡± Blake responded. ¡°It doesn''t make any sense. All the humans have the same look whenever they see us. Even the ones that serve us give us scorn when we approach Robin. Is it really so wrong to be here? To just exist?¡± ¡°It''s NEVER wrong to just exist.¡± Robin turned to her with a firm expression. ¡°And not every human looks at us that way. Did the Yang girl look at us like that?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Exactly. She didn''t even think about our ears in any way. It''s just a difference in the way people think. They can change in time, so all we have to do is make friends with people like Yang who don''t look at us that way.¡± ¡°But it''s still unpleasant.¡± Blake looked down. At this point, Robin didn''t know what to say to her. He was also familiar with being an outcast, so he could understand the feeling Blake was describing. If she wanted to hide her ears, it would only take a hat, but when she had to take it off, it would immediately show. What she needed was something she could wear even in her sleep. Then, something caught his eye in a stall nearby. ¡°Wait here.¡± Robin rushed towards the stall and hurriedly bought the item. Blake just blankly stared at him, wondering what it was he was up to. Upon returning, Robin carried a black piece of cloth. He motioned her to tilt her head down. Not quite understanding, Blake tilted her head anyway. Robin started to tie the cloth on her head. As he was touching her ears, it tickled her and caused her to giggle. ¡°Done.¡± Robin took his status plate out and used it as a mirror to reflect Blake''s image in it. Upon looking at her reflection, she noticed Robin had tied the black cloth to form a bow on her head. It covered her ears completely and was just the right size so that it wouldn''t be weird for a girl to wear. ¡°Now people won''t know you''re a faunus. If it bothers you, you can just hide your ears to keep people from staring. Then, when you find someone who you think you can trust with knowing who you are, just take it off and show it.¡± Robin smiled, pleased with his work. Blake was just as happy. She grinned with a very big smile on her face. ¡°Thank you Robin. I''ll treasure it.¡±
State your ship! BlakexRobin or RavenxRobin. NinjaxMerc or AssassinxMerc! Rate, comment, have fun! Thanks for reading! Edit: For those curious: Blake without bow Blake with bow Compliments of RWBY wiki Edit 2: I added a poll. I''m curious on your opinions of your ships. I gave you up to two choices, harem, or nobody. Please note this doesn''t change my story at all. It just an easier way for you guys to tell me your stance on this. Chapter 23: Vytal Festival (Part 10) Ozpin ======================================= Chapter 23: Vytal Festival (Part 10) Ozpin ======================================= ¡°Hey guys!¡± Robin and Blake turned to the owner of the voice. A blonde girl and her baby sister walked up to them. Behind them was a familiar silver-haired man. = Isn''t that... = ¡°Hello Yang. Hello Ruby.¡± Blake responded. ¡°Hello,¡± Robin also returned the greeting. However, the younger girl looked confused. ¡°Um, hello? I''m Ruby Rose. Who are you?¡± Apparently, she didn''t recall ever meeting the two of them. = She has a different last name? I thought they were sisters. = Robin contemplated on the fact, but chose not to ask about it. It might be a touchy subject, so he didn''t bring it up. ¡°Oh you met them two days ago Ruby. You were paying attention to the Tournament, so you probably don''t remember.¡± Yang clarified. ¡°But, but, their weapons are so cool. Some had fire swords, and I remember another person had a collapsible staff. And and...¡± The young girl had short, black hair that swayed side to side as she moved. Her silver eyes were filled with excitement as she went on and on about the different weapons the Hunters and Huntresses used. Blake and Robin were a bit taken back. They were also interested in weaponry thanks to the tournament, but the sheer amount of energy the little girl spoke with was a bit too much for the two bookworms. At this moment, the adult stepped forward and put his hand on Ruby''s shoulders. ¡°Now, now, Ruby. You''re scaring your friends. By the way, why don''t you introduce me to them?¡± ¡°Ok!¡± Yang said with a smile. ¡°Robin, Blake, this is our uncle Qrow. He''s letting us play while our parents are visting some other friends. Uncle Qrow, this is Robin and Blake. We met during the festival, and Robin and I fought against each other in the Junior Tournament.¡± ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Qrow nodded. ¡°So this is who beat you?¡± Yang pouted and looked at Robin with a dissatisfied face. ¡°Yeah, he''s stronger than me now, but next time I''ll beat him no problem.¡± ¡°I''ll accept your challenge anytime.¡± He responded. ¡°Hmm..¡± Qrow stared at Robin. ¡°You look familiar..¡± = That''s because you met me as a kid. But I can''t say anything or that would be suspicious. = At that moment, Robin''s parents had come back from a stall. Upon looking for Robin, they saw he and Blake were with a familiar face. ¡°Oh hey! Is that you Qrow?¡± Joseph and Christina walked up to the man. Qrow stood up and smiled at the two. ¡°Yes it is. It''s been a long time. How have you two been?¡± ¡°We''ve been great.¡± Christina said. ¡°Thanks to your help, we were able to raise Robin just like we wanted to. Would you mind coming to have lunch with us?¡± ¡°That''s a great offer. Unfortunately, I have a previous appointment I have to attend to. I''m afraid our meeting won''t spare us some time to catch up.¡± ¡°That''s unfortunate.¡± Joseph smiled wryly and made a facial expression that said it couldn''t be helped. ¡°Brother!¡± Walking towards them was a black-haired man. He had a somewhat longer hair that reached his shoulders. ¡°It''s almost time for the meeting. You should get going. Hm? Who''s this?¡± ¡°This is Joseph and Christina Wolfheart. I believe this child is Robin Wolfheart if I''m not mistaken. Although I''m not sure about his friend here.¡± Blake waved hello. ¡°I''m Blake Belladonna.¡± ¡°Hello there. I''m Taiyang Xiao Long. I''m the father of these two wonderful kids.¡± He rubs Yang and Ruby''s head. ¡°Qrow is a bit busy, so I''ll take the kids and have lunch with you guys instead. Is that fine?¡± ¡°Of course, we wouldn''t mind at all.¡± ¡°Then I shall take my leave.¡± With that, Qrow left the group of friends to get to know one another. He made his way to a fancy building. Inside, he entered into a restaurant that had reserved seating. Mentioning his name, he was taken to a closed off VIP area. The room was filled with expensive decorations and in the middle of the was a table and some chairs. Seated there was his sister-in-law and niece. The two of them turned to greet him. ¡°Welcome, Uncle Qrow.¡± Raven said. ¡°Hello Qrow. Was spending time with Yang and Ruby fun?¡± The woman had long and straight white hair. It seemed that Ruby got her straight hair from Summer while Yang and Raven took after Taiyang''s curly hair. She wore a white and red jacket over her black shirt and blue jeans to match them. Embedded on her jacket was a noticeable small cross. ¡°Yes,¡± Qrow replied while taking a seat next to Raven. ¡°They had a wonderful time, both of them. I even got a wonderful reunion with an acquaintance of mine. It seems their child is growing up to be a handsome and strong Hunter as well.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Raven question. ¡°How strong is he?¡± ¡°Hm. He''s pretty strong. Enough to give you a hard time, that''s for sure.¡± Qrow grinned at Raven. ¡°Can I meet him sometime?¡± ¡°Sure. Maybe some day I''ll let you two talk with each other. I have a feeling you''ll get along nicely. By the way, is Ozpin not here yet?¡± = Ozpin? Isn''t that the name of the guy who fought in the Great War? What''s he coming here for? = As far as she knew, Raven thought this was a get-together to meet her step-mother. Earlier, they had talked a bit about how she grew up and if she was doing well. A sense of comfort was felt when she was with Summer. At that moment, the door opened yet again. This time a middle-aged man with tousled gray hair stepped into the room. He wore dark-green pants and an unzipped suit. Underneath the black vest that could be seen was a green shirt. The man walked forward with his silver cane in hand, his black shoes clicking against the ground. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°I see everyone else is here. Hm? Where''s Taiyang?¡± ¡°He''s taking care of the kids. It''s just us here today.¡± ¡°I see. I''m glad to see that both you and Summer returned safely from the mission.¡± The man sat down between Raven and Summer. He turned to Raven and held out his hand. As Ozpin tilted his head down to look at her, brown eyes could be seen past the dark glasses. ¡°My name is Zoro Ozpin. It''s a pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Hello. I''m Raven Branwen. If you don''t mind me asking, are you the son of THE Ozpin?¡± The middle-aged man was far too young to be over 70 years old. Furthermore, the one who supposedly participated in the Great War was known to be 20 at the time. Thus, Raven assumed that the man was a descendant of the founder of Hunters and Huntresses everywhere. However, the man chuckled and revealed a fact that shocked her greatly. ¡°No, I am the Great Wizard Ozpin who participated in that war. I must seem a little young to you, but I assure you its just a small side effect of my semblance so don''t be alarmed. Although, I''m currently the headmaster of Beacon academy, so you can just call me Professor.¡± = What small side effect lets a 90 year old man look 40? = Raven''s jaw dropped at the historical figure that was in front of her. At that moment, Summer decided to greet the hero. ¡°Thank you for coming all this way Professor Ozpin.¡± ¡°Oh it''s no problem. After watching my students fight in the tournament, I had some free time, so I came to meet with some comrades.¡± At this point, Raven noticed a peculiar fact, all three adults had a emblem of a cross on their clothing. It was as if it was some kind of symbol. ¡°Since we''re all here, I want to hear what happened from your mouth.¡± Qrow leaned forward and set his arms on the table. Raven at this point began to realize what she was about to hear concerned her. She turned to her uncle as he began to speak. ¡°Qrow, what happened on your mission?¡± ¡°..4 years ago, the council gave me the mission to wipe out the remnants of Project A. Upon tracking down clues after clues for so long, I finally found one of their hidden hideouts. However, it was abandoned and the only thing I discovered there was Raven. After that, I relayed the discovery to everyone in the group, but never reported to the kingdom about Raven''s existence.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Ozpin said, ¡°and this is when you let Summer take over your mission?¡± Qrow nodded. ¡°Yes. I couldn''t just leave Raven to die, so I took her back to my hideout and raised her there. I was busy taking care of her and making sure the Grimm didn''t get too close to us, so I talked to Summer and made her take care of it and report it to me. After that, I would use her reports and send it to the kingdom.¡± = Wait. Why are they reporting in such a roundabout way? It''s as if they don''t trust the kingdom. = ¡°It''s to protect you, Raven.¡± Qrow looked at her as if he read her mind. ¡°When we were given the mission, they explicitly said to wipe out EVERYONE. This includes the people who were experimented on. They don''t want this to get out to the public.¡± Raven began to smile wryly. The situation was truly laughable. Just like Robin, the world treated her like she didn''t exist. No rights, no mother. Hell, her own status showed she was neither human nor faunus. ¡°Don''t worry Raven.¡± Summer began. ¡°We can set up birth certificates and everything else to guarantee you to live just like a normal girl.¡± She then looked straight at Qrow with a determined expression. ¡°That''s why I''m telling you guys to let me take Raven into our family. She deserves to live with a mother and father. Not to be raised outside the kingdom and treated as if she''s a monster like those other people do to faunus!¡± Qrow shook his head. ¡°No, Raven deserves to live the life she wants to. And she wants to follow our footsteps. I''m going to train her to become stronger and do the work we do.¡± ¡°WE ARE NOT REGULAR HUNTERS QROW!!¡± Summer began to yell. She slammed her hands on the table and leaned over the table to stare Qrow in the eyes. ¡°We are spies and murderers! She is four, Qrow. FOUR! My other four year old cried in my arms last night about how she lost to a boy in a competition. You''re telling me you want Raven to grow up learning how to end a life?! Do you think she really understands just what that means?!!¡± Of course she understood what it meant. Raven already saw it first hand what a dead body looked like. His purple and teary face still haunted her nightmares, but they didn''t know that. A more interesting fact popped up in Summer''s rant that she just had to mention. ¡°What do you mean you''re not regular hunters?¡±
Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun! Next chapter I''ll reveal the conspiracy. Raven meets founder of Hunters, hero of the Great War, and headmaster of Beacon! I''ll update the next chapter today if I get time. Probably won''t happen. Picture of Ozpin Edit: I hate this server. It gave me error and accidentally makes me upload the same chapter twice.
Edit 2: So did I pull off worried mom role well? It''s not done yet but I figured I might as well ask. Chapter 24: Vytal Festival (Part 11) Conspiracy ======================================= Chapter 24: Vytal Festival (Part 11) Conspiracy ======================================= Summer looked at Raven and then back at Qrow in disbelief. ¡°You didn''t even tell her who you are?¡± ¡°Didn''t you just say she''s too young to understand? Besides, I figured to let her think about her goals and see how she progressed before making the decision to tell her.¡± ¡°Uncle Qrow,¡± Raven interrupted. ¡°what do you guys mean by regular hunters?¡± The one who answered her was not Qrow or Summer, but Ozpin who sat beside her. ¡°Each kingdom is run by a council. Based on their decisions, expansion and upgrades of the kingdom are decided and executed. Underneath the council are the military and Hunters and Huntresses. They fight to protect and preserve peace and order. However, in the realm of Hunters and Huntresses who fight to protect peace, there is no real killing of people. Their main job is to exterminate Grimm, protect and maintain the walls, and see that criminals are put away to jail. Underneath the surface, there are the Dark Hunters. Assassins that take jobs to kill people that are considered too dangerous, or tie up loose ends like those of Project A. Spies take jobs to infiltrate other kingdoms to make sure they don''t lose out in technology or start a war without them knowing. The Dark Hunters form factions and perform dirty work that normal Hunters would never do. We kill, torture, act as double agents. Normal people that become Hunters and Huntresses would never even begin to involve themselves with this. However, all Dark Hunters have a strong sense of justice and understand protecting the peace doesn''t always require the nicest ways to do it. Dark Hunters prioritize their justice above the missions given to the kingdom. That''s why you see we don''t always report everything truthfully. Our trust in the government isn''t 100 percent. If anything looks wrong, we will take them down. That''s even if the enemy is the council themselves.¡± Raven nodded in understanding. It sounded just perfect for her. Peace and order was never simple and innocent. As Reah, she worked hard to get to the top using false relationships. She knew exactly what dirty rumors and lies people told to get by. Rather than being shocked at the dark face of humanity, it was more like a reiteration of the truth she realized long ago. To the adults however, they were shocked. It wasn''t that they thought she was nodding to pretend she understood, but that she genuinely understood what every word meant. What murder was and what kind of job they do. At the sight of her four year old step-daughter understanding what it meant to be a murderer, Summer could not help but sink down into her chair and sob into her hands. ¡°She''s just four.¡± She cried. ¡°Four years old and she already cannot look at the world like a child can. She has lost her innocence, never to be the same again. Why, why is it so wrong to let her just enjoy a normal life? It''s not right. It''s not right..¡± Qrow and Raven stood up and walked over to her chair. They gently rubbed her back and patted her shoulder. ¡°We''ll try the best we can to give her everything she needs to live a normal life, but she has decided to become this on her own. Even if we take away and lock her up, she already decided what she wanted to be and what she wanted to do. I''ve been watching her for three years, Summer. The amount of effort she puts into training is inspiring. I know it''s true.¡± Summer gradually calmed down. Wiping her tears from her eyes, she looked up and thanked Qrow and Raven. However, Ozpin took this moment to speak up. ¡°Three years.¡± They looked at him. ¡°Raven had been in his care for three long years. You should''ve had plenty of time to think about this. Whether to take her into your care or leave it to Qrow to raise her. Why did you suddenly decide to make a big deal out of this now?¡± Qrow and Raven''s faces blanked out at the realization. They turned to the woman who had an troubled face while looking down at the table. ¡°Summer, what happened on your mission to make you like this? Tell us.¡± Qrow and Raven sat back down in their seats as Summer put on a serious face and began her explanation. ¡°After Qrow took Raven away and raised her, I went to revisit the hideout he had found. Just like he said, it was completely empty. Upon closer examination, it was as if they left in a hurry. The laboratory showed signs of experimentation with aura and their documents were almost completely wiped out. Almost. In one of the fireplaces on the surface level, one of the papers weren''t completely burnt out. On it was a map to some location. I researched and left to find this location, and when I did I went inside to investigate. Just like before, it was completely empty. Underground was a laboratory just like the other one. However, I found something that was extremely shocking. In a secret compartment hidden inside of a personal locker was a stack of papers filled with logs of some of their research. One of the researchers had secretly made a copy of the research. I didn''t know why, but it gave clues to what was being done there. The documents described investigating the creatures of Grimm and the Dust left behind by their bodies. It described how they used the Dust and tried applying to living creatures and its effects.¡± Qrow and Raven had their jaws opened at this point. Only Ozpin sat there with a stern expression. Dust was a very powerful tool for humanity''s survival, but nobody ever thought of putting Dust inside of their body for a simple reason. Any known cases have already resulted in death. Using it was fine, creating weapons with it was fine, but combining it with the human body has never worked out. But there was another fact in Summer''s explanation that caused Ozpin to frown. According to Summer, Project A was receiving help from others to move and hide. Otherwise, how could runaway scientists evade them for so long and still conduct experiments that were supposed to be rejected by the government. Not only that, they seemed to be also involved with Project D and Project G. Things were not looking good. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°As you know, the Grimm dissolve into black dust when they die, and the dust itself completely evaporates given enough time. The researchers mixed some kind of special material to preserve the Dust and apply it with the research of aura. The effects were violent in their subjects. They started thrashing and screaming, so they started to thin out the dose they would give until it was not ultimately killing their test subjects. One of the features they all observed in their subjects was the turning of their eyes completely red. After finding these documents, I''ve rushed back to talk with you guys.¡± Summer looked at the three of them, and ultimately rested her eyes on Raven. Concern completely filled her eyes. Forget aura, the girl in front of her was probably not even human anymore, and Summer was worried Raven would suddenly experience some kind of pain or condition that could result in her death. She wanted to stay with Raven and let her live a normal life as long as she could before something like that happened-- if it happens. At that moment a window popped up in front of Raven''s vision.
Thanks to your knowledge, you now have a better understanding of what you are. Your race has been updated.
Human:As a human you receive no bonuses, but unlike other humans, your abilities have been boosted. Receive rapid Vitality growth.
Grimm:As a creature of Grimm you have been given the unique ability to control the Essence of Darkness which when activated, integrates with your aura. When used, it temporarily returns your body to prime condition. If you attempt to spread your aura to other living beings while integrated with Essence of Darkness, it will devour their aura. Using Essence of Darkness rapidly consumes aura.
¡°..My status says I''m part Grimm.¡± The adults turned to her. Shocked showed on Summer''s face; pity, worry, and sadness followed after. What cruel person determined it was fair for such a young girl to be cursed with such a fate? Author''s note: What cruel person indeed. In order to take her mind off of Raven, Ozpin questioned her on the concern he was pondering about. ¡°Summer, do you know who they''re working with?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don''t know their goals or who they are. Whoever they are, they have deep connections. They hide extremely well and seem to have somehow established so many hideouts outside of the kingdoms without us knowing. They are definitely dangerous.¡± ¡°Professor Ozpin,¡± Qrow spoke up, ¡°what do you think is going on?¡± ¡°I don''t know...Whoever they are, they''re plotting something if they''re getting involved with all these projects and hiding illegal experimentations. Project D and G still are going on, but none of their research should be anything like what Summer described. We wiped those that did stuff like that along with those of Project A a long time ago...or so we thought. Things are looking very dangerous.¡± He looked up to Summer and Qrow after brooding. ¡°The mission has changed. This is no longer just about exterminating runaways. I think we''re facing a criminal organization and they have avoided discovery for a long time. They also seem to have financial support and bases hidden all over the place. Qrow, you should focus on training Raven. If she still wants to continue this path, she needs to get a whole lot stronger. Summer, when you continue researching into this, be very careful. It''s possible they have discovered you and will attack you.¡± The two adults nodded with nervous expressions on their faces. Raven was just the same. The four them had began to realize the era of peace for the kingdom might end very soon. ........ Meanwhile, in a place far away. A woman sat in a chair looking at the papers on her desks. She was inside of a hideout that was unknown to all four kingdoms. She had evaded discovery for so long and was now a high figure in the Organization. A knock on the door was heard. ¡°Who is it?" ¡°It''s Adam and Eve, Madam. We have a report you need to hear.¡± ¡°Come in.¡± In walked two figures, a man and a woman. They looked nothing alike, yet shared the same strange red eyes. ¡°On our surveillance cameras in one of our old hideouts we have caught someone snooping around.¡± ¡°Show me the footage.¡± On the display, the woman saw a familiar face. The figure entered the building wearing the same outfit she used to see all the time in their missions together. The woman was seen opening a locker and examining files. = So I see Summer has gotten a bit too nosy for her own good. She should have just concentrated on her family if she knew what''s good for her. = ¡°What do you want to do Madam?¡± ¡°Contact R in Vale. Tell him to keep an eye on her. If he notices her getting close to another one of our hideouts --¡± She made a motion with her thumb underneath her chin. ¡°-- kill her.¡±
Sigh...now I have to do boring stuff.. like figure out events to pack up Robin''s peaceful life. God I wish I could just skip it and get to the action packed events. Oh well, it adds to the impact when everything changes. What do you guys think? Interesting? Cliche? Boring? Rate, comment, etc. Thanks for reading! Edit: I had revised an earlier chapter that said that Grimm leave Nothing behind. I made an error and made the message unclear. Grimm dissolve into dust and then evaporate into nothing. I had edited this after posting an earlier chapter but forgot to mention this to you guys. Sorry about the confusion. Chapter 25: A Step Forward ======================================= Chapter 25: A Step Forward ======================================= ¡°Dad?¡± ¡°Yes son?¡± Currently, Robin and his family were enjoying the sights within the kingdom with what time they had left. Robin decided to use this chance to ask about an idea he had. ¡°Is there a library in Vale? I wanna get some books.¡± ¡°Well, there is a public library, but they don''t let you borrow any books. I do know some book stores around here though. What do you need, Robin?¡± ¡°I want books on how to fight.¡± After suffering a loss against Raven''s trump card, Robin was determined to become more well-versed in combat to defeat her. One of the solutions to his lack of knowledge was to access libraries. ¡°Hmm. That''s fine. Lets go then.¡± Robin''s parent took him in a walk around the kingdom. After walking for 30 minutes, they arrived at the book shop. Upon entering, they found multiple shelves of books filling the entire shop. On the counter, there was a bell. Joseph walked up to the counter and tapped it. *Ding* ¡°Be right there.¡± A voice was heard behind the doors that could be seen past the counter. A man opened the door carrying two huge stacks of books in each arm. As he moved to set them down on a nearby table, he talked to them. ¡°Welcome to Tukson''s Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. How may I..Oh!¡± When the man saw the two, he smiled and shouted. He had short black hair with huge sideburns on the side of his face. Despite running a workshop, he had a broad build. = He reminds me of Wolverine.. = ¡°Joseph and Christina! You''re in Vale? How may help you?¡± ¡°Hey there Tukson. We actually here for our son Robin today.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The man looked at Robin. ¡°He looks a lot like you Christina. Ah, but his eyes are like yours Joseph. The sharp look ruins his handsomeness.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah. Anyway, we wanted to get some books for Robin. What do you have on educational books for fighting?¡± ¡°You looking for hand-to-hand combat or weapons?¡± Tukson asked while fiddling with a display. Robin answered this time. ¡°Anything is fine, also include anything with pressure points and acupuncture please.¡± *Ding* With a noise the computer completed its search. Tukson voiced the results. ¡°I have 94 different books on martial arts and weapons usage. I have another 28 on acupuncture. Do you want all of them?¡± ¡°Uh, no. That''s a bit too much to buy all at once. Besides, I don''t think Robin wants to re-¡± ¡°That''s fine dad. I want to read all of them.¡± ¡°..Well that''s fine then, but we can''t buy all of them. We spent most of our money to get supplies and have fun at the Vytal Festival.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Tukson said, ¡°I don''t mind giving them all to you guys. I can put you on a loan. Just pay me back for the books in a month or so.¡± ¡°Oh you don''t have to.¡± Christina said. However, Tukson waved his hand to dismiss it. ¡°We faunus need to stick together. I don''t mind doing something like this at all. Now I assume you want a digital copy yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah that''s right.¡± Joseph responded. Tukson pressed a few buttons and inserted a small metal stick into the screen. After transferring the files, he unplugged the stick and handed it to Joseph. ¡°The total ends up to be 1823.78 dollars. Just put the USB into a Scroll to see the books. Just like always, there''s a safety feature so you can''t copy the files from the USB, so be careful with that.¡± Tukson looked at Robin. ¡°Read them carefully kid. Wouldn''t want you to get hurt by doing something wrong.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± The family left and went back to the building where their trailers were parked. As the family started the engine and waited in the traffic to leave the Kingdom of Vale, Robin looked out of the windows to view once again the small tower of Beacon Academy in the distance. = This world is such an interesting place to live in. Although I could live without the discrimination, it truly is filled with so many things for me to do. I''ll aim to become a professional Hunter and become the strongest faunus ever to be born. = Robin grinned. Then, the image of the black-haired girl entered his vision. The lesson he learned from the tournament was still fresh in his mind. Rather than being proud of the fact he got second place, he was sulking because he had been given a hard time by two weaker people, and ultimately defeated by Raven who trumped him in every way possible. = Urg. Becoming the strongest is interesting and all, but I''ve already gotten beaten by her so badly I got knocked out. But just you wait Raven, I''m gonna be so strong the next time we meet, you''ll be the one kissing the ground. = A fierce, competitive light shone in his eyes as he put in the USB into the scroll. His eyes started to read the first book on acupuncture. The village of Rakshata had already found a new mission from the Hunter''s Guild. It was an extermination near the mountains to the west. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Everyday life began anew just like before. Robin would go to school in the morning to mid-afternoon. Then he would train at home before taking a break at the library to read up on his books before heading home to eat with his family. The thing that changed was that he became much more active than before. The training was longer, and the reading was more focused on the books. Robin would read the book, then he would practice against the human-sized dummy in the backyard. Then he would do extra physical training by running laps and doing muscle exercises. Study, practice, train, and repeat. This cycle repeated itself every day. First was hand-to-hand combat. It involved counters, joint-locks, throws, and the pressure points. Then he studied using weapons. He began studying the techniques of how to use a sword and disarm a person with one before moving on to other weapons. Months passed and Robin began to reread some of the books he read, trying to commit the techniques to heart. His own actions did not go unnoticed in the village. As time passed, people began to remember how Robin would exercise and take another step forward. Lap after lap, Robin''s friends did not just idly sit by and watch him. ¡°Jeez, Robin''s going to jog again.¡± Conner said. ¡°Why does he try so hard? We''re already doing a lot of stuff in PT.¡± There was truth in Adam''s comment. PT training was basic, but it was very well done. The program itself included a rigorous training program with fun games in between. The competitive nature of the kids allowed thiem to try their best without getting bored. Dodgeball was getting more like a battlefield. The foam balls became flying balls of death as the kids got stronger and reacted quicker. ¡°Isn''t it obvious?¡± The kids turned to Ophelia. ¡°It''s because of that Raven girl right? He''s just angry with himself for losing to someone for once.¡± ¡°.....¡± Blake stared at the figure of the faunus completing yet another lap. Then on one of the days Robin went to train, he found his friends waiting for him. They were in their gym uniforms as well. ¡°What are you guys doing?¡± ¡°What does it look like?¡± Adam smirked. ¡°We can''t exactly let you get too far ahead of us. So we''re joining you.¡± ¡°We''re a team!¡± Ophelia exclaimed. ¡°Teams stick together.¡± ¡°Hey, hey Robin.¡± Conner walked up. ¡°I heard you got a lot of books about weapons. Mind if we read some of them?¡± Robin nodded. ¡°Sure. No problem. Well I''m starting to run now.¡± As they ran, the group began jogging and breathing in pace. Blake caught up beside to Robin and asked him. ¡°Is it true?¡± ¡°Is what true, Blake?¡± ¡°Is it true you''re doing this only because of that Raven girl?¡± ¡°...Well Raven did show me how much I''m lacking, so yes in that sense she is kinda the reason I''m trying so hard.¡± Blake looked down very dejected. ¡°But the real reason is much simpler. I don''t wanna lose. I wanna be strong for the sake of being strong. I just wanna win and never lose.¡± A fierce light filled Robin''s eyes. He was a loser before, but that was in the past. With a new body, a new life, and a new chance, there was no reason for him to be a loser anymore. Of course, he wasn''t stupid as to be overobsessed with victory to become egotistical. He saw enough of that. He just hated defeat. It tasted so disgusting before. This time, it was just annoying, so he didn''t want it to happen. Blake''s complexion lightened. With the revealing of Robin''s motive, she became a step closer to understanding him, and was glad his mind was not full of Raven. At this moment, Ophelia spoke up. ¡°Hey, since we''re a team. How about we make a team name? I hear all the Hunters make a team name with their group.¡± ¡°Team name?¡± Conner replied. ¡°What would ours be?¡± ¡°Team Ice Dynamite?¡± Adam proposed. ¡°Rejected.¡± Robin said. ¡°Team Faunus?¡± Conner spoke up this time. ¡°That''s a bit racist and unoriginal..¡± Blake retorted. ¡°Oh I know! How about team COBRA? C for Conner, O for me, B for Blake, R for Robin, and A for Adam.¡± = Sounds pretty nice. = There were no objections. The group looked at each other and nodded. All the while, they passed the first lap around the village. ¡°Ok then, it''s decided.¡± Robin declared. ¡°From now on, we''re called Team COBRA!¡±
More time skip next chapter. I''m gonna be pretty much done with childhood age by then. Rate, comment, Enjoy! Thanks for reading! Chapter 26: Changes We Didnt Want (Part 1) ======================================= Chapter 26: Changes We Didn''t Want (Part 1) ======================================= *pant*pant*pant* Taking a vial out of her jacket, Summer gulped down the greater elixir. Upon swallowing, her aura returned and her wounds closed. As she was investigating in the hideout she had just discovered, an unknown person had somehow snuck up behind her and engaged a fight. She was not born yesterday, so reacting to the attack was no problem. It was what happened after that that caused her to sweat. Unlike anything she''s ever seen before, the man''s weapon treated everything it came in contact with as if it was water. It cut through everything without trouble. Summer had not expected this, and she raised her sword to intercept the man''s own. Without even clashing, the man''s sword cut her main weapon in half and would''ve ended her life then and there if she had not been trained as a Dark Hunter for so long. She leaned to the side to avoid the slash, but it was simply traveling far too quickly. Not because his sword was fast. No, it was because she couldn''t react since the sword has begun slicing her weapon without the tiniest bit of resistance. Her hand which gripped her sword had not even felt contact. Because of her late reaction, the man''s sword sliced both her weapon and right arm completely off. Even if wounds healed, lost appendages were still gone. It was only thanks to her semblance and skill that she got away so far. Upon rounding a corner, Summer cursed at the information that was displayed.
Jack Ripper (Lvl 78)
HP:1675/1675
Aura:1506/1725
= Ten levels lower than me, and yet I''m on the verge of getting killed. There''s no way someone like him, who has some kind of ability specifically for killing, would be placed as a guard for an abandoned hideout. They must have known I was coming, and placed an assassin to kill me! = Reaching for her communicator, Summer spoke into it. ¡°Qrow!! Come in! This is Summer! I need backup now!¡± ¡°*static*¡± ¡°Shit! They jammed the signal!¡± At this moment, a short sword sliced across the wall in front of her. Even if she was faster, the enemy knew the hideout inside and out, so they caught up with no trouble. In fluid movements the wall was sliced to pieces and a kick sent the rubble flying towards Summer. As she backed away, a shadow flew out and swung his sword at her. She could not retaliate well with the backup weapon of a combined dagger and gun form since she could not let them even touch the blade or the result would be the same as her other weapon. Then, the assassin kicked her and sent her flying backwards to collide with a wall. At this moment, Summer''s remaining hand was stabbed with the sword that was thrown from Jack the Ripper. Summer knew then and there that her time was up. = I''m sorry girls, I won''t be able to raise you like a good mother should. Ruby, remember to always hold onto your beliefs. You have such an innocent and straightforward soul. Yang, please take care of your sister. Her naivete can sometimes get the better of her, but don''t forget to take care of yourself as well. Your emotions can run a bit too wild. = Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°My, my. I was told I needed to kill some Dark Hunter, but man what a letdown this is.¡± = Raven, I''m so sorry you aren''t able to grow up with your sisters and parents like any person should, and I''m so sorry that I cannot be with you even after promising to be there when you need me. = He grabbed his other sword and leaned down closer towards her. ¡°So what kind of scream will you give me? Will you cry? Scream with hatred? Curse my fate? Come on. Give me some kind of reaction here.¡± = Everyone, please forgive this mother who could not help you when you needed her most. Qrow, I''m always asking you for advice, and I can''t help but rely on you one more time. Please let them live a normal life. = ¡°What? That''s it? How boring.¡± = Taiyang, I''m sorry I can no longer be the shoulder for you to lean on. = With a swing of his sword, the head of Summer Rose left her body, but not before one last thought was sent for her family. = I love you. = ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- After completing his mission to murder the woman, he was so unmotivated he just left it there to rot. A few days had past before two figures rushed to the scene. Qrow had become anxious after not hearing a report from Summer like normal, and Raven had insisted on coming with him. A feeling of dread had come over her the past few days. Upon discovery of her corpse, Raven broke down into tears. She reached for the head of her step-mother. Holding it to her chest, the tears kept flowing. Qrow also could not stop his own tears. Twice. Twice had he been too late. Because he was too slow, Raven is cursed to never be a normal human again. Because he was too slow, his sister-in-law ¨C no, his teammate who he fought countless battles with ¨C was gone forever. At that moment, white petals filled their vision. They danced and fluttered in the air before forming words on the wall Summer laid against. It was Summer''s semblance White Blossom. It left a message capable of being seen only by the targeted individuals. That was the main reason why she was such an outstanding Dark Hunter. Now, the words that formed were the same ones she had thought about right before her death. Next to her final message, the petals formed the figure of a man, and they provided a detailed image of his face. Below the image was his name. Raven burnt it into her memory. The only ones she ever knew to treat her with such sincerity was Summer and Qrow. Her past relationships were nothing more than a facade. Summer was the one of the two people who treated her like her own daughter. To treasure her as if she was something irreplaceable. = Jack Ripper. Enjoy your last moments while you can. Justice will be served. If the law cannot do it. Then I WILL. =
Sorry guys originally, Robin''s timeskip would be shown immediately after this, but I figured this is something that needs to stand by itself, so I split it up. I''ll be back tomorrow to finish what I started. Rate, comment, tell me if I got the message through. I can''t write anymore tonight. Chapter 27: Changes We Didnt Want (Part 2) ======================================= Chapter 27: Changes We Didn''t Want (Part 2) ======================================= At the next Vytal Festival, Robin was very eager to see just how much he had improved. Unfortunately, there was nobody for him to test himself against. Both Yang and Raven did not show up that year, leaving the main contest to be between Robin and Ren. The rest of the students weren''t even worth mentioning. After Robin''s intense training, taking on a huge group of wimpy slackers was as easy as breathing. Ren was much more skilled. His hits were stronger and much more agile, but ultimately lost to Robin''s wealth of knowledge and superior body. With at least one competitor, Robin was able to exercise a bit. However, the lack of presence of both Yang and Raven was extremely disheartening. = I wonder where they are? ..If Raven''s not gonna show up, that can mean one of two things. She''s either decided against participating this year for whatever reason, something came up, or she''s training to get herself even stronger.. = In reality, Robin''s guess was on the mark on all three cases. Raven was pushing her body to the limit and strived to get stronger as fast as possible. Why didn''t she go to the competition? Because other than being a treasure chest of experience points, the competition itself was pointless to her. Why did she have to waste four days having fun and beating up children when that murderer was still on the loose? So the years passed by just like that. Robin would train his very hardest to become the strongest Hunter while Raven trained her hardest to become the strongest killer. Different reasons, but they had the same goal. In a race for the title of strongest, they trained in their own unique ways. Robin would do research and intense practice to master his skills and weaponry. As the years past, he once again saw Yang at the festival. Unlike before, she had a sadder and more painful look. However, her brute strength was at an all time high. Her fighting style was wild and powerful, but Robin was someone who had studied countless ways to defeat all kinds of martial arts. He easily defeated her yet again. Yang was a bit peeved, but smiled instead as if to laugh it off. That year, Robin had learned that their father bought his two girls a dog in order to cheer them up. As he was walking by, Robin accidentally overheard the reason for their sadness. Regretful that he accidentally heard something personal, Robin walked away quickly. Back in the village, the children began learning how to handle a gun and Robin mastered that within a year. His other weapons skills were also being mastered one by one. The bonuses in damage was doubled in each respective weapon, and Robin simply began focusing on incorporating his skills of hand-to-hand combat to other weapons and expanding his aura pool. Robin never got his rematch with Raven. Every year she would skip the festival, and Robin became disappointed. = Did she run away? = He never knew why she decided to quit, but it didn''t change his goals in the slightest. To become the strongest, he continued to train. Consequently, Team COBRA did as well. Inspired by Robin''s tenacity, they all began to train to become stronger. They didn''t really have the lofty goal of becoming the strongest, but they did many things together, all the while growing closer as friends. In a few years, Team COBRA became the strongest faunus children within the village and bested the middle school students in strength. Their parents were shocked. As Hunters outside of the kingdoms, they didn''t really aspire to become the strongest. They merely lived their lives day to day and exterminated whatever they needed to. They had never chosen a mission that was too difficult in case they endangered their loved ones. At this rate, their own children would become stronger than them at a young age. Robin''s parents were especially troubled. Robin''s abilities and aura was progressing at an amazing pace. Mastering the sword at the age of 7, they praised him as a genius. He was probably destined to become one of the top Hunters in the Kingdom of Vale. They were extremely proud, but their small village just didn''t have the facilities that could let him reach his maximum potential. Thus, they decided to call a good old friend of theirs. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Hello?¡± *Hey there Qrow, this is Joseph. ¡°Oh! Hey there Joseph! It''s been a while.¡± *It certainly has been. We didn''t meet you at the Vytal Festival last year either. ¡°Haha. I''ve been a little busy...I had to fill in for some people when the festival comes around, so I haven''t been able to come.¡± *No, I totally understand. Hey, I''m calling you today for some advice about Robin. ¡°What do you mean?¡± *Well, I don''t mean to brag, but Robin seems to be a genius. Unlike me and Christina, his aura is getting extremely high, and he''s already strong enough to hunt with us during our missions. But Rakshata''s simply too small to help him get where he wants to. Apparently, his dream is to become the strongest Hunter. Well, I was hoping if you knew something we could do, Qrow. ¡°Hmm...!!¡± An idea popped into Qrow''s head. If he pulled this off, maybe he could even fix Raven''s situation as well. She had secluded herself from the world, and constantly went hunting Grimm to become stronger. Death constantly followed her, but Qrow knew that too much would break her. Qrow began to explain to Joseph his plan. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 10 years had past, and Robin had progressed very far in his path to become stronger. Currently he was level 47. This huge boost in leveling was only possible with his involvement with Grimm extermination. Even the weakest of Grimm gave an abundant amount of experience. Although he was nervous when killing his first monster, they had given him a weaker foe to start him off. After a couple kills, Robin started to get more active. The sensation of killing the creatures seemed to somehow feed his inner desire for action and excitement. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. In addition to getting involved with the hunts, Robin finally completed his own weapon: Pantomath. It had four forms. It''s neutral form was a giant, silver great-sword which was currently hanging on a holster located on his back. The great-sword can then detach into two halves which is the second form. This allows Robin to dual wield swords. The third form was the axe form. From the second form, midway along the blades was a joint. By pressing a button, the upper half of the sword swings back and creates two axes. The last form also came from the second form. By attaching the ends of his dual swords together at the hilt and pressing a button, they connected and altered itself to form one long staff with blades on each end. However, that wasn''t all his Pantomath had to offer. Along the middle of his great-sword was a barrel. When Pantomath transformed into its other three forms, the barrel is exposed and can fire rifle rounds when he pulled a trigger. Furthermore, at the bottom of the hilt was a compartment allowing Robin to insert cartridges filled with dust rounds and dust powder. The rounds were used when firing his gun, and the powder interacted with his weapon depending on which on he used. A lot of research was done when Robin was creating his weapon. Through trial and error, he finally created something that was versatile and suited him best. Robin was extremely pleased. However, he was not very pleased with his current situation. Right now, Team COBRA were studying together at one of the tables in the outdoor cafeteria. And Robin was currently tutoring Conner in math. ¡°So what you want to do here is find Y. And in order to do that you need to solve the equation for X.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± Conner replied holding his chin with his thumb and index finger. ¡°To do that, you have to isolate X and divide that side by 5.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± ¡°Then you plug it into log(5/X) and minus 3 to get the value of Y.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± ¡°You didn''t understand a single word did you?¡± ¡°Not a damn word.¡± *POW* Robin dropped a karate chop on Conner''s head. ¡°Take this seriously, Conner.¡± ¡°I am taking this seriously. I''m just wondering why we need to use letters and all these complicated equations in math. We can do the basic operations. Isn''t that enough?¡± ¡°Sigh..how did you expect for us to get the technology we use today? We use letters to represent stuff we don''t know, and then we find it through the same equations I''m teaching you now.¡± Conner banged his fist onto his palm. ¡°I see! So it''s like this. If we take Blake''s C-cup and minus Ophelia''s flat A-cup, then we''ll get 2, right?¡± At that moment, Ophelia drove a fist into Conner''s chin. He fell out of the chair and to the floor. Getting on top of him, Ophelia started beating him with a barrage of fists while Blake looked down at the ground blushing. In between punches, Ophelia was speaking in short bursts. ¡°Who.. are you... calling... flat....SWINE?!¡± = Rest in peace. = After the beating was down, Ophelia proceeded to use Heal. The white warm glow healed up Conner''s injuries as if it didn''t even happen. As expected of the Sadist Doctor. Conner got up after admitting defeat and turned to Robin to speak. ¡°Well, I think I''m done for today. I''m going home.¡± ¡°Alright. It''s getting late anyways. I think I''ll head back too.¡± The group stood up and was about to leave. Then when Robin tried to take a step forward, he foot refused to move and he tripped to the ground. Reaching his hands out, he tried to stop himself before hitting the ground. But the moment his hands came in contact with the ground, the ¡°ground¡± sank and his hands fell into the hole. Robin did a beautiful face-plant. Upon looking at his feet, he found his shoelaces were tied together and around the leg of the desk. Scurrying away in the distance was a fox faunus. Robin raised his fist and yelled. ¡°DINKLEBEEEEEERG!¡± ---------------------------------------- Grumbling to himself for falling for such a petty trick, Robin entered his house to find his parents smiling at the dinner table. ¡°I''m home. What''s up mom? Dad? Why are you smiling?¡± ¡°Well Robin,¡± Christina said. ¡°You''ve become pretty strong recently.¡± Nodding in agreement, Joseph continued. ¡°That''s right. You''ve become so strong, in fact, we''re worried about holding you back, so your mother and I came up with a solution.¡± They looked at each other and grinned. ¡°You''re gonna go to the Myriad School of Combat! Starting tomorrow!¡± Robin blinked. Myriad was a pretty famous combat school only the strongest got in, but it was located inside of Vale. Going there and back to the village of Rakshata was simply going to take too long. ¡°But mom, that''s at least 4 hours away. How am I going to get home from there?¡± ¡°Oh no worries. You''re moving!¡± ¡°Tomorrow you''re going to take your stuff and start living inside of Vale! Don''t worry about being lonely, we''ve talked with everyone else. The rest of your friends are coming too! I''m sure you''ll be fine.¡± The two parents looked at him as if it was a done deal. Meanwhile Robin couldn''t help but be a bit anxious. School inside the kingdom was gonna be harsh. Unlike Rakshata which consisted of many friendly people, Vale was the home to discrimination and false relationships. Furthermore, it''s a combat school, a place with hyperactive teens in the middle of puberty. = Am I going to be ok? =
Yay for Qrow''s plan for human interaction! Yay for teenage carnage! Huzzah for Robin''s weapon!! Fun fact 1: Definition of pantomath -- person who knows everything. Fun fact 2: Robin''s weapon is inspired by this. Credit goes to CrosmirSketch for creating the weapon. I added my own little twist and changed the color scheme to match Robin. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Chapter 28: Entrance Exam ======================================= Chapter 28: Entrance Exam ======================================= The lowest age to get a driver''s license in Vale is 14. About four months ago, Robin had taken his driving test and passed it with flying colors. For him, it was just like riding a bike. The controls of vehicles were pretty much the same. Advanced methods of transportation such as airships belonged mainly to the military and Huntsman academies. With an exception of a few buttons to transform the homes, all the other controls were the same. Currently, Robin was driving their home to the Kingdom of Vale. Inside were all of his friends as well as their families. After entering the kingdom, Robin and his friends were given a map to all the places inside. In addition, their parents gave them directions to a rental shop. ¡°Robin, go here if you need to have something to drive inside the Kingdom. Otherwise, you can always walk around to save some money.¡± Robin took the paper and placed it inside his jacket pocket. ¡°Also,¡± Christina continued, ¡°there''s no real need to worry about money. You''ll be able to do missions at the Hunter''s Guild on your own, plus we''ll send some extra cash to help you get by. Here, take this.¡± She handed him a credit card. ¡°On here, we''ll deposit money. Right now, there''s enough to help you get started. As for where you''ll live, you guys can live at the dorms of the school. But..if something happens and you can''t really stand living there, you can call us and we can help set up an apartment for you to stay at.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Robin said. ¡°Be safe son.¡± Joseph said. The families waved good bye and the kids departed to go to the school. All this time, Robin''s parents were keeping a smile to reassure their child everything would be all right, but in reality they were very troubled at sending him away. ¡°Honey, do you think he''ll be ok? I know Qrow said it should be fine, but I can''t help but worry if those kids there will hurt him.¡± ¡°Qrow is someone we can trust. Rather than him getting hurt physically, I''m more worried about if he can learn to trust people after being exposed face-to-face to the cruelty. Lets pray for his safety.¡± The families watched their children depart. If anything, they took relief in the fact they were going in a group. If they were alone in the kingdom, the treatment might simply be too much for them, but so long as they were together, Team COBRA would stand tall in the face of any adversary. That, the parents were sure of. ------------------------------------------------------- For the five of them, they came to Myriad every year for Robin''s involvement in the tournament, so they knew exactly where it was. As they walked towards the entrance to the school, they found themselves in lines to let the instructors know they showed up. Waiting for their turn to step up, Robin found himself staring at a girl in front of him. Grumbling in a whisper to herself, the black-haired beauty stood there with a frown on her face. ¡°Stupid uncle, I can''t believe I have to do this shit again..¡± ------------------ After coming back from hunting Grimm, Raven had been confronted by Qrow the moment she finished cleaning up. ¡°Raven, you''re going to school tomorrow. No excuses.¡± = ¡­ = ¡°I don''t want to uncle. Why do I need to learn in a lame environment like school when I can just learn from you?¡± ¡°I cannot always be with you, Raven. Since Summer is gone, I have to do the missions again.¡± ¡°Then I--¡± ¡°Nope, you''re not going with me. Besides, even if you don''t come with me, you''ll still get taught the same thing. It''s not like learning to fight is different according to the school. You win if you win. You lose if you lose. It''s a combat school, so you''ll be doing missions at the Hunter''s Guild to keep your grades up. If it''s really too slow for you, just take more missions from the Guild and the school will excuse your absence.¡± ¡°But I don''t need something like school, Uncle Qrow. I can learn everything I need here.¡± ¡°You can''t make friends here, Raven. You need to go out and relax a little. Engrossing yourself in this line of work isn''t healthy for a 14 year old.¡± ¡°I don''t need something like frie¡ª¡± ¡°Summer would have wanted that.¡± ¡°...¡± ------------------ And just like that, Raven couldn''t argue back. In order to respect her late step-mother''s wishes for a normal life, she reluctantly packed up her stuff and left. Robin, at this moment, recognized her. = It couldn''t be.. Is that Raven? = Identify
Raven R. Branwen (Lvl 55)
HP:1245/1245
Aura:1875/1875
= Oh my god it is her..And what is with that ridiculous aura pool?! I thought I trained my aura to the max and I''m still short by 200!! = ¡°Hey Raven is that you?¡± Turning around, she didn''t recognize the faunus boy at all. The kid had a bang that slightly covered his right eye. On his head, one could see a pair of wolf ears in addition to his human ones on the side of his face. After deciding to train herself to the limits, she didn''t give the tournament a second thought for 10 years. Identify
Robin S. Wolfheart (Lvl 47)
HP:1065/1065
Aura:1620/1620
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. = Robin?...isn''t that the name of that one strong kid I fought so long ago? So after 10 years, he''s at this level huh? = ¡°Yeah, it is me. What do you want?¡± ¡°Oh..I was just saying hi. Well, why did you not go to the tournament after that year? It was a bit boring without you there.¡± At this comment, she frowned. ¡°I don''t have time for stupid things like that. Sorry, but can you not talk to me? I don''t really wanna talk to anyone right now.¡± Turning away, she walked up to the desk where the teachers called for the next one in line. Boring? So sorry she couldn''t have the luxury of being a source of entertainment. She had far too much on her mind for useless things like that. From atoning for her murder, avenging Summer''s death, and eventually putting the secret organization behind bars or in their graves, she didn''t exactly have the time for playing the role of a kid. = I''m already sick of this game of ''friendship'' and ''school''. I don''t need a repeat of my past life. I feel sorry for Robin, but I don''t have the slightest intention of becoming ''friends'' with anyone. = As he watched her walk away, Robin couldn''t help but think-- = What a bitch. I thought she was a good person. Who knew she was like this? Looks like time does change people. = After the group told the teachers their names, they were given a number and was instructed to report to certain rooms where physical tests would be done. Inside the gigantic room was an obstacle course, weights, as well as an entire lane that was separated from the rest. Upon entering, the students in their group adjusted their attention to the instructor in front of them. ¡°We will now begin testing to see if you are fit enough to register in our academy. I have the power to deem that you are unfit after any single one of these tests, so I suggest you try your hardest on all of them. The moment you pass the test, you are to report to the front desk and turn in your payment for the school. Are there any questions?¡± Robin raised his hands. ¡°What do you want, dog?¡± A vein bulged on his forehead, but he kept his anger hidden. ¡°I hear there''s a way to bypass the test and be admitted free of charge. Is that true?¡± For Robin and the rest of them, they came from a nomad village outside the kingdom. Though they weren''t poor, they weren''t rich either. The facilities were too much for their parents to pay for. Otherwise, they would be sending all of their kids to take a test their. Qrow''s crazy idea to Joseph was to get Robin to passed the special test. If Robin was a genius like Joseph said he was, dealing with the test would be no problem. ¡°Pfft. Alright, then kid. Lets see if you can be so arrogant when you see this.¡± The man walked over to the lane that was separated form the rest of the room. He yanked the cover that was covering something up to reveal ten humanoid robots. ¡°This is the AK-130. The newest security model for Remnant thanks to the innovators of Atlas. Although they have been purposefully toned down a bit in power, they possess shape-shifting body parts and integrated weapons. These babies have machine guns that dish out 1000 rounds per minute. If you can take out three of these robots, you get free admission, and I''ll even bow down to you. Think you''re up for it?¡± The man had a sneer on his face. In general, 14 year olds never got past level 30 and had little to no actual fighting experience. Even if the robots were weaker than normal, students would be faced with actual gunfire and weapons for the first time. There was no way for them to actually defeat these level 40 robots. But Robin and his friends were not ordinary kids. They had talent that stood out among their peers even at the age of four. Furthermore, they trained more than normal and participated in Grimm extermination with their families. Dangerous combat was something they were very familiar with. Outside the kingdom, there was a simple rule; if you can''t fight, you can''t survive. ¡°I''ll do it.¡± Stepping up to the end of the lane, Robin put his hand on the hilt of Pantomath. The man just scoffed and went to turn on the robots. As they powered on, their bodies glowed blue along their body. Once they came to life, they started to move fluidly and their arms started transforming. Two robots formed guns while the others transformed their arms into sharp short-swords. ¡°Fine. You start from that side of the room, and the match begins the moment I blow the whistle. You must demonstrate prowess by approaching to take down the robots. All injuries are your responsibility. Ready?¡± Robin bent his knees and waited for the signal. ¡°Begin!¡± The robots sprang to life, the machines started to fire immediately. Enhance His body glowed silver, and his eyes watched the bullets fly in slow motion. As his body dashed forward, he drew Pantomath and started deflecting the bullets. The moment he got close, the melee robots started to move. With a burst of movement, Robin cut off the arms of the robots with guns and proceeded to slice the other robots in half. The explanation of the test lasted longer than the test itself. With shocked faces filling the room except for Team COBRA, Robin walked up to the teacher who stood a whole head taller than him. ¡°Kneel.¡±
Ha! Asshole teacher is an asshole. Anyway, that''s all for tonight. I''ll give another one tomorrow, unless something happens. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Chapter 29: The Number One ======================================= Chapter 29: The Number One ======================================= The man''s face contorted with anger. His tanned face turned a bright shade of red. "Who do you think you''re talking to, you fucking animal?" "I think I''m talking to an asshole who can''t even keep his own promises. But hey, you might prove me wrong." Robin smirked at the man. "Get out of this building. You don''t qualify to attend." It was Robin''s turn to get angry. = What kind of bullshit is this? = "You can''t do that!" "I can and I will. As far as I''m concerned, you were unable to complete any of the tests, so I had no choice but to disqualify you." "I don''t think so." Out of the crowd of students, a human girl stepped forward. She wore a blue jacket with pink markings that resembled electrical circuits. The jacket covered her abundant assets which swung as she approached. Beneath her skirt, pink knee-high socks can be seen. Her boots clicked every time she took a step. She wore an arm band that read ¡°PRESIDENT¡±. "The students that can take out any AK-130''s are allowed attendance at our school. Not only did you alter the test, Coach Lackerman, you are now refusing to keep to your own promise. I''m sure the principal with be happy to hear this report.¡± She took a finger and pushed her glasses up. "You may take your leave. If you want to keep your job, you can go fetch some more AK-130''s, and I MIGHT forget about this." The man just grumbled and walked away. Whoever this girl was, she seemed to have more authority than a test administrator. She turned to face all of the students. "My name is Diana Geotal ¨C your student council president. We apologize if any of you were insulted by his actions. He is not the representative of our policies. I will be taking over this testing as of this moment. The original special test was to face five AK-130''s, but you only need to take out one. Are there any others that wish to take the test?" Most of the students didn''t raise their hands. They all saw the levels of each one of those robots. They didn''t have the confidence to beat that. Only four hands were raised in Testing Room 3. "Oh? Looks like we have some brave kids this year. Who''s first?" Blake stepped forward. She placed her hand on her weapon, Gambol Shroud, and took it off the holster on her back. Gambol Shroud was a sword mounted on top of a glock. The sword itself could collapse and form a small scythe. In addition to the cartridge on the bottom of the gun, there is a ribbon that is attached to the trigger. Blake could use the ribbon as a way to pull the trigger as she welded it as a form of chain scythe. To further increase its deadliness, Blake had design the sheathe itself to be sharp enough to use as another sword. At that moment, the man named Lackerman came back with ten more robots following him. The girl shooed him away and commanded five robots to the end of the path. She raised and dropped her hand to signal the start of the test. This time, all the robots transformed their arms into blades. They ran to rush Blake. She took two steps, drew the sword out of the sheath, activated her aura, and used her skill. Shadow Rush This was a unique skill that used her semblance, Gambol Shroud. Blake dashed forward and proceeded to slash and stab anything in her path. The moment she pierced an enemy, Blake would activate Schrodinger and separate without having to take out her sword. She would then use the clone as a launchpad towards other robots. From far away, it had looked like she approached the robots, and then became a blur that went past them. The robots that were poised to attack suddenly stopped moving. They bodies were frozen in their poses. Then, they fell apart, revealing clean cuts along the places where Blake had struck. Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud and put it back on her holster before walking away to stand next to Robin. Diana chose this moment to speak. She was completely unimpressed by the show of strength. Robin figured she actually decided to check their statuses and realized that they were much stronger than the rest of the applicants. "I''m glad we have such a talented group of students this year, but please restrain yourselves to taking out only one robot please? They aren''t exactly cheap.¡± Blake nodded and Diana pointed at Coach Lackerman to get more AK-130''s before testing everyone else. The rest of Team COBRA passed the test with no difficulty. Adam''s weapon, Wilt and Blush, was a katana with a red blade that was sheathed inside of a shotgun holster. He pulled a trigger, and with a bang, the blade shot out of the the sheath and towards the face of one of the robots. The moment the blade left the sheath, the sheath automatically transformed into the shape of an actual shotgun. It had happened so quickly and with no movement. Thus, it knocked the face of the robot backwards while Adam dashed forward, grabbed the katana, and sliced the robot to pieces. During his turn, Conner threw a smoke bomb on the floor. It was one of his creations he had learned to make thanks to his class, Jester. When the smoke cleared, he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, among the five robots was a sixth that was Conner transformed into with the help of his semblance, Masquerade. As the robots were momentarily confused about which was the real one, Conner pulled out his revolver, Fauxer, and shot bullets into one of the robot''s head. Between each test, Lackerman would come back with more robots before Diana would send him off to get more. The man dashed back and forth like a slave. = Irony at its finest. = Out of all of them, Ophelia didn''t even have to take out her weapon. Among the robots for her, there were none that used guns, so she activated her semblance, Miasma. Combining it with Blue Dust, she created a unique skill just like Blake. Mist This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Fog flowed out of her open mouth and enveloped the robots. As it surrounded them, they became completely drenched in water. However, these robots were designed to be waterproof, so it didn''t affect their movements whatsoever. What Ophelia did next, on the other hand, did. Electric Mist Ophelia applied Yellow Dust to her semblance this time and the fog that surrounded the robots immediately changed into electricity. Completely soaked in water, the robots were completely fried. Diana pouted and began to tap her feet. ¡°I said to NOT to destroy all of them.¡± ¡°Oops. Sorry.¡± Ophelia stuck her tongue out and smiled with a face that indicated otherwise. ¡°Whatever. Anyone else wanna try the test? No? Ok, you five. Report to Classroom 1A. Tell them Diana sent you. I still need to test everyone else so just wait patiently for the test to finish up.¡± The group left and walked out of the room and left the building. Going into the one next-door, they found Class 1A. Upon opening the door, they found a blonde woman sitting her desk in the corner. She looked up from her book in surprise. ¡°More students already? You should be taking the tests in the building next-door. This is the wrong building.¡± ¡°We already passed the test.¡± Robin said. ¡°Diana sent us here.¡± ¡°Oh, Diana did hm? Lackerman must have caused some trouble again. I swear he''s gonna be gone soon. Although that must mean you also all passed the special test?¡± Her eyes glanced over them, taking in their builds and faces. ¡°Also?¡± Conner questioned. ¡°Yes, other than you guys, there were two others. They''re right there.¡± When they looked in the room, they saw there were two people. In the far corner was Raven, and in the middle of the classroom was a boy with yellow hair who wore a brown and yellow outfit with bright yellow arm-guards and leg armor. His spiky hair shook as he looked up at them before continuing to do maintenance on his weapon. Identify
Osagi Aegis (Lvl 42)
HP:1070/1070
Aura:1227/1490
¡°Normally there might be one or two that passed the special test. The highest we ever got at one time was 4, and that was during the year our current student council joined us. Looks like we''ve broken a record again. Oh, by the way I''m Mrs. Veranda. I''ll be teaching everything that''s not combat for you guys.¡± The group took turns to greet her. Inwardly, they sighed in relief that their first teacher in the kingdom seemed kind even though she was human. They found seats in the back while waiting for the rest of the class to show up. As the classroom began to fill up, a group of kids with big builds stepped into the classroom. ¡°Aw man, look at all the faunus here. It''s totally gonna smell like a pigpen.¡± ¡°Man, I wish they would stop letting animals come into the school. It''s bad enough we have to have a faunus in the student council.¡± ¡°Oh hey. Looks like there''s some beauties in the new group.¡± The boys walked over to the back of the classroom. Two of each of them gathered around Raven and Blake. Apparently they couldn''t tell Blake was a faunus thanks to the bow. Unfortunately, that brought a different kind of trouble. Both girls wore an uncomfortable expression. ¡°Hey there, transfer student.¡± The biggest kid said. ¡°Wanna hang out with the strongest future Hunter.¡± Raven scoffed and said two words. ¡°Fuck off.¡± The boy looked shocked as if it was a given to be a yes. In order to regain his honor, he decided to hit on the other one. ¡°What about you, cutie? You thinking about hanging with these guys?¡± He flexed his biceps and wiggled his eyebrows at her. Blake swallowed her barf and said-- ¡°Uninterested.¡± At this point, it was just embarrassing. The boy''s face flushed red and started to shout. ¡°Hey! What kind of tone is that? You''re talking to the number 1 of Class 1 for three years!¡± The Myriad School of Combat had an elementary program as well. Technically, all new students today were transfer students. Many of the kids in the classroom were already in Class 1A from last year. Mrs. Veranda tapped her fingers on the desk and spoke to the kid. ¡°Jonathan, sit down. You don''t even have the right to talk to them like that yet. All those new students that you''re talking to passed the Special Test. You''re probably no longer in the top five, let alone number 1.¡± ¡°Wha--¡± The kids eyes looked at each of them, examining their levels. His eyes popped out at the numbers in front of him. ¡°N-no way. Level 55?¡± Raven looked out the window, completely uninterested in what was happening in the classroom. The boy named Jonathan looked at the group of faunus. His eyes rested on Robin as if he found a target. = Oi. Why are you looking at me? = ¡°I can''t accept this.¡± Jonathan walked up to Robin''s desk. He stared with a fierce light in his eyes. ¡°I challenge you to a duel!¡± Robin scratched his ears and said. ¡°Nah.¡±
NOTE: I''m bolding all skills from now on for clarity. I''ll go back to older chapters to change that later. I took a day off yesterday to think up some details for the story. Raven is now a bitch to everyone. LOL. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Blake''s Weapon Adam''s Weapon Diana Geotal is inspired by this image. Btw, if you''re interested on what I watched to think up the fight scenes, here''s one of them. Chapter 30: Inventory ======================================= Chapter 30: Inventory ======================================= ¡°What did you say?¡± Jonathan questioned. ¡°I said, nah. I don''t feel like it.¡± Robin replied. ¡°What, you scared or something?¡± Jonathan started to laugh and looked at his lackeys. ¡°This dog''s too scared to pick a fight. You should be a chicken. Ba-bawk! Ba-ba-ba-bawk!¡± They started making chicken noises. Robin just stared back at him. ¡°Did you read a book recently?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Because you sound like the most generic villain ever. I mean come on, is that the best insult you can do? Are you five?¡± To be perfectly honest, Robin didn''t really mind starting a fight. Fights meant free experience, which meant another step forward. The only thing is, Robin''s been in this situation countless number of times. For Team COBRA, every time they visited the kingdom, there would always be some morons that would try to bully them. Every time they did, they would be crushed. This led to more bullies and more revenge matches. The losses piled up. Eventually, the experience got so low in comparison to his level, and the battles themselves got so frequent that Robin had stopped caring enough to purposefully start them. = This time it''s against the former number one. Maybe he might serve as a good punching bag. = In Robin''s mind, Raven already took number one in their year. In terms of power, level, and skill, she probably trumped them all except for himself who studied any book he could get his hands on. Even if she acted like a jerk to him, her strength was real. Mrs. Veranda once again interrupted their quarrel. ¡°Jonathan, Robin. I don''t care if you want to duke it out, but you''re going to do that on your own time. This is class time. If you can''t behave yourselves...¡± She leaned forward and said in a low voice. ¡°I''ll call the Student Council.¡± Every student except for the new ones shivered. Apparently, they were something to be feared. Otherwise, why would a teacher threaten calling a group of students than mentioning expulsion. The boy went back to his seat near the front and the lesson began. Mrs. Veranda passed out small chips. Upon receiving his own, Robin recognized it immediately.
Inventory Chip (+100)
Allows access to alternate dimension where you are able to store items. Restrictions: Cannot Input/Output large materials. Cannot hold more than indicated amount. Cannot be accessed by anyone except by the owner of the status plate.
¡°Now as some of you may know, these are special inventory chips that allows us to access an alternate space for storage. Go ahead and plug it into your status plates. Your status plates can only hold up to four Inventory Chips. As of now, the space technology has only advanced far enough to allow storage of small objects. In other words, the only thing this is good for is for holding onto all of your spare Dust crystals, files, rounds, and magazines as well as your elixirs. The hole that each chip opens simply isn''t large enough to fit large objects. You cannot fit any of your weapons, so no you cannot have weapons stored in here. All weapons will have to be carried on your person. Any questions?¡± Robin already got his first one from his parents a while ago when he first started hunting with them. Thanks to the school, he just got another one for free. Why didn''t he have more than one chip? A student raised his hand. ¡°How much does it cost to get one of these?¡± ¡°10,000 dollars.¡± = Yep, no matter how many times I hear it. That''s expensive. Haha, thanks for the free stuff. = Robin inserted the small chip on the side of his status plate and checked it.
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:47
Experience:435/470Semblance:Bloodlust
Health:1065/1065
Aura:1530/1620
Strength:261(+45)Dexterity:339
Agility:210Endurance:204
Vitality:315
Inventory79/200
Wolf:As a member of the wolf faunus, you fight stronger in a pack. The more members in your pack the stronger you are. Your strength increases +5 per member. As you reach certain levels, the bonus per member increases. Next Benchmark: Lvl 50 (+5 >> +10)
Current Strength: 261(+25)
Mercenary
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+10 Active) Martial Arts Master, (+10 Active) Sword Mastery, (+14 Inactive) Dual Sword Mastery, (+16 Inactive) Axe Mastery, (+10) Sharpshooter Current Skills: Identify, Enhance, Detect, Lockpick, Helmsplitter, Aura Sword, Defuse, Invent
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Inventory
79/2005 Lesser Elixir 10 Elixir 20 Magazines (500 Dust Rounds) 10 Dust Crystals 7 Fire Magazines 4 Yellow Magazines 5 Blue Magazines 3 White Magazines 8 Smoke Bombs 5 Boom Traps 1 Set of Lockpick Tools 1 Set of Defuse Tools
Since Robin started to train himself in martial arts, his mastery caused him to gain the Martial Arts Master bonus which replaced Hand-to-Hand Combat. In addition, Robin learned many skills thanks to Conner. Thanks to Conner''s class, he always came up with the most annoying inventions, such as the Boom Traps that would trigger if someone stepped nearby, or the Smoke Bombs which he had used in the earlier fights. Along with learning how to make some tools from him, Robin became the main target of Conner''s antics. It forced him to learn how to defuse most of his traps and pick the locked doors when Conner switched which side the lock was on. Thanks to Conner, Robin learned three new skills and now knows how to make some gadgets for himself as well. The only thing Robin never understood was why Conner always targeted him of all people. = Sweet. I can once again increase my arsenal. = ¡°Now lets explain the grading in this class. You will receive 50 percent of your grade through regular classes with me, and the other 50 percent based on your training in the gymnasium and Hunter''s Guild. Depending on the number of missions, as well as the difficulty, we will determine the score you get. You also get to keep 85 percent of your earnings. The other 15 percent must go to the school. We don''t prepare elixirs or Dust for you guys except for missions or events where the entire class is involved. Please buy your own materials and prepare yourselves accordingly. Tomorrow we shall head to the Hunter''s Guild to set up your Guild Card as well as let you experience your first mission. Make sure you have everything you need by tomorrow morning.¡± As this point, Mrs. Veranda started teaching the lessons. It went and covered the same stuff they taught back in Rakshata. The only thing was, there were no separate classes. Mrs. Veranda taught everything. Thus, Robin, who used to be taking advanced courses, was extremely bored from listening to old lessons. After the classes were done, the bell rung to signal lunchtime. ¡°Remember that after lunch you are to report to the other building for training. After training, you have free time. Have a nice day and don''t forget to do your homework.¡± The group left to eat lunch. The school had both an outdoor and indoor area. After getting their food, they decided to sit outside just like they always did. As they began to converse, a group of kids walked up to them. It was Jonathan and his crew. ¡°Alright, now that there''s nobody to bother us, lets do this.¡± He began to crack his knuckles. ¡°First of all, I said no thanks. Second of all, you should have seen my level. Why are you still picking a fight?¡± ¡°Levels don''t mean anything. Besides, I refuse to give up the number one spot to some faunus.¡± ¡°Then keep it and go away. I don''t want to deal with you anyway.¡± ¡°Not happening. I hear you defeated an AK-130. You must have cheated somehow. Otherwise, there''s no way you trash could get in Class 1A. What? You seriously don''t wanna fight? Aren''t you a man?¡± ¡°I thought you said I was a dog.¡± Robin retorted mockingly. ¡°Shut up!¡± Jonathan reached for Robin''s drink in an attempt to pour it over his head. Enhance Robin grabbed Jonathan''s wrist and stopped him. ¡°Don''t even think about it.¡± Jonathan struggled to pull away. When he did, he found his hand hanging limply. ¡°What did you do to me?!¡± ¡°Calm down, I just dislocated your wrist. Here, I''ll pop it back for you.¡± Robin rapidly approached and pushed Jonathan''s hand back into place without giving him time to react. Jonathan pulled away to find his hand was now working. His pride, however, was slowing being shattered by this dog. ¡°That''s it. You''re going down!¡± Brown aura was exposed from his body. From behind his back, he drew a weapon that transformed into giant mace. He jumped forward and swung it at Robin''s face. It was pretty fast. Certainly, holding the title of number one was no fluke, but who was Robin? Robin was someone who studied every book on weapons, martial arts, and how to fight. Robin ducked, moved forward and grabbed Jonathan''s wrist. Bringing it behind his back, Robin took a finger and jabbed in a couple of spots before going to sit down with his friends. Jonathan was stuck in the most awkward position ever. It looked as if he was holding his back like an old man while leaning back. ¡°Wha?¡± ¡°You''ll be able to move eventually. Meanwhile, I''m just going to sit here and eat my lunch if you don''t mind.¡± The group sat and ate as if it was a given Robin had won. Jonathan''s body twitched as he tried to move, but to no avail. His friends carried him away to the infirmary to get him checked out. A window popped up.
+37 Exp. Level up! +2 to all stats
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Yeah now it makes sense that they don''t have huge backpacks to carry everything. Next chapter, we meet the White Fang! Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! PS. I swear if I see another comment about Raven''s opness I''m going to punch a wall. This isn''t even about Raven. Stop complaining about her. This arc is completely about Robin Edit: I think I need to clarify something, Robin is my mc. That hasn''t changed. I''m just saying next arc I might do SOME (not all) POV from Raven/Blake. Robin is going on a hell of an adventure. He''s just not the only one. Chapter 31: Revenge Match ======================================= Chapter 31: Revenge Match ======================================= The rest of lunch finished smoothly. They then went to the gymnasium for afternoon training. According to the schedule Mrs. Veranda gave them, now it would be time for training. When they entered the building and found their class, they found a faunus girl with short, black hair. Behind her, they could see a rodent tail coming from her butt as well as an armband that said ¡°SECRETARY¡±. When the bell rang, she stood up and addressed the students sitting on the bleachers. ¡°My name is Leila Atkinson ¨C your Student Council Secretary. Due to some circumstances, Coach Lackerman will not be able to teach you guys. While we find a different teacher to fill in, I shall substitute as your instructor. Lets begin.¡± Training was pretty intense. The facility had an obstacle course set up. It consisted of jumping across uneven surfaces that morphed and changed at intervals, dodging gunfire from mounted weapons, rock climbing and more. After doing the obstacle course, Leila made them spar against special AI robots. Their body were especially made to absorb impact and be impossible to cut. In return, they possessed no weapons, so it was more like practice for form than anything. For the very last activity, they were to do sparring matches. Leila took the time to match everyone up, and there was nobody who didn''t have a partner. Robin walked to his corner of the giant room. There he faced his rival that eluded him for so long. Raven looked at him with somewhat expectant eyes. ¡°You seem to be the second highest level among everyone in our class. Don''t disappoint me.¡± ¡°I''m not the one who ran away for 10 years.¡± Robin retorted. ¡°Lets have a good match.¡± Raven had a giant, cylinder-shaped sheath attached to her side. She pressed a button on it with her left hand and the inside swirled. With a click, a blade was attached to the hilt that was on the sheath. She drew it out, revealing a blood red katana. She held it in a ready position as Robin drew Pantomath as well. Transparent walls rose from the ground to prevent any disturbances from other sparring matches. The two waited, poised to attack. The same could be said for all the other combatants. Leila looked around before yelling ¨C ¡°START!¡± Enhance Raven and Robin dashed forward; their bodies emanating silver and red as their blades met in the air. They clashed, swung, dodged, parried, and stabbed at each other for what seemed like a century. Raven had more strength and speed than Robin, but he held his own with his superior technique. In order to break the stalemate, Robin activated his skill. Aura Sword His own weapon enveloped with his aura. When activated, Aura Sword granted power to each strike and can extend the reach of his weapon by manifesting the aura itself as part of the blade. How far he could extend his weapon depended on the talent of the user, and since it was normally too difficult to do so, everyone who used the technique mainly sought to strengthen their weapon. The already meter long great-sword extended to 1.5 meters with the silver aura. As Robin swung the sword towards Raven, she also activated Aura Sword. The weapons clashed, and Raven pointed the end of the katana towards Robin''s face. With a click of a button, her katana extended and almost pierced his face had no not dodged to the side. As he dodged, he put more force into his arms and broke Raven''s katana. The difference in build in their weapons was too evident, and Raven simply backed away as the remnants of her katana started to glow. = Oh shit! =
-112
The pieces near his face exploded as Robin increased his defenses. Meanwhile, Raven disconnected the leftover blade from her hilt before sticking the hilt back into her sheath. Clicking a button, the inside whirled again before attaching another blade onto Raven''s hilt. Using the smoke as cover, she drew a blue blade this time and approached Robin. From inside the smokescreen, Robin''s sword flew out to make contact with Raven''s new katana, but Pantomath was currently in its second form. Robin used his right sword to peel Raven''s weapon away to swing his left one her face. Raven leaned back and dodged. As his blade barely missed, he pulled the trigger as the barrel pointed at her. With a bang, a bullet was shot and lodged itself in her shoulder.
-132
Raven backed away once again without a blade attached to her hilt before sheathing and reattaching yet another blade. Robin looked down to find his own blade was frozen in ice and attached to the ground along with the blue blade that was on her weapon. Robin used Red Dust that was in his weapon to clad his weapon in flames to melt the ice. As he was doing this, Raven once again approached to seal his other weapon. Robin clad his left sword with flames as well and the two clashed. As sparks flew and their swords connected, Robin''s superior sword skills showed themselves as he held her off long enough to move his left sword again. In the instance Raven blocked a left swing with her blade, Robin''s other one was in axe form. Helmsplitter A part on Raven''s katana lit up as Robin swung his fire-clad axe to hit the spot. The katana once again broke and forcing Raven to back up yet again. The broken blue blade started to freeze everything around it. To avoid his own body from being frozen, Robin also retreated. He looked to find daggers being thrown at him. Robin hurried to dodge and knock away the weapons before they reached his body. Upon touching the daggers, he felt electricity run through his body.
-35
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.The pain wasn''t enough to disturb his thought process, but the shock was enough to make him lose his grip on his weapon. Raven used that moment to swipe them away and tried to stab Robin with a yellow blade this time. Knowing that being stabbed by that meant the end of the match, Robin grabbed her wrist and body and attempted to wrench her weapon free from her grip. Raven was persistent and almost got Robin, but Robin pressed a pressure point on Raven''s hand which caused her to let go of her weapon. Robin kicked it away and the two of them went from a weapon fight to a brawl. Their punches were so much more powerful than when they were kids. Raven had trained with Qrow, who trained her to become adept at hand-to-hand combat, and she constantly killed Grimm after Grimm. This resulted in speed, power, and reaction time that was superior to Robin. However, Robin was a martial arts master who studied counters, joint locks, and acupuncture. Between Raven who was adept and Robin who trained to defeat humanoid enemies, the one with the advantage was obvious. As the battle continued, Robin proceeded to use his knowledge and training to inflict more damage to Raven. While the damage he took himself was not insignificant, he made up for it with quality. Eventually, Raven''s left swing was a bit slower than usual thanks to the pain in her shoulder taking its toll. Robin used this chance to twist her arm behind her back and jabbed the same pressure points he did on Jonathan. This was his trump card for Raven. = While she''s stuck in this position, she has to use that black aura. Once she does, I''ll time my attack to break her defenses and put her in that position yet again. No matter who she is, she can''t keep using that restoration thing forever. = Bloodlust Positioned behind Raven, Robin did a reverse roundhouse kick in anticipation for the change. Raven, who could not see what Robin was doing, could only feel the bloodlust that came from behind her. Just as she was about to use the Essence of Darkness, Leila interrupted them. ¡°STOP!¡± Robin froze his kick, and Raven stared at her in disbelief. Leila jumped over the wall and approached them. ¡°Raven is unfit for battle. It''s your victory.¡± ¡°What! I could have turned that around!¡± Raven screeched at her. ¡°I make the calls.¡± Leila glared at Raven while pouring an elixir down her throat. ¡°Go and clean up.¡± Completely furious, Raven stomped away to the locker room. Robin had a somewhat complicated facial expression. ¡°What?¡± Leila asked. ¡°She could have continued. We both knew that wasn''t all she had.¡± ¡°She was immobilized and you were ready with an attack in case she did something. Anything more would have put her life in danger. I call the shots.¡± Without another word, Leila walked away to end another match. Robin drank his elixir in silence. = ...Did I just beat her? = ---------------------------------------------- Raven banged on the wall in frustration. Was it because they were interrupted halfway? That was part of it. Mainly, it was because she recognized that Robin was able to deal with her actions so skillfully. Raven had tried to become as strong as possible to becoming able to fight Jack Ripper, but Robin who was nowhere near his level had her completely in the palm of his hands. = I lost! I lost! I lost! I lost! = What had her training amounted to? For what purpose did she murder those countless monsters if she couldn''t even beat one boy? = How can I avenge Summer if I''m so weak? = *Bang* = ...How could I ever make it up to Robin? = ----------------------------------------------- Upon going towards the locker room, Robin found Raven exiting the women''s room in a change of clothes. Robin walked up to her as she was sniffling. ¡°Are you ok?¡± he asked. ¡°I''m fine.¡± ¡°I''m sorry we didn''t get to finish it like we wanted to.¡± ¡°It''s ok. You beat me fair and square. I was relying too much on that power anyway.¡± Robin sighed in relief. = So she can see her own faults. Maybe she''s not so bad after all. = ¡°Well,¡± Robin began, ¡°maybe next time we''ll be able to finish it till the end. Say, what do you think about becoming friends?¡± He held out his hand. Raven looked at it with a sad expression. ¡°I''m sorry. I can''t. I..¡± She looked away. ¡°I don''t deserve to.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Nothing. You wouldn''t understand.¡± Raven started to walk away. Robin stared at her back in confusion. Raven stopped for a moment before saying one last thing. ¡°...I can''t say we can be friends...but maybe we can be rivals.¡± Robin smiled. ¡°Wasn''t that a given?¡± Robin thought he saw a small smile on her face before she walked away. As Robin entered the locker room to take a shower, he scrutinized the window in front of him.
+104 Exp.
Rivals Forever!
Your training and diligence has resulted in overcoming someone you suffered defeat in the past. In addition, you have established yourself a valuable rival that will stimulate growth on both sides. +10% Experience
I lied again. I did one VERY SMALL POV of Raven. I also didn''t talk about White Fang. Please don''t shoot me. In return, I made Robin kick Raven''s ass. I hope that was believable. Rivals forever! or are they? o.O Next time, we do White Fang. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading. P.S. Does my naming sense suck? I try to keep it in the spirit of RWBY''s weapon names. If it''s atrocious, I''ll go and be very literal with them instead. More stuff I got inspired from. Thank 21as for the amazing artwork! Chapter 32: White Fang ======================================= Chapter 32: White Fang ======================================= After washing up and changing into the spare clothes in his locker, Robin went and sat on the bleachers to watch his friends spar. It turns out that they finished their matches right around that time. After the group finished cleaning themselves up, they sat together and talked about their fights. ¡°So how did you guys do?¡± Robin asked. ¡°I fought Blake for my spar.¡± Ophelia said. ¡°It was pretty close. Not sure who won.¡± ¡°It was a complete win by me.¡± Blake explained to Robin. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°I fought that Osagi kid and lost.¡± Conner grumbled. ¡°Really?¡± Ophelia had a shocked look on her face. ¡°You can be pretty sneaky with your traps. How did you lose?¡± ¡°He used his semblance I think. Some beam of light shone from his body and blinded me. I think it somehow let him see through the smokescreen and traps I placed.¡± = Interesting. A blinding light that reveals location of traps and enemies. A rather more improved version of my Bloodlust, but the blinding has no effect on me. Bloodlust gives me a solid image of the enemy''s body. = At that moment, Adam walked over even more depressed than Conner. For the proud kid that he was, defeat must be hard to take. ¡°What''s the matter, JES?¡± Ophelia looked at him. ¡°Did you lose?¡± ¡°Don''t call me JES,¡± he muttered. ¡°Some girl completely toyed with me.¡± ¡°Oh? Who?¡± Robin asked. Between the five of them, Blake was faster than Adam, but Adam was stronger than Blake. Robin reigned supreme over all of them in all aspects. Conner had surprise and traps that could impede the enemies while Ophelia had wide-area effect skills capable of controlling the fight. Each of them were strong in their own right. Who was good enough to toy with Adam? ¡°Some girl named Amy ¨C a faunus. She kinda reminds me of you Conner.¡± Whenever Conner wasn''t being annoying, everyone called him by his first name. For some reason, it just felt natural to curse at him with his last name. ¡°How so?¡± Conner asked. ¡°She used illusions of some kind and played jokes on me the entire fight. The humiliation took any E-stacks I would gather. Ugh, just remembering is embarrassing.¡± Ophelia patted his back. Their substitute instructor then addressed the entire class who had finally finished. ¡°That''s all for training. You are now have free time. If you wish to leave the school grounds to get supplies or simply explore the kingdom, please visit the front desk and show her your status plate to sign out. You can also find out your room number at the front desk. Your luggage has already been moved to your dorms. Facilities are free for you to use until seven. Curfew is at nine, and you can either eat dinner here or outside. Dismissed.¡± The group grabbed their battle gear and put them into their backpacks. They went to the front desk to find their rooms in the dormitory. There were four in each room. Conner, Adam, and Robin were rooming with the new guy Osagi while Ophelia and Blake were rooming with the previously mentioned Amy and Raven. They threw their stuff into the washing machine and began maintenance on their gear. After finishing, the group met up at the front desk to sign out. Following the girls was a faunus girl they didn''t know. Well everyone except for Adam, who was currently making a ''¥Ø '' character with his mouth. Identify
Amy Seraphine (Lvl 41)
HP:1035/1035
Aura:1255/1255
= Ah, so she''s the one who beat Adam. = Amy was extremely tall, matching Adam with a height of six feet. For Robin and Blake who stood at 5''8'''' and 5''6'''' respectively, they just had to move their eyes to see Amy''s emerald green eyes. For Conner and Ophelia who were an entire feet shorter, they had to tilt their heads up to see her. ¡°Who''s this?¡± Conner asked. ¡°This is Amy Seraphine, our roommate.¡± ¡°Hello.¡± Amy greeted them while smiling. ¡°Who''s your other roommate?¡± Robin asked. ¡°It''s Raven.¡± Blake answered with a not so happy expression. ¡°What''s the matter?¡± ¡°Oh Robin,¡± Ophelia said. ¡°You of all people should get why.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°..Or maybe not. I guess you do have a fault.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Amy had a mischievous look on her face. ¡°Could it be..?¡± Ophelia nodded. A mutual understanding passed between the girls. ¡°Poor Blake.¡± Amy said. ¡°What?¡± Robin asked. ¡°Nothing,¡± Ophelia waved it off. ¡°Anyway, Amy wanted to come with us as we explored the city. Is that fine?¡± The boys nodded. Adam was slightly hesitant, but nodded. The group left and began their exploration of Vale. For Robin and the gang, they explored Vale during the festival and rarely entered regular shops and restaurants. It was a pretty interesting experience to explore it all again during the other time of year. Many shops were reluctant to serve them. Some even kicked them out while saying it wasn''t their policy to ¡°feed animals¡±. Adam, Robin, and Blake got pretty worked up about it. Surprisingly, despite Blake''s more quiet nature, she seemed to hold a strong sense of pride of being a faunus. In order to calm down a bit, the group sat in an outdoor cafe and starting conversing. ¡°Did you dye the tips of your hair black, Amy?¡± Ophelia asked. ¡°No, they''re naturally black and red. For some reason, it''s like this. It runs in the family.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, you have more than one tail. Though they look like Conner''s tail, why do you have more?¡± ¡°I''m a kitsune faunus,¡± she explained. ¡°At certain ages, our tails split and form new ones. I get my third tail when I''m twenty. They seem to stop increasing after the fifth one though.¡± ¡°So,¡± Adam entered the conversation. ¡°why did you use those kinds of illusions?¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°What''s this? What kind of illusions did you use?¡± ¡°None of your business.¡± He curtly said. ¡°Hehe.. Here''s what I did...¡± Amy proceeded to whisper into Blake''s and Ophelia''s ear. As she continued, their faces got redder and redder. ¡°Oh my god. I didn''t think you were into that kind of thing JES! Maybe I should call you Lewd JES from now on.¡± ¡°JES?¡± Amy tilted her head. ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Jackass Exhibitionist Samurai.¡± Ophelia explained. ¡°Ah.¡± She nodded in understanding. ¡°Explains how you fight.¡± Adam slammed the table and stood up. Leaning forward he looked at them in disbelief. ¡°There is nothing wrong with the way I fight. Isn''t that right, Blake?¡± The person in question scooted near Robin to avoid his gaze. In spirit of the game, Robin said -- ¡°Don''t worry Blake. He wouldn''t dare to do that in public.¡± Robin had no idea what Adam saw in the illusion, but he guessed right when watching Adam''s outrage. ¡°Why do you guys keep making fun of me like this? Is it that fun to step on my pride?¡± ¡°You make it too easy.¡± Amy shrugged. ¡°Besides, watching people squirm and get angry because of pranks and jokes is pretty funny.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Conner raised his hands in the air. ¡°Somebody gets it!¡± ¡°You like to prank people too?¡± ¡°My class is Jester.¡± The two jokers smiled and held each other''s hands. ¡°A comrade!¡± Amy exclaimed. ¡°Ok ok that''s enough.¡± Ophelia tore the two of them apart. ¡°We have the rest of the kingdom to see. Lets go.¡± The group paid their share and left. As they made their way through town, they ran into more people that made crude comments about their race. Blake was spared of it thanks to the bow on her head, but that made her feel guilty of letting her friends take the harassment alone. ¡°Why do they have to be so mean?¡± she asked. ¡°I can''t believe the racism is so strong outside the festival.¡± ¡°You guys have never been here outside the festival?¡± Amy asked. They shook their heads. ¡°Ah, that explains it. I was born in Vacuo, but it was the same there too. I never let it get to me though. I had noticed it was a bit worse after moving here, but if you ignore it, you''ll be fine.¡± As they continued their stroll, they found themselves in a plaza filled with faunuses. They filled up the streets while carrying signs and posters. Some said ¡°No More Rascim!¡± or ¡°Equality for All!¡± ¡°What this?¡± Robin spoke up. ¡°Oh this is another civil rights protest.¡± Amy explained. ¡°It''s pretty common here. Look, there''s the main people.¡± Stepping on top of a podium, a wolf faunus with snow white hair spoke into the microphone. ¡°Brothers and sisters of the White Fang, I welcome you back to our gathering today to once again spread awareness about the injustice we must endure. For those of you who are here for the first time, allow me to introduce who we are. My name is Alex Fexlar, leader of the White Fang. The White Fang is an group of faunuses that was created to be a symbol of unity between the humans and the faunus. The humans opened their doors to us, welcoming us. Promising us freedom and equality. But did they give us that? No! Instead of treating us like equals, we were treated like dirt. Instead of serving us food like other customers, they kick us out of their shops! Instead of socializing with us, they discriminate, spread rumors, and do it to the point that many of us decide to leave the safety of the walls and be forced to live the rest of our lives as nomads!¡± The crowd were getting riled up and so were the kids. Anger and frustration that was pent up had begun to release from within them. With every sentence --every word-- each faunus cheered and raised their signs into the air. ¡°Our children are bullied. Exiled from kids their own age. My closest friend was fired from a job he was diligently working at, and he was replaced by a newcomer who made even the most obvious of mistakes. And the ones at the head of all this discrimination is the Schnee Dust Company!¡± Alex Fexlar pointed his head at the logo on the advertisement billboard. The billboard is the emblem of a snowflake, the sign of all Schnee Dust products. ¡°They hire us faunus who have been tossed away from our jobs at minimum wage. They force us to work in mines with conditions almost as dangerous as fighting the Grimm ourselves. The worst part of it all is they take deals with all the same people who are the main reasons we lost our jobs in the first place!!¡± The man lowered his hands onto the podium and spoke with extreme sincerity. ¡°Brothers and sisters, are we so different from humans? Because we have an extra set of ears, eyes, tails, or even wings, does that make us monsters? The same kind of monsters of Grimm which lack no soul? No aura? No semblance? No! We are ALIVE. We breathe, we breed, we love, we kill, and we die all the same. So we have a pair of wings. So what! So we have a set of horns. Who cares? Can we not breed with other faunus races all the same? Can we not breed WITH humans just the same? Do they not grow to be healthy children and live normal, happy lives? Yes! We are no different from humans, so for the sake of not only for our lives, but for our children and grandchildren, I ask you ¨C all of you, both human and faunus ¨C to make this a better world, so that faunus can not only be FREE, but to be EQUAL. Thank you.¡±
God I feel like MLK Jr. Yeah pump it up. Civil Rights Movement here we come! Robin is also a guy oblivious to women''s feelings for obvious reasons. Next time Robin goes to jail and meets our old friend Roman! Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Special thanks to Styx for creating the character Amy! I hope I made you proud with my presentation! I enjoy the feedback you guys give and I read everything so no worries guys! Side Note: The number of boy/girls faunuses are equal!!!!!!! Just wanted to throw that out there. Take it how you will Chapter 33: Criminal ======================================= Chapter 33 Criminal ======================================= With the end of the speech, the faunus crowd cheered and continued their protest. They stood waving their signs and asking for people to sign their petition. ¡°Wow. That was an inspiring speech.¡± Robin remarked. The group nodded in agreement. ¡°Amy, do you think they will let kids like us join the White Fang?¡± Blake asked. ¡°I don''t know. I never really thought about it.¡± Amy scratched her head. ¡°You want to join them?¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± Adam said. ¡°We should take a stand instead of doing nothing.¡± ¡°I don''t know about that.¡± Conner and Ophelia looked at each other with doubtful expressions. ¡°We''re just kids. What good will it do?¡± Ophelia questioned. ¡°But we''re still faunuses.¡± Blake retorted. ¡°Why shouldn''t we try to help change the treatment we get?¡± ¡°What do you think, Robin? Should we join them?¡± The group turned to him with questioning eyes. Meanwhile, Robin began to think. Bullying and racism was something he had grown to hate with a passion. It sometimes made him step a bit too far like during the entrance exam. Had the Student Council President not stepped in, he would not even be here. Acting as a voice of their people was very tempting of an offer, but they also had other duties as students. ¡°I''m fine with joining the White Fang if they let us. However, we should prioritize school over the protests. We should not let it interfere with our education and training. We can decide to stay or leave the White Fang depending on what we do. Lets first ask them.¡± The group walked over to the stage where the speech was made. They eventually found the wolf faunus talking with another man who had black hair that was shaved all the way to his head. The men turned to greet them. ¡°Hello. Do you need something?¡± ¡°Yes. I was wondering if you guys were willing to let us join the White Fang?¡± The man smiled at them. ¡°Of course. We welcome all faunuses that wish to support our cause. Do you have your status plates? Lets record your contact info. This way, we can send general messages about the location of our protests and any meetings we have.¡± After giving their contact info, the group continued their wandering around the city. It eventually was getting late, so they decided to head over to a Dust shop to replenish their supplies. Enter a shop called ¡°Dust Till Dawn¡±, they found a rather elderly man running the store. ¡°Welcome! How may I help you?¡± ¡°We looking to stock up on some supplies. Do you mind if we look around?¡± ¡°Of course! Go right ahead.¡± When each of them finished gathering what items they needed, the man started to check them out. ¡°It''s good to see so many young kids like you being so active about protecting the kingdoms. These days it''s popular for children to try to become hunters and huntresses, but the majority of people still work rather normal lives.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Robin asked. ¡°I thought it was normal to train to become stronger.¡± ¡°Oh you must have been raised outside the kingdom. The military takes care of any threats Vale has to deal with. With the boost in technology, they''ve been putting more and more robots in the army so all of the fights now are being done by A.I.''s. Any big threats are taken care of by those robots. Hunters help lessen their burden by taking care of the smaller groups. Since they don''t have to repair every fight or find materials to replace missing parts, Hunters are more versatile in deployment. Didn''t you notice how everyone inside the kingdom have extremely low levels?¡± They nodded. Compared to them, many kids were much weaker than them. ¡°The public are living in the safety of the walls. Thanks to this time of peace, everyone has been relaxing. The only really high levels are Hunters, military men, and trainees like you kids.¡± The man took their credit cards and swiped it while looking a little depressed in the process. ¡°Sigh..although in return for being in times of peace, those same people seem to be directing their emotions towards faunuses. It''s so stupid really. The war ended so long ago. There''s no reason for all this nonsense. I even heard the brother of the head of the Schnee family was assassinated a while ago. Apparently, the assassin was a faunus. Gosh, can''t they tell it''s doing nothing but making things worse?¡± The man handed them their supplies. The kids placed it in their inventory and thanked the man. ¡°Sorry for making you listen to this old man rant. You kids take care alright? Don''t let them get to you.¡± ¡°No, thank you for being so understanding and not kicking us out. It really feels good to understand there are people who have a viewpoint like yours.¡± Robin said while smiling at the man. The owner smiled and waved them goodbye. The kids stepped outside to find that time was getting late. In order to get back in time for dinner, the group got on a bus and sat down. As the train took off, they stretched their bodies and got comfortable. When the bus got to the next stop, however, trouble arrived. Some adults walked up to Robin in the front row next to Blake. ¡°Hey, move kid.¡± ¡°What? I got here first. There are plenty of seats in the back.¡± ¡°Shut up and move you dog.¡± the other man said. ¡°Animals should just sit in the back like always.¡± ¡°I refuse.¡± It had been a long day, and the speech he heard by the White Fang had riled him up. Combined with him being comfortable already, he just didn''t feel like submitting to this nonsense. ¡°Stop causing trouble.¡± The bus driver lean over in his seat to look at Robin. ¡°Move squirt and let the man sit.¡± ¡°I already said no. First come, first served. I pay the same amount as any of you, so I should get to choose where I sit.¡± he retorted. ¡°Get out of the seat, or I call the cops.¡± ¡°And arrest me for what? Sitting in a seat that was already mine? You can''t do that.¡± The man picked up the phone and dialed the emergency number. Blake was also a bit angry with the man who didn''t even hesitate to take the bully''s side, but tapped Robin''s shoulder in concern. ¡°Maybe we should just move. Didn''t you say to not let it interfere with our training?¡± Robin flinched at his words being thrown back at him, but sat tall and firm. ¡°It''s too late anyway. Besides, they can''t pin anything on me. I just sat in my seat. I did nothing wrong.¡± Blake had a worried look on her face, but showed a look of reverence towards him. The sirens sounded as the police car arrived. The man stepped out and got onto the bus. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°What''s the problem here?¡± ¡°This punk won''t get out of my seat.¡± the man said. ¡°This is my seat that I paid and sat in ages before this guy came. There is no reason for me to move.¡± ¡°Look kid,¡± the officer had an annoyed look. ¡°You could have easily avoided this situation by just getting up and moving a couple of rows back. Don''t make this bigger than it is.¡± ¡°Bigger than it is? Hey, why can''t it be him that moves to the back seat? Why is it without question that it has to be me?¡± ¡°Hey! I don''t need to hear it kid. It''s been a long day. We had to clear out that disturbance from the White Fang and now you''re trying to give me more work by simply not getting up? If you don''t start moving, you''ll regret it.¡± ¡°Regret my ass. I read the law, and I know you have no probable cause for doing anything of the sort. I''m in the right and you know it.¡± Robin was not lying. He had plenty of time to study up these past few years. This police officer had nothing on him, but having nothing and doing nothing was two different things. Both people in question became cranky from fatigue, and Robin''s attitude wasn''t helping to improve his mood. ¡°That''s it.¡± the officer took out his handcuffs and snapped them on Robin''s wrists. He sat there in disbelief as he was yanked out of the bus and into the car. ¡°You''re under arrest for public disturbance. Maybe a night behind bars might improve your attitude.¡± The group stared at him in worry as he was driven away. Robin suddenly felt remorse as he realized his mistake. = Fuck, did I just mess up? = He was wearing special handcuffs that suppressed aura in those who wore it. This made it impossible for Robin to use any kind of skill to break free and run away. He was also slightly hesitant with suddenly becoming a criminal. His weapons and status plate were taken and he was lead to a cell where he was pushed inside. The bars closed and he heard a click as the guard turned the key. ¡°Enjoy, you brat.¡± The guard exiting while Robin found himself being watched by a man in a white coat. He was in similar cuffs and sat on the bench. He was rather tall and had a slender build. His orange hair formed a bang over his right eye similar to Robin''s hair. However, unlike Robin''s hair which was ruffled, the man''s was combed and straighter. ¡°So what''s a faunus brat like you do to get in here?¡± he asked. ¡°I sat in a seat and pissed someone off.¡± ¡°That''s it? Boring.¡± ¡°I also said the word ¡°ass¡± to the officer.¡± ¡°Well there''s your problem. You didn''t get on their good side.¡± ¡°And what about you? How did you get here?¡± ¡°Meh. They say I stole some stuff, this and that.¡± ¡°What? Like purses?¡± ¡°More like entire fortunes, but hey? The rich are rich for a reason. What''s a million gonna do to them?¡± = Wow. I just got put in a cell with a big shot. = Robin sat on the bench as well. He sighed as he sat down. ¡°I can''t believe I actually got thrown into jail. I thought humans couldn''t possibly be that bad, but man was I wrong. I thought I could push them a bit, but in the end, the guy just blew his lid. Police officer huh? What a joke.¡± ¡°Looks like you get it kid. Humans are the worst. We kill, steal, and treat anything that''s not the way we like it like trash. They will stop at nothing to get what they want.¡± ¡°So is that why you steal? To punish those who do that kind of thing?¡± ¡°Are you kidding me? Yeah right, I''m no Robin Hood. I do that because it''s fun. Just watch. Soon, I''ll be known as the greatest thief in the world.¡± ¡°Hello, Mr. Greatest Thief? You''re sitting in a jail cell.¡± ¡°Touche.¡± At that moment, the door opened and three police officers walked into the room. One of them was a man that had a huge build and a beard to match his size. The other that Robin didn''t know was a young woman whose face couldn''t be seen by her cap covering her face. The last one was the officer that had brought Robin in. ¡°This is the kid you talked about?¡± the huge man asked. ¡°Yep, he was causing a disturbance on a bus. He refused to give up his seat to another passenger. In order to help move things along, I brought him here to let him reflect on his actions.¡± ¡°Reflect on my ass!¡± The man punched the officer and sent him ramming into the bars of their cell. Roman''s cell mate who was closest to the wall stood up and caught the guy between the bars and held him up. ¡°Yo, show some spirit. You''re getting your ass beat.¡± He patted the officer and turned him around. The officer found himself receiving another fist to the gut this time. ¡°We were sent to merely prevent the protest from hindering traffic, not arrest them for no reason. They were doing nothing that broke the law and that''s the same for this kid! First come, first served. That''s the rule. Don''t make shit up to satisfy your disgusting virtues! Not only that, you actually put him in the same cell as THAT man. I thought I made it perfectly clear that the only one that enters and leaves his cell is me! Are you telling me you actually made a window of opportunity for him to escape?!¡± ¡°Hey now officer. I''m hurt.¡± A look of fake despair was plastered on the criminal''s face. ¡°I would never do something like breaking out of prison. That''s breaking the law you know?¡± Robin swallowed a retort in order to enjoy the officer''s lecture. ¡°You get this kid out of here and to his home, and you better make sure you let his parents understand he is in no trouble, you hear?!¡± ¡°Sir, yes sir!¡± The man unlocked the cell and escorted Robin out, but not before the head officer looked at Robin and said one last thing. ¡°If he does anything to cause you distress, you come back here and talk to me alright?¡± Robin nodded. He walked with renewed energy out of the room. The three people watched in silence. When they had left, the woman locked the door and the man sat down in the cell. ¡°Now lets get to business.¡±
I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you do as well reading it! Next time, more conspiracy! Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Ps. I''m totally recycling civil rights movement. I hope you don''t mind. But unlike ours, Robin''s gonna go froM peaceful to violent hehehe. Edit: I just looked at the poll results. So many of you like harem o.O jeez Chapter 34: The Organization ======================================= Chapter 34 The Organization ======================================= ¡°Roman Torchwick,¡± the officer began while reading from a clipboard that was handed to him. ¡°Level 72, 26 years old, class is Thief, semblance unknown. You''ve stolen 3.4 million dollars worth of items and cash combined. In addition, you have successfully avoided getting caught by authorities--¡± ¡°--until now.¡± The officer leaned forward towards Roman. ¡°Where are the stolen goods?¡± Roman shrugged. ¡°Who knows? I sure don''t.¡± ¡°Stop playing games. You''re sly enough to somehow hide your status plate even when we caught you, so we don''t even know what your skills are. According to our source, you''ve hidden the goods at other locations. Where are they?¡± ¡°I don''t have a clue.¡± ¡°Are they with your partner?¡± ¡°I work alone.¡± ¡°That''s funny. Because from our officers, you were seen talking with a woman right at the time we arrested you. Mind explaining?¡± ¡°I have nothing to say.¡± ¡°Why are you being so difficult? Being loyal to comrades? She''ll just take all of the goods for herself. You''re sitting in a jail cell for the rest of your life, but if you start talking, you might be able to cut some time off.¡± The criminal sighed and leaned forward. ¡°Look, I know this is hard to believe officer, but I''m not exactly the biggest fan of local law enforcement.¡± ¡°Very funny. Lets give you some time to think about this. I''m sure you''ll be more compliant when you understand the kind of people you''re dealing with.¡± The officer got out of the cell and closed it. He looked at the woman who stood at the door. ¡°He''s all yours. Don''t be too rough with him. Come and get me when you''re done dealing with him.¡± After walking out of the room, the woman locked the door and pulled up a chair. She sat outside the cell and looked at him. Roman returned the stare with a mocking smile. ¡°Oh boy, I''m soooo scared. What are you gonna do? Peel my nails off? Shove a centipede down my ear?¡± ¡°No.¡± The voice sounded extremely young despite her looks. The woman tilted her head up, revealing bright red eyes. ¡°I was hoping we could talk.¡± ¡°Talk?¡± The woman took off her cap and reached under her chin with her hand. In one motion, she ripped off her mask to reveal the face of a young girl. ¡°Last time I checked,¡± Roman said. ¡°high schoolers don''t qualify to be police officers.¡± ¡°Well then it''s a good thing I''m not one of those police officers. My name is Cinder Falls. I was hoping to employ someone with your expertise.¡± ¡°Employ? Do you know who I am, kid? I''m not so desperate I would take requests from children.¡± ¡°Oh I know exactly who you are. Roman Torchwick, the thief with class. You''ve made a big name for yourself in the underworld, and became an even bigger name with the help of your partner, Neo. During one of your burglaries, you had decided to target a building that you suspected to have a good financial background. Unknown to you, it had a secret lab hidden underground. Curious about it, you cut the power and entered. You ultimately helped her escape and became partners in crime. Quite a touching story if I may add.¡± Roman flinched at the name of his partner being revealed. Nobody knew her name, the only people who knows she even existed was him and those people. ¡°Are you part of Project A?¡± The girl chuckled. ¡°Project A, D, G? It doesn''t matter which one you talk about, they''re all a part of us. The Organization has been keeping tabs on you two ever since your escape. You''ve been pretty sneaky, but not sneaky enough.¡± ¡°...I see. You guys are the ones who tipped off the cops.¡± ¡°Only to have a conversation in privacy, Roman. You see, we were debating to kill you at first to prevent leaks, but after examining your background, we''ve decided your skills would prove most useful to us.¡± ¡°And if I say no?¡± ¡°Oh I don''t think you will.¡± The woman took a photograph from her pocket and let it fall inside the cell. Roman picked it up and froze when he saw who was in it. ¡°...What have you done to her?¡± ¡°Relax, Roman. She''s completely fine. We just wanted to make sure you would comply with our demands. I''m sure if you think about it, you''ll find this is very advantageous to you.¡± ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± ¡°Finally curious? The Organization is in the need of Dust, but instead of arousing the curious eye of the authorities, we thought it would be better if an infamous thief, such as yourself, got it for us. You''re to hit as many Dust shops and steal as many cargoes as you can, and then transport them to these locations.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. She handed him a piece of paper. ¡°In the process, you''ll gather fame, and in return we get the Dust. A win-win isn''t it?¡± ¡°One thing.¡± Roman said. ¡°You''re to release Neo. She''s my partner. I''m not exactly thrilled to work while knowing you guys have a bullet aimed at her head.¡± ¡°I''m afraid we can''t do that. While we don''t particular care, the Doctor has requested to get custody of her. After you''ve done your part of the deal, we''ll release her. In total honesty, you can become a pretty nice piece in our plans and get extremely famous in the process. I''m sure you won''t be disappointed.¡± The girl took out her keys and went to unlock the gate. Roman stopped her with his hands. ¡°No need.¡± he said while taking out his own set of keys. He proceeded to unlock his cuffs and then the lock on the jail cell. ¡°When did you get that?¡± she asked. ¡°I''m a professional.¡± Roman said while straightening his coat. ¡°The cop earlier was very helpful by throwing himself against the cell.¡± ¡°Impressive. We''ve placed your tools and weapons that were taken at the location indicated on the map. I''ll contact you with more details later.¡± The woman started putting on her mask and walked towards the door, but was stopped by Roman again. ¡°One last thing.¡± The woman turned and urged Roman on with her eyes. ¡°What''s your goal?¡± She smiled and began walking again. ¡°World domination.¡± --------------------------------------------------- Robin directed the officer towards Myriad. After getting out of the car, the officer asked him. ¡°Your parents in town?¡± ¡°No. I''m living in the kingdom alone.¡± ¡°Good. I''m leaving then.¡± ¡°Hey, wait.¡± The man looked at Robin with a slightly annoyed expression. ¡°I was a bit too rude earlier. You were just doing your job. I hope we can put this behind us.¡± Robin felt just a bit guilty during the ride. Although the man was out of line, Robin made him lose face with his superior and probably will get demoted. At Robin''s sudden apology, the man was shocked silent. After a few seconds, he spoke. ¡°.. Yeah I was being a bit unfair too. Just don''t cause any more trouble for me alright?¡± Robin smiled wryly as the car went away. He then made way to the cafeteria. There, he got dinner and sat down at the table with his friends. They immediately began bombarding him. ¡°Robin, what happened?¡± Conner asked. ¡°Are you criminal now?¡± Ophelia questioned. ¡°Did he hurt you?¡± Blake had a worried expression. ¡°Why do you have to show off so much?¡± Adam said. ¡°Whoa, whoa, calm down guys.¡± Robin leaned back a bit. ¡°Give me some space. No, nothing happened. The superior stepped in and released me. I''m free to go. No charges, no record. I''m still the same as always.¡± The group sighed in relief. ¡°Good,¡± Ophelia said. ¡°You get on people''s bad side too easily.¡± The rest of the group nodded, Amy included. ¡°Oh come on. You over-thinking this. I don''t do that.¡± Robin retorted. ¡°Yeah you do.¡± Conner rejected his response immediately. ¡°You get into fights all the time.¡± Adam said. ¡°You may not like showing off like Adam does, but you seem to be completely fine with starting fights. Whether it was Cardin, Jonathan, or the teacher, you taunted them first.¡± Ophelia stated. Robin frowned as he reflected a bit. = Maybe I have gotten a litter wilder since reincarnating. Is it because of my wolf heritage? Or is it because I''m being a bit more unrestrained with my emotions this time? = Blake patted him on the back. ¡°It''s ok Robin. You never did anything wrong in all those times. They were the ones that insulted you first.¡± With Blake''s encouragement, the group began to talk about their first day in the kingdom. After dinner was finished, they went back to their rooms and entered the huge bathrooms that was in each dorm. When they finished, they went back to their rooms, did their homework, and slept. Just before he went to sleep, Robin stared at the ceiling and reflected on everything that happened that day. = So many things have happened. The entrance exam, the white fang, and now tomorrow we go to the guild again. It''s so interesting, but I hope it would calm down soon. = As he closed his eyes, Robin fell asleep immediately. The darkness filled his vision as the long day finally ended.
Updated! next time, Grimm mission! Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Chapter 35: Hunters Guild ======================================= Chapter 35: Hunter''s Guild ======================================= The next morning, the boys woke up and changed into their battle clothes that were washed and dried overnight. Adam''s outfit was simple. He wore a black and red clothing. His belt and the inside of his jacket had pockets that could hold extra magazines and various Dust crystals. Robin''s outfit was gray and silver. Just like Adam, he had a belt that could hold several extra crystals for use. In addition, he took out some Smoke Bombs and Boom Traps out of his inventory and put them in his jacket for easy access. Conner''s outfit took longer to set up out of all of them. Thanks to his inventions, he had various flash-bangs, traps, wires, and hidden weapons that he could hide on his body. On his wrists were poison darts that could shoot out with precise muscle movement. He lined up a bunch of colored metal boxes on the strap that he wrapped around his chest. They were transformable traps and various explosives that worked with a click of a button. Their other roommate, Osagi, was someone Robin paid closer attention to. His weapon was a giant shield. The bottom of it seemed to be able to extend and dig into the ground. Its edges had sharp blades that seemed to serve the purpose of cutting down enemies. The weapon seemed to hold other secrets, but Osagi was already satisfied with its condition thanks to checking on it yesterday, no doubt. ¡°That''s seems rather impressive.¡± Robin complimented. ¡°Thanks.¡± Osagi returned. Despite his golden hair and outfit, he had small, blue eyes that Robin wouldn''t even noticed if he hadn''t looked closely. ¡°Your great-sword is nothing to laugh about either.¡± ¡°Thanks, it''s got 4 forms and is made of General metal. I call it Pantomath. What about yours?¡± ¡°My weapon is Bolwerk, made of Mixture metal. It''s got three forms and is really sturdy.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± Weapons are made from three types of metals: General, Specialized, and Mixture. Robin''s weapon was made of General which allows application of all types of Dust with the weapon. For example, when using Red Dust, he can clad the sword in fire. Specialized weapons are specifically made with a certain Dust in mind. Some weapons even imbue the Dust into the metal itself. Raven''s weapon is an example of that. Each of her blades were of different colors, signifying the different Specialized metals each were made from. Unlike the General weapons, the effects of Dust on Specialized weapons are much stronger and can even leave after-effects that linger when broken. Mixtures were a combination of the two. They use a small range of Dust, and the effects of Dust were stronger than General, but weaker than Specialized. The down side is the higher consumption of Dust in exchange. For all the kids, their weapons was something they all built themselves, and they were extremely proud of it. Though they weren''t foolish enough to reveal their trump cards, there was no harm of sharing some information about themselves. After the boys gathered their materials, they left the dorm and walked to Class 1A. Mrs. Veranda told them to place their homework on the table, so she could grade them while they were gone. They gathered into the bus outside which took them to the Hunter''s Guild. The one escorting them was a boy with yellow hair similar to Osagi''s but a bit dimmer. On his arm was a band that said ¡°VICE-PRESIDENT¡±. ¡°Welcome students. For those who don''t know, I am Ted Turncoat ¨C your Student Council Vice-President. I''ll be walking you guys through signing up at the Hunter''s Guild and your very first mission.¡± Upon arrival, the boy led them into the entrance of the Hunter''s Guild. It was huge building. The sides had glass filling up most of the walls, giving it a beautiful view when the sunlight reflected off the glass. Inside was a huge open area. They had a cafeteria where members could eat meals as well as a residential area on the upper floors. Groups that had missions that extended over longer periods of time could rest there at night before continuing their mission the next day. At the very end of the room and beside the elevators was a counter. Various employees in suits were stationed behind the counter. Ted led them towards a man with a huge build. The man''s muscles could be seen through the suit. As expected of the Guild Master. ¡°Good Morning, Ted. You teaching some more new recruits?¡± ¡°Hello, Thomas. As you can see, we have a new batch of middle school students this year, and I need you to register them.¡± Ted turned to the class. ¡°This is Thomas Hadgen, S-Ranked Hunter and Guild Master. He will be teaching you guys about the Guild and how it works. They''re all yours Thomas.¡± ¡°Alright then.¡± Thomas said while giving each student a small chip. Robin and the group handed it back since they were already registered. They just silently listened as Thomas explained how the Guild works. ¡°Plug in these chips onto your status plates. They give your status plates a special function that recognizes the Black Dust that Grimm give off in the air when you kill them. Since they don''t leave behind evidence when they die, this acts as a counter for keeping track how many you''ve killed. After you complete your missions, you come back and give us the chip. Here, we count up the amount you killed and reward you accordingly. We automatically will send the extra funds to the school as long as you guys are a part of it. After graduation or dropping out, we''ll start sending you the full reward instead. Not all missions include Grimm extermination. As Hunters and Huntresses, your job is to protect the peace. You can work jobs on the walls, help transport materials, or even act as bodyguards for those that request it. Jobs are giving 7 different ranks. At the top is S-rank, meant for levels 80 and above. A-rank is for level 70 and above. B-rank is level 60 and above, etc.¡± ¡°You will keep 85% of all your earnings.¡± Ted added on. ¡°The rest will be donated to the school. You will be required to complete at least one E-ranked mission or four F-ranked missions a week. In the Hunter''s Guild, there is a simple extermination mission available to all ranks. The rank and reward stays undetermined until you return with the kills you have acquired. If you so wish to do so, you may do more than one mission. If it conflicts with school, merely have the Guild contact us to let us know of your absence. That way you may be excused from school during missions. However, you must show up at least once every week to take the quizzes and tests to prove you have not fallen behind in your studies. School events are mandatory.¡± ¡°Parties can attend missions of the highest ranked mission so long as there are at least two people in the group that is in that range. For example, in a party of level 20''s and 30''s, you can do F-ranked or E-ranked missions.¡± Thomas explained. ¡°Please note that we can reject any party from taking any mission if we so determine you are simply not ready for it.¡± ¡°That''s all for the explanation.¡± Ted said. ¡°Today we''ll be doing the Unranked Grimm Extermination mission. Everyone, please line up and register at the counter.¡± The class finished registering at the counter rather quickly, and then walked out of the kingdom''s walls. They headed towards a familiar location just to the south. It was the Forest of Beginnings, named simply for how beginning Hunters go there to hunt low leveled Grimm. After arrival, Ted let them go free. ¡°Go out there in your own groups and kill as many Grimm as you wish. After either three hours have past or you''ve reached the goal of at least a fulfilled F-rank, return here and wait for the rest of the groups to finish.¡± Team COBRA moved together just as always. The Forest of Beginnings was filled with enemies that never past level 35. Encounters with level 30 and higher enemies would require searching for Skull Grimms. Robin and the group were not interested in facing a bunch of Shadow Grimms. Despite that, they frequently came across low-level Grimm.
Shadow Warhog (Lvl 15)
HP:150/150
Appearance is similar to a pig, but has two tusks that jut outward on the side of its face. Watch out for its rolling attack.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Shadow Beowolf (Lvl 15)
HP:200/200
Appearance is similar to a wolf, but it is able to stand on its hind legs. Its arms are longer than a normal animal''s, allowing slashing and larger reach. Be careful as Beowolves travel in packs and can call for allies when threatened.
Pantomath was in dual wield form. Robin quickly slashed through the enemies like it was jello. Shadow Grimm had weaker skin and no armor, making them rather simple opponents. The last of the Beowolves started to howl and call for other allies. Robin and the group had purposefully let them live. They''re goal was accomplished when larger Beowolf showed up in the incoming pack. ¡°Sweet.¡± Conner said. ¡°They even brought five of them as well.¡±
Skull Beowolf (Lvl 32)
HP:255/255
Appearance is similar to a wolf, but it is able to stand on its hind legs. Its arms are longer than a normal animal''s, allowing slashing and larger reach. Be careful as Beowolfs travel in packs and can call for allies when threatened.
This Beowolf was larger and had bone armor that covered its face. As a Skull Grimm, its power and speed was much stronger than the others. With the new additions to the group of Grimm, they began to once again immerse themselves in battle. Using one arm to block an attack, Robin swung his other sword at the Grimm''s shoulder. Since it was a bit tougher, the sword met some resistance this time in the swing. However, the level difference was very apparent. The group made quick work with the Skull Beowolves. Blake''s semblance, Schrodinger, didn''t even give the poor Grimm a chance to retaliate. Every hit and slash it thought it would land, would only make contact with an empty clone. Blake stabbed the head of the Grimm and pulled the trigger. The glock at the hilt fired with a bang and made an extra hole in its windpipe. Conner threw a square that transformed into a variant of a bear trap. The rather impulsive Grimm was easily led into the trap and became unable to move when it was sprung. The metal blades had a paralyzing poison in it and gave Conner an opportune moment to aim his weapon at the head and pull the trigger. Ophelia''s weapon was a rifle that could become a naginata. She fired off accurate shots that disabled the Grimm''s legs and then simply sliced off the head of the Grimm in one swing. For Adam, he used his unique skill, Sliding Combo, which apparently lit up the ground with where he was supposed to move to. Following the correct movements gave the illusion he was sliding across the ground, all the while slicing up anything that followed his path. The group finished them off rather quickly and when they looked around, about 200 corpses of various Grimm littered the field. As they began to evaporate, a window message popped up to signal their victory.
+54 Exp.
Mission Update: Grimm Extermination Rank E (Complete)
You killed:13 Shadow Warhogs (+13 Exp) 31 Shadow Beowolves (+31 Exp) 1 Skull Beowolf (+10 Exp)
¡°My god.¡± Ophelia said. ¡°They only give 1 experience each? Aren''t they supposed to be giving more experience than training?¡± ¡°Our levels are too high.¡± Blake commented. ¡°I can''t believe they used to give us 50 experience.¡± ¡°The simpler they are, the easier it is for me to train my Exhibitionist Stat.¡± Adam said. ¡°Lets see if we can find some Ursas.¡± Robin said. The group moved along. There were very few Ursa in the Forest of Beginnings, but if they found any they would be extremely lucky. The weakest Ursa was around level 25. After walking for about 30 minutes without meeting any enemies, they found Raven walking in the opposite direction. ¡°Raven? Where are you going?¡± Robin asked. ¡°I''m finished, so I''m heading back to rest.¡± She said indifferently. ¡°Hey no need to say it like that.¡± Blake admonished. ¡°I''ll say it how I want to.¡± She retorted and continued walking. ¡°By the way, I don''t think there''s anymore Ursas.¡± Robin and the group looked into the clearing where she came from. It was filled with corpses. Here and there they could see the outline of some Ursas frozen or sliced up. Even inside the ice, it was unable to stop the Black Dust''s decay. Robin looked at this death field with a frown. = At least 50 corpses are here. Just how many did she kill? Even though I won the spar, she really is too far above me. I gotta try harder. = Robin and the group continued to wander and kill more Grimm. In total honesty, the small amount of experience was not worth the physical effort they had to exert. Although their health was full, their body was getting tired. After another hour past, they made their way back to the class. Their status plates had a map function which they had marked the location of where Ted was waiting for them. Upon arrival, Ted checked to make sure everyone was present and fulfilled the mission they took. They took a break and drank refreshments Ted had set up for them. After three and a half hours had past, the class packed up the supplies and headed back to the Guild. They turned in their missions and received their rewards. The students took the same mission again since there was always Grimm to be cleared out. Some decided not to and signed up for other missions. Robin and the group decided to be bodyguards for some miners in order to keep them safe from Grimm attacks while they worked. After the kids finished signing up, they all started to get back into the bus to head back into school-- all except Raven. ¡°Oi, Raven. We''re leaving.¡± Robin said. ¡°Then go ahead. I''m gonna do some more missions.¡± ¡°Really? There''s no need to be in such a rush you know.¡± ¡°We''re allowed to take more than one. I''ll be fine as long as I show up at least once to take a test right?¡± ¡°She''s not breaking the rules.¡± Ted interrupted them. ¡°Just make sure you have the Guild contact us on what missions you''re taking. Pay attention to your messages. You might be excused from class, but you must attend any events we tell you in return.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± She said. With that, the rest of them left and headed back to school. She walked back up to the counter and asked Thomas. ¡°So what new information do you have for me?¡± ¡°No new info on Jack, I''m afraid. There have been an increase and burglaries and kidnapping though. There are rumors that some criminals are trying to make a name for themselves like that Roman guy.¡± ¡°Give me their names and location. I''ll take care of them by the time the week is up.¡± ¡°..You know. I have a daughter just two years younger than you. She always bothers me about hanging out with her friends, and she doesn''t even consider doing a job like being a Hunter. She goes on and on about the boys she likes and not having enough money to play with and--¡± ¡°Your point?¡± Raven interjected. ¡°My point is that the Robin kid over there was worried about you for good reason. You''re 14. Take it slower and enjoy school. I feel you two could make a pretty good couple as well.¡± ¡°Sorry, but I don''t have time to play house. He''s an ok guy, but I can''t be as carefree as him.¡± ¡°That''s a terrible thing to say.¡± ¡°And I''m a terrible person. Now the list, Thomas.¡± ¡°..Fine..¡±
Sorry guys. I forgot to update a chapter yesterday. As an apology, I''ll update more than once today. I hope you guys enjoy! Rate, comment, thanks for reading! Chapter 36: Every-day Life ======================================= Chapter 36: Every-day Life ======================================= Because Myriad was a famous and wealthy combat school, their facilities were pretty exceptional. An ever-changing obstacle course, weightlifting, and sparing matches never left the kids bored. Training was adequate but was rather easy for Robin and the others. Since they were already so far ahead, they didn''t really learn any new techniques. Instead, the group set to refine their skills. Robin, in particular, started reading in the library. Some of the things he learned included various computer skills and programming languages. Thanks to his constant reading, Robin gained a new skill.
Hack
With your increase of knowledge, your class has granted you the ability to hack any device. Upon activation, your aura will act as a guide that will walk you through on how to gain access in the device. The tougher the security, the more aura it requires to hack. The more you learn about hacking and the more often you use this skill, the less aura it requires. Cost: --- Aura
= ...My class really is broken. Although, this definitely gives a new meaning to knowledge is power. = The days passed by rather quickly. They got a new Coach named Jack who was rather harsh in their training. He seemed to enjoy their suffering in his lessons, so he continued to make training longer and more difficult with every week that past by. Raven came back once every week to take the quiz or test Mrs. Veranda would give them. What Robin found interesting was her hatred for the new teacher. ¡°Why do you hate him? Do you know him?¡± he had asked. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°He looks nothing like the guy I despise, but I can''t shake this feeling for some reason.¡± Raven would come and go just like that. Every time, she came back stronger, which only motivated Robin to train even more. The actual school part was rather easy for them. Learning was so boring that the group began to skip and take more missions as well. They would head out and rent a car before driving themselves to areas outside the kingdom to hunt Grimm. Upon returning, they would rest and participate in faunus protests. Robin, Blake, and Adam were pretty lively during the protests. They held signs they made themselves and stood in the rallies while listening to the speeches that were made. Alex Fexlar was very inspirational. More faunuses joined the White Fang every day. Eventually, entire blocks began to be filled to the brim with each protest, but that only led to police arriving to break them up. The lack of results was something that was a bit concerning. ¡°We need to do more!¡± a faunus yelled. He was Jason Cruzel, a bear faunus and the second in command of the White Fang. Currently, all the major members were at a meeting inside a warehouse. Robin and the others had been attending all the protests. In addition, their strength had become well known among the faunus community which led them to become included in the meetings. ¡°No, Jason.¡± Alex said. ¡°We will keep going like always.¡± ¡°Keep going?! We have been protesting for years, Alex. What has it achieved for us other than the police showing up to tell us to knock it off? Tell me, Alex!¡± ¡°We have been protesting for some time, yes I will admit.¡± Alex nodded. ¡°But that shows our never-ending spirit for justice and for what is right. We must show them that we are not the monsters they make us out to be.¡± ¡°That will get us nowhere! While we sit here and decide to once again meet up on yet another day to protest on yet another issue, our comrades are doing the same jobs, with the same CONDITIONS that they have always been in! This is the moment where we have to show them we aren''t just some animals they can push around.¡± ¡°And how do you suppose we do that? Violence? Retaliation?¡± Alex questioned. ¡°If it comes down to it, then yes.¡± ¡°Don''t you see that''s exactly what they want us to do?¡± ¡°Alex we''ve been doing the same thing for 4 years. How do you expect to get different results when you use the same methods? That''s insanity!¡± ¡°What''s insane is that you expect for me to consent to acts of violence that could hurt, maybe even kill innocent people.¡± ¡°We need to change our methods, Alex. If you can''t see something like that, then I don''t know what to say to you!¡± Jason stood up and walked out the door. As the door slammed shut, the room was filled with silence. Alex adjourned the meeting and the kids went back to school. On the bus, they began talking among themselves. ¡°What do you think is gonna happen now?¡± Conner asked. ¡°I don''t know.¡± Robin said. ¡°I think Jason and Alex might be competing for leadership for the White Fang soon.¡± ¡°Do you think we''re going to be doing violent stuff from now on?¡± Blake asked nervously. ¡°I think that''s fine.¡± Adam said. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Ophelia asked. ¡°We tried protesting peacefully already. Since that didn''t work, we have to try something else. It makes perfect sense.¡± ¡°And that means destroying property and hurting people physically?¡± Amy asked while scrunching her eyebrows together. ¡°No thank you.¡± ¡°Are you quitting on us?¡± Adam accused while looking straight at her. The two of them never got along and their conflicting views certainly didn''t help. ¡°Nope. I''m not into the whole hurting people idea. If they start doing stuff like hurting others, I''m out.¡± ¡°Amy..¡± Ophelia started but was interrupted by Adam. ¡°Traitor! Us faunus have to stick together. If we don''t, the humans will just step on us again and again.¡± ¡°Hey I''m not part of your Team COBRA or whatever. I do my own thing. You guys are nice and all, but I''m not into hurting innocent people.¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.Adam was about to blow his lid, but Robin stepped in between them to calm them down. ¡°Whoa, calm down. She has every right to leave when she wants. We talked her into joining the White Fang anyway.¡± ¡°And what about you, Robin? Are you gonna betray us too?¡± The group looked at him while Robin began to formulate his answer. He had given this point a lot of thought on the bus ride. ¡°...I think it''s perfectly normal to want to only want to do things peacefully...but I also believe that sometimes it''s best to take it a step further. I''m not stupid enough to believe that words can alone change the way people think.¡± ¡°See?¡± Adam looked at Amy with a triumphant look. ¡°However, that doesn''t mean it''s ok to hurt innocent bystanders.¡± Robin added. ¡°Ha!¡± Amy returned. ¡°So what do we do?¡± Blake questioned. ¡°I''m going to stay in the White Fang. I''ll see what kind of stuff they will do before deciding anything.¡± Amy scoffed and said. ¡°Sorry, I''m gone the moment they change. I don''t want anything to do with that.¡± Adam looked at the rest of them, waiting for their response. ¡°Didn''t you say we were a team Ophelia?¡± he said. ¡°That teams stick together?¡± The three of them exchanged looks but nodded. ¡°We''ll stay.¡± The group got off the bus and walked back to the dorms in silence. A rift seemed to be created between them like no other. When the boys got back to their room, they sank into bed completely exhausted. Robin couldn''t sleep so he turned on the T.V. and listened to the news. ¡°The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information about his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department.¡± Upon staring at the picture, Robin was astonished to recognize the man as the one he had seen in prison. = Wow. So he was a big shot. Stealing Dust? No wonder Dust prices are getting so high right now. Ugh. What a pain. Couldn''t you steal anything else? = Robin spoke towards the man in his mind, knowing full well he couldn''t be heard. Meanwhile, in another location, two people were chatting across the phone. *Is the device ready yet, Doctor? ¡°Oh give me some more time. We''re just about finished. Then we''ll need to test it as well.¡± *How long will that take? ¡°Well that depends on the results. It could be another month or so. We also need more test subjects that can survive the experiments. Strong kids are rather hard to come by you know.¡± *I''ll handle that. You make sure you get that device working by the time I send another batch of kids over. Madam will not be pleased with your progress. As the one referred to as Doctor hung up the phone, he threw it against the wall which smashed it to pieces. = Madam this, Madam that! Who does she think she is anyway? = The man began pacing quickly across the hideout. As he approached a room, he passed by cells that contained Grimm and slaves that were illegally purchased and captured. = I was supposed to be the one in charge of the Eden Project. Not that blonde slut, Udane. It was MY genius that created these guys and it''ll be thanks to ME that the device gets finished. But first.. = After entering in a code, he entered a cell. Inside was a women of a short stature hung by chains wrapping around her arms and legs. Her hair was two different colors that split down the middle of of her head. One side was pink and the other was brown. Her clothes were ragged from fighting and were unwashed. Upon the man''s entrance, she opened and looked at him with her eyes. Just like her hair, her eyes were two different colors, giving her a bizarre presence. ¡°Hello Neo.¡± the Doctor said. She smiled wryly at him. ¡°No need to be so condescending. Don''t you understand what position you''re in?¡± The woman just smiled and made the old man annoyed. ¡°You were my best work. All those years ago, my research broke through and proved it was possible to implant Dust into humans. You were going to be the pinnacle of greatness, but you just had to run off with that stupid thief and cause us some trouble now didn''t you.¡± The man walked closer to her and asked her in a threatening voice. ¡°The research you stole has set us back for so long. Now, where is it?¡± She didn''t speak a word. The everlasting expression made her look like a doll. ¡°Where is it!!¡± Neo moved her finger and indicated for him to come closer. When the Doctor leaned towards her face, she spat on him. ¡°Ugh!¡± Wiping away the spit, the Doctor looked at her with scorn. ¡°Fine if that''s how you want to be, that''s fine with us. We lose nothing without the research anyhow. Instead, I''ll drain you of your blood instead. I''m sure testing your body will provide more than enough details about the results.¡± The change of her expression was evident. The prospect of those experiments continuing once more struck fear into her heart. The old man walked out of the room and pressed a button. As the doors closed behind him, his mind became fixated on his goal. = I''ll show them-- all of them. That this Doctor will be the creator of the perfect race ever to exist! Grimm, humans, faunus. All shall bow down to the brilliance of Doctor Frank Victorian! =
Transition still feels weird to me. I''m gonna be editing that. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the chapter. I think I''ll go for one more today. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! ps. Roman Torchwick and Neo Politan I hope somebody gets the Frankenstein reference. Chapter 37: Alone Time ======================================= Chapter 37: Alone Time ======================================= The next day was rather quiet. The group went through the lessons without talking to each other much. Then, during the free time after practice, Blake had approached Robin. ¡°Hey, do you mind if I spar with you?¡± she asked. ¡°Sure.¡± The two of them went to one of the Practice Rooms. On one of a pedestals, they placed their status plates and pressed a button to indicate they were having a sparring match. In the case an instructor wasn''t present, the machine would judge their HP and aura levels. When it reached too low, a bell would sound to indicate the end of the match. Of course, this wasn''t as safe without an instructor, so the danger level was set at a higher level than normal. The two of them grasped their weapons, poised and waiting as the holographic display counted down.
3 2 1 Begin!
Enhance With the signal sounding, Blake and Robin dashed toward one another, their bodies clad in black and silver respectively. Blake held her sheath in a reverse grip with her left hand and her other blade in a normal grip with her right. Robin drew Pantomath and immediately split it into its dual sword form. A great-sword would just be too slow to deal with Blake''s speed. Robin alternated between swinging each sword. Some strikes were aimed at her head, others at her chest. Blake met his strikes. In order to make up the difference in power, she increased the speed she swung the swords. However, Robin also stepped up his speed. Gradually he began to push her back. Just when it seemed like a strike would connect, Blake activated her semblance, Schrodinger. Combining with Red Dust, she created a Fire Clone that took her place. Upon contact, the clone exploded, the force sent Robin flying backwards instead.
-154
The explosion should have hurt Robin more, but his training along with his natural abundance of aura allowed him to use more aura in Enhance as well as use Bloodlust for extended periods of time. However, Blake wasn''t finished. Through the smoke, her body dashed forward to press the attack. Shadow Barrage This skill was a variant of Shadow Rush, but instead of going in a line, she concentrates on one particular enemy. She uses her speed to circle and attack Robin in multiple directions. In addition, the clones themselves could be influenced by Dust. This allowed Blake to create not only Fire, but Ice and Earth clones as well. They impeded Robin''s movements and allowed her to continuously strike him.
-124 -95 -130 -101
Robin switched from using his dual swords to the double pointed spear. He twirled Pantomath clad in fire to disturb Blake''s movement and force her to back off. In the process, his sword hit one of her Ice Clones. Blake who backed away at the moment of contact began to move forward to strike Robin, but he had pushed a button on Pantomath. The barrel that pointed at Blake fired and chunked some of her HP as well.
-254
Pressing another button, the other end of Pantomath. Robin used the recoil to propel the weapon through the lingering clone and straight at Blake. Blake, who noticed the movement, dodged left. Robin didn''t even bother grabbing Pantomath. Instead, he pumped more aura into his body as he approached her. Acupuncture Blake swung her sword but her arm was deflected with Robin''s elbow. He followed up with a jab to her face.
-104
She moved her other arm in retaliation, but was rejected in a similar fashion. Robin''s knuckle jabbed a spot on Blake''s side.
-74
The aura that flowed to her legs stopped. She still could move them but without aura, she was unable to escape. In an attempt to escape, she used Yellow Dust to create a Lightning Clone and jumped backwards. However, Robin was one step ahead. Aura Limbs With practice and experimentation, Robin became able to create an extra set of limbs on his own body. The range of the limbs was small so he had to be extremely close to use it ¨C just like they were now. The extra arms grabbed Blake who tried to dash away and pulled her close to him. Robin delivered a low kick and they fell together with Robin''s fist on her stomach. ¡°Gah.¡±
-254
Robin pressed two more spots on Blake''s legs to prevent any further movement for 60 seconds. He grabbed both of her hands and pinned it above her head. The two stared into each other''s eyes while breathing heavily. A window popped up between them as an alarm sounded.
Match over! Winner: Robin S. Wolfheart
¡°Ha..Ha...What.. was that skill?¡± Blake asked. ¡°Ha..That was Aura Limbs. A variant of Aura Sword. I learned it recently.¡± he replied. ¡°Hehe. You''re so strong, Robin. I don''t think I could ever win.¡± ¡°No. You were pretty close this time.¡± The two laughed softly. Blake''s body glistened with sweat. Despite her training, Blake''s body was not buff and had a soft and slender build. On her chest were two beautiful mounds that went up and down as she breathed. Although Robin wasn''t a sex deviant, he was still a healthy boy going through puberty. His eyes couldn''t help wandering the figure in front of him. His eyes traced Blake''s soft white skin and curves before returning to her hazel eyes. ¡°..Pervert.¡± Robin''s face blushed, but when he looked, he noticed that Blake was blushing just as hard. Their eyes locked and their lips moved closer. Just as they were about to connect, the door swung open with the sound of a girl faunus speaking. ¡°Hey Blake are you here? We need to get readyyyyy....¡± Currently, the two of them were lying on the floor. With Robin holding Blake''s hand above her head and his own legs in between hers, it resembled a scene where a boy was forcing himself on a girl. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°¡°....¡±¡± ¡°...I''m sorry. It seems I was interrupting.¡± She said while using her hand to cover her smile. She began to slowly back away. ¡°No wait, Ophelia. It''s not like that.¡± Blake said in a hurry. She tried to stand but just fell down with her hips pointing upwards, giving Robin a glorious view. ¡°Oh my, she already lost feeling in her legs. I can''t possibly stop you guys at this point.¡± With that last comment, she closed the door. Robin and Blake looking at her with a dumbfounded expression. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Robin jabbed Blake''s pressure points to give her control of her legs again. Embarrassed, Blake just dashed toward the locker room to shower and change. In the process, she was drinking an elixir pulled out of her inventory. Robin sat there like a fool for some time. = What did I just do? Did I seriously almost become a rapist? Arrg!! Stupid hormones! = Robin banged his head on the ground. He took no damage from hitting the soft mat. = ...But Blake didn''t seem to mind me approaching like that at all. Does she have a thing for me? = Robin shook his head while taking his status plate from the pedestal. He went to his backpack to get his change of clothes. = I shouldn''t judge based on my hormone-influenced daydreams. She couldn''t move because I pinned her down. She had no choice. Yeah, that''s it.. hm? = Poking out of Blake''s backpack was a book he never seen before. The title was ¡°Ninjas of Love¡±. Curious, Robin picked it up; he flipped it open and began reading a random page. ------------------------------------------------ Out of the darkness, his hands pinned me down. I simply couldn''t move against his abnormal strength. ¡°Gayruto. What are you doing?¡± ¡°Can''t you tell?¡± the shadow replied. ¡°But we can''t. Our clans are at war. We can''t do this.¡± ¡°Screw the clan.¡± the man spat. ¡°We are in love, Hinata. Why does that matter?¡± Before the woman could argue, the man took off his mask and pressed his lips to hers. Their moans and hot breathing began to fill the room. ------------------------------------------------ = Whoa. = Robin leaned back in surprise. = Isn''t this an erotic novel? Why does Blake have this? Unless.. = At that moment, a blur appeared before him and snatched the book right out of his hands. Upon examining closer, the blur turned out to be Blake. She looked him right in the eyes and leaned forward. ¡°Did you read it?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Robin shook his head furiously to further deny the act. Blake pointed her index finger at his face. ¡°Good. You saw nothing and that''s the truth. Nobody will know because you never even knew this even existed, right?¡± Robin nodded and stared back into her eyes ¨Cor rather, he had to stare into her eyes for fear of staring at something else. Blake had run back out naked and covered by only a towel. Her black hair was damp which indicated she had stepped into the shower. As if to mock them further, Conner and Adam opened the door. ¡°Yo, Robin. Ophelia says to get to the cafeteria when you''re done. We need to....¡± The four of them looked at each other in silence. ¡°Sorry to disturb you.¡± Conner said. His eyes held a pitiful look on his face. Adam, on the other hand, was not so tactful. ¡°I can''t believe this! He''s gonna get it before I do!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Conner pushed him out and closed the door. ¡°Meet us in the cafeteria when you guys are done doing...you know.¡± --------------------------------------- Currently, the entirety of Team COBRA with Osagi and Amy were sitting at the table inside the cafeteria. Robin and Blake sat on opposite ends of the table. Both of them held their faces in their hands. ¡°Aw no need to be so embarrassed about it.¡± Amy teased. ¡°Yeah,¡± Ophelia chimed in. ¡°You became a grown woman just now.¡± ¡°I didn''t do anything of the sort!¡± Blake exclaimed. ¡°Hey.¡± Conner whispered. ¡°So how did it feel to..you know.¡± He made gesture of poking his finger through a ring. ¡°I didn''t do anything like that!¡± Robin retorted. After a couple more minutes of teasing, the group finished and brought the conversation to a close. Blake and Robin had their faces completely flushed as a result. ¡°Ok, ok. That''s enough.¡± Ophelia said. ¡°As much as I love to get another 10 points in Sadism..¡± = You did this for the stats?! = ¡°..we should be serious right now. So Robin, the reason we gathered here is because we wanted to split up for a bit.¡± ¡°Split up? What do you mean?¡± Robin questioned. ¡°Well, we''ve done a lot of missions together as Team COBRA, as well as separate missions these past 8 months. With the thing that''s happening at the White Fang, we kinda just thought this was another good time to separate and think things out a bit alone you know?¡± This was true. The group stuck together like glue, but sometimes they just needed alone time. Robin and the other boys nodded in agreement. Osagi wasn''t a part of White Fang, but they had become rather close in the time they spent there. ¡°Alright.¡± Robin agreed. ¡°Well then I guess we''re on our own for a bit.¡± The group nodded and re-initiated the teasing from before. The night was quiet, but Robin''s dreams were filled with Blake''s mounds. The torture of his adolescent mind kept him awake for a good two hours. The next day, Robin visited the Hunter''s Guild. As he approached the counter, Thomas greeted him. ¡°Morning to you Robin.¡± ¡°Yawn..morning Thomas.¡± ¡°Didn''t get enough sleep?¡± ¡°No. Not at all. So I need to find a job, preferably high-paying please.¡± ¡°What''s your level?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°I''m level 61 right now.¡± ¡°B-ranked missions huh? I would stick with C-ranked for now, but lets see..Hm. Oh! You ok with being a bodyguard? This wealthy person is requesting protection for 3 days. Reward is 5,000 per day.¡± ¡°5,000?! Are you sure it''s B-ranked?¡± ¡°Nope, C-ranked actually. They don''t mind low 60''s either. Faunus or human is ok with them. You up for it?¡± ¡°Sure! Sign me up.¡±
Romance or no? I''m a troll. So I leave things there. Forgive me NaruSakura fans. I''m a Hinata guy. Solo mission time! Next chapter we do a little side POV of Yang! I have a nice Nickname/Title for Raven but now I need something for Robin. Guys what''s your opinion on the name "Anubis"? Fenrir is nice too. I need titles/names. I am truly uncreative. Final update for the night. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Edit: How was the fight scene? I hope it wasn''t lacking in the intensity that you guys liked in the earlier ones. Blake reading said book Chapter 38: Underworld ======================================= Chapter 38: Underworld ======================================= The Kingdom of Vale was not necessarily split into different sections, but there were some distinctions between the different areas. In the west, there were many Dust factories that processed mined Dust into usable forms. Many faunus lived in that area because their jobs were to work the assembly line. Dust is mined outside the Kingdom, and brought inside by ships or train. The northern side of Vale took up the most space. It was filled with the residential areas as well as all the schools and various shops that people went to enjoy everyday life. The land to the east was reserved entirely for Beacon Academy. As one of the four best Hunter Academies in the world, Beacon was separated from the other areas by a giant lake. The school grounds was near the edge of the cliff of a waterfall. Its highest tower was the headmaster''s office which overlooked the entire Kingdom. The southern part of the Kingdom was home to the night clubs, love hotels, and various other activities one would look to enjoy in order to get away from the rest of their everyday lives. The south was also home to the criminals. The big names of the underworld gathered there. They gambled at casinos, or seek to establish control over their respective turfs. All four areas circled the center of Vale which held the Coliseum. The Coliseum was built as a joint project between the four kingdoms to represent unity. As one of the largest landmarks in history, it could hold a huge number of people as Hunters and Huntresses of the academies gathered to show their skill to the world. Driving along the highway, a bright black and yellow motorcycle roared as it zoomed past vehicles. The driver turned into an exit and entering the southern district. After a couple of turns, the driver pulled to a stop outside of a night club. She took off her helmet to reveal her long, blonde hair. After securing the vehicle, she strutted inside the building. After making way down the hallway, the automatic doors opened and revealed a large dance floor. The lights were dim but the room was illuminated by the disco ball in the center. The girl began walking to the bar counter while noticing the numerous bodyguards in black suits and red sunglasses. They seemed pretty buff, but none were over level 40. As she reached the bar counter, there was a tall, white male talking to two beautiful twins. Upon noticing the girl''s approached, he signaled to the girls with his head before turning away. She took her time to gradually approach him. Sitting in one of the seats at the bar, she spoke to the bartender. ¡°Strawberry Sunrise. No ice. Ooh and give me one of those little umbrellas.¡± ¡°Aren''t you a little young to be in this club, blondie?¡± The man turned to ask while using his skill. Identify
Yang Xiao Long (Lvl 60)
HP:1550/1550
Aura:1750/1750
¡°Aren''t you a little old to have a name like Junior?¡± she retorted while looking at him. Identify
Junior Dillen (Lvl 52)
HP:1220/1220
Aura:1480/1480
Suppressing his surprise, Junior continued to speak with her. Criminals knew a special skill to hide their names from Identify. Unless someone had matched a name with a face, there should be no way others could tell who exactly he was. ¡°So you know who I am. You got a name, sweetheart?¡± ¡°Yes, I have several.¡± Yang smiled sweetly. ¡°But instead of sweetheart, you can call me sir.¡± Enhance With quick movement, she reached and grabbed the lower region of the man. With a high-pitched squeal, he bent over in pain. ¡°People say you know everything that happens around here.¡± Yang began. ¡°What do you know about her?¡± Yang took out a Mini-Scroll. With a press of a button, an image appeared on the screen. Junior''s eyes widen with recognition, but instead of answering truthfully, he denied it. ¡°I never seen her before. I swear.¡± he said in a high-pitched voice. ¡°Excuse me?¡± Yang squeezed harder. ¡°I swear, sir!¡± At this point, all the bodyguards had started to surround them. Armed with guns and swords, the clump of men looked like gang members than bodyguards. ¡°Woops. I guessed this must be embarrassing for you huh.¡± she whispered mockingly. ¡°Awkward.¡± ¡°Listen, blondie ¨C sir!¡± Junior began. ¡°If you wanna make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let go of me. Now!¡± Yang smiled and released her death grip on his testicles. With the pain gone, Junior''s voice returned to its deep tone. ¡°Uuugh..You''ll pay for that.¡± He commented while walking away. ¡°Oh Junior, I was just messing around. No need to be so upset.¡± She walked to his side and blinked in a coquettish manner. ¡°Lets just kiss and makeup ok?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Junior stopped in his tracks. Yang giggled and leaned forward while closing her eyes. Junior just stared, but Yang showed no indication of moving. ¡°Uh..ok?¡± He leaned forward slowly and cautiously. Yang just pouted her lips waiting for the connection. As they got closer, Junior threw caution to the wind and quickly leaned to get the kiss from the blonde beauty. In return for his stupidity, he was rewarded with Yang''s fist that she hid behind her back. The blow sent Junior''s body flying across the night club and into the bar on the other side of the room.
-312
The crowd screamed and began to run out of the night club, fearing the fight that was about to break out. The men turned to face the smiling blonde in the center of their encirclement. Yang pressed two buttons on the golden bracelets she wore on her wrists. They immediately transformed into her favorite shotgun gauntlets, Ember Celica. As the lights turned completely on, the men charged her. However, Yang had already jumped in the air. As she landed, Yang punched the ground. At the same time, Ember Celica fired explosive shotgun bullets. Earthquake Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The tremble on the ground made the men lose balance. Fully entering battle mode, Yang dashed into the crowd of grunts. Ember Celica was a gauntlet that was designed to fire rounds as she punched to further increase the force of her hits. If she so pleases, she could instead use the recoil of the shot to propel her body in the direction she wants. In addition, she could switch to projectile shotgun rounds. When fired, they traveled in a straight line and exploded on impact. This was her solution to dealing with Robin''s pesky way of avoiding her in the Junior Hunter tournament. The strength of the grunts was nothing compared to hers. Thus, she could easily block the bullets using the strong gauntlets while approaching to finish them off. One grunt tried to swing his sword onto her shoulder. Yang blew away his weapon with a punch and pummeled him with close range bullets. When another tried to get her from behind, she stuck out her foot and jumped lightly up into the air with her other one. As she was airborne, she fired another round in front to propel her backwards. This suddenly sent her kick into the man''s stomach and caused him to gasp for air. She retracted her foot and held her fist perpendicular to her body. Firing Ember Celica once more, she spun in place and used the momentum to swing her leg at the grunt''s face. The force knocked him sideways and unconscious. With the last of the grunts finished, Yang looked up to find the two twins from before walking up to her. This time, they had their weapons. ¡°Melanie, who is this girl?¡± the girl with the red dress asked. On her hands were metal claw gauntlets. ¡°I don''t know, Militia, but we should teach her a lesson.¡± the girl in the white dress responded. Melanie clicked her feet together and transformed the heels into sharp blades that glittered in the light. Yang flicked her wrist and ejected the empty shells in her weapon. She reached into the empty space in front of her and pulled out two holsters that held extra bullets. Tossing them into the air, the holsters wrapped around her gauntlets. With a click, the bullets fell into place; Ember Celica snapped close and ejected the holster onto the ground. The three ladies rushed forward and clashed. The twins dodged and deflected Yang''s bullets, forcing her to engage into close-combat. They were stronger than the grunts, and they coordinated well. This resulted in Yang suffering multiple kicks to the stomach and scratches on her arm. Thankfully, she aura protected her body enough to prevent severe damage. With a double kick, Melanie pushed Yang back. Yang did a back-flip and thrusted her fists behind her. The force pushed her forward and rammed her shoulder into the airborne woman. With her semblance, Berserker, activating, her hair had begun to glow, and her eyes turned red. Along with her increase in strength, Yang pumped up her speed with Enhance and began to brawl Militia by herself. Together, they could potentially overwhelm her, but alone it was a piece of cake. In a series of uppercuts, Militia''s body was lifted into the air. Yang followed up with a final punch to sent her crashing into one of the glass displays. With one down for the count, Yang turned to the remaining twin. Melanie used a fighting style oriented on kicks. Since her legs were longer than Yang''s arms, it was a bit tricky. However, Yang''s prowess allowed her to eventually grab one of Melanie''s legs mid-strike. Yang kicked the other leg that held her up and spun Melanie in a circle. Eventually, she let go and the woman flew towards Junior who had finally woken up from being banged too hard on the head. He avoided the collision by ducking. Melanie''s body flew into the shelf with the alcohol. Junior raised his hands into the air as he examined the damage. ¡°M-m-my club! The damage repairs are going to be so high. Do you even understand how much insurance I pay for this shit?!¡± Junior exclaimed. ¡°God damn it, this is the second time already.¡± He slumped against a chair while shaking his head. Yang walked towards him while drinking an elixir. Her wounds healed and her hair stopped glowing as she approached. Yang''s purple eyes held an accusing look while she spoke. ¡°That''s for lying to me.¡± Junior flinched. ¡°Now tell me the truth. What do you know about her?¡± Yang once again pulled out the image of a woman in a black and red getup. She had long, black hair and beautiful curves. She would be mistaken for a beauty if not for that Grimm mask on her face. It completely covered any facial features. The only skin that was shown was on her neck which revealed pale white skin. The mask had two slits that showed glowing red eyes underneath. ¡°Alright. Alright. I''ll tell you. Just don''t break anything else.¡± Junior sighed in resignation. ¡°But there''s isn''t much to say.¡± ¡°Who is she?¡± Yang questioned. ¡°Nobody knows. Just like everyone else, she knows how to conceal her identity, and with that mask covering her face, nobody knows what she looks like. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere in my club. My men didn''t know how she entered or when. The video tape never caught her. At that time one of the big shots was in town. He came up to me and asked for a drink. While we were chatting, she came out of nowhere and sat next to him. When we noticed, she started to attack him. Their fight left my club devastated. After killing him, she left the corpse here and vanished into thin air.¡± ¡°What''s her goal?¡± ¡°Hell if I know. All I know is after listening to the grapevine, lots of criminals have been disappearing. Some of them murdered right in their home-turf. It doesn''t matter when or where. If anyone tries to make a name for themselves, do some big operation, or hurt anyone, she shows up. And when she shows up, EVERYONE she''s after dies. No exceptions.¡± ¡°If that''s true, then how do you people know about it?¡± ¡°One of their cameras caught it. That''s how a picture like that is in your hands, right? Cameras don''t catch her entering, but they sure do capture her in the act. Listen. That person is dangerous. Many people in the underworld are going out of their way to lay low until they figure out who she really is. Right now, there''s absolutely nothing on her. All they have is the nickname people gave her.¡± ¡°And what is it?¡± she asked. He leaned forward and whispered. ¡°They call her the Grimm Reaper.¡±
Yay. Yellow trailer. Sorry I didn''t do Junior getting beat up. I ran out of space >.> Next chapter we go back to Robin''s POV. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Chapter 39: Bodyguard (Part 1) ======================================= Chapter 39: Bodyguard (Part 1) ======================================= Robin was currently sitting at a bench in the middle of a park. It was the meeting place designated by his employer. As he waited for their arrival, Robin listened to his favorite tune ¡°Unravel¡±. Three men approached Robin as the song started to end. He put away his headphones as the man in the middle introduced himself. ¡°Are you Robin?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes. It''s nice to meet you.¡± Robin held out his hand. The man ignored the gesture and continued to smoke his cigarette. ¡°My name is Thomas Walker. These two men,¡± he tilted his head at each muscular man in black suits, ¡°are my personal bodyguards. However, for certain reasons, I require someone stronger to protect me for the next three days. You will follow my orders to the letter, is that understood?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Robin responded. Detect The men''s body glowed to reveal hidden guns behind their jackets. Thomas''s own body had a pistol hidden in his sleeve. Identify
Thomas Walker (Lvl 10)
HP:250/250
Aura:220/220
#8%43&*@ (Lvl 40)
HP:820/820
Aura:800/800
#@3&84%*@$^$@ (Lvl 39)
HP:805/805
Aura:780/780
= Huh. That''s weird. I can''t see their names. Are they using some kind of skill to hide it? I should learn that sometime. But I wonder why they''re hiding it. Suspicious... = The man started to walk; Robin and the bodyguards followed him. They got into an expensive car and drove out to one of the exits in the west. During the car ride, Thomas began to explain the plan to Robin. ¡°Today, I need to visit one of the mines outside the Kingdom. I need to be there to receive some cargo. Because it''s a bit far, I need you to protect us and get rid of any Grimm that we run into along the way. We''ll have to stop every time they approach us, so if you could get rid of them as quickly as possible, that would be preferable.¡± Robin nodded in understanding. ¡°Good. After getting there, we''ll be transporting a truck back to the kingdom. I need you to protect us during that entire time. The faster you get us back, the extra pay I''ll give you. After returning, you''ll spend the night with us. I''ll explain what we do each day when it comes. Payment will be done after each morning. Just do your job, and we''ll get along fine.¡± The travel was done in silence. Robin spent his idle time watching the road outside. As they got further away from the kingdom, the road got bumpier. In the beginning, only weaker Grimm approached the noise from their vehicle. Robin would poke his body outside the window and fire at them with Pantomath to prevent them from blocking their path. As he monitored they surroundings, he signaled to Thomas of an incoming foe. ¡°There are stronger ones coming.¡± he said. The bodyguard, that was driving, pressed the brakes. As the car slowed down to a stop, Robin jumped out of the car and landed square on his feet. Activating his skills, he examined the group of felines. Identify
Skull Sabertooth (Lvl 45)
HP:840/840
Appearance is similar to that of a tiger. It has two long teeth that sticks out of its mouth. Beware of its bite. Once you are in its jaws, it results in certain death.
Skull Cheetah (Lvl 42)
HP:740/740
Appearance is similar to that of a cheetah. It lacks power and is very thin, however in return its speed can reach up to 80 mph. Nearly no foe can outrun it.
= I must get rid of these guys now or they''ll just be troublesome if they gather to follow us. = Enhance Aura Sword His body cloaked in silver, Robin dashed forward while extending the reach of his dual swords. Robin slashed the ground with Pantomath clad in flames from Red Dust. The strike caused a line of fire to form and separate Robin and the Grimm from the vehicle. The Skull Sabertooth pounced at Robin. Aura Limbs A pair of arms reached out from his sides and grabbed the Sabertooth by the neck. Robin threw it towards the ground and stabbed a sword through its head. The power behind his strike was enough to crack completely through the bone armor that covered its head.
+45 Exp
The Skull Cheetah tried to dash by them and over the flames. Robin pumped aura to his legs and dashed to block its path. The Cheetah acknowledged that fighting Robin was a losing battle, so it continued to get past him and fight the weaker foes hiding behind the flames. Robin didn''t even let it attempt to a second time. He aimed at the exposed joints and fired Yellow Dust bullets at its legs. The bullets paralyzed the creature and caused it to fall to the ground with its legs twitching. Robin sliced off its head before returning to Thomas and his men who were clapping at his performance.
+40 Exp
¡°Very impressive, Robin. You definitely have more skills than I gave you credit for. Would you consider being a permanent bodyguard? I can guarantee the generous pay.¡± ¡°You flatter me.¡± Robin chuckled. ¡°I appreciate the offer, but I''m not interested in a permanent job.¡± ¡°A shame.¡± Thomas shrugged. ¡°Let us continue.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The rest of the ride was done in a similar fashion. Robin fired paralyzing shots to prevent Grimm from following them. Those that he deemed were too dangerous to leave alone were dealt with accordingly. After four hours, they arrived at a place that had walls surrounding it. Of course, it was lower than that of Vale, but it did its purpose of keeping many Grimm at bay. They entered the walls after showing their status plates for identification. Thomas pulled the car up to a warehouse where mined Dust was stored before shipping. A man approached their car as they parked. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Thomas Walker.¡± he said. ¡°I''m here for the cargo.¡± ¡°Ah yes, Mr. Walker. It came a bit earlier than expected. Would you like to confirm the products?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He looked at Robin. ¡°Stay here and guard the vehicle. Don''t let anyone in. I''ll be back soon.¡± Robin drank an elixir and did as he was told. The wait lasted for an entire hour. Just when he was about to die of boredom, Thomas returned with more people following him. They all got into their respective vehicles and drove out of the mines. This time, a truck and several other cars guarding the truck followed behind them. Thanks to his earlier prudence with killing the Grimm, there were less occasions where they had to stop. Nevertheless, Robin gathered enough experience to reach Level 62. After another four hour drive, they entered the Kingdom, and then they entered Thomas''s home which was a huge mansion. Thomas reached into his inventory and pulled out 4,000 dollars in cash. ¡°Here you are. You were very helpful today. The extra is a bonus for making everything run so smoothly today.¡± He smiled. ¡°Dinner is already placed inside your room. I''ll see you in the morning.¡± Robin happily took the money and stuffed it inside his inventory. He bid them good night and left for his room. It was rather spacious, and just like Thomas said, dinner was prepared and left on a desk inside. As he sat down to ate, he began to examine his status.
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:62
Experience:134/620Semblance:Bloodlust (Evolved)
Health:1445/1445
Aura:1130/1990
Strength:369(+53)Dexterity:385
Agility:270Endurance:280
Vitality:389
Inventory176/200
Mercenary
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+10 Active) Martial Arts Master, (+10 Active) Sword Mastery, (+14 Inactive) Dual Sword Mastery, (+16 Inactive) Axe Mastery, (+10) Sharpshooter, (+10) Knife Jungler, (+10% Exp) Rivals Forever, (+10% Active) Lone Wolf Current Skills: Identify, Enhance, Detect, Lockpick, Helmsplitter, Aura Sword, Defuse, Hack, Aura Limbs
Wolf:As a member of the wolf faunus, you fight stronger in a pack. The more members in your pack the stronger you are. Your strength increases +5 per member. As you reach certain levels, the bonus per member increases. You have secluded yourself to being alone. Instead of the pack bonus, you shall receive +10% Strength bonus. Next Benchmark: Lvl 75 (+10 >> +15)
Current Strength: 369(+33)
Bloodlust (Passive):Thanks to your experiences and innate ability, you''ve gained the sixth sense able to sense animosity towards you.
Bloodlust (Evolved) (Active):When activated, you are able to sense the presence of anyone within a set distance. However, in return they are also made aware of you. Upon activation, there is a chance of foes being Intimidated. Weaker foes are more prone to the status effect than stronger ones. Evolved: You have become more experienced with fighting and thus have become able to manipulate your bloodlust in new ways. When activated, other people will not notice your bloodlust unless you either specifically target them with it or are engaged in combat with them. Cost (10 Aura/sec).
= Hmm.Thomas seems to be very rich. Not only did he hand out 4,000 in cash, but he also has maids that take care of his mansion. How fancy. = Robin thought. Robin washed up and changed into his night clothes he had brought in his backpack. He sank into the soft bed and let the feeling of sleep overcome him. = I hope the next two days are easygoing like this. I''ll get a huge increase in money if that''s the case. =
I''m sleepy so I''ll get you the next chapter tomorrow. Huzzah for status update which takes forever to write. I''m not writing for every skill because that takes up space that isn''t necessary. >.> Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Edit: I''m gonna ask using the poll. Do you guys want me to add a table for each skill? or keep doing like I always have, showing a table when he learns it and show it again if it changes. Chapter 40: Bodyguard (Part 2) ======================================= Chapter 40: Bodyguard (Part 2) ======================================= Robin woke up to the alarm clock. He sat up to see there was breakfast placed on the desk. Robin quickly ate and changed clothes. After verifying all of his weapons was in order, he walked out of the room. Posted on the door, was a note.
After you have finished getting ready, come to the lounge.
Robin walked around a bit. Since he was still unfamiliar with the mansion, he got himself a bit lost. After being directed by a maid, he eventually found the lounge. It was rather extravagant; the room was filled with paintings and leather couches. Robin sat in one of them and found his body sink into the seat. ¡°Enjoying yourself?¡± Walking in was Thomas and his two bodyguards. They all wore the exact same attire as before except for Thomas. He wore a gray suit this time. Thomas reached for a rack and chose a fedora. After placing it on his head, he indicated for Robin to follow him. ¡°First, we''ll be traveling out to another just like before. Do the same as you always have.¡± he said. ¡°After that, I need to travel to downtown Vale. I have an appointment with a couple of colleagues today. A lot of criminals are active down there, so I want you to protect us from any attackers. Think you can do that?¡± Robin nodded. Thomas stepped out the door and towards his car outside. Along the way, Thomas whispered to a man who transported the truck yesterday. Robin''s keen ears barely picked up the words. ¡°Move the goods to the agreed location. Make sure not to mess anything up. The better the quality, the better the pay our buyer gives us.¡± The man nodded and walked away. Robin and the others got into the car. The mine they went to this time was in the east. However, the mine was located just to the north of Mountain Glenn. Mountain Glenn was infested with Grimm. Luckily, they weren''t heading all the way there, but since the location was a bit closer to the forests that formed the border of Mountain Glenn, Grimm attacks were more frequent. Currently, Robin was engaged in an intense battle.
Skull Deathstalker (Lvl 55)
HP:749/1100
Appearance is similar to that of a scorpion. It''s legs are brittle and cannot move quickly. However, in return it makes up for it with its strong pincers and poisonous stinger. Beware of its poison. When stung, the poison will paralyze you and slowly sap away your health.
Robin jumped to the left to avoid the stinger that pierced the spot he was at a moment ago. This Deathstalker stood about as tall as Robin and was longer than 3 cars lined up in a row. On it''s face and back was completely covered in bone armor. It snapped its pincers at Robin. Robin ducked and found that the tree behind him had its trunk crushed under the pressure. = How powerful. This must be an older Skull Grimm. Judging from the amount of armor it has, it''s probably very close to becoming an Armored Deathstalker. I need to end this quickly, but first... = Robin threw a Boom Trap at the Deathstalker''s face. It moved its pincers back to protect it from the explosion. Robin grabbed a red dagger from his belt and threw it with all his strength. Because the pincers covered its eyes, it didn''t notice the blade aimed at its eyes when it withdrew the pincers. The dagger stabbed its eyes threw the gaps in the face armor. The Deathstalker screeched in pain as the dagger burst into flames, causing even more damage.
-94
In anger, the Deathstalker stared at Robin with its other 3 eyes and stabbed its tail at Robin. Robin leaned to the side, barely dodging the stinger. Aura Limbs Helmsplitter Two silver arms grabbed the pincer and stopped its retreat. A spot on the tail glowed to indicate a weak point. Although the main body was covered in armor, its tail was not. Pumping aura into his arms and sword, Robin striked the spot and separated the stinger from the tail in one stroke.
-198
¡°Kraaaaaaaaah!¡± Robin dashed forward, dodging the pincers and landed on the Deathstalker''s head. It''s limbs were not that flexible, and could not reach that far. After realizing it couldn''t reach Robin, it started to skitter around to make Robin lose his balance. ¡°As if!¡± Robin yelled. Robin transformed Pantomath into its dual axe form and began striking the armor on its head. He used his legs and extra two limbs to grab onto the body to prevent him from falling off. After a couple of strikes, cracks could be seen to form in the armor. Helmsplitter As Robin returned Pantomath to its original form as a great-sword, glowing spots appeared in the armor. Aura Sword Using both Aura Sword and Aura Limbs while hanging on to the monster required a lot of focus. As Pantomath began to shine silver, Robin stabbed it into the Deathstalker with full force. The blade cut straight into the armor.
-287
¡°Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!¡± The Deathstalker starting to wave its pincer frantically, hoping to luckily smash Robin to death, but he didn''t give it the time of day. Robin activated the Red Dust in the cartridge. Clad in flames, Pantomath sunk deeper into the skull and boiled the insides to a crisp. The monster twitched and gave a final cry before dropping onto the ground, finally dead.
+256 Exp.
¡°Ha..Ha..Ha..¡± Taking a moment to breathe, Robin took out an elixir. The scratches on his body began to heal and he was revitalized. He snapped Pantomath back on his holster and returned to the vehicle. As they were driving, Thomas spoke with Robin. ¡°Are you sure you don''t want to work for me?¡± he asked. ¡°I''ll double the current pay. Tips not included. I''m sure you realize this isn''t something just anyone is offered.¡± ¡°As much as I would love to, Mr. Walker, I have a goal I want to achieve, and I''m afraid I can''t accomplish it as a mere bodyguard.¡± Robin replied. = Well, technically, fighting powerful Grimm like this is what I want, but I don''t want to have to do this every day. I want to enjoy life, not work every god damn day. Plus.. something doesn''t feel right about this guy. = ¡°That''s such a shame.¡± Thomas shook his head and faced forward. In a whisper, he muttered to himself. ¡°It would make things much simpler if it was voluntary.¡± Robin did not mishear him. ¡°Sir? Did you say something?¡± ¡°No, I didn''t.¡± Thomas replied. The drive to the meeting was done in peace. Robin rested his body in the meantime. Just because elixirs healed wounds and gave him a bit of energy back, it didn''t mean he wasn''t tired. Just like before, he was left to guard and then they left to go back to the kingdom with trucks and cars following them. Instead of going Thomas''s home, they went downtown for his appointment. They parked inside of a building and Thomas signaled for Robin to follow him. They walked along a path. On the left were windows while on the right were rooms. ¡°While I''m in the meeting, I want you to stand outside and guard. Don''t let anyone in. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Good. It should only be about an hour before we''re done.¡± With that, he entered the room. Robin stood guard outside the doorway. The other bodyguards had entered the room with Thomas. There was nobody in the hallway except for him and the other men who were moving the crates from the truck. The room behind him was soundproof, so he couldn''t hear anything they were talking about. Identify The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
%4384&@3& (Lvl 25)
HP:450/450
Aura:420/420
#8%43&*@ (Lvl 20)
HP:420/420
Aura:400/400
#@3&84%*@$^$@ (Lvl 19)
HP:405/405
Aura:480/480
Robin creased his eyebrows. = Not only these guys, everyone in this building that I ran into had their names hidden. Up till now, I haven''t met one person that hid their names. Why is it suddenly everyone does? Furthermore, the mission was surprisingly more difficult than expected. A C-ranked mission wouldn''t have so many Grimm that was on the verge of becoming Armored. ¡­ I have a bad feeling about this...Hm? = Robin looked out the window. Robin stared at the rooftop of the building across from them. = That''s weird.. I thought I saw someone looking at me. = Bloodlust The world changed into two different visions. One vision he saw everything just like before. In the other vision, the silhouettes of everyone with their hearts beating steadily. Robin found that there was really nobody there. = Huh. I guess I must be seeing things..What the..? = The men were done loading the crates from the truck. They were currently sitting outside in the parking garage smoking. That much Robin could tell with his vision. What surprised him were the heartbeats he saw inside the crates. = What is this?... = Robin walked up to the room they loaded the crates in. The door had both an electric lock and a mechanical one, but they held no resistance to Robin. Robin checked to make sure nobody was approaching. In the meantime, he took out of his inventory a set of lock-picking tools from his inventory. Robin deactivated his Bloodlust and activated his two other skills. Lockpick Hack Sending his aura into the electronic lock, a map of circuitry appeared in his mind. After forcing some paths together with his aura, he unlocked it. For the mechanical one, he sent his aura in to map out the pins inside the knob. Without hesitating in the act of breaking in, Robin turned the doorknob with a click before stepping inside the storage room. Upon closer inspection, the crates had small holes on the top. When he listened, he could hear breathing coming from the inside. Robin fiddled with a lock on the crate and snapped it open. When he saw what was inside, he gasped. Two young girls were trapped inside. One of them was a faunus at a very young age of maybe ten years old or so. The other girl was about Robin''s age. They had metal cuffs on their legs and arms, and they were gagged. Upon seeing Robin, they eyes were filled with fear. = Why are there kids here?.. !! It couldn''t be! = *Click* ¡°How did you get in here?¡± Robin turned around. The person who was at the door was one of the bodyguards that followed Thomas inside. He was pointing his gun at Robin. = How did this guy approach without me hearing him? = Robin was about to reach for Pantomath when a voice spoke up. ¡°I wouldn''t do that if I were you.¡± Stepping into the room was Thomas and more men in black suits. They had various guns loaded and aimed at Robin who was trapped inside. ¡°What''s the meaning of this?¡± Robin asked. ¡°Oh don''t ask the obvious.¡± Thomas replied. ¡°These girls are slaves I received in the truck. I know you''re not stupid Robin, so you must already get that I''m no ordinary man. I was planning on abducting you after you finished your job, but since you''ve discovered this room, I have no choice.¡± Thomas shrugged indifferently. = I see. That''s why there was such a good pay. Once he captures me, he''ll just take it back out of the inventory chip. The high pay rate was for getting suckers like me. This is bad. = ¡°Drop your weapon.¡± One of the bodyguards said. Robin hesitated but eventually did so. Robin wasn''t exactly keen on finding out how many bullets his weaken body could take. He desperately began thinking. One of the men approached Robin and started to remove all the weapons he placed on his body. ¡°Put him in cuffs and make sure he''s properly chained.¡± Thomas said. ¡°We''ll send him with the bunch later.¡± ¡°Um sir.¡± another man whispered. Robin''s ears picked it up. ¡°Without your bodyguard, what will we do about her?¡± ¡°I''m not scared of no Grimm Reaper.¡± Thomas retorted. ¡°Besides, even after traveling these past two days outside the kingdom, nothing happened. I doubt she even knows where we are.¡± Thomas and some of the other men walked away. At this point, there were two men in the room. One was attaching chain cuffs on Robin while the other stood behind him. With already one set of chains on his wrists, Robin couldn''t feel his aura. = If I remember correctly, these two men are level 20..Without Enhance, my body is about 1/2 of its normal strength. That should be enough to take them down, but what worries me is that gun. If I take even a single bullet, I''m screwed. = The man finished chaining Robin''s arms and they walked him towards a wall. On the wall were four places which Robin assumed was where his limbs were to be restrained. Just as he was about to be put away, an explosion occurred outside. The building shook and the fire alarm sounded. ¡°What was that?¡± the man with the gun shouted. In his moment of carelessness, he turned his head towards the door. Robin took his hands and grabbed the man in front of him. He used one hand to cover the man''s mouth while using the other to crush his windpipe. He then jabbed his fingers into the pressure points on the man''s shoulders. Even without the skill, he still remembered where they were.
-54 -20 -17
Robin kicked the man to the side and dashed forward. With the alarm sounding, the other man had not noticed the change that occurred. By the time he turned, Robin had approached and grabbed the pistol. Robin twisted the man''s arm and kicked his knee, forcing him to drop to the floor. Tearing the gun from his captive''s grasp, Robin swung and knocked the man out with the butt of the gun.
-74
Robin pointed the gun at the other man kneeling on the floor with his arms hanging limply on the side. His face showed the pain he felt when trying to breathe, but he held his breathe when Robin pointed the gun at his face. ¡°You make a single wimp, and you die. Got it?¡± The man nodded furiously. Robin approached from behind and strangled him. After a few seconds, the man lost consciousness. Robin grabbed the keys and unlocked his cuffs. He grabbed his weapons and activated his semblance. Bloodlust Enhance As he stood next to the door, he waited as some silhouettes raced by. When the last one was about to pass, he grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him in. Before the man could retaliate, Robin jabbed his pressure points and knocked him out. Although he had threatened to kill the man, Robin was still hesitant on taking lives. Upon leaving the room, he noticed something very peculiar. Many of the people that were inside the building could not be felt by Robin''s Bloodlust. Instead, the only silhouettes he could see were in the room next-door. He approached cautiously and realized that the survivors were fighting one person. = What in the world is happening? = Robin drew Pantomath and peeked inside. In there, he found a surprise that would change his life...twice now.
Yeah, this week I''m going to be busy. Next update will probably be Thursday or Friday. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Chapter 41: Murder or not to Murder ======================================= Chapter 41: Murder or not to Murder ======================================= Standing inside the room was a figure clad in black and red. Her entire face was hidden underneath a Grimm mask. In addition to her long, black hair, the woman''s red eyes that could be seen through the slits of her mask gave the appearance of a humanoid Grimm.
#*%&@(%@! (Lvl 66)
HP:1520/1520
Aura:2295/2295
= Oh for fuck''s sake. I''m sick of all these hidden names. = ¡°Die!¡± the men yelled. They fired their machine guns at the figure in front. ¡°Foolish.¡± Portal Reaching her hand out, a blood red hole opened up in the space in front of her. The bullets that was fired disappeared into the empty space and reappeared behind the men through a second portal. Riddled with their own bullets, their bodies sank to the floor. Thomas noticed Robin was watching them from the entrace of the room. ¡°Kid! Quickly. Protect me! I will triple your reward -- no I''ll quadruple it! Just stop her!¡± The woman looked at Robin. In response to her questioning stare, Robin shrugged his shoulders. ¡°You little..¡± ¡°You just tried to make me a slave. You have no right to give me orders.¡± Thomas opened and closed his mouth in shock. Then, he pushed his bodyguards forward and dashed for the other exit. ¡°Stop her!¡± The two men, clad in their auras at full power, dashed towards the woman. One of them dual wielded a sword and gun. He slashed downward on her head, but was blocked by the katana. He then fired at her with his other hand. The woman leaned to the side and avoided the bullet. At this point, the other man approached her back and stabbed her. Portal Instead of connecting, another blood red portal opened, and the blade passed into it. It reappeared above the other bodyguard''s head. Just noticing it in time, he leaned to the side to avoid getting impaled, but the blade made contact with his shoulder instead. The pain made the taller man drop his gun. Item Creation A black knife materialized into her hand, and she jabbed it into the man''s eye. Screaming in pain, he backed away while the woman faced the man behind her. The man withdrew his weapon from the portal and tried to get some distance between the two of them. However, Robin had sneaked behind the other bodyguard and tripped him with his foot. The man stumbled, and received a roundhouse kick to the chest. The force knocked him off his feet and into the furniture behind him. .
-203
The man tried to lift his weapon, but it was kicked away by Robin''s left leg. He swung the foot back and crushed the man''s nose. The man took the full force of Robin''s kick, and his upper body disappeared into the wall.
-403
Robin turned to find that the other woman finishing up her own target. The remaining bodyguard couldn''t hold onto his weapon with one arm against the stranger''s two. The woman parried his strike and disarmed him in one fluid movement. ¡°Monster!¡± he exclaimed. The man watched with his one eye in horror as the her blade approached his neck. He closed his eyes, but found that he was still breathing. Opening his eyes, the criminal found the blade an inch from his neck. The woman''s weapon was stopped by Robin''s hand. ¡°Let go.¡± The woman said. ¡°Why?¡± Robin asked. ¡°He''s been disarmed. There''s no reason to kill him. Just let the police handle things.¡± The woman scoffed and pushed Robin''s hand away. ¡°You think some time in jail will fix them? They''ve done things they can never atone for. Lives that they have taken will never return. What could they possibly do to make up to those who have suffered? What could you do to change them?¡± Robin frowned in silence. How many other children had they kidnapped before this? Are they even still alive? Robin understood that even though they could save the children in the building, the others may never come back. ¡°Even so,¡± Robin began, ¡°it''s unnecessary.¡± The woman ignored him and proceeded to murder the man in front of her. Robin was a beat too slow and witnessed the head of the man being severed. The blood splashed into Robin''s face as the head flew in the air. The woman flicked her blade to get rid of the excess blood and began walking after sheathing her blade. The blood gave Robin a feeling of neither sickness nor nervousness. Instead, the metallic taste somehow calmed Robin down. He hurriedly wiped his face clean and followed the woman with mixed feelings. ¡°...You know. He might get away if you take too long.¡± Robin commented. Even though he said that, he didn''t actually believe the man would get away. ¡°No, he can''t escape. I blew up the vehicles and barred all the possible exits in this building. All I have to do now is find him.¡± ¡°Oh that''s easy.¡± Robin said. His eyes darted to a door in the hallway. With his Bloodlust still active, he could see the silhouette frantically banging against a window. ¡°He''s in there.¡± The two of them walked into the room together as if it was the most natural thing to do. They saw Thomas panting heavily as he smacked the black bars that was outside the window. When he noticed the two entering, he grabbed the girl next to him and put his gun to her head. ¡°Don''t move! Or the girl dies.¡± = Shit. = Robin cursed. = I thought that silhouette was another one of his men. I didn''t expect for him to bring a hostage with him. = Robin and the woman brandished their weapons. Thomas pulled the hammer back on his gun and pressed the muzzle against the girls temple. She was in tears, trembling in fear. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°I said stop! Don''t you care what happens to her?!¡± Thomas yelled. ¡°Put you weapons away. Now!¡± he screeched. Robin reluctantly put Pantomath back on his holster, but he noticed that she didn''t move. ¡°Oi.¡± Robin frowned. ¡°Don''t tell me you''ll let her die just so you get one criminal.¡± ¡°What are you doing?!! I''ll shoot if you don''t put that away!!¡± The woman just stared at Thomas through the slits in her mask. Thomas pulled the trigger. = NO! = Enhance With his body enhanced to the max, Robin dashed forward and reached for the girl as quick as he could. He ripped her from Thomas''s arm and collided with the wall. Protecting the girl, Robin held her and waited for the worse to happen. The bang from the gunfire was already heard while Robin was traveling. It all happened so fast, so Robin couldn''t tell if he was too late or not. Portal Robin felt no pain, and when he examined the girl in his arms, she had no bullet holes in her. Relieved in finding her safe, Robin turned around to find Thomas sprawled on the floor with a bullet hole in his forehead. Robin hadn''t noticed and neither had Thomas. The woman had opened a tiny portal just big enough to cover the muzzle of the gun. The woman was silent, so she could concentrate Enhance on her eyes in order to not mess up the location of the portal. The bullet had traveled out the gun, into the portal, out the other end, and into Thomas''s head from behind. Robin who had pumped aura into his body for movement had missed the tiny portal in front of the gun. = What happened? = At that moment, sirens could be heard outside. The woman turned to leave. She walked out of the room and into the hallway. ¡°Wait!!¡± Robin shouted. "Just who are you?" He set the girl down gently, and dashed outside the room to find that the stranger''s silhouette had disappeared from his vision. = Where the fuck is she go? = Looking around, he found nobody except for the slaves and the policemen who were about to break into the building. Robin returned to the room with Thomas''s corpse and the girl. Upon looking at the window, he saw the black bars that was blocking the window evaporating into black dust. = What in the world? = He could only stare in confusion. Baffled by the turn of events, he stood there before realizing he was running out of time and began to search Thomas''s body for his status plate. At that moment, the police barged in. ¡°Freeze! Put your hands where I can see them!¡± = Oh fuck... = -------------------------------------------- ¡°And that''s what happened.¡± Robin concluded. Currently, he was sitting in the interrogation room with the head police officer whose name he learned was Officer Trudge. The officer sighed and put his head in his hands. ¡°So she struck again..sigh.¡± ¡°Excuse me. If I may be so daring to ask, but who was she?¡± ¡°Nobody knows who she is.¡± the officer answered. ¡°She had appeared out of nowhere. Criminals that have been avoiding authorities have started to surface. Their corpses found in conspicuous locations. Sometimes they show signs of torture among other things. Nobody knows her name and thus we can only identify her using her nickname, the Grimm Reaper...¡± The officer sunk further into depression and murmured his thoughts in a voice that Robin''s wolf ears happened to pick up. ¡°Sigh...First the Torchwick guy and now this. If I don''t start showing results, the higher ups are going to be furious, not to mention the public aren''t going to trust the police at this rate.¡± Robin couldn''t help but feel sorry for the officer. Most likely, he had let the information about the Grimm Reaper slip due to exhaustion and lack of information. He probably had hoped Robin knew something about her, so Officer Trudge had not mind telling him. However, that was Robin''s first encounter with her, so he had nothing to share. A man walked into the room and whispered into Trudge''s ear. ¡°The surveillance tape has confirmed your story.¡± Officer Trudge announced. ¡°You''re free to go.¡± Robin left the police station and walked towards a bus stop. After getting out of sight of the station, Robin stepped into an alley and reached into his inventory. He pulled out the four inventory chips he had retrieved from Thomas''s corpse. He plugged them in and examined the contents.
Inventory
400/400$3,950 10 Inventory chips
= Pfft. He has inventory chips inside of inventory chips. How rich was this guy? = Robin smirked while feeling not the least bit guilty. = Sweet. There''s enough for everyone. = *beep*
Scavenger
You are able to shamelessly take the spoils from your opponent after your victory. From now on, all defeated opponents will have important items on their person glowing white for easy searching.
Busy with RL atm. I''ll post more tomorrow. Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! For those curious about how she looks like Edit: So people are once again saying stuff so I wanna clarify for both loyal fans who follow despite my slow progress and those who are considering to leave this alone for a while and coming back later (hopefully). I go slower than most authors. Usually by chapter 40 you would see op characters, I get it. I''m not doing that. THIS HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO SPOILERS. Then we''re moving on. You can stop for now and come back later, or you can keep following chapter by chapter. Up to you. I respect your decisions either way and am well aware of my slow progress. xD Chapter 42: Disguise ======================================= Chapter 42: Disguise ======================================= ¡°Wow. Did that really happen?¡± Ophelia asked. Currently, Robin was sitting inside Class 1A. He had slept like a log the day he got back thanks to his body being tired from everything that happened the other day. Robin had visited the Hunter''s Guild to report to Thomas what had occurred. Thomas had given him an apology as well as a generous bonus for his troubles. Right now it was Monday, and everyone else but Osagi had returned from their missions. Today, they decided to eat lunch in the classroom, and other than Raven in the corner, it was completely empty. Robin had used this chance to tell the group about everything that happened in his mission. ¡°Yep.¡± Robin nodded. ¡°Apparently, even the police don''t know who the Grimm Reaper is. According to them, the vigilante is known for murdering criminals, and then disappears into the night like some kind of supernatural being.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± Adam nodded. ¡°I''m glad there are people like that.¡± ¡°Glad?¡± Amy questioned with her furrowed eyebrows. ¡°What about that is something to be glad about?¡± ¡°What isn''t there to be glad about? The trash is finally getting cleaned up. With them gone, there''s less problems to worry about.¡± Amy tilted her head down, and she looked at him with upturned eyes. ¡°Are you being serious? They''re people, Adam. They were alive. Breathing. Living.¡± ¡±And they had it coming.¡± Adam stated. ¡°Oh so just because they were criminals, they deserve to die? The Grimm Reaper could have just gotten the police to arrest them. If they were so powerful, knocking them out should''ve been a piece of cake. The criminals should have just did their time.¡± The tension in the air was thick. In between the two, the air seemed to spark. Ophelia and Conner had worried looks on their faces as they stared back and forth between Adam and Amy. Meanwhile, Blake stared at Robin with a questioning look. ¡°And for what purpose?¡± Robin asked with a serious look. *You think some time in jail will fix them? Robin spent the last few days reviewing what had happened. The woman''s words echoed in his mind, and he made a conclusion. As Robin Cunningham, he was toyed with by the woman he held feelings for. His past life ingrained into his mind the dark side of humanity. They lie, deceive, and mock. Upon reflection, he had an epiphany: people don''t change so easily. It was a part of their nature as person. Without true regret, they would not change how they think. Even Robin had to experience betrayal before he started to doubt others. These people were criminals who devoted their life to this line of work. To regret doing this meant rejecting everything they did so far with their life. How many of them would let go of their pride? ¡°Do you think spending time in jail will make them a better person? I don''t think so.¡± ¡°That''s what it''s for. To let them reflect on their actions.¡± Amy retorted. At that moment, they heard a scoff from the side. Raven was looking out the window while drinking her juice. ¡°What? Got something say, Raven?¡± Amy asked. Raven turned to look at her in the eyes and said-- ¡°You go on and on, talking about them as if they deserve to live in the open.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Amy exclaimed. ¡°They breathe and walk just the same as you and I. Why shouldn''t they be punished fairly?¡± ¡°Because they''re criminals.¡± Raven stated blandly. ¡°Criminals who kill and don''t treat you as equals. That''s why they don''t deserve fair punishment.¡± ¡°But they''re still living beings.¡± Amy started. ¡°Living beings that were criminals hiding in plain view.¡± Robin interjected. ¡°They walk into stores just like everyone else, eat with everyone else, and live like everyone else, but they were criminals. Beneath their facade, they make a living through hurting others for the sake of their own gain.¡± ¡°So you agree with Adam then, Robin?" This time Blake joined in. "That murder is ok? That their lives are so insignificant?¡± ¡°No. They are the same as us.¡± he replied. After living inside Vale for so long, he naturally understood. His own ears served as a tag ¨C a tool ¨C for identifying how he was different from the rest. He was well aware of the hatred humans held for him, and it only served to fuel his own hatred for humans. After all, even Robin also was racist towards other humans in the beginning. But when he was raised in a faunus household, Robin experienced none of those things. He was loved, praised, and found friends he could truly trust. When they were younger, Robin frequently talked with Yang, who competed with him in the tournament. His roommate, Osagi, turned out to be a righteous person. Osagi''s enthusiasm towards his weapon allowed him to converse with Robin, who had learned about all types of weaponry through books. Even Raven, who was a loner, conversed with Robin from time to time. Thanks to them, Robin changed the way he thought about humans. Their relationships quenched his unjust hatred for humans, but he would be lying if he said he didn''t have any stereotypes about them. ¡°As fellow people, we should cherish their lives like Amy said. However in certain cases, we must do like Adam says and clean up the trash.¡± Robin continued. ¡°They''ve done things they can''t ever undo. There''s no way some time in jail will be good enough punishment for the victims.¡± Robin reiterated the Reaper''s words from that day. He had decided she was correct in her statements, but Amy thought otherwise. ¡°I can''t believe I''m hearing this.¡± Amy was standing at this point and raised her hands in the air. ¡°You guys are basically supporting the Grimm Reaper. The vigilante is nothing more than a murderer trying to fulfill its ego. Their actions are no different from the criminals. If they really wanted to do something about it, that person could have joined the police and tracked them down together.¡± This time it was Raven''s turn to slam the desk in anger, and rose up to retort to Amy''s accusation. ¡°Your so-called police can''t even keep track of the criminals inside their own cells. If they were good at their job, these guys would not be able to walk in the daylight like they can now. They are bound by the same foolish laws and regulations meant to help them. The Grimm Reaper is someone who works for justice and does the police''s jobs for them. Since the law can''t stop them, she does.¡± Raven grabbed her trash and tossed it away at the doorway. She then stomped out of the room which had become dead silent. Raven was always quiet and alone, so her outburst was a surprise to all of them. = ...I never said the Grimm Reaper was a woman. = Robin was no fool. After contemplating on the events that happened the other day, Robin noticed a detail he had missed before. The woman called the Grimm Reaper used the same weapon Raven had. In fact, Robin had purposefully chosen to have lunch in the classroom in order to check his suspicions about Raven by watching her reaction to the story. She reacted about as much as he expected, but he didn''t expect her to respond so enthusiastically to Amy. In reality, Amy''s accusation cut deep into Raven''s emotions, but Robin and the others could not know that. Robin was about to toss away his theory about Raven until she slipped up at the last moment. Robin scratched his cheek as he was filled with a sense of guilt for getting her so worked up. ¡°I''m gonna go apologize to Raven.¡± Robin said. Although they didn''t hang out much, Raven was one of his precious human friends. Thus he didn''t want to leave any bad blood between them. Conner raised his palm in the hand. ¡°Stop! Aren''t you forgetting something?¡± The entire group looked at him. ¡°You took his inventory chips right? Share some with us!¡± Robin chuckled. The tense mood immediately disappeared and was lightened by Conner''s comment. ¡°Could you be any more greedy, Dinkleberg?¡± Adam asked. ¡°What? I have my priorities straight, unlike you.¡± Conner replied. ¡°No, I''m pretty sure you have them backwards.¡± Blake retorted. ¡°Sigh..Including the chip itself, I got 11. I''m taking four, two will be for Osagi. There''s enough for at least one for each of you.¡± ¡°Alright, that makes 7 left over. There''s 5 of us here, so who gets left out?¡± Ophelia asked. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.¡°I think the answer is obvious. We must settle this just like we always do!!¡± Conner exclaimed. As Robin walked out the door, the others could be seen rolling up their sleeves and activating their auras. Through his peripheral vision, he saw they were doing an intense rock-paper-scissors match. As their hands descended, they rapidly changed their choices while watching the others. After walking around, Robin found Raven standing further down the hallway. She was resting her elbows on the windowsill while staring out into the courtyard. ¡°Hey.¡± Robin said as he walked up to her. ¡°...¡± ¡°I hope you don''t hold anything against her. That''s just how Amy is.¡± ¡°It''s not just Amy, even your girlfriend is having doubts.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? I don''t have a girlfriend.¡± Robin tilted his head in confusion. Raven scoffed softly. A woman''s intuition was never wrong. Even though it was evident in her eyes, she didn''t say a word about it. Not her problem. ¡°Whatever. Point is, you''re all being naive. Something like jail time isn''t enough to make up for their crimes.¡± The two of them didn''t speak. Robin reflected on her words, but wished to change the subject. ¡°Hey, do you know how to hide your status?¡± Raven arched an eyebrow at him. ¡°Why do you want to know?¡± ¡°Because those criminals did and so did she. It seems like a useful skill, so I was wondering if you knew how to do it.¡± Of course Robin knew she could, but kept that a secret. Raven had her reasons for hiding her identity, and he didn''t want to call her out on it. ¡°..I do.¡± ¡°Then could you please teach me it?¡± Robin looked at her with pleading eyes. His ears drooped on his head, giving the impression of a sad puppy. ¡°....Ok. First, open up your Identify skill. Does it show the conditions?¡± ¡°You mean the 30 feet requirement? Yeah it does.¡± ¡°No, there''s more.¡±
Identify
With your aura activated, you can now use it to identify unknown objects and people. The small use of aura is insignificant, allowing it to cost no drop in aura count. There are certain conditions that are required for this skill to successfully work. Through your discoveries, you have confirmed some of these conditions. -You must be within 30 feet of the target. -Your own aura must not be disturbed by any outside forces. -If the target is a person, you must be able to see their faces clearly. If you recognize the individual, this condition is automatically fulfilled. -The target must not be influenced by a skill that hides their true identity.
¡°Whoa,¡± Robin said, ¡°there are 3 more conditions.¡± Identify was a rather basic skill, and Robin never really had trouble using it until recently. Thus, he didn''t bother to check the details other than when he first activated his aura. However, he was confused since these conditions did not show themselves when he decided to check the skill recently after the incident. ¡°That''s because you were involved in an event where you couldn''t use Identify correctly. After experiencing these conditions not working multiple times, the skill details eventually changes and notifies you about the other conditions. Being able to understand all the conditions is a requirement before using any skill that hides your identity.¡± ¡°I see.. Wait. What about if you were born with an ability to hide your identity? What conditions show then?¡± Robin was referring to Conner''s semblance, Masquerade, which allowed Conner to change his name and appearance when people used Identify on him. Robin had at first assumed this was thanks to his ability, but now realized the discrepancy between the statements. ¡°Then they would have the conditions already revealed at a young age without experiencing it. Schools don''t teach about it in order to help lessen the crime rate. Even I only know about it thanks to my teacher.¡± Raven explained. ¡°I see. That certainly makes sense. So the skill I''m trying to learn has to mess with these conditions?¡± ¡°That''s correct. So long as they are not fulfilled, Identify cannot activate correctly. Depending on the skill activated, it''s even possible to give yourself a fake name.¡± The two of them began walking. Raven indicated that Robin was to wait outside while she went inside the girl dormitory. She returned with a suitcase, and led him to one of the training rooms. ¡°The skill I''m going to teach you is called Disguise. We''ll practice hiding identities by using masks and makeup. You''ll try to change the way you walk and talk as if you were an entirely different person. I will also practice with you. After successfully creating a new persona multiple times as well as recognizing the minor details I put into my own performance, you''ll learn the skill.¡± The two of them began their practice session. Raven would put on makeup and different clothes in order to change how she looked. She went from unsocial schoolgirl to drunk middle-aged woman. The change was perfect even in the way she walked. Identify
Emily Rosehelm (Lvl 15)
HP:244/244
Aura:200/200
= So it can alter levels as well huh? = Robin thought as Raven traced her finger on his chest. ¡°Oh heeey cutie.¡± she said in a different voice. ¡°You mind heeelping me? *Hic. I can''t seem to find mah way home. *Hic.¡± The acting was well done. Her eyes were completely zoned out, her words slurred, and her body swayed back and forth. Robin felt a little uncomfortable with their closeness. ¡°Oi.¡± Raven said in her normal voice while slapping his cheek. ¡°Take this seriously or I''ll stop helping you.¡± ¡°I''m trying.¡± Robin replied. It was then Robin''s turn to try to act like another person. ¡°No, no, it''s completely wrong. You''re too carefree in your movements."she criticized. "Remember, you''re a military officer. Stand square on your feet. Walk with a sense of purpose and authority.¡± It was difficult, but Raven was clear in her instructions. Robin was taught the different kinds of human movement people did. He practiced imitating people. Since today was a free day, they had no exercises in the afternoon. They spent the next few hours practicing. Eventually, a window popped up in front of Robin.
You''ve learned the ability Disguise.
Disguise
Thanks to your experiences and practice, you''ve learned how to hide information about yourself from others. Because you can only grasp this at the basic level, all you can do is hide your identity. When you activate this again after it''s already active, it stops the skill. Cost: 100 Aura.
¡°I finally learned it.¡± Robin informed Raven. ¡°Good. Took long enough. Unfortunately, you only have the basic level of understanding. Come get me when I''m in between missions, and we''ll practice again. The easiest way you can level up this skill is to practice. Watch people. How they walk, talk, and react to others. After a while, you''ll be able to change your name as well.¡± At that moment, Blake burst through the door. ¡°Robin! There you are. Where have you been?¡± She noticed Raven and scrunched her eyebrows. ¡°I was learning a skill from Raven. We were practicing just now. What''s the matter?¡± Blake shook her head and looked back at Robin. She motioned with her head out the door. Robin gathered his stuff and walked outside. ¡°Did you check your messages?¡± Blake asked. ¡°No, I was busy doing other stuff.¡± ¡°The White Fang called. We need to go to a meeting.¡± Chapter 43: New Way of Thinking ======================================= Chapter 43: New Way of Thinking ======================================= The kids left the campus and got on the bus. They made their way to the west district and entered one of the warehouses. Blake took off her ribbon, and the six of them verified their identities at the front door. They had just sat down when Alex took the stage. ¡°Brothers and sisters of the White Fang. I call you here today because some news have reached our ears. The head of the Schnee Dust Company, Kalte Schnee, has decided to go into business with Mr. Ugol. Mr. Ugol, if you are unaware, is a man who owns 25 percent of the mines that are in Vale. He is one of the men whose influence has set the bar of our working conditions, and he has come under suspicion multiple times for being related to illegal smuggling of Dust between kingdoms. This same man is having a meeting with Mr. Schnee this week in order to discuss their deal to transfer ownership of some factories for mines. If they were to meet and come to a consensus, the effects on us would not be insignificant. Under Mr. Ugol, our pay will plummet, working conditions even worse than before, and some of us might even lose our jobs. According to our sources, the meeting will be held at the Schnee mansion. Starting today, please spread the word about this to any you know. Ask them to come and join us to rally in front of the Schnee residence this week. We must protest this change with all our might. That man must not take control of the factories.¡± The group decided to abstain from any missions for the rest of the week in order to participate in the protest. Raven had decided to stay that week as well, so Robin and her got some practice time together. ¡°Your acting is too forced.¡± Raven said. ¡°Be more casual.¡± ¡°Easy for you to say.¡± Robin responded. ¡°I don''t know how to act like a gigolo. Why do I have to know how anyway?¡± Raven rolled her eyes. At that moment, the door opened, and one of the Student Council members walked in. It was President Diane. ¡°Hello. Pres.¡± Robin greeted. Raven followed his greeting with a nod. Diane returned the gesture. ¡°Hello, you two. What are you practicing at this time of day? Usually you first years would be outside at shopping malls or movie theaters.¡± Diane was a rather social person. Robin found out that she liked to talk with the students. Whenever she walked by others, she would greet them whether they were faunus or human. An open-minded individual like her was rare. Sometimes she would even interrupt spars to hand out tips. ¡°Ah, I was practicing a skill with Raven here. It was --¡± ¡°I was teaching him about Detect. About how it can develop farther than just seeing hidden weapons.¡± Robin was confused as to why Raven lied. Especially since they were talking to the Student Council President, who was known for her ruthlessness despite her friendly appearance. Raven gave him a look and turned to face Diane. ¡°Oh?¡± Diane smiled. ¡°That''s pretty interesting. Detect certainly does give some nice benefits. Depending on the person as well as their knowledge, any skill can develop in new ways. That''s certainly a reason why we give free days like today, so you guys can develop your own unique skills. Although, many seem to take advantage of this.¡± A dangerous air floated around her smiling face. No doubt she was referring to the slackers that left campus to have fun in the mall and theaters. Just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. ¡°Robin, you like books right? Try the library for some books. They might just help you progress the skill faster. Oh and please remember not to book any missions next month, you two. The Vytal Festival is that month, so we''ll be pretty busy setting up the inter-school tournament.¡± ¡°¡°Yes ma''am.¡±¡± After Diane finished gathering the papers she came to get and left, Robin turned to Raven. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Don''t be stupid.¡± Raven replied. ¡°Disguise isn''t taught to students for a reason. I only taught you because you asked me to. Even though it isn''t illegal to know, if someone as strict as her caught wind about it, we wouldn''t get off lightly.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± = Duh. It''s a skill criminals know about. What am I thinking? = ¡°But you decided to teach me just because I asked?¡± Robin smirked. ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Don''t get any weird ideas.¡± Raven said. ¡°I did it because you are similar to me. Since you stood up for me back there when I was arguing with Amy, this was a way to thank you. Don''t expect something after this.¡± ¡°Right, right.¡± Robin looked at his watch and left for the locker room. ¡°Thanks for today.¡± ¡°Mm.¡± was the reply he got. After changing, he left for the front of the school. After meeting up with the gang, they headed over to their destination: Schnee Residence. The mansion is said to have indoor swimming pools the size of a public pool with its own wave maker machine. They had huge 64'' screen T.V.''s that are designed to float and follow them as they walked through the house. Just from standing outside the gates, the faunus could clearly see the luscious garden that was outside the front. Why is such information known to the public? Because the man, Kalte Schnee, did an interview of his home. Many sat in awe when they watched the unveiling of the Schnee home. The title of the largest Dust producers and exporters in the world wasn''t just for show. Unfortunately, staring at this extravagant home only served as fuel for the anger and resentment of the majority of faunus that gathered. ¡°Unbelievable.¡± Tukson said. The bookstore owner that Robin frequently visited was astonished how someone so well off could be so cruel to those who were poor; Robin shared his sentiment. ¡°They could easily get by without cutting us off from our jobs, yet they continue to promote discrimination. Why?¡± ¡°Pride.¡± Robin murmured. Tukson looked at the teenage wolf faunus. ¡°They think they are so above us. Now that we''re living openly in the same walls, they feel we are overstepping our bounds. It''s pride that makes them thinks they''re better; pride that makes them refuse to admit their mistakes.¡± Blake frowned. ¡°Disgusting.¡± Adam commented. The faunus formed a blockade outside the gates. The guards of the Schnee property held their weapons at their sides and stood behind the gates keeping watch. The White Fang formed a mob and held their signs in protest. Then, a limousine pulled up to the gates behind them. Guards formed lines and started to push the faunus out of the driveway in order to form a path for the vehicle to pass by. Many faunus started yelling at the vehicle. From inside, a young girl with snow white hair could hear the insults that flew her way. ¡°Aren''t you ashamed of yourselves? Living inside that castle while some of us starve outside?¡± ¡°Who are you to call us animals, you monster!¡± ¡°Please. Give me my job back! Please!¡± Weiss Schnee had returned from a recital. Inside, she sat next to her sister, Winter, who was busy doing her nails. Her mother and father sat across from them and were ignoring the ruckus outside. ¡°What a noisy bunch of animals.¡± Kalte said while operating his Scroll. ¡°Is the meeting going to be ok here?¡± her mother asked. ¡°Oh it''ll be fine. Mr. Ugol has plenty of security to protect himself. Besides, they can be dealt with using a couple of armed men. See? Look at them backing off. We''re fine.¡± ¡°Did you enjoy my performance, mother?¡± Weiss asked. ¡°Yes, it was lovely, honey. You hit the last note with such accuracy, it gave me shivers.¡± The family busied themselves with small talk. Weiss occasionally looked at the mob outside with disdain, but returned back to her normal life as the gates shut itself behind them. The noise of the faunus died down as she entered her home. Meanwhile, Robin and the others set up their tents. The White Fang had decided to do a continuous protest up until the day of the deal. Their actions gathered some reporters to come visit the scene as well. A human woman with white hair stood in front of the camera as the protest began day three. ¡°This Lisa Lavender from Vales News Network. Today I''m standing just outside the Schnee residence where the White Fang are gathered in protest in light of the recent announcement that Kalte Schnee, head of the Dust Company, is meeting with Mr. Ugol who is infamous for his treatment of faunus everywhere. Next to me is current head of the White Fang, Alex Fexlar. Hello Alex.¡± ¡°Hello Lisa.¡± Alex replied. ¡°So, Alex. Tell me what are you guys trying to accomplish today.¡± ¡°Well, Lisa, Mr. Ugol has a reputation for treating us faunus in terrible ways. His managers harass our women, do pay-cuts for absurd reasons, and give us little to no compensation for mistakes done by his company. If Mr. Schnee works together with Mr. Ugol, our situation would only get worse. We''re hoping that if we stand here this week, they will open their eyes, and realize their mistake before they make it.¡± ¡°That''s a very honorable goal, there Mr. Fexlar. But if you don''t mind me asking, what will you do if this fails? According to you, having this happen to you is the last thing you guys want. Have you thought about what will happen if you don''t succeed?¡± ¡°Honestly, I don''t know. Many people here lost their jobs that was their means of survival. If this makes it through, I''m not sure if we can make it.¡± The day past by just the same as the last two. They protested, yelled, marched up and down the streets. But change was not presenting itself. Every day, Mr. Ugol would come. Every day, the Schnee family would leave and enter their home. The faunus were getting desperate. They began to be firmer in their positions. They tried to refuse to move until they complied. This forced the guards to use force and move them. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Day five came and things were not looking good. Today was the last day, and if they failed, the deal was going through. Alex tried to calm them down and tell them to not resort to violence, but many were not listening. This was their lives on the line. If this deal goes through, who knows what would happen. Some began tossing rocks at the limousine when it came by. Mr. Schnee in turn called for more guards to come out and protect them. As the guards began to make a path once again, a rabbit faunus broke through the line. She dashed toward the limousine and began smacking the window. ¡°Please! Please don''t do this!¡± she pleaded. ¡°I need this job. We can barely support our family as it is. Please I beg of you.¡± Tears rolled down her cheeks. ¡°Honey!¡± A man shouted from the crowd. Two guards grabbed her and began to forcefully pull her back to the mob. ¡°No! No! Please! Please!!¡± The woman struggled and eventually one of the guards snapped. ¡°Don''t push your luck you animal!¡± He smacked her with the butt of his rifle. After such a long week of guarding, the tension from the mob had spread to the guards. The man just wanted the day to end, and this faunus was making it more difficult. However, the buff man did not take into account how weak the woman was. The smack crushed her delicate jaw and she fell to the ground unconscious. Her husband, whose vision was covered by the men in front of him, just saw his spouse fall to the ground, not moving with blood flowing out her mouth. In the noise of the crowd, the worst thing came to his mind. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± The man charged the guards and punched one man. In his fit of anger, the guards retaliated and in a panic, one guard fired his gun. *Bang The whole crowd went silent. The faunus man stood still before sinking to the ground. ¡°Kyaaaaaaa!¡± Screams were heard. The mob burst into chaos. Some faunus began to attack the guards after seeing their closest friend fall. Robin sprang into action. He activated his aura and weaved through the crowd and got to the man. He ripped his shirt off without hesitation and kept pressure on the wound. He moved the body away from the mob while screaming. ¡°OPHELIA!¡± ¡°I''m here!¡± The snake faunus appeared from the crowd. Behind her, Adam and Blake carried the bunny woman. ¡°What''s the damage?¡± Ophelia asked. Detect ¡°One shot threw the lungs. He''s losing blood fast.¡± Ophelia held her hands over the man''s wound. Heal A white glow emanated from her hand and covered the man''s body. Robin had pushed an elixir down the man''s throat earlier, but Ophelia''s skill, Heal, was more effective. It wouldn''t be an understatement to say anyone with a similar skill was highly requested in medical fields. The man''s wound closed and the other woman was force-fed an elixir to heal her jaw. Blake, Adam, and Conner returned from the crowd with more injured people. They worked as best as they could to get the injured out of the way. Robin and Adam tried their best to separate the faunus and the guards to prevent anymore tragedies. As they were trying their best to stop the fight, they heard the sirens coming. = Thank god. = Robin thought to himself. At the same time, he could not help but feel contempt not only for the police who showed up late to the event, but also the guard who fired off his weapon. The police men came out of their vehicles and raised their guns into the air. *Bang ¡°Stop! Drop your weapons and stand down! We will not hesitate to shoot! Stand down!¡± ------------------------------------------------------- In all the chaos, one guard had snuck away from the mess. The man threw his uniform into the trashcan and pulled out his phone. ¡°Charlie to H. Come in.¡± *This is H. Give me your status report. ¡°H. The mission was a success. The Weiss family has been given the blame for attacking the faunus.¡± *Excellent. Now the faunus will have no choice but to revert to more violent means. Their increased bloodshed with the Schnee family will be useful. Begin part two of your mission. Report the activities of the White Fang at a later date. ¡°Yes ma''am.¡± The man hung up the phone and was about to throw it away when he saw a silhouette in front of him. With a thud, he was smacked against the wall in the alley, a black glove held a cloth with chloroform. He tried to struggled, but could not budge the hand at all. He could only stare into the deep red eyes of the Grimm Reaper in front of him. ¡°Shh...¡± she whispered. ¡°It will hurt less if you don''t struggle.¡± The man struggled, but gradually went limp. Raven threw the man into a portal and picked up his phone. = ¡°H¡±... He called her ¡°H¡±... I''m one step closer. Please wait, Summer. I''ll get revenge for you soon...¡± Raven stepped into the portal, as she did, it closed and with it left no evidence of the man or her being there except for the jacket sitting in the trash. ------------------------------------------------------- Robin sat with his head on his palms. They were gathered in a warehouse the morning after the incident. The police deemed they were acting in self-defense. All faunuses left free and without a record....those who survived that is. ¡°Ten people.¡± Jason murmured. ¡°TEN FUCKING PEOPLE WERE KILLED!¡± He kicked the chair he was sitting on. The amount of force crushed it before it even smacked the walls. Alex sat there silent and stared at the ground. Ophelia was crying while Blake and Amy were consoling her. Conner and Adam sat there with solemn looks on their faces. ¡°How much longer are you going to sit there and do nothing? Huh? Because you failed to act, people got killed!!¡± ¡°Now you wait a minute.¡± Alex spoke up. ¡°Don''t you dare connect this as a reason for you to use violence.¡± ¡°Violence!! They retaliated against us who did nothing! NOTHING, Alex! If we had been more forceful, things would have been settled long ago without this whole mess!¡± ¡°This situation is because of violence in the first place. Also, it was thanks to Team COBRA''s dilegence that so many were saved. Not the violence.¡± ¡°Yeah? Did you see the morning news? Alex. Schnee has been ridiculed. That guard was apparently one of Mr. Ugol''s men, and the deal has been cut off. Reparations are being repaid to the families. All of this was possible because unlike before, we took a stand. But not like you did. Alex. No,no. Your peaceful protest didn''t do shit except get our people murdered!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°It''s time for a change of leadership.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Step down. Alex. You''ve done a good job so far, but enough is enough. We need a new leader, with a new way of thinking.¡± ¡°You''re insane.¡± ¡°No! You are!¡± he retorted. ¡°I''ve spoken with most of the White Fang members. They''ve agreed. Just do this peacefully, Alex. I don''t want to use force on a friend.¡± Alex sat there with his mouth hanging. Amy stood up and spoke in his steed. ¡°You want us to commit crimes to express our desire for freedom?¡± ¡°Yes¡± Adam stood up in turn. ¡°Because now it''s necessary for change. And change is what we need.¡± ¡°You''re just going to be murderers!¡± ¡°It''s for the greater good!¡± ¡°No murder,¡± Robin stated. ¡°But violence.¡± He stood up from his seat and walked over to the banner of the white wolf that hung whenever they had a meeting. He took Pantomath and sliced it. Appearing on the wolf''s head were three marks that resembled a claw swiping at it. ¡°Peaceful protest aren''t good enough anymore. Passive acts like this will get us nowhere. Instead, we need to show some backbone. Shops that don''t help us, will suffer for it. Managers that take advantage of us will be targets for us to hit.¡± ¡°So we need to become criminals? Murderers?¡± Blake asked. ¡°No murder. Acts of violence only.¡± Robin clarified. ¡°And just how are we gonna get away with it?¡± Conner asked. ¡°We can''t exactly hide our names from Identify.¡± ¡°Oh yes we can.¡± Robin stated. An idea formed in his mind thanks to the recent events. ¡°Identify doesn''t work so long as they can''t recognize us or our faces, so the answer is simple: wear a uniform that hides our faces and figures." After seeing people die before his eyes and the hideous acts of slavery hidden from the world, Robin''s anger was at an all time high. ¡°They wanna look at us like monsters, so lets put on the faces of monsters then shall we?¡± Chapter 44: Distance ======================================= Chapter 44: Distance ======================================= As the sun hid itself in the horizon, the sky changed from pale blue to orange. The streetlights flickered to life as the darkness of the night enveloped the kingdom. In the shadows, figures began moving in the alleys. Dashing past streets and homes, they entered the shopping district. As the figures gathered in front of the mall, they met up with more members wearing the same uniforms. Their clothing was black and white. On the back of their black hoodie was the symbol of a wolf head with a claw mark cutting its face. With the transfer of leadership, Jason deemed it necessary to create a new symbol for the White Fang. Thus, they went with what resulted from Robin cutting the flag in their base. The current uniform was also Robin''s idea. Each member wore a Grimm mask that covered their eyes and nose. There were four slits, two on each side, allowing the wearer to see outside the mask. With the hood and mask, there were no obvious signs of who each person were except for the antlers and other unique parts of each faunus sticking out of their uniforms. Thanks to this, not a single one of them would be able to be identified by strangers, let alone through security cameras. In addition, the faunus characteristics and black hoodies helped to make them look like Grimm. Today was the day they would commit their first act of retaliation. With their uniforms finally ready, Robin and the others gathered around Jason, who was the only one who had a mask that fully covered his face. ¡°This is the first step. Everyone knows what to do right?¡± The faunuses nodded. Jason then motioned towards the door. ¡°Our goal is to destroy all the shops that refused to serve us. We''re sending a message. Lets go. Robin, open it.¡± Robin walked over to the door. He pulled from his inventory his set of lock-picking tools. Lockpick Hack The pins in the doorknob was pushed up and the electronic lock clicked. He opened the door and the faunuses rushed inside. Robin stepped inside as he remembered the events that transpired a couple of days ago. -------------------------------------------------- ¡°I can''t agree to this. I can''t accept this at all.¡± Alex said. ¡°Alex, we''re still fighting for the same thing.¡± Jason reasoned. ¡°Don''t be like this. You can still be a part of this.¡± ¡°I will not condone violence.¡± Jason sighed and looked at Alex with a firm expression. ¡°Then I''m afraid there is no place for you here. Leave.¡± Alex looked at him with disbelief. The group he lead and sponsored for so long was now kicking him out. Finally understanding no matter what he said, they wouldn''t change their minds, Alex stepped towards the door. Amy followed suit. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Adam asked. ¡°I told you guys already.¡± she said. ¡°If this grouped changed, I was out. It changed. Bye.¡± Ophelia stepped up as well. ¡°Ophelia?¡± Conner spoke up. ¡°Are you leaving?¡± ¡°I''m sorry,¡± she spoke in a soft voice. ¡°I..I can''t kill someone. I don''t want to see anyone else die because of me.¡± ¡°Ophelia..¡± Blake''s voice trailed off. ¡°Ophelia, we won''t kill anyone.¡± Robin assured her. ¡°We''re just using a bit of violence to get our point across.¡± ¡°And how long will that last?¡± she asked. ¡°How long before you actually kill?¡± ¡°...¡± She walked away, as Adam yelled after her. ¡°Traitor! Weren''t you the one that said we were a team?! Are you going back on your own words?!¡± She didn''t reply, but she did falter for a moment. However, she stepped towards the door. More faunus followed after them. After all, not everyone were ok with the idea of the change. Some were against it, but still stayed anyway. Blake was one of those. She stared at her friends with mixed feelings. -------------------------------------------------- ¡°..bin.¡± A voice interrupted his thoughts. ¡°Robin!¡± He held his hand over Blake''s mouth. She blushed slightly at the sudden contact as he spoke. ¡°Don''t say our names. Even though they won''t know who we are, who knows what the cameras will pick up.¡± She nodded. Robin removed his hand. ¡°So what did you need?¡± ¡°Ja--..Lieutenant will be angry if we don''t join in soon.¡± Robin nodded his head, and the two of them walked towards Conner who was standing in front of a restaurant. This was one of the places that openly refused to served faunuses. There wasn''t a law that promoted discrimination, but there wasn''t one that prevented it either. Thus this location made it on their list to attack tonight. Robin lit up his molotov cocktail. With nervous hands completely unlike himself, Robin threw the bottle at the windows. The loud crash signaled the bottle broke through successfully. The shops burst into flames as more bottles were thrown in by other faunuses. The kids watched with a strange sense of awe as the flames rose and the fire alarms blared. = I''ve done it. = Robin thought. = I''m now a criminal. = They joined the other faunus that broke chairs, sprayed graffiti over the walls, and smashed merchandise. For the usually peaceful protest group, these acts of violence was like pulling a plug on their stress. Something inside them snapped. All their rage, complaints, and hatred took a physical form that was reflected in their actions. Even Robin was affected by it. His breathes became a bit ragged not because of the smoke nor running back and forth between shops, but due to the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Robin felt his body tense up with a rush as he broke the law for the first time. Blake and Conner was similarly affected. The White Fang pulled out and escaped before the police came in time. They dispersed and went their separate ways. Robin and the gang quickly changed in the alleyway before walking back on the streets. ¡°Where''s Adam?¡± he asked. ¡°He left with Jason. Probably wants to talk to him about future actions.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Something the matter Robin?¡± Conner asked. ¡°It''s just..I understand why I''m doing this, but I''m not sure about you guys.¡± he said. ¡°I don''t want you guys to do it if you hate it, but you seem to do it anyway.¡± ¡°Pfft.¡± Conner scoffed. ¡°How long have we known each other? We''re all the same. We have our pride as faunus, even Amy and Ophelia. We just have different ways of thinking about it.¡± ¡°And what do you think about it?¡± Blake asked. Conner shrugged. ¡°I think if you''re willing to do it, Robin, I''ll follow you.¡± Blake nodded. ¡°Then me too. I''ll follow your decision, Robin-- as our leader.¡± ¡°Guys...¡± Robin''s heart was filled with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Even if the world turned against him, these guys were people he could truly trust. Robin frowned. ¡°What about Ophelia? She didn''t join us today.¡± ¡°Oh I think she''ll come around.¡± Conner said confidently. ¡°She''s probably just still shaken by seeing people die in front of her.¡± ¡°How are you so sure?¡± ¡°Who knows.¡± The next day, they found that their actions made the news. They had specifically left a disc at the mall. On the disc was a recording mentioning the birth of the new White Fang. ¡°Our demands are simple.¡± Jason said on the recording. ¡°We demand equal treatment just like the others. Since your kind has failed to do this, we have been forced to take more drastic measures. From now on, any place that refuses to serve us is our target. Any group that belittles us is our enemy. You have brought this upon yourselves. Prepare for retribution.¡± The effects did not show up at first, but became more obvious over time. During the second attack, they broke into a warehouse that contained Dust. They stole the Schnee containers and hid them throughout the various hiding spots they had set up in the kingdom. Anyone would be surprised at how many hiding spots one could have when one makes an entire community their ally. Ophelia joined up at the third operation just like Conner said she would. She and Blake whispered a bit before joining the rest of them. She looked at the group before putting on her mask. ¡°We''re a team. Teams stick together.¡± As a whole, Team COBRA was one of the more stronger members. Especially since they have trained as Hunters and Huntresses, they were put to missions requiring a more tactical touch. This time, Team COBRA was sent to hijack weapons and ammunition stores in order to arm the other members. Robin and Blake had an argument with Jason and Adam. They argued that they should only attack the ones that didn''t help them, and that it must be when nobody is involved. They refused to budge on that point, and won the argument easily. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Fine,¡± Jason said. ¡°There''s plenty of places to hit anyway.¡± As their exploits garnered more attention, the people of the kingdom began to change. The shops began to open their doors to the faunus, and they got to eat. Some owners even specifically hung a sign that stated ¡°Humans and Faunus Welcome¡± outside their doors. Their actions were working, just not in the way they expected it to. ¡°...¡± *Clink The sounds of tableware and chewing could be heard inside the restaurant. Robin''s knife made a noise as he set it down on the table. His mouth was chewing on his steak. ¡°¡°¡°....¡±¡±¡± Robin and company was eating outside for dinner that day. The silence in the restaurant itself could make one mistaken that it was completely empty except looking around indicated otherwise. The atmosphere could not be said to be any less awkward at their own table. Robin and Blake chewed silently on their meat and fish respectively. Adam voraciously chewed his own food without a word. Amy was staring outside the window, and Osagi was staring at his magazine. Ophelia was having small talk with Conner in order to lighten the mood. ¡°So, the Inter-school Tournament is next week right? So they''re having it during the same time as the Festival?¡± Conner asked. ¡°That''s right. Thomas and the others from the Hunter''s Guild will be using our school for the Junior Tournament, so we''ll be heading over to Sanctum to fight there.¡± ¡°Cool! We never saw any other schools yet. This should be fun!¡± ¡°I know right? I wonder what kind of people they are. What do you think, Amy?¡± Amy stood up and looked at Ophelia in the eye. ¡°I think I need some fresh air. I''ll see you guys back at the dorm.¡± ¡°Hey! Oi, wait!¡± She stepped towards the counter ignoring Ophelia''s calls. She paid for her meal before walking out. Osagi and Adam stood up next. Adam apparently finished his food. ¡°I think I''m done for today as well.¡± Osagi said. "As am I." Adam followed up. Robin, Blake, Conner, and Ophelia exchanged looks. Robin sighed and stood up to pay for his meal. The receptionist looked at him with nervous eyes as she took his money. All the while she was being careful not to touch his fingers. Their actions got them to be treated equally all right. However, it wasn''t out of respect, but out of fear. With the distance that formed between each of them, his appetite had vanished, and the other humans'' behavior did not help. They walked back to the school in silence. = Osagi is righteous, so he doesn''t like violence just like Amy. Adam seems too into it, and has been talking with Jason a lot about what to do next. Ophelia doesn''t want to see anyone die, yet she attends out of duty for us. Blake seems confused about the whole thing, and Conner is a complete mystery. Despite this, everyone still hang out together. It''s as if everything is held together by a single thread, and I''m in the middle of it...Sigh. = ¡°..Hey Robin.¡± ¡°Hm? What''s up Blake?¡± ¡°Will things really get better this way?¡± she asked. She didn''t say so, but the conflict in her heart was clear. Was violence going to change things to the way they wanted it to be? ¡°...I don''t know.¡± Robin said truthfully. ¡°All I know is that doing what we did before isn''t going to change anything. Maybe this isn''t the right thing to do. I don''t have a clue, but we need to find out.¡± ¡°...¡± They walked together in silence, and then they had to split up at when they reached the dormitories. Blake motioned to Ophelia she would catch up and looked at Robin one more time. Conner briskly walked away, feigning ignorance about her actions. Unlike their expectations, it wasn''t anything like that. ¡°Robin..I will follow you, because you have never been wrong. You always knew what was best. For us-- for me-- you were always our leader. No matter what you chose, I think we''ll be ok.. But I wanted you to know.¡± She looked into his eyes. They displayed loyalty and reverence, but at the same time was clouded by thoughts Robin couldn''t discern. ¡°A monster. That is what I don''t want to become.¡± She walked away after speaking her mind. Robin stared after her figure before sighing for the millionth time. The recent events have left them in a delicate point in their relationship. Robin smacked his head in punishment. = Stupid hormones. Get with the program. Why are you staring at her ass as she walks? ...Sigh. I hate being 15 again. = He entered his room and took a quick shower before plopping into his bed. His eyes got used to the darkness as the Vytal Festival creeped nearer. Unlike the excitement they usually felt, there was tension in the air. They could only hope to find relief in the events to come. -------------------------------------------------------- The man opened the door and walked into the room to find the lady messing around with floating holographic images. She looked up at him. ¡°Is there something you need, Jack?¡± ¡°Ugg. Nothing. Just coming to relieve some stress. Kids are so tiring. I fucking hate puberty.¡± ¡°That''s not something you hear from a teacher, so watch your mouth.¡± ¡°Bah. Shut it. We''re alone aren''t we? No need to pretend. So what are you doing, H?¡± ¡°Eliminating any traces left behind by the White Fang. We need them to be as chaotic as possible. However, they''re amateurs, so too much evidence is being left behind. I''m altering police records.¡± ¡°So boring. When can I move again. Have you guys not found that guy yet? You know, the one snooping around?¡± ¡°He''s been evading us pretty well.¡± H said. ¡°I consider it lucky we discovered he even was searching through our bases.¡± ¡°What about that Grimm Reaper person? She seems to hold some abilities similar of our Half-Grimms.¡± ¡°That''s not confirmed. We just know she uses portals. Black auras aren''t rare, and the materialization might be a function of her semblance. I''m more worried about...hm?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I thought I heard something.¡± Zoom (Video) Enhance (Video) The video tape on the screen zoomed in on two individuals inside of a mall. They were White Fang members committing the acts of vandalism. ¡°Robin.¡± The voice said. ¡°Robin!¡± ¡°Something the matter?¡± Jack asked. The female smiled. ¡°The one who stopped Thomas a while back. I think his name was Robin, correct?¡± ¡°What, you think this is the same Robin? So what? We already know he''s no threat. For fuck''s sake, I''m his teacher.¡± ¡°No. I think we should give him as a gift to the Doctor. I recently checked up on him, and I caught him almost murdering our hostage if I hadn''t decided to visit. The Madam wants Roman to join our forces, so I had no choice but to intervene.¡± ¡°Ok...this matters because?¡± ¡°He''s been a bit cranky. I figured to make him work a bit harder, he needs a new toy ¨C something that doesn''t break so easily.¡± Jack the Ripper sat back into his chair uninterested. ¡°Bah, whatever. Doesn''t concern me.¡± ¡°Don''t be like that. I think we can get you to have some fun as well.¡± ¡°Oh? I''m listening.¡±
Sorry for the late release. I''m feeling lethargic lately. Won''t lie to you guys. I''ll try to consistently give material on weekends though. Next chapter should be tomorrow...I think. I hope you guys don''t get bored :) Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! White Fang Uniform for those who don''t know. Sharing with you guys some of the things I watched for inspiration. (This is definitely not advertising) Edit: To clear up some confusion, you guys can reread some old chapters, but I''ll also say it. There are two Thomas. One works at the Hunter''s Guild. The other is the one Robin was a bodyguard. Sorry about that. Also this is a highly advanced world but secluded in 4 kingdoms due to Grimm. This is not medieval times. Robin can''t give anything to innovate this world using his previous knowledge because it already has it. Anime? Got it. Arcades? Got it. Hope that helps clears some misconceptions. Just because something is called a Kingdom doesn''t mean it''s older times. Edit 2: Change of plans. No update this weekend. RL business has me busy sunday no no update sorry guys Chapter 45: Let the Games Begin! ======================================= Chapter 45: Let the Games Begin! ======================================= =========================== Reminiscence #1 =========================== A mother, father, maybe even a brother or a sister. Everyone had these, even if it was just one of them. Everywhere I looked, it was the same. Their mom come to watch them play. Their father praise them for what they find. They all had their families to keep them happy. Not for me. Those eyes. The eyes full of pity. The eyes that look away when they see who I am. Those fake smiles that seem to hide their awkwardness and feelings. It''s so fake. So disgusting. My father and mother are not my own, and they look at me with those eyes because of it. I hate it. I hate it so much. I refuse to call him by the name they tell me, so I call him Chief. So I get rid of it. They pretend to know me, so lets teach them a lesson. I put a cockroach in a girl''s shoe. She screamed pretty loudly. I laughed at her reaction. She''s busy crying to her parents who come to scold me, along with more parents. I recognize some of them. That man was the dad of some kid I pushed into the river. The woman was a mother of a daughter I splashed lemonade on. Their words are so annoying, so I ran away. Far away, I hid in some bush. They walked by without even knowing. Ha. Serves them right. Everyone was the same. They all had those same eyes full of pity. Stop it. I''m the same, right? Why do you look at me like that? Their smiles are fake. I hate it. I would rather them hate me. Yeah, lets do that. At least then, they would look at me with a face that is genuine. Darn. I have a scratch on my knee. I need to visit the doctor. Chief wouldn''t be happy if I have a scratch. I don''t need to see that look. =========================== =========================== Robin stared out the window. Currently, Class 1A was sitting inside of a bus that was driving them to the other side of the kingdom. Today was the first day of the Vytal Festival, and they were scheduled to get to Sanctum sometime after noon. He had just finished reading the text from his parents. Joseph and Christina said they were gonna meet them at Sanctum. Sanctum was also another top ranking combat school in Vale. Unlike Myriad though, Sanctum''s curriculum was set up for allowing students to apply to Beacon after three years of middle school. Myriad, on the other hand, had elementary, middle, and high school level courses. Students were capable of transferring over to Beacon should they choose to, but many decided to stay there. The students were being transported over by class. All middle-school students were to participate in the Inter-school competition across the world. High-schoolers were eligible for the Hunter tournament in the coliseum, so they were absent. Excited about the festival, all of the kids were busy talking about their expectations for the upcoming tournament. The mood affected Robin and the others, allowing them to converse normally. ¡°You know,¡± Conner said. ¡°I never really thought about this before, but the Kingdom of Vale is huge.¡± ¡°Well of course.¡± Ophelia commented. ¡°It''s one of the four kingdoms in the entire world. How long have you been living here, Conner?¡± ¡°Well I''m just saying. I have realized how big it was before, but now that we''re stuck in this traffic jam, it''s kind of annoying. How do they expect other students to get here?¡± ¡°People from other kingdoms are flying over.¡± Robin answered. ¡°Movement between kingdoms is done by train or flight because it''s too dangerous going by car. Apparently, they''re landing on an airstrip that happens to be next to Sanctum. Strangely enough, it''s actually cheaper to travel by plane since planes don''t meet many Grimm along the way.¡± ¡°As expected of one of our bookworms. You''re just full of knowledge aren''t you?¡± ¡°You would know at least this much if you paid attention in class.¡± Adam retorted. ¡°I''m honestly amazed you passed the final exam.¡± ¡°Hey! I qualified to be in the best class of our year right? I think that counts for something.¡± ¡°And it''s one of the school''s seven mysteries, third only to Raven''s secret lover and the mysterious Peeping Tom.¡± Amy said. ¡°Secret lover? What''s this?¡± Robin asked. ¡°What. You don''t know?¡± Robin shook his head. ¡°That''s because he''s a guy. Raven is our roommate, so we sometimes see her smiling when she talks to someone on the phone.¡± Blake explained. The boys gasped and Osagi frowned. Raven. Smiling. What on Remnant happened? They would never forget Osagi''s heartfelt confession to her. It was halfway through the year, and Osagi had asked Robin for advice on how to approach her. Other than him, she was never seen talking to anyone. Surprised by the question and completely clueless on the subject of women, Robin merely told him to be upfront with her. Osagi had got down on his knees in front of the entire class with a bouquet of roses. The exact wording of her cold response was this: ¡°Never in this lifetime.¡± Osagi had sat in the corner of their room, sulking for the rest of the day. The boy was surprisingly fragile despite his open outlook. ¡°That''s certainly a surprise.¡± Robin said. ¡°Speaking of which, where is she?¡± The group shrugged. Who knew where that loner went. ¡°Who cares about that girl. I wanna meet some blonde beauties from the other kingdoms.¡± Conner said. ¡°I wonder what they look like.¡± His mind drifted into dreamland. Ophelia, who was beside him, jabbed his ribs with her elbow. ¡°Ouch!¡± Robin chuckled. ¡°Hehe. You shouldn''t speak like that in front of Ophelia. She''ll kill you, you know. Besides, you met Yang already right? Why are you wondering about other blondes?¡± ¡°You can''t be serious, Robin.¡± Conner looked at him with disbelief. ¡°We haven''t met her since we were ten years old, and she mainly talked with you in the first place. As for beauties. Are you you not the least bit interested in how the other girls from other kingdoms look like? Take for example Vacuo, home to the desert and their tanned hotties. Or Atlas in the north, home to the ice and girls who have skin as pale as the snow they walk on. Or maybe even Mistral that is located near the ocean. Their schools have girls wearing sailor uniforms.¡± He leaned closer to Robin''s ear. ¡°Sailor uniforms.¡± = Ok. That does sound a bit enticing. = Even Adam and Osagi began to fantasize about the women. Amy, Blake and Ophelia slapped each of them on the cheek. ¡°Ow! Hey, that was a bit too hard wasn''t it Blake?¡± ¡°I don''t know.¡± She turned her head to the side with her lips pouting. Robin could not help but think of her actions as adorable. The bus then approached to a stop in the parking lot, signaling their arrival. Mrs. Veranda got up from the front seat and motioned to the students in order to get their attention. ¡°Attention! Attention students!¡± It wasn''t working. Enhance ¡°SHUT UP!!¡± The kids covered their ears (or pair of ears) as her voice boomed inside the bus. Dead silence washed over them. ¡°Better. As you all know, this is Sanctum School of Combat. First you will be registering in the front. They will do a brief screening in order to judge whether you are actually one of our students. After that, report to the stadium for the opening ceremony. Once that is done, you guys will immediately begin the preliminary round. Your parents should being watching on top of the bleachers. After the preliminary round, you guys will wash up and do what you wish for the rest of the day. They have provided a hot-spring bath and a hotel room for both you and your parents'' stay here as compliments of the four kingdoms. Remember, today you are representing not only yourself, but Myriad and the Kingdom of Vale itself. Good luck.¡± The kids all did a quick check over their weapons and gear before filing off the bus. Mrs. Veranda wished each of them luck while giving them a room key. She put a hand on Robin''s shoulder and looked him in the eye. ¡°I''m expecting many great things from you Mr. Wolfheart. You are, after all, one of our top first-years.¡± ¡°Thank you. I won''t let you down.¡± Robin replied. ¡°Here is your room key. Put it in your inventory chip for safekeeping. Good luck.¡± The students filed off and they went through the registration without much trouble. They were each given some kind of stick for some unknown purpose. Robin hung the necklace it was attached to around his neck and looked around. Inside the building, all the middle-school students from their school were gathered and separated by year. Apparently, Raven had gone ahead of them to avoid the bus ride as well as the traffic jam. In front of all of them stood the Student Council: Diana, Ted, Leila, and finally Gaea Bronzewing, their Treasurer. Gaea stood there in her battle outfit which was what appeared to be a white shirt and khaki pants. On her hips rested a utility belt, and strapped on her back was her gun. None of them were foolish enough to believe she wore any regular clothing. Each students'' clothes was specially made for the battlefield, allowing a sense of fashion, but sturdy enough to be resistant to the wear and tear of the environment. Gaea stepped forward to speak. ¡°You''ve all trained hard, accomplish many missions, and been diligent in your studies all year--¡± ¡°*Cough*Bullshit.¡± Adam quietly said, heard only by Robin and the others. The smile on Conner''s face didn''t slip in the slightest. ¡°And now the time to test your skills has come. Past those gates you will be facing opponents, both new and old. There is no distinction among grades, race, or gender. There are only Hunters and Huntresses. Everyone must participate. Are you all ready?¡± The students all nodded in unison. The Student Council smiled. ¡°Then lets go.¡± The kids followed the Student Council''s lead. They went down a long corridor and arrived at said gates. The gates had motion detectors, so they opened as the students approached. As they walked through the tall, steel gates, the sunlight glared into their eyes. As he adjusted to the change, Robin found himself in the middle of a giant stadium. The field they were walking in was much larger than Myriad''s stage, but was smaller than the coliseum. Nevertheless, standing there in the middle of it all was truly breathtaking. This was especially true for the others since they only fought on the stage at Myriad with small crowds which were comprised of students. However, here they were the center of attention, and the seats were filled to the brim. The stage lights focused on them as they entered, causing them to once again squint their eyes. A loud voice boomed over the speakers. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Entering from the East Gate is our very own Myriad School of Combat!¡± Cheers erupted from the crowd, the Student Council motioned for them to follow their lead. They casually walked towards the giant stage, the students walking stiffly behind them. Even Robin couldn''t help but feel a bit overwhelmed. As they stopped on the stage, he admired the huge crowd of students gathered on the stage. = Everyone here is for this tournament? Wow. There must be thousands here. That''s...unbelievable. Just how many others are at or above my level? How many different weapons must there be just in this stadium. Oh my god I can''t wait for this to start! = The ground underneath them opened up and a man rose from the ground as the floor elevated him upwards. All of the cameras focused on him as he waved to the ground, the holographic images all began to fill themselves with his face. ¡°~Welcome! Men, women, boys, and girls! I, Perry Anderson, am proud to be your host today for the Inter-school Tournament! On my right, we have Sanctum, the reigning champions of this lovely tournament for the past two years! Beside them we have Myriad, fierce rivals to Sanctum and former champions. To the far left, we have Haven Academy visiting from the Kingdom of Mistral. Next to them is the lovely Emery Academy from the Kingdom of Atlas, and last but not least, we have the Shade Academy from the Kingdom of Vacuo! These five academies have paid big bucks and spent an enormous amount of time planning this big event. They''ve traveled across the globe to compete in this tournament and you''ve paid to witness it! It is with great honor that I present to you, the Hero of all the Hunters and Huntresses out there: Mr. Zoro Ozpin!!!¡± A huge round of applause came from both the stage and the audience. The legend named Ozpin stepped up to the microphone. He motioned for silence. ¡°Today, we stand together, united. Today marks the 81st Vytal Festival after the end of the Great War, 355 years after the discovery of Dust. In the last Great War, the issues itself was more than just about where borders fell or who traded with whom. It was the about the very idea of individualism itself. We oppressed the people and their thoughts, and as you know, many could not stand for it. As a result, those who opposed this began naming their children after the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that they would not tolerate this oppression, but neither the generations to come, and this is a trend that is held to this very day. We could encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. Which is why today, in order to celebrate peace, we celebrate the training our Huntsman and Huntresses have endured to uphold it. Today, we will look past the exterior -- the qualities that make us different ¨C and we will trust and celebrate our children''s growth ¨C our growth ¨C as we take yet another step forward into the future. Whatever may fall on you today or later on, may you always remember: hold your head high, stand with your back straight. Be proud of what you are, what you''ve done, no matter what others say. You are important. You are who you make yourself to be. You are our future. Thank you.¡± Applause ran through the audience like a storm. Robin clapped the hardest. Ozpin, the man he read in books, was just the man he envisioned him to be. ¡°Robin, are you crying?¡± Blake asked. ¡°Wha- No! Of course not!¡± He hurriedly wiped away the tear that was forming in the corner of his eye. It was a new sensation to him. To be told by a man he never even knew that he was important. To be said with such honestly that he mattered. Someone who wasn''t family. Someone who was so important said he mattered more. His heart strings was touched that day. However, the touching moment had to end as the stick they were given at registration began to light up. Perry spoke into the microphone. ¡°Now that your lights have been activated, I want you guys to mingle. That''s right, go! In this entire crowd, you have been mixed at random into a four-man cell for the purpose of this preliminary round. As you get closer to your teammates, it will glow brighter. Yell out the number on the stick, and find them! Hurry up because I might begin without you.¡± The crowd of students that were standing still before now became a giant mass. Many people bumped into others as they moved through the crowd. It took a while, but Robin eventually found his assigned teammates. Identify
Velvet Scarlatina (Lvl 63)
HP:1380/1380
Aura:2080/2080
Sun Wukong (Lvl 55)
HP:1200/1200
Aura:1550/1550
Nora Valkyrie (Lvl 53)
HP:1300/1300
Aura:1460/1460
Velvet was a bunny faunus. She wore a skin-tight brown suit with yellow armor plates covering her joints. On her shoulders was a strap attached to a small chest hanging on her side which Robin assumed contained her weapon. Sun was a blonde, tanned monkey faunus. He wore ripped jeans and an unbuttoned shirt that completely exposed his front revealing his well-built abs and pecs. Nora was a ginger with pink and white clothing. She carried a grenade launcher on her back. ¡°OOOh! A doggy this time! Sweet!¡± Nora exclaimed. Robin smiled wryly at her somewhat racist comment. She didn''t seem to mean anything negative by it, so he let it slide. Velvet shyly fiddled with her fingers as Robin stared at her due to curiosity. She was after all the highest level among them. ¡°Umm.. My name is Velvet Scarlatina. Level 63. Class: Mage. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Hello Velvet. My name is Robin Wolfheart. Level 62. Class: Mercenary.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± the monkey boy said. ¡°The name''s Sun Wukong. Level 55. Class: Rebel¡± ¡°I''m Nora Valkyrie!! Level 53! Class: Grenadier! Wow you''re so high level! This will be easy!¡± ¡°Easy enough to say, but what exactly is th--¡± Interrupting Robin''s question, the stage answered for him. The floor began to separate and split up into 16 separate parts. Then without warning, they began to rise and the floor floated higher and higher into the sky. Following them, the place Perry stood on also rose into the sky. ¡°Alright! Time''s up! Lets move on shall we? I now want to direct your attention to the stage below you!¡± Robin looked down. The floor they stood on was clear like glass yet it couldn''t be glass. It must have been a special function of the floor, he thought. Beneath them, the ground began to shape-shift and change. What used to be the area they stood on turned into hills and valleys. Sixteen different hills formed and on the top of each hill was four pedestals. When Robin examined closer, he realized the stage they were standing on also had split up into 16 parts. Each part was floating over one of the hills. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you our very special game just for the preliminary round: King of the Hill! On each of these hills are four pedestals for you and your partners! The game is simple. There will only be sixteen teams to survive the preliminary round. In other words, only 64 people will be moving on to the official matches!! Each person may put their stick into the slot on the pedestal. The moment it enters, a timer will start inside of the stick. On each pedestal are two slots. If one of them is already occupied, simply insert your stick into the other slot. This will automatically cause the other stick to eject from the other slot, stopping the timer in the other stick while starting the timer on yours! The game will last for 1 hour. At the end of this hour, your entire team''s time will be averaged together, and we shall use that to rank the top 64 people! Thus, it is in your best interest to help your teammates and work together in order to protect your standing. All weapons and elixirs are allowed. There is a safety function on the necklace. If the necklace judges that you are in danger, a shield will erect in order to preserve your life. However, the moment it pops up, you are disqualified from the match since that means it has judged you unfit to continue in battle. If you feel you are unable to continue, simply raise your hand and announce it. We have professionals watching from the sidelines ready to intervene should they consider it necessary. Don''t worry about the audience. Just like the coliseum, we have set up a barrier in order to protect them from hazards such as this. Same with the stage, we will fix it in time for the next round, so don''t you worry! Are you guys ready?¡± Tension was at an all time high. Robin gripped Pantomath in anticipation. = Come on. Just start already! = ¡°Oh! And one more thing. Call it a pretest, but I have one more surprise for you!¡± Perry drew from his pocket a switch of some sort. He pressed it and the floor that was underneath Robin vanished. Perry roared with laughter as he watched the thousands of kids plummet from 10 stories high. ¡°Hahahaha! This is what it''s about! If you can''t even survive a fall this small, you have no right to participate in the main tournament!¡± He smiled a devious smile that Robin could see projected on the screen. ¡°LET THE GAMES BEGIN!¡±
Yay! Late update! I''ll update more this week to make up for the weekend. The competition is starting! First stop! King of the Hill. Rate, comment, let me know what you think! I''m gonna try to put more effort into characterization. Let me know how it works out guys. Enjoy! Thanks for reading! Chapter 46: Game Plan ======================================= Chapter 46: Game Plan ======================================= =========================== Reminiscence #2 =========================== Mama always told me that since we could help others, we should. It was our duties as doctors. Patients come and go all the time in our clinic. Some adults got injured from fighting the monsters, so they come to papa and get fixed up really quick. I help out sometimes too. When the kids come, I give them a band-aid and patch them up. I met a friend today. She was crying from tripping over a log, so I sprayed one of our bottles papa says is for boo-boos. She cried a bit louder, but the pain went away. Apparently, Blake likes books a lot. Our clinic don''t have many of the books she likes though, but we look at them together anyway. ... Today is Friday, and many kids start coming into the clinic. It''s been happening ever since last week. Papa says it because of some troublemaker. Papa says he keeps on hurting kids, and he doesn''t like it. I don''t either. Blake came in the other day because of him too. Later that day, papa went to help out some adults, and mama went to buy groceries, so they left me alone. The door opened, and a fox faunus walked in. The boy looked at me weirdly, and asked for a band-aid. At first I told him no. I said "I don''t treat bullies," but he had a sad face, so I treated him anyway. He asked me why I treated him, so I told him what mama said to me. "I''m doing it because I can." He tilted his head like he didn''t understand me. He asked whether I liked him, and of course I said no. "But then why help me?" he asked. It was my turn to tilt my head. "Do I need a reason to help you?" He didn''t say another word and walked away. Before he left, he looked back at me one more time. I asked him what did he want, but he didn''t answer. Weird. =========================== =========================== Enhance A multitude of colors filled the air as the thousands of kids pumped aura into their body parts to protect their body. Robin wasn''t particularly worried. Anyone over level 45 could easily land without trouble, and even those in lower levels only had to pump more aura in order to make up for the difference in endurance. ¡°What''s he talking about?¡± Sun yelled as they descended. ¡°This is so easy! Everyone could d--- Whoa!¡± Velvet had pulled on Sun''s collar. Even though Sun wore his shirt completely unbuttoned, the force was enough to pull his head back to avoid the bullet that was aimed at where his head was a moment ago. Close by was another student that had fired his gun at them. Velvet aimed her palm at the kid. Fireball A ball of flame shot towards the kid. The fire engulfed him completely and began to deal damage to him. As he burned, Velvet shot more fireballs which damaged him over time. He screamed in pain as his skin was scorched.
-350 -60 -360 ...
Suddenly, the necklace on the kid glowed. A blue shield emerged and rejected the flames on the boy''s body. It protected the boy''s body as he continued to fall. A holographic sign appeared in front of him that said ¡°Disqualified¡±. ¡°Please be careful.¡± Velvet said. ¡°The round has already started.¡± = Interesting. So it''s an air battle is it? = Robin smiled with anticipation. They were now halfway to the ground. How many more would be kicked out by the time they hit the ground? Robin drew Pantomath as he activated his own skills. Bloodlust Aura Limbs Silver aura spread across his back and molded themselves into a pair of arms. He stretched them and grabbed a hold of one student that was firing his weapon. By manipulating his aura, Robin was able to forcefully pressed against their pressure points without even touching them. The student who was free-falling had no foothold to dodge his attacks. He could only fire and enhance his defenses while watching the limbs stretch out to grab him.
-175
Robin tossed the kid aside with a flick of the aura arm. He observed the battle raging in the skies. Gunfire filled his ears, and many students were already being disqualified. Their blue shield would encase them, while temporarily stopping the bleeding. = I wonder how long that shield can hold out. It seems impervious to any outside forces... I wonder.. Although, if all the other students can''t fight in the air, then this is going to be a straight up gunfight. = However, not all students were defenseless. Sun, for example, activated his semblance, Decoy, which created clones of light. He used them as a base to jump off from, bouncing from one person to the next while using his staff to attack them as he landed on them. Robin then noticed two people were aiming their guns at him. He wrapped his body in the Aura Limbs in an attempt to use them as a shield while using Enhance to temporarily raise his defenses. The enemies fired at him, but the bullets were proved to be useless. Unknown to them, Nora aimed her grenade launcher at their faces, and grenades exploded right in front of them. Because the explosion happened right at their head while they were unprotected, the blue shield was forced to intervene and save them. Two more holograms signalling their disqualification appeared. ¡°Thanks!¡± Robin yelled. ¡°No problem.¡± Nora smiled. ¡°We''re getting close to the ground.¡± Velvet announced. They were now 2 stories high. = Hmm.. I wanna try something. = Robin altered his Aura Limbs. Instead of taking the shape of arms, he formed them into the shape of wings. They were awkward looking due to being made on the spot, however it was adequate enough to serve its purpose. Robin spread the wings out and used them to guide his descent downwards. He aimed for the top of the hill. Just when he was about to land, he encased himself in the Aura Limbs, mimicking the blue shield that came from the necklace. Robin pumped Enhance to protect himself. With a thud, Robin''s impact raised dirt into the air and made an dent on the ground. The wings were made out of Aura, so although they manifested itself physically, there was no injury to Robin himself. Two windows popped up.
+45 Exp. Upon experimentation, you''ve created a new skill! Aura Shield
Aura Shield
Thanks to your experimenting, you have created a new skill using your knowledge of Aura Limbs and Enhance. When activated, you will form a barrier of aura around yourself. You can adjust the size and strength of the shield by adjusting the amount of aura you put into creating it. Cost: --- Aura
Grinning at his new skill, Robin detached the metal stick from the necklace, and he inserted it into the clock.
Timer Started! 00:00:01...
The ground began to shake thanks to the impact of all the students hitting the ground. Those that were already disqualified sunk into the ground and disappeared. As he examined the window, Robin felt a huge amount of animosity behind him. He turned around to find himself the target of hundreds of bullets and skills. Robin realized his mistake and activated his new skill to protect himself. Earth Wall Protect However before he could, the ground in front of him rose to protect him. As it did, a shield encased around the earth to make the defense even stronger. Velvet landed inside of the wall, ejected Robin''s stick, and grabbed his arm. ¡°We gotta go!¡± Tunnel Velvet touched the ground and a hole was created. She jumped into it and Robin followed suit. Thanks to a special function of the necklace, the metal stick flew towards him the moment it was ejected and reattached itself to the necklace. They ran for a bit while following the walls. It was completely dark underground, yet despite this, Robin''s Bloodlust allowed him to notice the two other figures in front of them. Velvet took a flashlight out of her inventory and revealed Nora and Sun underground as well. ¡°Yo!¡± Sun greeted him. ¡°Did you guys see that? All of those people just sunk into the ground! This is like a grave, so remind me why we are inside of this death trap?¡± ¡°That''s a function of the arena.¡± Velvet explained. ¡°The ground is connected with your necklaces. If the blue shield is activated, the ground automatically removes you from the battlefield and transports you to the medical team nearby. It reforms itself, so you don''t have to worry about suddenly falling into the earth. We also can''t stay here long because the arena will eventually fill this hole up too.¡± She turned to Robin. ¡°Robin, you should not have went straight for the pedestal. If I had not gotten there in time, we would have been down a person.¡± Robin nodded in agreement. Unlike her earlier nervous demeanor, Velvet was now taking control of the situation. Sun and Nora tilted their head in confusion. ¡°Huh? But why? Isn''t it the goal to reach the pedestal?¡± Nora asked. ¡°It is, but at the beginning of the round, that''s just suicide. Right now there are thousands of students competing for 64 pedestals. The goal right now is to diminish the count to a couple hundred. Only then will the real competition for the top start.¡± ¡°I see. You seem to know your stuff, Velvet.¡± Sun nodded with approval. ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°I''m a second year student. I''ve been through this before. So, do you guys know who holds the advantage in this kind of situation?¡± Sun crossed his arms. ¡°The strongest?¡± Velvet shook her head. ¡°The sturdiest?¡± Nora guessed. Again, wrong answer. ¡°Those with AOE spells.¡± Robin conjectured. ¡°Correct. Currently, outside is a war zone made for Area-of-Effect users. They will wipe out most of the competition. What we need to do is conserve our strength to fight later.¡± ¡°Awww. But that''s no fun.¡± Nora complained while pouting. ¡°I wanna smash things.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I didn''t say we couldn''t fight.¡± Velvet retorted. ¡°But we need to do it in a location that''s not heavily populated.¡± ¡°I can help with that.¡± Robin said. ¡°I have a skill that can sense where people are.¡± ¡°Perfect. Tell me the location and I''ll take us there.¡± Robin looked upwards. Thanks to Bloodlust, he could clearly see the fighting going on above them. The silhouettes clashed and many were being knocked around. Dozens kept on sinking into the floor around them. ¡°Over there.¡± Robin pointed in a direction. ¡°There''s not many people on that hill.¡± ¡°Alright. Here''s the plan. I''m gonna take us over there and our goal is just to defeat as many as we can. I can use a couple of AOE spells, so I need you guys to protect me while I channel them. Nora.¡± ¡°Here!¡± ¡°I''m gonna need you to use your grenades to help me with crowd-control. Sun, Robin. I need you guys to take out anybody that tries to stop me and Nora. After we wipe out enough people around us, we going to dive back underground and go to a different location before things get too hectic. Agreed?¡± The four of them nodded at each other. Nora cracked her knuckles. ¡°Lets do this!¡± ================================= On the surface, two people were clashing with the people around them. Their other two teammates were already knocked out. ¡°I told you challenging them was a bad idea! We should''ve chosen the other hill.¡± ¡°Stop complaining.¡± The other guy said. ¡°We''re still in this!¡± They clashed with enemies. The first student finished his opponent with ease, but his comrade was struggling with his. He intervened and kicked them in the side, knocking them over. His friend stepped forward to give the finishing blow. ¡°Thanks!¡± ¡°No problem..Hey, do you hear something?¡± They stood still and listened to their surroundings. The ground beneath them began to shake, and other competitors also momentarily stopped to look around in confusion. Earth Spikes The ground beneath them rose and impaled the students. The spikes started out from a nearby location, and slowly spread itself to cover a wider area. Thankfully, this allowed the two people just enough time to barely dodge. ¡°You ok?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah. I think I''m fi--¡± Suddenly a tunnel opened up from behind them. Jumping out the hole, a figure grabbed the head of the closest guy and forcefully smashed his face against one of the spikes. The action was so quick the student couldn''t protect himself in time, and he was disqualified. ¡°Why you!¡± The other kid swung his sword at Robin, but a giant mallet crushed his sides before he could do anything. It was Nora''s weapon. The grenade launcher had transformed into a giant mallet with the original launcher as the head. Nora pressed the trigger on the handle, and an explosion occurred at the opening of the mallet.
-700
The explosion, combined with Nora''s swing, sent the poor kid tumbling into the air. His body disappeared into the distance as a faint outline of a shield was seen to protect his body from the impact with the ground. Nora followed through with her swing, and held her hand over her eyes to judge the distance. ¡°Fore!!¡± she yelled loudly. = This is golf to you? = Robin retorted inwardly. He turned to face the people in front of him. ¡°I''ll take the five on the left. You take the five on the right.¡± Robin motioned with his hand. ¡°Got it.¡± Sun replied. Without further ado, Robin approached them without hesitation. The first to step forward was a girl with a spear. She proceeded to jab Robin in the stomach, but it was swatted to the side by Aura Limbs. Robin stepped close and engaged in close-quarters combat, a spear wielder''s weakness. In an effort to block his punch, the girl raised her handle. However, Robin''s extra limb had a grip on the spear. It was too strong and caused her attempt to protect herself to be awkward and inefficient. His punch easily broke past her guard and smacked her right in the chin.
-430
Dazed by the strike, she stumbled backwards only to receive another blow by the end of her own spear. Robin had jabbed her in the gut using the butt of her weapon, and then tossed her body away. He twirled the spear in his hands before beginning to use her weapon as his own. This time, two boys approached. One had a shield and sword, while the other had a single blade.
Azure Boding (Lvl 39)
HP:900/1050
Aura:830/950
Manic Flaring (Lvl 43)
HP:870/970
Aura:930/1240
= Weak. = Robin jabbed the boy with the shield with the spear he picked up, keeping him at bay. In return, the other one swung his sword at his head. Robin stopped the blade with one of his extra limbs and kicked him with his leg. Robin then traced the spear in the air and onto the boy with the shield. Deflect The boy''s shield glowe,d and upon contact, a spark was emitted. Robin''s weapon was knocked back just as quickly as he had swung. The boy used this chance to attack Robin. However, Robin used the momentum of the Deflect to spin low and sweep the boy''s feet using the head of the spear while using the other end to parry the sword. The boy landed on his side and had his neck mercilessly stomped on by Robin''s foot. The blue shield saved him from any permanent damage, and announced his defeat. Robin noticed the last two people fired their weapons at his location. Robin stuck his foot under the body of the boy on the floor and kicked it into the air. Robin used the special shield to his advantage as he threw a Smoke Bomb onto the ground. The two students couldn''t see inside the smokescreen and fired blindly. Suddenly, the spear Robin was using flew from within the smoke and impaled one of them. The other one was stabbed by a throwing knife Robin had thrown immediately after. Robin chose that moment to leave the smokescreen and confront the remaining Hunter. The girl tried to aim her gun at him, but found that she was paralyzed by the poison Robin soaked the dagger in. Robin easily pressed her pressure points and finished her off. Robin took that moment to take a breather and examine his surroundings. = Phew. Ok, so I can fight even without a weapon. That''s good. Even though they were weak, it''s good to see my training has paid off. How''s the rest of the group? = Sun was just finishing up his last enemy as well. His staff that he was using before was now two nun-chunks. Upon closer inspection, it turns out that each stick of the nun-chunk was a shotgun. Sun twirled his weapon, alternating between swatting his enemy''s weapon away and firing his shotgun in fluid, circular motions. Nora was firing her grenade launcher in quick succession. Although it seemed all over the place, she manipulated the crowd in the direction she wanted. Those that were too slow to dodge took heavy damage from the explosives. Others that did dodge fell right into their trap. Velvet had just finished channeling her aura. Earth Pit The ground beneath the dozens of students sank and they found themselves in a hole 20 feet deep. Before they could react, Velvet activated her other skill. Hellblaze Her aura flowed through the ground and flames rose from inside the pit. Screams of pain echoed as they burned inside. After the fire subsided, smoke filled the air and everyone that was inside were safely protected by their necklace''s shield. ¡°Ouch.¡± Sun commented. ¡°I would not want to be in that.¡± The other two nodded in agreement. All of a sudden, Velvet, Sun, and Robin shivered. In addition of his animal instinct, Robin''s Bloodlust sensed that he was in grave danger. Velvet immediately activated a skill while Robin protected them. Lightning Rod Aura Shield Discharge At that moment, electricity spread across the battlefield. The blue lightning bolts jumped from person to person; everyone struck by them immediately had their shield pop up to save them. Thanks to Velvet''s quick thinking, some of the electricity headed their way was redirected, and the shield Robin spread out covered all four of them. Unfortunately, they still took damage since the volume of the shield meant it was not as strong.
-350
The electricity pulsated throughout his body, and Robin shivered from the pain. Him and the others took out an elixir to heal themselves. ¡°What was that?!¡± Sun exclaimed. Robin knew exactly who the perpetrator was, and evidently, so did Velvet. ¡°That was the ability of one of this competition''s favored winners and one of Myriad''s Cruel Four--¡± She spoke. In the distance, a figure could be seen standing on the top of the hill. She placed her metal stick onto the pedestal and looked at the hill around her. Blue shields littered the ground as each competitor was knocked out, and began to sink underground. ¡°Student Council President Diane.¡±
Diane Geotal (Lvl 73)
HP:1770/1770
Aura:1990/2500
Yay! Couple of announcements. I''m changing my release schedule once again. Busy stuff is coming up. Exams and what not. So I can''t do many updates. Another reason why I''m going to take longer is I want to take extra time to incorporate some details into the story I never did before as a way to improve my writing. So far we''re looking at about once or twice a week (not that that''s any different from before). Another thing. I''m busy next weekend so I probably won''t be able to update this week unless I do it during Thursday, but I''ll edit this page to let you guys know. Rate, comment, thanks for reading! Edit: Ok so I''ve decided to update Thursday! You''ll get something by then, so no worries there. Release schedule will be twice a week after this week. Chapter 47: Power Struggle ======================================= Chapter 47: Power Struggle ======================================= ============================== Reminiscence #3 ============================== How long have I been acting like a fool now? I can''t even remember. Somehow, I think I forgot which one was the real me. The one who was alone or the idiot that plays pranks. It''s actually kinda fun. Chief constantly nags me about it though. It''s kind of annoying. I''ve actually gotten really good at reading peoples faces. Sometimes, I would hide in the trees or bushes and just watch people. Just like now, I can see a boy and a girl much older than me talking to each other. I can''t hear what they''re saying, but I can tell by their expressions. The guy is trying really hard to impress her, but the girl has this fake smile. She probably wants to leave, but can''t find a good opportunity. Ah, she left. I learned about a lot of different expressions just by watching. Someone who acts nice, but really isn''t would put on this fake smile. Completely different from when a real parent smiles when they see their kid. They just hug them and lightly scold them no matter what they do.. I kinda want that.. Lets not think about it. Although, thinking about genuine smiles reminds me of that doctor''s kid, . She''s different from all the other kids here. When the others finds out I''m adopted they give me this weird look every time I''m near them. Their faces completely give away their thoughts. She doesn''t do that though. Whether it was a bully, a friend, or an enemy, she always helps them. Everyone that walks into her clinic walks out patched up. She always talks about her responsibility as a doctor. She''s weird. Everyone makes fun of me, but even though I play a prank on her, she always helps me for some reason. Although, she purposefully pushes down on my wounds sometimes if I come and asked for a band-aid. She''s weird, but I think I can get along with her. Chief and the old hag always tell me to get some friends, but I don''t want any that act like those kids. Her though... I don''t know. They keep asking me to make some friends, but I just don''t know. I''ve been alone and acted like an idiot for so long, I just don''t know if I should. Everyone thinks I''m dumb, but I actually read a lot when I''m alone. I''m pretty smart for a 4-year old. Where would I get a friend? I don''t want to make her my first friend though...Oh? There he is. He''s the only other person that doesn''t treat me like everyone else. He''s pretty smart. I''ve seen him read a lot of difficult books when he''s in the library. The other kids usually do stupid things, but he always leaves them alone. I would pull pranks on him, but the most I ever get out of him is him yelling at me like everyone else. His face isn''t fake like everyone else: calm and honest. ============================== ============================== She raised her arms into the air. The area around her arms became charged. Sparks of electricity could be seen dancing around her body. Scan From Diane''s body, Robin could clearly see a surge of electricity escape. This time, however, it wasn''t in the form of bolts, but in a form similar to a giant bubble. The students still in the vicinity raised their defenses to the max. They saw the carnage the previous skill did. As a precaution, Robin and Velvet kept their defenses up. However, all of their effort was for naught. Diane''s skill, Scan, bypassed any defenses. It ignored anything, including the lightning rods for some reason, and enveloped a larger area than her previous skill. This one actually reached other hills as well. Fortunately, there seemed to be no affects on their bodies. It wasn''t a skill meant for attacking apparently. In front of Diane, a blue holographic screen popped up. Robin barely heard her voice from where he stood. ?"Fifteen level 60 and above, 156 level 50-60''s, 308 level 40-50''s, and ...so much fucking trash.?" The dirty mouth that exposed itself made her usual helpful and caring image seem like a lie. Diane took two fingers and pushed up her glasses. Blue lightning began covering her body. A normal person would have been fried from such exposure, but she looked completely fine. Lightning Armor ?"Well then, lets clean up a bit shall we??" At her words, the rest of her teammates stepped forward. They had just finished inserting their sticks into the pedestals as well. ?"No way.?" Velvet said in disbelief. ?"All of Myriad Four are on the same team?!?" = That is one hell of a coincidence. All four Student Council Members are together. This is not good. = Diane pointed her arms out in front of her. The electricity began gathering in at her hands. It was obvious to anyone, what was gonna happen next. Velvet hurriedly knelt down to the ground. Tunnel ?"Hurry! Get in!?" Thunder Cannon All four of them jumped into the hole. It was immediately after Robin landed inside that he heard the roar of thunder above them. The beam that threaten to electrocute anyone in its path past over them.. Cries of pain could be heard. He didn''t need to check to know that dozens of students were sinking into the floor around him. The four of them evacuated to a safe distance inside the tunnel. Nora was carrying a flashlight while leading the way. Velvet closed up the hole behind them to prevent others from following. The group came to a stop when they deemed it was far enough away. ?"Ha..Ha..Ha.. That was pretty scary.?" Sun said. His arms were on his hips as he stared at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath. ?"I don''t.. ha... even know who she is, ha.. and I can tell she''s trouble.?" Nora commented. They took a second to catch their breath before Robin spoke up. ?"I didn''t think they would put them all on the same team. Shouldn''t the officials be keeping track of this stuff, so that doesn''t happen??" ?"No, there''s simply too many participants in the prelims. If all four of them are together, nobody is going to be able to take over that hill.?" ?"So what now??" Sun questioned. ?"We can''t exactly go back out there.?" ?"We stick with the original plan.?" Robin answered. Velvet nodded her head. ?"Right. This is the exact reason why we decided to go with this plan in the first place. No need to be taken out by the strongest now. Save that for the finals. Robin, point us to another location.?" Robin looked upwards. Bloodlust was omnidirectional, but it was a natural tendency for Robin to use his eyes. ?"There''s another hill that isn''t too crowded over there. It''s also outside the range of Diane''s scanning ability thing.?" ?"Good, lets hurry.?" This time there was more people on the hill than before. Thankfully, they were much weaker. Robin and his teammates swept through them without much trouble. With another Earth Pit and Hellblaze combo, Velvet finished off about another 50 competitors. ?"Ok, now is a good time to make our move. Lets aim for the top.?" she announced while drinking another elixir. ?"Are you sure? There''s still a little more than 30 minutes left.?" Robin said while strangling a girl from behind. The moment she lost conscious, the shield popped up and forced him to let her go. ?"Yes, now is around the time people will start to aim for the pedestal. Only freaks like the Myriad Four would try to start their timer from the get go. I also doubt we''ll find another hill that has competition this small.?" Unfortunately, it seems that somebody else was already occupying the top. Just as the four of them got there, a spray of bullets came their way and stopped them in their tracks. Robin and Sun were able to sidestep the bullets just in time. Velvet protected herself and Nora using a wall of earth. Standing there was a girl with dark-brown hair. The edge of her hair was seen to be dyed red. Wearing cocoa-colored shirt with a brown corset and a bullet belt to fasten her skin-tight jeans, she strutted forward to greet Velvet. ?"Hey there, Velvet. Nice to see you''ve survived so far.?" ?"Coco.. Was the warning shot really necessary??" ?"That was me.?" Stepping forward next to the girl named Coco was none other than Osagi. Osagi rested the bottom of his huge shield on the ground next to him. ?"Hello there Robin.?" ?"Hey.?" Following up behind them were two twin girls who Robin presumed to be their teammates. One wore a red and white outfit and tied her hair in a ponytail. The other had a blue and black outfit on. They both wore a fashionable jacket with the letters R and B inscribed on each jacket respectively.
Osagi Aegis (Lvl 57)
HP:1150/1350
Aura:1490/1850
Coco Adel(Lvl 67)
HP:1400/1500
Aura:1950/2050
Carolina Skynda (Lvl 47)
HP:905/1150
Aura:1800/1800
Vermillion Skynda (Lvl 48)
HP:1150/1250
Aura:1390/1450
?"I see you''re aiming for this one too. Sorry, Velvet. This is our turf. Find another one.?" ?"I would love to.?" she responded. ?"However, the situation at the top is probably the same for all the other hills anyway. It''s just a question of which one is gonna fight for the top first, and I''d say our best bet is this one.?" Coco shook her head in disappointment. ?"That''s just a shame. And here I wa--?" Aura Limbs With the creation of his new set of silver limbs, Robin dashed forward towards Osagi. This was for a couple of reasons. Among the four of them, Coco was an unknown factor, and the other two girls were weaker than him. Only Osagi was someone who Robin was certain he could defeat if alone, but if he were to set up his defenses, defeating him in a group battle was much more difficult. Robin extended the limbs into the sky and swiped downwards on Osagi''s head. However, the blow was stopped by his shield. The force was strong enough to cause Osagi to sink into the dirt. Osagi grinned at Robin. = So you expected that much huh? = ?"Don''t interrupt me when I''m speaking.?" Suddenly, Coco appeared next to Robin, and swung her handbag at him. Robin used his other Aura Limb to block the blow.
-230
= Khh! Strong! = With strength unlike her slim build, Coco struck Robin and lifted him off his feet. He flew about ten yards before skidding to a stop. Robin found himself flanked by the twins on each side. The girl named Carolina aimed a kick at his face while her sister, Vermillion, swung her red great-sword at his mid-section. Aura Shield After stopping their blows, Robin jabbed his fingers at their pressure points. However, the two girls retreated before he could land a hit. Their actions wasn''t as if they knew Robin was trying to hit their pressure, but as if it was a part of their strategy. It didn''t take long for him to figure out what it was. With a click of a button, Osagi''s shield transformed its bottom half into a tripod in order to support the top half that turned itself into a giant barrel. Coco''s handbag performed a similar transformation. The side of the bag popped down and revealed the metal barrel that extended from the inside. The previously slim bag was now a giant minigun. With a whir, the two guns came to life. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ?"Prepare to die.?" Coco and Osagi pulled their triggers. = Oh shit! = Robin pumped more aura into his Aura Shield as the hundreds of rounds began to fire at him. In order to relieve the stress on the shield, Robin changed the shape of the shield to become a triangular pyramid. The angled sides deflected the bullets, but Robin constantly had to pump aura in order to keep the shield active. ?"A little help here guys??" Robin directed his question to his teammates behind him. ?"Kinda busy at the moment.?" Sun replied. Currently, Sun and Nora were engaged with fighting with the other students behind them. If they were to intervene in the fight, things would only get more difficult. Protect A layer of brown aura enveloped his shield and stabilized it. Velvet stepped behind Robin. ?"Thanks.?" ?"No problem. Sun and Nora are occupied at the moment. We''re going to have to fight them by ourselves.?" ?"Sigh...A minigun and a sentry gun. No wonder they reached the top before us.?" ?"Any ideas??" ?"I can take the twins if you can keep Coco and Osagi busy long enough.?" Velvet slanted her mouth to one side. ?"I can try, but please to be quick about it. I can''t survive for long in the open.?" ?"I can take care of that.?" From within his inventory, Robin pulled out a couple Smoke Bombs. He handed Velvet them. ?"What are these??" ?"Watch.?" Robin took one and threw it at the ground. The smoke spread around them and hid themselves from Coco and Osagi''s vision. ?"A smokescreen??" Coco asked. ?"It''s one of Robin''s inventions.?" Osagi explained. ?"Be careful of his sneak attacks. He''s really skilled, so if you''re caught in his traps, it''s pretty much over.?" ?"Hm.. fiesty and strong. I like.?" Earth Spikes The ground beneath them rose to impale them. Osagi and Coco jumped to dodge them just in time. ?"Careful of the ground.?" Coco warned. ?"Velvet is extremely skilled with earth magic.?" ?"Magic? So she''s a mage??" Earth Pit ?"Jump!?" Hellblaze Flames licked the soles of their shoes as the ground beneath them vanished with the rise of flames. ?"Velvet with constant smokescreens and the earth for her to command. Your friend''s tools has made her an even stronger monster, but so am I.?" Echolocation ==================================== The twins were surrounded by black smoke. Even if they wanted to come to Coco and Osagi''s aid, they would have to walk blindly into the smoke. From within his cover, Robin used his Aura Limbs to attack from a distance. ?"Argh.?" Carolina grunted with dissatisfaction. She kicked her boots at the silver arm in rage. Her weapons were a form of modified skates that uses Dust to boost her speed, allowing great mobility. ?"Come fight us in the open! Aren''t you a man??!" ?"All''s fair in love and war.?" he responded. ?"There you are!!?" Carolina charged forward. In response, both of Robin''s Aura Limbs came out of the smoke to attack her, but Vermillion was ready. Fire Stakes Two spears of flames formed in the sky and struck both arms, pinning it into the ground. Carolina dashed into the smoke, following the arms of silver. ?"Even an animal would understand it after seeing it so many times!?" Vermillion said. Robin tried to disperse his limbs and reform them closer to his body. However, the Fire Stakes was a skill that sealed anything it struck. If he wanted to do anything with those limbs, he would have to manually pull them out of the ground. ?"No matter what you do, the limbs are connected to your body!?" Carolina said. She followed the arms to it''s source. In the smoke, she could see the outline of a figure. Boosting her speed to the maximum, Carolina did a spin in the air and landed a kick on his temple. ?"Yes!?" Vermillion shouted. ...or she would have, but that outline was just a hologram of Robin. Her foot slipped through the image and caught nothing but air. ?"Wha--! But his limbs are..!!?" The limbs actually came out of holes in the ground. Two holes which each one dug through could be seen. On the floor was a voice recorder and the device which displayed the hologram. However, Carolina noticed this far too late. Robin had already snuck behind the unsuspecting Vermillion who thought they won the fight. Acupuncture Over 300 spots on the body lit itself. Robin, in his mind, limited the choices to non-lethal pressure points for suppression and reduced the count to a mere 64. Two on the shoulder, two on the legs, and a finisher right in the middle of her chest.
-45 -42 -44 -49 -30
Robin lifted her with his finger at that single spot. Carolina turned to find her sister hanging limply in the air. With a roar, she charged at Robin. Robin smacked her away with the blunt side of Pantomath. Before Carolina could get back up, Robin used his Aura Limbs to pin her legs to the ground. With Vermillion unconscious and aura suppressed, Fire Stakes was deactivated, so Robin could once again use them as he pleased. Robin jumped into the air, somersaulting into a front flip and landing an axe kick on Carolina''s stomach.
-640
The blue shield popped up for both players. With his targets finished off, Robin turned to help Velvet. He found that she was hiding in one of the tunnels she had created. Coco and Osagi was stalking each of the tunnel entrances. Echolocation Coco focused her hearing on the noises inside the tunnels. Combining the skills of Enhance and Detect, she created the skill Echolocation. She opened her eyes behind her aviators. ?"10 feet below us. My 7 o''clock!?" Piercing Bullets Coco aimed downwards while Osagi covered the exits. She fired them into the ground. Thanks to Piercing Bullets, the bullets went through the dirt like cheese. Robin attacked her from the side and successfully redirected her bullets. ?"Get off of me!?" Coco kicked Robin in the stomach and he flew off of her. However, that gave Velvet enough time to activate her spell. Thanks to Robin''s interference, she didn''t have to worry about dodging, and focused on attacking. Iron Maiden The ground beneath Coco formed spikes and lifted upwards like a jaw. Before it could snap shut, a yellow glow surrounded Coco''s body. Noble Sacrifice A flash of yellow light revealed Coco was suddenly switched with Osagi. He had his weapon in shield form. It was split right in the middle and he held each halve facing each side of the jaw. Iron Skin Thanks to Iron Skin, the shield and Osagi''s body gained a metallic shine to it. The jaw that supposed to crush him was instead broken from being unable to squash him. Velvet jumped out of the hole. She had her outfit torn in multiple spots, and was even bleeding from a few stray bullets. ?"Are you ok??" Robin asked. ?"I''ll be fjine.?" She replied while drinking an elixir. The wound closed up fast and a scar wasn''t even noticeable. It was now a 2v2 matchup. Coco reloaded her gun, Velvet channeled her aura, and Robin dashed forward with Pantomath in hand. With a click, it became dual-swords. Osagi jumped in front to accept the invitation. Aura Limbs Holy Light A golden light embraced Osagi''s body. The wounds on him healed wherever Robin managed to scratch him past his dual-shields. With a click, the edges around the shield revealed blades from within. Daybreak Beams of light radiated from every opening on Osagi''s body. Robin''s body tensed up due to the effect of Osagi''s semblance, Daybreak, which stunned all enemies in the vicinity as well as reveal any hidden enemies and traps. Osagi did not waste this opening. Shield Bash Osagi''s shields began to glow as the aura gathered into his arms to strike Robin down. At this moment, Robin reactivated Bloodlust. Earlier, he had deactivated it in order to sneak up on Coco. Now that he was back in combat, he used it to activate Intimidation. A window popped up in front of Osagi.
You have been Intimidated. Unable to move for 3 seconds.
It was Osagi''s turn to freeze up now. With the status of being Intimidated, Robin was able to recuperate and continue his strike, but not before Coco began firing her minigun. ?"As if I''d let you!?" Velvet shouted out. Protect Brown aura enveloped Robin. The protection given to him wasn''t enough to last forever thanks to Coco''s Piercing Bullets, but it was adequate to protect Robin long enough so he could defeat Osagi. Robin knocked away his defenses with Pantomath, and struck Osagi''s pressure points with Aura Limbs. Seeing, Osagi defeated, Coco tried to retreat, but she found her boots stuck in mud. Swamp ?"Aw come on. I just bought these. They''re from my favorite designer too." Nora and Sun just then showed up behind her. The four of them surrounded her and pointed their weapons at her. Coco pouted her lips, turned her weapon back into a handbag, and raised her hand. ?"Alright. I admit defeat. Don''t tear up my outfit please.?" Robin and his teammates inserted their sticks into the pedestals. Coco and her teammates'' sticks popped out and then flew away, aiming to return to the necklaces they were attached to.
Timer started! 00:00:07...
Ok sorry about the late update guys. I actually finished the chapter last night, but I couldn''t connect my laptop to the internet, so I couldn''t upload it. Next chapter will be Monday. Hope you liked it! Rate, comment, enjoy! Thanks for reading! Chapter 48: Defending the Top ======================================= Chapter 48: Defending the Top ======================================= ============================== Reminiscence #4 ============================== Inside of the void, there was nothing. No light, no warmth, no people. There was nothing. In the darkness that surrounded me, I was alone and cold. Where am I? Who am I? What are these words coming into my head? Why do I know them? Why? Why? When I turned around, I saw someone sitting there right behind me. It was a little girl with pink hair. Ah, I thought. Someone else is here too. But she was crying. She just sat there in the void crying. ¡°Why are you crying¡±, I asked her. ¡°Because it hurts¡±, she said. She doesn''t like it when it hurts, but I didn''t care. There was finally someone else. ¡°What hurts you?¡± ¡°They hurt me. All of them.¡± Ah, we''re talking. I''m talking with someone. There was nothing in the void, yet here I was speaking with her. There was no substance in our words, but they rang in the nothingness. Speak more. ¡°Them? Who?¡± She finally looked up at me. Her eyes were just as pink as her hair. ¡°Ah..You''re here too¡± she said with a smile. Did she finally realize that? ¡°If you''re here, I don''t have to be hurt anymore.¡± With a push I fell down. I reached for her hand and called for her help, but I grasped nothing. After all, there was nothing in there. I fell further into the darkness, and I heard her apology. They had no substance like before. The coldness matched that of the void. ¡°Sorry.¡± A bright light suddenly blinded me. I squinted my eyes. Upon opening them, I found myself staring at the same girl. No, wait. She''s different. Only half of her hair was the same color. I stared at her in anger, and was about to yell, but my voice didn''t work. All I could do was stare. It was after staring that I realized I was looking at my own reflection. Ah, I am her. From the void, I woke up in a container in some kind of black liquid. Past the glass, I saw the faces of so many people staring at me. They were so much bigger than me. Just by looking at them, I felt nervous. ¡°Congratulations, sir! It was a success!¡± I had no basis for thinking this. I knew absolutely nothing about who they were, but I knew I didn''t want to be there. Whether if it was the void or here, it was still the same. I wanted to just escape, but there was nothing I could do. ============================== ============================== Message windows popped up in front of Robin. He quickly glanced at the windows that he had ignored till now.
+70 Exp. +40 Exp ¡­ +130 Exp. Level up! +150 Exp.Thanks to your class, you''ve identified the techniques Echolocation and Piercing Bullets. Because they are similar in nature to your other skills, you are able to learn them right away.
Echolocation
This skill is a combination of both Enhance and Detect. By enhancing your hearing and correct judgement of the noises in your surroundings, you are now able to map out your surroundings using sound alone. When activated, your hearing is increased momentarily in order to understand your surroundings. Deactivating the skill returns your hearing to it''s previous condition. **Because you have two sets of ears, the image is clearer and covers a wider area. However, in return your ears become more sensitive to louder noises. Cost: 60 Aura
Piercing Bullets
Thanks to your experience and class, you''ve understood the concept of making your bullets stronger. By encasing your bullets in a thin layer of your aura, it protects the bullet and allows it to have stronger penetration. Activating this skill will require more aura the more bullets you use it on. Cost: 1 Aura per bullet.
= Two new skills huh? They certainly are very useful. = ¡°Robin! Please pay attention!¡± Velvet drew his attention from the messages. Robin swiped the messages to the side, making a mental note to review them later. Currently, the four of them stood at the pinnacle one of the rolling green hills. Unlike its previously beautiful look, all the gunfire, explosions, and skills had created many pits and indentions on the earth. Velvet, however, welcomed these changes. Thanks to the constant fighting going on for so long, the earth was loose and soft in many places. This allowed her earth magic to shine. She pressed her hands against the ground and activated her skill. Earth Wall Protect Her brown aura embedded itself into the ground. At the very base of the hill they stood on, Velvet manipulated a wall of soil to rise to an astonishing height of twenty feet. Then, the brown aura encased the dirt, adding additional protection from any attempts to knock down the already sturdy walls. The feat was not easy, and it took an abundant amount of aura to do it, but it was not yet over. ¡°I have one more spell I want to use. Protect me during that time!¡± ¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡± The other students did not just idly stand by to watch these things occur. The timer was ticking, and more than half the allotted time had past. Now was the time to race for the top, and so they did. Gunfire headed their way as the students tried to crush them. Aura Shield Aura Limbs Enhance Robin solidified a shield much stronger than the ones he had before and even spread his Aura Limbs around it in order to protect it even further. Since, Velvet was now occupied with gathering her aura, Robin was in charge of defending them. He spared no expense into making sure his teammates were kept safe. ¡°Nora!¡± ¡°On it!¡± Nora pointed her grenade launcher in the air. Her weapon became enveloped in pink aura as she fired off her weapon in rapid succession. Each grenade flew into the distance and exploded upon touching the ground. Nora''s weapon was made from Specialized metal, specifically for usage of Red Dust. While all Dust was explosive, engineers have discovered that Red Dust was the most volatile and proved most effective in explosives. Aura Bomb The pink aura embedded into each grenade suddenly burst. It made each explosion radius twice as big and twice as dangerous. In addition, Nora''s class, Grenadier, gave bonus damage with any weapons using explosives. All that resulted in the students being bombarded with pink balls of doom immediately resulting in disqualification. Those who dodged either ran into other people that attacked them in their moment of carelessness or became separated from their teammates. Decoy Sun activated his semblance. Instead of one or two clones, he created dozens this time. Each clone of light charged forward to meet an adversary. The army of monkey faunuses fought while the real one sat in the back with his eyes closed. Sun concentrated and created more to fight as each one was defeated. Each one of them expended their aura to the limit in order to prevent the others from advancing to their position. However, as effective as they were, 4 of them could not stop the advance of the hundreds that were there. Even though many were separated from their teammates, their goal was the same. Each member advanced forward, firing their weapons, dodging blows, and slowly but surely reaching the top. An arrow flew toward their location and enlodged itself in Robin''s Aura Shield. The head of the arrow was dyed red with Dust. With a violent explosion, the force broke apart his shield which had endured thousands of bullets. Past the smoke, the three of them noticed their first adversary.
Biri Grass (Lvl 63)
HP:1220/1450
Aura:1110/1550
Piercing Arrow The girl with apple green hair notched an arrow and fired another red arrow at Velvet''s location. Sun pointed one of his shotgun nunchunks and fired at the tip of the arrow. The bullets caused it to explode midflight and thus Velvet was kept safe. In the meantime, Robin drank an elixir in order to replenish his missing aura. Biri used that opportunity to fire two shots into the air, and one to her right. Sun, who jumped out of the way of the previous explosion, found himself faced with another arrow aimed specifically for him this time. He dodged it by an inch only to realize that this arrow was a timer bomb. The explosion knocked him backwards and into the ground. Nora in the meantime had transformed her weapon into mallet form and raised it into the sky. Rock Smash True to its name, Nora''s skill increased the power of her strike ten-fold. The force of her swing caused a tremble in the ground and a fissure to open up. Biri lost her balance and got her right leg stuck inside one of the cracks. Nora stepped on the head of the mallet and pulled the trigger. The explosion from the head of her mallet sent her flying forward and towards her target. However, before she could get close to Biri, Robin''s Aura Limbs grabbed her and pulled her back towards them. In the spot Nora would''ve been, two arrows jabbed into the ground with electricity running across its yellow tips. ¡°That was close. Thanks!¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Robin replied. ¡°Are you ok, Sun?¡± ¡°Cough, cough.¡± Sun coughed out the gunpowder that lingered in his nostrils. ¡°Yeah I''m fine!¡± Sun sprung up with his skinned burnt in some areas and his unbuttoned shirt charred from the explosion, but no real injuries could be seen. Five more individuals stepped up this time to join Biri in defeating them. ¡°..Lvl 50''s and 60''s. Well this is certainly getting tougher.¡± Sun commented. ¡°That''s because we''re in the final stages of the prelims.¡± Robin retorted. The six challengers advanced without hesitation, and Robin responded in kind. He threw a Smoke Bomb in order to mess up their cooperation. In the darkness, two silver arms swept by, but knocked only one student away. The momentum caused his body to fly backwards in the air. The kid embarrassingly tumbled down the hill he had just climbed. Hawk Eye Biri''s vision split into two. One was normal while the other looked from above in the air. She notched her bow and aimed at Velvet once more. Nora appeared at her side and rammed her mallet at Biri''s side. She was unfazed and merely looked onward as another boy placed his shield in front of Biri. Reflect The blow was knocked away as fast as it had come. Nora fell on her butt as she lost her balance. Biri let loose another arrow, but another gunshot made it burst before it even left her hand. Robin, who had both Bloodlust and Echolocation, was more than capable of accurately aiming his shot. One of his Aura Limbs reached out and grabbed Biri who was dazed from the explosion. Within moments, her pressure points were pressed, and she was eliminated. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The boy with the shield jabbed at Nora with his lance, but Sun''s shotgun changed the trajectory of the weapon. The boy turned and activated Deflect in order to make Sun injure himself. However, the person in front of the boy was one of Sun''s Decoy. From behind, Sun shot multiple shotgun rounds into the boy''s neck, and it resulted in her elimination. At this point the smoke cleared. Nora stood up next to Sun, and they found that the other two students had backed out of the smoke. They refused to fight in such unreliable conditions, and now they were joined with more reinforcements. Many more students were now on the top of the hill after climbing up the angled sides. = Damn. In the time we fought, more of those guys have reached the top. = A tingling sensation filled the right side of his head. Robin tilted Pantomath so it would cover his head. Aura Sword Thanks to his reaction time, Robin successfully deflected the sniper bullet that came his way. His Bloodlust clearly indicated the individual laying down in the distance. They were hidden thanks to their skill, but all forms of hidden enemies were useless before Robin''s semblance. = Oh great. Now we have a sniper to deal with. = Robin could not help but mentally sigh. Thankfully, their role was now over. A spike from the earth would''ve impaled the sniper if not for the shield from their necklace. Velvet opened her eyes. Mudslide The earth surrounding them became damp within a second. The surface then began flowing downward, anyone in the mud was swept away with it. Those that tried to jump received a Fireball to the face. ¡°Velvet!¡± Nora exclaimed. ¡°Thank you for waiting so long. Leave the rest to me.¡± The mudslide reached even the bottom of the hill. The true purpose of the twenty foot wall revealed itself here as none that were outside could reach inside without jumping over, and all who were inside will not be able to escape what was to come. Eruption The ground heated up and instantly dried itself. All of the students in the mud became stuck in their position. Then, at the top of the hill, lava burst forth from the ground around them and flowed downwards. All those that came into contact with the lava had their bodies burnt without a doubt. Among the yellow and red earth, circles of blue popped up like light-bulbs. = Wow. = Robin could not help but be in awe at the terror of AOE attacks. Not only did Velvet efficiently wipe out the rest of their competition, she used the top of the hill to her advantage, and prevented prolong use of aura by only creating enough lava to cover the hill. Gravity did the rest of the work for her. Now anybody who would want to confront them had to jump over the tall wall and get past the lava moat that surrounded them. This would give them plenty of time to react. Holding down this hill was going to be easy now. Robin looked at Velvet in the corner of his vision. = As expected of an upperclassman. Calm, decisive, and efficient. I''d say she could give Diane a run for her money too. = Velvet grinned with satisfaction on her face. Now that the other contenders were eliminated,they could finally rest a bit...was what they thought. Glyph of Ice However, from within the sea of lava, freezing ice formed. The two objects with temperatures on opposite ends of the spectrum collided and created steam. Robin enhanced his vision to see the person inside of the mist. Identify might not normally work in long distances, but because of who he was --what he was-- Robin knew the celebrity that stood before them. = Well if it isn''t the princess, herself. = Standing beside Weiss Schnee was yet another familiar face. Amy, in her black and red clothing, looked at Weiss with a slightly peeved expression. She placed her hands on her hips. The ripped jeans hugged her bottom as she looked at Weiss with an accusing look. ¡°Watch where you''re aiming that ice. You almost froze me.¡± ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Weiss didn''t even look at her in the eye. ¡°My mistake. I''ll try to keep it under control next time.¡± A vein bulged on Amy''s forehead. Weiss held two fingers and traced them over her rapier and feet. The weapon had a revolving Dust canister hidden at the hilt of the blade. With a click, the canister snapped to the Red and Blue Dust chamber, and Weiss manipulated the Dust in order to increase the abilities of her semblance, Glyph. Glyph of Speed Glyph of Strength A white circle appeared beneath her feet. Everything standing above it was granted a speed bonus for a short amount of time. Likewise, her rapier had a similar red circle appear and increased the user''s strength momentarily as well. ¡°Hey, wait a second. We''re just supposed to observe!¡± Amy spoke up against Weiss''s actions. No matter how you looked at it, she was preparing for a fight. ¡°Nonsense.¡± Weiss replied. ¡°If we defeat them now, they won''t become a problem later.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Glyph of Ice A blue circle appeared beneath Weiss''s body. A white beam burst forth from the tip and headed towards Robin and company. Velvet responded by sending a Fireball to meet the ice beam. Steam rose from the collision of their strikes. Through the steam, the blur of Weiss''s body could be glimpsed traveling on top of the bridge of ice that was created. Two elongated limbs stretched itself to destroy the bridge, forcing Weiss to jump into the air. Apparently, her Glyph had physical substance as she stood on top of one of the white circles in mid-air. Robin jumped into the air to swing Pantomath upward while Nora did the same swinging her own weapon downward from above. Aura Sword Weiss''s rapier, Myrtenaster, became clad in white aura, the reach extending to about a meter long. Thanks to her Glyph of Strength, Weiss was able to deflect both of their attacks with a single swing. However, alone she was nothing more but a target to them. Velvet surrounded her with a dozen of Fireballs and let them loose. Weiss was unable to block them all and succumbed to the damage. A blue shield popped up from her necklace. = Huh? Wait a minute, that''s not right. = Robin''s vision clearly indicated Weiss burning in the flames, yet two silhouettes were obviously still moving. Realizing their situation, Robin proceeded to protect both himself and his teammates. Glyph of Speed Aura Shield Robin ejected a shield of silver around himself and successfully blocked Weiss''s attempted to stab him. He then shot Pantomath at the air next to him. The bullet destroyed the floating orb of flame that was nearby and shattered the illusion that was messing with him. Upon observing his teammates, Robin realized they were attacking nothing. Glyph of Strength ¡°Don''t even bother.¡± His Aura Limbs grabbed Weiss and restricted her movements. In the corner of his eye, two more flame orbs approached to attack him, but under the protection of his shield, they just exploded outside. The source of these attacks was Amy who was aiming down the sights of her rifle. Robin took this opportunity to shoot all the other orbs floating around Sun, Nora, and Velvet. ¡°Whoa! What was that!¡± Sun shouted. ¡°Where did she go?¡± Velvet questioned. ¡°She''s right here.¡± Robin stated. The princess in her combat skirt was trapped in Robin''s Aura Limbs unable to move an inch. The moment she had been caught, Robin had pressed her pressure points. ¡°That was an illusion made by Amy over there. She probably used the steam as cover to send her flames forward while we were distracted by Wei--¡± Animosity surrounded Robin, and he was forced to jump backwards as the ground beneath him broke apart to reveal a drill tearing through the earth. Somehow, the drill actually cut through Robin''s Aura Limbs and released Weiss. The guy that appeared caught Weiss in his arms and retreated as quickly as he appeared. Both him and Amy jumped over the wall of earth that surrounded their hill and left. ¡°...um...what?¡± Nora asked. ¡°I have no clue.¡± Sun replied. = ¡­ more importantly, how did my Bloodlust miss him? = ¡°...¡± Velvet looked onward silently. ========================== ¡°Let me go! Do you know who you are touching?! Let me go!¡± the girl named Weiss yelled at her teammate. He probably would have complied but she was unable to move anyway, so releasing her would accomplish nothing. ¡°Didn''t I tell you two to not fight? We already have a pedestal to ourselves.¡± the upperclassman said. ¡°I tried to tell her,¡± Amy spoke up in defense. ¡°but she wouldn''t listen to me.¡± ¡°The least you could''ve done was help! I only lost because I was alone out there you stupid animal!¡± ¡°Now look here, princess! If it wasn''t for me, you would be disqualified already! Don''t think you can possibly defeat Robin by yourself. That''s impossible.¡± ¡°Oh? Who is this Robin?¡± ¡°The one who was holding Ms. Schnee here hostage. Wasn''t that why you retreated, Simon?¡± ¡°..Interesting..¡± Simon put Weiss gently on the floor now that they have reached the top of their own hill. That wolf faunus was that powerful? Simon was surprised he had dodged his surprise attack so cleanly, but he had assumed that was because of the other individual in their group. Fighting in their turf by himself while she was watching was equivalent to suicide. Simon glanced at both Amy, Weiss, and the last girl that stood at the top of their hill. Even though he left for a moment, she had already knocked out any challengers that appeared by herself. ¡°...Looks like this year has a bunch of promising newbies. Haha, this tournament is going to be fun.¡± The rest of the time period was very simple. All of the powerhouses had already established their foothold at that point, and any that tried to oppose them failed miserably. As the full time of an hour was completed, a horn blew to signal the end of the preliminary round.
Yeah..so I apologize for the late update. On the other hand, it''s long! Hope you guys enjoy! Next update will be later this week! EDIT : update will not be this or next week. I have exams. Chapter 49: Brother ==================================== Chapter 49: Brothers ==================================== ¡°Cease! All combatants are to cease fighting!¡± The announcer''s voice boomed across the entire field. All gunfire ended immediately in fear of being disqualified. ¡°The time limit of one hour has been reached which means the preliminary round has come to a finish! Our timers have been keeping track of the scores and here they are! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our top 64 Hunters and Huntresses!¡± The big holographic screen stopped displaying the faces of the combatants and instead showed a table listing the top sixteen teams with the highest average times.
1st00:48:5300:48:53 Liela Atkinson 00:48:51 Gaea Bronzewing 00:48:54 Diane Geotal 00:48:53 Ted Turncoat
2nd00:40:3200:43:50 Simon Helix 00:42:20 Pyrrha Nikos 00:38:03 Amy Seraphine 00:37:55 Weiss Schnee
. . .
Robin stared stunned with amazement. First place was monopolized by their very own Student Council members. = To think that the timers are so close to each other. Doesn''t that mean ever since we saw them attack that hill, they never gave it up? Incredible. What about us? = Even Robin''s team had difficulty not letting their pedestals being taken from time to time. After all, since the preliminary round was nearing the end, the rest of the fighters were a lot stronger than the average contestants. Although there were some variance in the timers, the control of the hill was never out of their grasp, thus leading to the resulting score.
...
10th00:22:4200:22:45 Velvet Scarletina 00:22:40 Robin Wolfheart 00:21:41 Sun Wukong 00:23:42 Nora Valyrie
...
= Not bad, we''re in the middle. How did the others do? = After scanning the scores, Robin was pleased to find that all the others, with the exception of Osagi, had passed the preliminary round. Some of them ranked higher than him. No doubt it was because they got paired with strong teammates. However, what he discovered about Raven''s score left him speechless.
...
16th00:19:1400:00:00 Raven Branwen 00:25:50 Yatsuhashi Daichi 00:25:45 Traekul Lua 00:25:21 Neptune Vasilias
= 0?! What in the world? Raven got knocked out before she even got a chance to fight?! Wait, but she''s on the board, so she passed anyway. Just how strong were her teammates? = Naturally, Robin refused to believe Raven was incapable of scoring more than one second on the board. After all, he was probably the only one who witnessed her using the Essence of Darkness. Plus, he was very familiar with her antisocial nature over the past year. Rather than losing very early on, Robin believed she had purposefully thrown the match. The only thing was he couldn''t understand why. (Author''s note: I will be replacing ¡°Essence of Darkness¡± with the acronym ¡°EoD¡± from now on. Since I plan to be using the term more frequently, this is to avoid tedious typing and reading by both you and me.) Of course, this piece of news was shocking to the rest of the audience and combatants. Unfortunately, they were not so understanding. In their eyes, they were seeing someone incompetent get a free ride into the top 64 by letting their teammates doing all the work. As a result, many people started jeering. Fighters, both on the field and watching in their infirmary rooms, started to shout in protest. ¡°What is a weakling doing in the top 64?¡± ¡°This is a competition for the best! You don''t deserve that spot!¡± ¡°I trained so hard for this.¡± ¡°Now now. Lets all calm down.¡± The announcer named Perry tried to put out the flames peacefully. Eventually, he got the crowd to settle down before speaking again. ¡°As I have said before, those who have appeared on the screen will be moving on to the next round. No if''s, and''s, or but''s.¡± The announcer waved off the complaints with only a single comment. The people were not pleased, but that was the least of the announcer''s worries. Competitors are competitors regardless of what the audience thinks. No matter how much they cried, the audience would have no influence over their decisions...or that''s how it''s supposed to be. ¡°Moving on, those of you that have made it through the first test, please meet up again in one hour at the dining hall in the East building. Only those who qualified are allowed present. That should give you enough time to clean yourselves up and rendezvous with your family for a short period of time. Thank you for coming everyone!¡± And thus the preliminary round came to a close. Robin and his temporary teammates said their goodbyes before heading over to their respective gates. On the way to her room, Velvet was hugged from behind by a beautiful girl with aviators on. She immediately let out a high-pitched squeal. ¡°Nice job on passing.¡± Coco said. ¡°You scared me! Don''t sneak up on me like that!¡± Velvet reprimanded. ¡°Were you watching from the sides?¡± Coco let go of Velvet and smiled softly at the bunny faunus. ¡°Yeah. Your power is scary as always. Eliminating dozens of players by a lava slide. Still, did you have to beat me? I was hoping for the four of us to fight together.¡± ¡°Ah, I''m sorry! I was just a bit threaten by your presence. Plus, I was worried about not passing. I hope you don''t mind.¡± Velvet bowed her head down repeatedly while apologizing. Seeing this occur, Coco couldn''t help but laugh. ¡°I don''t mind. There are only 16 hills anyway. Some of us were bound to be eliminated. I think it''s great Yatsuhashi and Fox got in as well... Oh yeah, what was the name of that teammate of yours? The one that helped you beat me.¡± ¡°Robin?..I think his name was Robin Wolfheart. Why?¡± ¡°Oh no reason. He just piqued my interest is all.¡± Velvet gave Coco a stare. ¡°...Don''t flirt with our juniors.¡± Coco tilted her shades and started at Velvet''s eyes with her own. ¡°Don''t be silly. I just said he was interesting, not that I wanted him in bed.¡± ¡°Say that to your past five boyfriends... I need a bath.¡± With that said, Velvet dashed off to find her parents and her hotel room. Coco took off her shades, staring at Velvet''s back disappearing into the crowd and chuckled. ¡° ''I was threaten by your presence'', she says. Ha! You knew I was one of your difficult opponents, and decided to beat me first.¡± Despite her timid nature, Velvet wasn''t stupid. Coco could beat her in a 1v1 matchup, but Velvet held the advantage in the team battle. Since team battles weren''t guaranteed in the main rounds, Velvet decided to take care of Coco now. For the two of them who were partnered for some time, this knowledge was not needed to be spoken, but was understood. That''s why Coco accepted Velvet''s challenge in the first place. In the end, Coco lost and Velvet was the victor. Coco once again shook her head. ¡°You talk as if you tried your hardest just to pass, but in reality you didn''t even use your weapon once that preliminary round. You sly girl, are you hiding your strength?¡± ================================ Robin after wandering in the lobby found the rest of Team COBRA talking with Amy and Osagi. He jogged over and greeted each of them. ¡°Hey!¡± he said. ¡°Looks like we all past.¡± ¡°Almost all of us¡± Osagi corrected with a look on his face. Robin feigned ignorance and questioned him. ¡°Whaaat? Someone didn''t pass? And here I thought our strength was unrivaled. Who didn''t past, Osagi?¡± ¡°Screw you, Robin.¡± The kids laughed at the banter between the two boys. As they begin talking to one another about their fights, Blake tapped Robin on the shoulder. ¡°Hey Robin, who were your teammates?¡± ¡°I was in a team of 3 faunus and one human girl. It was Velvet, Nora, and...Sun? Yeah Sun.¡± ¡°Was Velvet the bunny girl?¡± ¡°Yeah she was amazing. It was thanks to her we got off so easily. I am really in her debt for saving me. Do you know her?¡± Blake didn''t know her of course, but before they left the stadium she had searched through the crowd for Robin''s silhouette. Upon finding him, she saw he was talking to another faunus girl who happened to be a bunny, a popular race among the guys both human and faunus. How could Blake, who had feelings for Robin, not get jealous? Of course, she wouldn''t admit that to him. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°No, I don''t.¡± She turned away and pouted. Robin had a forced smile on his face while Conner observed the two of them closely. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge shadow snuck up behind Blake and embraced her. His burly arms squeezed tightly around his precious daughter as he rubbed his face against her own. ¡°Ah my precious little baby. Look at how much you''ve grown.¡± ¡°Ew Dad. Stop it!¡± Yes, the cat faunus man in front of them was Blake''s dad, Ebon Belladonna. Just like Blake, he had an extra set of cat ears on the top of his head and had black hair that reached his shoulders. He had a beard covering the side of his face that was currently rubbing against Blake''s cheeks. Thankfully, a hand pulled against Ebon''s ear and separated him from Blake. ¡°Ow,ow,ow! Honey please!¡± ¡°Don''t you ¡°Honey please¡± me! Give the girl some space would you!¡± ¡°Mom!¡± Blake immediately hugged her mother, Elina Belladonna. The mother and daughter pair smiled at one another while the father grumbled. ¡°What with this difference in treatment...¡± ¡°Haha. Don''t get so down Ebon. We''ll be here for the next few days. Lets enjoy ourselves.¡± Of course, Robin knew this voice very well. Upon turning around, he found himself face to face with his own mother and father, Christina and Joseph. Beside them were Conner and Ophelia''s parents as well. Each one of them greeted their children ecstatically. ¡°Mama! Papa!¡± Ophelia squealed. ¡°Good to see you Chief.¡± Conner said. ¡°It''s good to see you too, Conner¡± Barney Dinkleberg, the chief of the village, stood next to his wife and they smiled at Conner. He returned the expression. ¡°Come now Robin. Don''t you have anything to say to your parents after not seeing us for so long?¡± Joseph said with a wry smile on his face. Of course Robin was silent. He was staring his mother, Christina, or to be more precise, who she was holding. Christina smiled as she rocked the baby child. ¡°Mother...who is that?¡± ¡°This, dear Robin, is your baby brother, Jackson.¡± = Well this is news to me! = ¡°What?.. when?¡± His mother blushed as his father laughed heartily. Blake''s dad nudged Robin with his elbow, and spoke into his ears. ¡°Haha, your mother was pretty lonely without you home. It seems that they got a little busy, but they didn''t expect to get him in the first try if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°EBON!¡± Those words only caused Christina to blushed harder and his father to roar louder. ¡°When did this happen? You never bothered to call and tell me?¡± Robin questioned. ¡°We wanted it to be a surprise.¡± Joseph responded. ¡°He was born only a couple of weeks ago, and we figured you were busy training for the tournament, so we didn''t say anything. So... Surprise!¡± = ¡­ = Robin had a complicated look on his face as he stared at what was now apparently his little brother. Despite the name being identical to his little brother in his past life, they were born very far apart in age which was completely different from last time. Only bad memories resurfaced when he thought about his little brother. But how could this baby be the same little brother he had in the past? After all, Robin was the only one in this new world, right? ¡°Robin?¡± ¡°Ah! Sorry, I guess you really did surprise me a lot.. Congrats! You succeeded.¡± In response to his father''s voice, Robin pulled himself together and banished his negative thoughts. = Stop. He''s not the Jackson I knew, and I''m not the Robin I was. This is my little brother. I should be happy. = ¡°Well lets go eat lunch.¡± Ebon proposed. ¡°You all must be famished.¡± Elina once more yanked on her husband''s ear with a sigh escaping her lips. ¡°You fool. You don''t understand girls at all.¡± She looked at everyone with a gentle expression. ¡°You must be dirty from the fight. Lets get you washed up in our hotel rooms. You also need to get to that meeting later right? We''ll have to catch up later. Do you have your room keys?¡± ================================== At a five star hotel, Kalte Schnee was pacing the room slowly. He stepped towards the door, turned around upon reaching it, and then went to the window. When he got to the window, he turned around and started the cycle over again. Even if they were provided with a luxurious hotel room, how could the Schnee family resort to using something meant for the commoners? Because of their sense of pride, they were currently occupying a room meant for eight people for the sake of one Weiss Schnee. Her father was simply visiting. For anyone else, this would look like a man who was deep in thought. His face showed no signs of emotions, and his stature displayed elegance and power as he paced back and forth. However, for the young Weiss Schnee sitting on the chair in the middle of the room, the atmosphere was unbearable with the silence that filled the room. ¡°What place did you get?¡± Kalte''s stern voice echoed in the room. His tone demanded a reply that he already knew. ¡°Second place, father.¡± Weiss reply in a respectful tone. ¡°And who did you lose to?¡± ¡°The Myriad Four, favored winners of--¡± ¡°Ah-Ah-Ah.¡± Kalte stopped her and waved his finger. ¡°Who are we?¡± ¡°The Schnee family.¡± ¡°That''s right. We are the Schnee family. The ones that stand at the top. Does the family at the top lose?¡± ¡°No, father.¡± ¡°That''s right. We don''t lose. Especially since your team was supposed to be the strongest.¡± ¡°But father, they we--¡± ¡°Stop... Now I understand. Those four were favored winners. For whatever reason, you were grouped with two freshmen instead the upperclassmen which was not supposed to happen. After all, I did spend a good amount of money to convince the people in charge to adapt our.. way of thinking.¡± Weiss had a look of shock on her face. ¡°You bribed them, father?¡± Kalte ignored her question and continued. ¡°Thus, I can understand you getting second place. However, that does not excuse your performance against that animal.¡± Of course, the ¡°animal¡± was referring to Robin who single handedly saw through the illusion and defeated Weiss. If not for Simon''s interference, the chances of her team getting second would have been nonexistent. ¡°We are the Schnee family. The Schnee family do not lose. Your performance has made me the laughingstock among our people. As punishment, I am deducting 50,000 dollars from your allowance.¡± ¡°Father!!¡± Weiss pleaded with her eyes, but she knew such actions were futile. ¡°I will not hear it. I hope you will reflect on these events and make sure you don''t make this happen again.¡± ¡°..Yes, father. I understand.¡± ¡°Good. I must go now. Make sure you aren''t late to the meeting area.¡± With that last comment, Kalte left the room without delay. Weiss waited for time to pass by. After she was sure her father was gone, Weiss kicked the table in anger. The force flipped it in the air and landed upside down. She was absolutely livid. ¡°I should have won! There was no way that scoundrel could have beaten me fair and square. He must have cheated. This isn''t fair!¡± Weiss took out her rapier and stabbed the table repeatedly. The face of the boy that caused her so much misfortune caused her mood to turn sour. In her heart, she knew this wasn''t true, but her pride was stepped on by one of those animals. This lead to her making excuses for her shortcomings. ¡°It''s all because of him! If he wasn''t there, none of this would have happened! I will remove you from this competition as soon as I can. Just you wait, scum!¡± ======================================== ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± They were currently in the building where the contestants were to meet. The host was standing on the podium and speaking to the Hunters and Huntresses. ¡°And there you have it. These will be your new teammates for the first round tomorrow. Please get along with each other and exchange pointers. Those with same numbers will be on the same team. Have fun!¡± Robin and Weiss stared at each other. Both held a token on their hand, each one with the number eight. Nearby was a redhead and Diane who also held a number eight token. Diane looked at the two of them with an amused expression. ¡°..So.¡± Robin began. ¡°You''re my teammate huh? I''m Robin. Nice to meet you.¡± He held out his hand, but was promptly ignored by the girl. ¡°Hmph.¡± A vein popped on Robin''s forehead as he was once again put in an annoying situation. = ...God damn it all. = Chapter 50: Motivation ===================================== Chapter 50: Motivation ===================================== One hour ago.. ========================= The group left the building and into the parking lot. Each family split up and walked to their respective rental vehicles. Due to the crowd the stadium could actually support, the parking lot was actually one giant parking garage where all the vehicles were left in. Along the way to the car, Robin began some small talk with his parents. It had been a long time since he last saw them, and he missed them greatly. In particular, he told them about his sparring matches and other events, purposefully avoiding the topic about the White Fang. Throughout the year, Robin had kept in touch with both his parents about once a week. Occasionally, he would miss their weekly check up call due to missions since there was obviously no reception in the wild. Thus, Robin''s surprise was not unfounded when questioning the birth of this new little brother. ¡°I can''t believe you guys actually kept me in the dark about this for so long.¡± Robin said in disbelief. ¡°It''s only a harmless joke, honey.¡± Christina commented. ¡°Actually, it was Blake''s father, Ebon, that convinced us to not tell you. He said it be an ideal way to make our genius little boy speechless.¡± Since childhood, Robin wasn''t ever particularly noisy and misbehaving. Rather, it would be strange for a 16 year old to whine about a scrape on the knee. Of course, this didn''t mean he wasn''t ever surprised. He was always in awe of the technology and weaponry whenever it was displayed. Hearing his parents mentioning this quality about him, Robin could only shake his head at this unnecessarily drawn out prank. ¡°How old is Jackson again?¡± he inquired. ¡°Three weeks,¡± Joseph replied as he started the car. Christina strapped in little Jackson in his baby chair and sat next to him in the back while Robin took shotgun. ¡°His birthday was in June. Speaking of birthdays, yours was a while back but we never got to give you your present yet. We brought it with us so you''ll have it for the tournament.¡± Normally those things would be sent by mail, but unfortunately, as a faunus you can''t trust someone else to deliver your goods for you. ¡°Thank you! But I''m coming home for the summer holidays anyway. You didn''t need to.¡± ¡°Oh it''s no big deal. So you''re enjoying school?¡± ¡°Yes, mom. It''s working out just fine for me.¡± ¡°That''s great honey. I''m glad to hear it.¡± = ¡­ Strange. That sounded weird. = On the surface, the words seemed natural, yet Christina clearly had her eyebrows scrunched up with worry. In order to hide the fact, she had been looking at Jackson the entire time, but Robin who was hoping to master Disguise noticed this detail in expression by following Raven''s advice. ¡°Mom? Is something wrong?¡± Christina looked up in surprise. Upon seeing that she was exposed, her eyes flickered to her husband and back to Robin. He did not miss this detail. ¡°...What''s going on?¡± After coming to terms to what she had to say, Christina-- no, his mother-- looked at Robin with a firm look and asked-- ¡°Robin, are you or are you not still in the White Fang?¡± Robin''s dad listened intently on their conversation with his eyes still on the road. Instantly, the mood became serious. Little Jackson was sleeping soundly all the while. = Uh oh. = The fact that Team COBRA joined the White Fang was something already known to their parents. After all, this was when it was still a peaceful protest group. There was no reason to hide that fact. However, ever since the change, none of them ever talked about the activities inside the White Fang in fear of retribution by others or their parents. After all, they were breaking the law. = I didn''t want to tell them about this for as long as possible = Robin thought. = But now that they''re asking me directly. What should I do? Should I tell them the truth? Or maybe hide it? = Robin began using aura to speed up his mental process. By activating Enhance it felt as if time slowed down as he carefully weighed the pros and cons of each decision. Ultimately, Robin felt it was a wiser choice to tell his parents. Robin cherished his parents way too much to dare lie and betray their trust. He never wanted to do such a thing. = No I need to tell them since it''s come to this. = ¡°...Yes, I am.¡± he admitted. Christina face filled with despair while Joseph looked like this was to be expected. ¡°Well not anymore you''re not! From now on, you''re aren''t going to involve yourself with them. I don''t want you to concern yourself with them anymore. You hear me!¡± ¡°What! Mom!¡± = I didn''t expect them to take this well, but I didn''t think this would happen! = ¡°I''m sorry honey, but I am not going to let you waste your life in a jail cell.¡± ¡°I''ve already been in jail mom!¡± Robin replied. ¡°That is not the same and you know it! First of all, you were innocent. Second of all, you were lucky of leave the prison so early. Free of charge I might add. Bless that officer. If it was anyone else, I don''t even know what would''ve happened to you.¡± ¡°Mom, you don''t need to worry. I won''t get caught.¡± Robin tried to assure her. ¡°In fact, I''m the one keeping us in line in the first place. I''m always trying to tell the group to keep calm and not do something stupid.¡± This was true, but Christina shook her head in disbelief. ¡°Do you hear your son? Say something Joseph!¡± Robin''s father did not respond, but merely looked at his wife in the rear-view mirror which immediately silenced her. Joseph turned a corner entering the hotel parking lot. ¡°Robin,¡± his father began, ¡°why do you want to stay in the White Fang so much?¡± ¡°Because I believe I can make a difference.¡± he responded immediately. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°...Yes.¡± ¡°ok then. Tell me. What have you accomplished?¡± he asked.. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Tell me what you have accomplished.¡± ¡°We''ve stopped the deal between the Schnee Dust Company and Mr. Ugol. If we hadn''t, many people would''ve lost their jobs and--¡± ¡°That was at the sacrifice of 10 people who died because of an accident. That was not your efforts, and this was before your change.¡± Joseph retorted mercilessly. ¡°Give a different example.¡± he demanded. ¡°Shops that usually forbid any faunus from entering now accept both faunus and human customers.¡± ¡°They serve you out of fear, not respect. That means nothing.¡± Those words stung harder than any other. It was like saying all those efforts they''ve put forth so far was for naught. Robin was getting more and more annoyed the longer this conversation went on. ¡°..They''ve made an announcement about the mall accepting huge amount of employees. Both faunus and humans were allowed to apply.¡± ¡°Only 4 were accepted, leaving over 80 percent of the workers human. This is no different from before.¡± One after another, Joseph shot down every event Robin tried to pull out in his defense. His frustration reached a peak, and Robin couldn''t take it anymore. = Alright. Enough of this farce. = ¡°Dad. What is going on here?¡± ¡°What is going on? Robin, I''ll tell you what''s going on. Your mother and I believe you have nothing left to gain from associating yourself with the White Fang. It''s high time for you to leave.¡± ¡°Dad, I''m not leaving the White Fang.¡± ¡°You''re gonna do something you''re gonna regret, Robin.¡± ¡°NO, Dad, I''m not. I already told you guys. I''ve been keeping myself in check constantly this entire time. We haven''t done something we''ll regret and we''re not gonna.¡± ¡°You''ve already broken the law.¡± Christina barged in. ¡°It''s only damaging some property. Nothing permanent has been damaged.¡± ¡°Yet¡± Christina corrected. ¡°Who knows how long you can keep this up. Besides, it doesn''t change the fact you''ve already broken the law.¡± ¡°Mom. Seriously, now. The humans have done the exact same thing to us and gotten away with it. We''re just doing the same thing and you have definitely approved of it before.¡± During Robin''s early years, his belongings were indeed sabotaged from time to time when they were in the kingdom for the festival. There were times where him and his male friends sometimes confronted the bullies and administered revenge on behalf of all the kids of the village. Although young at the time, Robin definitely noticed the looks of approval by the adults. ¡°You actually saw us?¡± Christina looked shocked and inwardly slapped herself. No doubt both of his parents would take special care not to repeat the same mistake with Jackson. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Son, that isn''t the point and you know it.¡± Joseph intervened after noticing his wife was contemplating something irrelevant. ¡°Dad, you two have always been supportive of me before. In the first place, it was you guys who sent me to live here anyway. Why are you guys suddenly working against me?¡± They have long ago parked the car. Now they were just having the argument in the parking lot. Thankfully, they had their windows rolled up so nobody would hear them unless they were really close. Christina took Jackson out of the car in order for him to continue his sleep. She had a hunch things were gonna get heated up. ¡°Son, I don''t think you understand the position we are in. You probably don''t even realize the position YOU are in? Robin you are level 63! Look at me! I''m your father, yet I''m level 80! In about another 5 years you are going to surpass me. From a young age, you were gifted with a smart mind and a strong body. If that wasn''t enough, you have inherited one of the most versatile classes in the world! You are a Mercenary son! Since we never wanted you to be arrogant we wanted you to learn on your own without telling you, but I''ll tell you now. Not only does Mercenary give us the ability to master weapons faster son, but it also leave no restriction on skills either! I''m sure you realized it by now right? Ever wonder why after someone uses a skill, you suddenly can use it too? Or maybe why reading a book you''re so fond of causes a window to pop up? The only reason you can''t learn it is if it pertains to a person''s semblance. Otherwise the sky is the limit. We sent you to the kingdom because in the kingdom you''ll meet so many different individuals than in our tiny little village. You''ll be able to grow, meet new people, and achieve the dream of becoming the strongest that you''re so set on! We''ve always been supportive of you, son! That hasn''t and it won''t ever change! But what has changed is the White Fang.¡± ¡°The White Fang is a protest group Dad.¡± ¡°They''re a terrorist group.¡± he retorted. His father''s speech moved Robin to his very core. They were willing to send him off to this congested discriminated kingdom for the sake of his future. All because he said he wanted to be strong. He was moved, but there was something left for him to say. ¡°Dad, I do want to become the strongest. But I don''t think you understand why. Why am I focused to being the best? Because if I''m the strongest, who dares to try to pick on me? Discriminate against me? Hate me? If I am the strongest, who dares to take advantage of the people I care about? Who would dare to mock the hobbies that I love?¡± This was the first time he ever laid out his heart, his feelings, his pride. Robin cherished his current life more than anything right now. Never did he want to go back to how he was in the past. Weak, feeble, a laughingstock. ¡°If I am strong, I can protect everything I care about. One of those things is my pride. If I stay in the White Fang, I can fight back against this cruel system. This disgusting system that kicks us down because of race, that makes our lives harder than it has to be. I want to change things, Dad. And I think I can do it here.¡± Both Joseph and Christina were moved to tears. His mother silently listened outside using Enhance, but she didn''t dare to interrupt. His father turn back around and silently brooded in his seat. After what seemed like a century he turned back around and faced Robin. ¡°...Do you really believe you can be the strongest?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Robin replied with resolution. ¡°That you can protect your ideals!¡± ¡°YES!!¡± With each question, his reply got stronger. ¡°And you''ll protect everyone you care about?!¡± Joseph''s voice yelled. ¡°YES!!!¡± ¡°EVEN BLAKE?!¡± ¡°YEEESS!!¡± =..Wait what?= ¡°Ok then.¡± Joseph smiled wryly. ¡°You can stay in the White Fang.¡± =...WHAT!= ¡°Huh?!¡± ¡°You''re a smart boy Robin. I believe you won''t do something stupid. Your mother and I was just worried you were being foolish and letting your emotions control you. But after seeing your resolve, I''ve decided forcing you to leave isn''t necessary.¡± =..Dad you might say that''s ok, but Mom''s glare isn''t sending the same message. = Christina was glaring through the window at her husband. ¡°What the fuck¡± was plastered all over her face. Joseph obviously ignored such a face and made his own return to a serious expression. ¡°However, this is on one condition. If in any case, and I don''t care what it is, the White Fang ever crosses the line you know they should not be crossing, then I want you to pull out immediately. You and your friends. Do you understand me?¡± ¡°Yes Sir!¡± ¡°Good.¡± Joseph nodded approvingly and tossed Robin a duffel bag. ¡°This has your change of clothes. Go wash yourself up. You smell. We''ll join you later.¡± He pushed a button in the front which caused the back door to automatically open and eject Robin out of the car. Of all the things, his parents actually rented one of the jokes cars apparently just for this moment. The force was so strong it sent Robin tumbling head over heels and into the aisle. = Oof. Ack. Stop..It.. = Eventually Robin hit something and caused his body to stop rolling. Robin was slightly disoriented but gathered his wits quickly thanks to his training. = My family is full of jokers...This might actually be Conner''s influence on them over the years.. = ¡°You ok there?¡± a voice called out. ¡°Oh my god. I''m so sorry!¡± It was then that Robin realized that what stopped him was a person and not a thing. He quickly stood up to apologize to the individual, only to be even more shocked when he realized the person who had stopped him. ¡°No worries,¡± Ozpin said, ¡°Just because I keep a cane with me doesn''t mean I''m fragile. It''ll take a lot more than that to knock me down.¡± Ozpin chuckled as Robin stood dumbfounded and examined the legend in front of him. This was the man who started it all, and the same man who gave that emotional speech at the stadium earlier. However, what shocked Robin the most was his appearance. Ozpin, in his black suit and dark green pants, looked incredibly young! = Wasn''t this man supposed to have lived 80 years ago? How come he looks thirty?! Hmm? What''s that thing on his green scarf? A.. cross? = Ozpin smiled the youth in front of him. ¡°May I have the pleasure of knowing your name young one?¡± ¡°Ah- My name is Robin S. Wolfheart. Mr. Ozpin.¡± ¡°Please, call me Professor... S.?¡± ¡°S stands for Silver Professor.¡± ¡°Ah yes, the color that shines brightest in the moonlight. How fitting. If you don''t mind, Robin, I''m going to have to apologize.¡± ¡°What for, Professor?¡± ¡°It seems I have by coincidence overheard some of your speech earlier. I must say, it was rather shocking to me.¡± Robin''s face flushed with embarrassment. = Talk about bad first impressions. = ¡°Oh no need to feel embarrassed. I was impressed actually. Becoming the strongest huh? That sure does bring back memories. Honestly, the answer to many of our problems today lies in the simple things that we''ve long forgotten.¡± Ozpin looked into the distance, presumably reminiscing about some past. Robin was no fool. Even if Ozpin overheard his conversation with his parents, there was no need to bring it up. Especially not for someone he had never met. Since Robin doubted Ozpin really wanted to embarrass him, Robin assumed Ozpin wanted to say something else, and he was right. ¡°..After listening to your speech I wanted to correct something. Take it how you will. It can serve as a warning, a correction, a teaching, or just the ramblings of an old man...But even the strongest man won''t be able to protect everything. Not even if he had all the time in the world.¡± Ozpin then immediately started to walk towards the hotel. His message apparently finished. ¡°It was nice meeting you Robin. I hope to see more of you in the tournament later.¡± ¡°It was nice meeting you too, Professor Ozpin.¡± = Even the strongest man can''t protect everything?..But then what does that mean about my goal? Has everything I''ve worked for all for nothing?.. = Ozpin''s words lingered in Robin''s mind. It was only thanks to his father honking the horn that Robin remembered the original goal of getting inside the hotel. = ..Whatever. Thinking too hard about this won''t solve anything. = Thus, Robin made his way into the hotel where he went from one dangerous situation to another. From his parents conversation to the thing that is called.. hot springs. All the while, he casually forgot about Joseph mentioning Blake in their conversation. Chapter 51: Feelings ===================================== Chapter 51: Feelings ===================================== As Robin walked into the hotel, he was greeted by Conner who had arrived before him. ¡°Hey Robin! Over here!¡± ¡°Coming. Coming.¡± ¡°This hotel has a hot spring! Come on, the rest of us are already in it!¡± ¡°..Wait what! Is it mixed baths?!¡± Robin exclaimed. ¡°No. no. I meant Adam and Osagi..What did you think I meant?¡± Robin blushed. He mentally reprimanded himself for thinking of something foolish. Conner smiled, obviously reading his expression. The two of them signed in with the front desk and headed to the bathing area. After entering the locker room, they stripped themselves of their clothes and grabbed a towel. Upon stepping out of the locker room, Robin sucked in his breath. The hot springs was indoors for the sake of privacy. The walls was decorated with fancy decorations, and there was artificial rocks bordering the water. The bath itself was huge. Robin stepped inside and sank into the bath, allowing the water level to reach his shoulders. The steam stuck to his face as the hot water cleanse his body. = Ahh this is great. I''ve always read about hot springs in manga, but this is the first time I actually took a bath in one. Wow, I could stay here forever. = ¡°This feels amazing.¡± Conner sighed, obviously enjoying the water as well. ¡°Oh look who finally showed up. What took you so long?¡± Two individuals waddled over to the two of them. The one who spoke was Adam. ¡°We''re not that late.¡± Conner replied. ¡°Plus it''s not we missed anything either right?¡± ¡°As for why I was late, my parents were talking to me about the White Fang.¡± ¡°You too?¡± Robin asked. ¡°Pretty sure this was the same for all of us.¡± Adam said. ¡°I don''t get what they''re so worried about.¡± ¡°They just care about us is all.¡± Conner muttered. ¡°..Despite how he acts, the big man actually cares about me." Adam and Robin gave Conner a look. The three of them grew up together, so it was obvious they would pick up a change in mood. ¡°What''s the matter Conner?¡± Robin asked. ¡°Oh it''s nothing. I just thought I might have been too harsh against Dad. Probably should apologize.¡± Adam looked up at the ceiling in disbelief. He was hearing something ridiculous today. ¡°Conner regretting about being a jerk? What is the world coming to?¡± ¡°Screw you, JES. The world will end when your ego does.¡± ¡°Oh, then we''re safe.¡± Osagi commented. The three boys laughed at Adam''s expense. Robin noticed Osagi felt a bit excluded when they talked about the White Fang. After all, he was the only one in the group that wasn''t a faunus. Thankfully, they directed the conversation into a less awkward topic...Although, awkward depends on the perspective. ¡°Speaking of things that won''t end, how long are you planning on ignoring Blake?¡± Without any warning, Conner dropped a bomb right on Robin. The person in question froze before gathering his wits. ¡°I don''t know what you''re talking about. What happened with Blake?¡± ¡°Oh no you don''t. Robin, I can read expressions like the way you read a book, and I''m willing to bet that is the face of a man who''s lying.¡± Robin suddenly became fascinated with a rock. Osagi and Adam leaned forward with interest. ¡°What''s this? You actually knew about Blake''s feelings?¡± Osagi inquired. ¡°Oh course he knows.¡± Conner said. ¡°He''s one of the smartest kids here. How is it possible this guy would be ignorant enough to not even take a hint?¡± Conner spoke the truth. Robin used to be someone who had to watch his every move. He had to be careful not to expose himself in a way to be bullied, but they didn''t know that. In addition, Robin began observing people''s facial expressions. How could he not notice Blake''s feelings? Not only that, he himself had begun looking at Blake more often recently as well. ¡°...¡± ¡°Wait. What? Does this mean you''ve been acting like a fool this entire time?¡± Adam asked. Conner answered in Robin''s steed. ¡°Oh yeah. This guy has been blowing off Blake''s attitude and convincing himself ¡°Oh she doesn''t like me. There''s no way.¡± this entire time.¡± Conner smiled wryly. Robin stared at him in disbelief. = How the fuck does he even know that? = ¡°Well? Answer the question.¡± ¡°...Ha.. Yes. I know about her feelings.¡± ¡°¡°¡°Aaaaaaaay!¡±¡±¡± The boys raised their hands in the air. = Are you people five? = ¡°As for whether I''ll continue to ignore them. I don''t know..¡± ¡°What? Why?! Could it be you like another girl?¡± ¡°No no. He definitely likes Blake back. I just don''t know why.¡± Conner rejected Adam''s question. = Again. How!? = Osagi looked directly in Robin''s eyes. ¡°Or maybe...you''re...GAY?¡± They all simultaneously backed away. ¡°I am straight damnit!¡± They sighed in relief. Their one thing that they didn''t want pierced was safe. ¡°Sigh..Look. I know about her feelings ok? And I kinda like her back..¡± ¡°So what''s the problem?¡± Conner asked. Robin indicated with his finger that he was getting there. ¡°...I just.. I''m not sure if I wanna be in a relationship.¡± ¡°..What.¡± ¡°I mean. What if it doesn''t work out?¡± Robin''s fear of confessing was imprinted on his mind. Thus, he avoided the topic of girlfriends like the plague. Just getting himself to open up to these guys was a miracle only thanks to the friendly environment in the village. Otherwise, who knows. Maybe Robin would have been a loner like Raven. ¡°Of course it''s gonna work out.¡± Adam admonished. ¡°You like her. She likes you. What is there to not work out?¡± ¡°Wait. I think he''s talking about after the relationship.¡± Conner said. Robin nodded. ¡°What if we break up? Are we gonna stop being friends? Drift apart awkwardly? I want us to be friends forever. That''s why I try so hard to keep you guys in the White Fang in the first place. What''s the point if all of us aren''t together?¡± ¡°Wow thanks.¡± Osagi sarcastically said. Despite the side comment, the boys did understand Robin''s feeling were genuine. Robin cherished his current relationships. They were precious to him only because he understood the loneliness without them. ¡°Look.¡± Osagi said in a serious tone. ¡°You don''t know if things are gonna stay the same forever, even if you want them to. Maybe in the future, you''ll still be friends. Maybe you will be husband and wife. Or who knows, you might despise each other to the very core. Point is, you never know, but if you don''t take that chance while you still got it, you''re just gonna regret it.¡± ¡°Well look at Mr. Philosopher over here. Write a book about it why don''t you.¡± Conner joked. ¡°Actually, I think there is one.¡± Robin said. """...¡±¡±¡±. ¡°Robin..¡± ¡°Ok ok. You make a decent point. But I still don''t know if I should be the one to bring this up you know? Her feelings for me are stronger right? Why do I have to approach her?¡± ¡°Are you kidding me?!¡± Adam exclaimed. ¡°I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. Ok, listen. Girls work like this. They''ll be the first to fall for you. They''ll like you longer than you like them, and they''ll hate you longer than you hate them. But no matter what happens, girls NEVER approach you first.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Robin asked. = That''s certainly different from manga. Girls always confess to the popular guy. = ¡°You never struck me as the guy who understood girls.¡± Osagi said, impressed by his explanation. ¡°I dated a couple of girls in our village.¡± ¡°Ha.. I still don''t get what they saw in you.¡± Conner shook his head. In reality, Adam was tall and has a broad build no thanks to his bull heritage. His pride and ego for some reason struck the ladies as boyfriend material. As for Robin, he certainly didn''t lose to Adam in terms of looks. Even after having a second child, Robin''s mother looked beautiful with skin that was smooth even now. Her hair showed no signs of gray and was a brilliant silver. Joseph, on the other hand, had hints of gray on the edges. Thankfully for Robin, there was no signs of balding, and he still looked as tough and handsome as ever with gray and silver blending together. For Robin who was now 15, his shoulders were broad and muscles were firm from exercise. His skin was smooth just like his mother''s and his expression was just like his father''s. Since Robin inherited his dad''s eyes, he gave off a wild impression when combined with his looks and aura, but for those who knew him, they felt protected in his presence. This was another reason as to why he became the leader of the group. Despite his good looks, Robin was without a doubt, a nerd. He spent time reading comics, education books, and -in his other free time- sparring to become stronger. Conner was also a decent looker. Despite being one of the shorter members, he displayed a playful nature and deep understanding of others. It was only due to his rather annoying shenanigans that turned the ladies away. Osagi stood in the middle ground. He was taller than Conner, but shorter than Robin. His muscles were the most developed out of all four of them. Most likely, it was due to carrying his gigantic shield around. Robin looked at each of them. Then crossed his arms before speaking. ¡°You know, you guys keep talking about who I like, but what about you guys? I don''t see any of you with girlfriends.¡± ¡°Oooh. You guys seem like you''re talking about something interesting. Mind if we join in?¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The four of them turned around to find two more individuals walking into the hot spring. One of them was a blonde hair monkey faunus, evident by his tail. The other was similar in height but with blue hair. Both said people had dark tanned skin. The other three didn''t have a clue who they were, but Robin recognized one of them immediately. ¡°Sun! Come in! The water''s fine. Guys I''d like for you to meet Sun Wukong. He was one of my teammates for today''s preliminary round. Sun, this is Osagi, Adam, and Conner. I''m afraid I don''t know the other guy though.¡± ¡°Hey! I''m Sun. Nice to meet you guys. This is my original teammate, Neptune.¡± ¡°Sup.¡± ¡°Hey there! Nice hair man. Rocking the blue.¡± ¡°Thanks, Conner, right?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Cool. Nice tail you got there. You got a nice shade of orange as well. Thanks.¡± The guys exchanged pleasantries as the newcomers adjusted themselves in the water. ¡°So what were you guys doing?¡± ¡°Well, we were talking about girls.¡± Conner explained. = More like one-sided bullying me about mine. = ¡°Ooh speaking of girls. I found one I really like recently.¡± Sun said. ¡°Actually, didn''t you also meet a nice girl Neptune?¡± ¡°Please don''t talk about it.¡± ¡°Hmm what happened?¡± ============================ During the preliminary round, Raven found herself group with a bunch of guys. One of which constantly tried to flirt with her. It annoyed her to no end, because she could see right through his act of trying to play the role of a cool guy. Although his looks was decent, Raven was never looking for a man, and especially not one like him. He was so distasteful, Raven had already forgotten his name. Currently, Raven was taking a bath in the hot spring of the hotel. There was actually not that many girls in there. It was just her and her roommates from Myriad. She nonchalantly washed herself as she recalled her meeting with uncle Qrow. ================== ¡°I''m glad you''ve been attending school just like I''ve asked..but would it hurt you to try during the competition? Aren''t you the slightly bit interested in comparing your strength with others your age?¡± ¡°Nope...Besides, you know I can''t show my full strength uncle. What if someone recognizes my skills when I use the EoD? I can''t let myself be discovered. It wouldn''t do for the search at all.¡± Although the real reason for Raven trying to disqualify herself early in the match was to preserve her secrets, because she had raised her hand to announce it after being berated by Neptune, it looked like she had given up because she simply refused to deal with him. ¡°Speaking of secret identities, how dare you try to go undercover by yourself again. How many times do I have to say it, don''t take missions by yourself. You saw what happened to Summer.¡± Qrow has been well aware of Raven''s secret alias as the Grim Reaper. Actually, he visited earlier in the year and confronted Raven about this. She understood Qrow''s worry for her safety, but frankly she didn''t care. ¡°But I can''t just sit and do nothing Uncle Qrow. It''s been over ten years! He''s still out there doing who knows what! How come I have to play ''student'' when he''s out there murdering how many more?!¡± ¡°Sigh... do you know what I''ve been doing since you entered school?¡± Raven shook her head. ¡°I became a teacher at Beacon Academy.¡± ¡°..What.. You kicked me out of the house, so you could become a teacher!¡± ¡°I always was a teacher. I only took extended breaks whenever there was a mission assigned to me by Ozpin. Unlike what you believe, Raven, I am not a Dark Hunter 24/7, and neither should you. Preserving your normal life is equally important. Otherwise, you''ll wind up alone in the future.¡± ¡°That''s fine with me.¡± Qrow was shocked speechless. As far as Raven was concerned, this life was a punishment from beginning to end. There was no room for fun and games. Just kill one person, and move on to the next. Qrow realized if Raven continued on this path, she would have nothing left after killing Summer''s murderer. What then? The Organization? She was already obsessed with Jack Ripper as it was. ¡°Look Raven. I know how important this is to you, but you have to understand. Not everything will fall out in front of you when you want it to. Ozpin has other units just for information gathering. When we''ve gathered enough information, he dispatches us. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, but--¡± ¡°Good. Then I don''t want to hear about anymore of this Grim Reaper figure and her exploits. It''s too dangerous for you to work alone. If you want to do any more missions as a Dark Hunter, you do it together with me. Got it?¡± ¡°Yes, uncle.¡± ¡°No need to be so overbearing, Qrow. She''s still a child.¡± ¡°Instructor Ozpin! Why are you here at the hotel?¡± ¡°Call me Professor. I am no longer your teacher, Qrow. I am just your superior. I was hoping we would have a chance to talk, so I came. In fact, I just finished talking to an interesting youth outside.¡± ¡°Of course, we''ll speak in my room.¡± ¡°Go on ahead without me. I wish to say a couple words to our young member here.¡± Qrow walked away, still worried about Raven''s attitude. Raven stood tall, showing absolute respect for Ozpin. ¡°No need to be so tense. I just wanted to speak with you normally.. What do you think about your uncle?¡± ¡°..I ¡­ I think he''s being overprotective.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes. Ever since Summer died, he''s been nitpicking about every little thing that I do. He even sent me off to this academy regardless of the fact I''ve taken his training seriously from the beginning. Now he refuses to let me work alone. I''m not a child. I can handle things myself!¡± ¡°...Well have you tried looking from his perspective? Take for example, his love life.¡± Raven showed confusion on her face. Qrow seldom talked about his love life. As far as she knew, he was a lonely man that took to raising her alone for some reason. ¡°I can see he never told you.Well I won''t go too deep into it, but did you know your aunt was actually supposed to marry him and not your father?¡± Raven shook her head. This was the first time she heard this. ¡°Yes Summer was actually supposed to be with Qrow. Summer always cared about others far more than about herself. She was like that even when she was a child. When your father lost Udane, they made a decision that Summer would marry Taiyang instead to ease his pain. Of course, this wasn''t sudden, but over the course of time, she came to realize her feelings for Taiyang. Conflicted over your father or your uncle, it was your uncle that pushed her away. They both knew how fragile Taiyang was, and thus your uncle gave up on his love for the sake of his brother. Really, I can''t help but feel sorry. It''s as if tragedy runs in the relationships. From me, to them, and now to you. Your uncle was crushed when Summer died, and probably sees you as the daughter he never had. Try taking his words with a new outlook and maybe tolerate some of his decisions. You never know. It might work out better than you expect.¡± ¡°...Can we make a deal?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°If I do this, can you promise me that when you send out the mission, we get to be the first to receive it.¡± ¡°...You''re still young and inexperienced. Even if you''ve killed people before, infiltration is far more difficult than you can imagine. Qrow is the only exception from the assassin group who I would dare to allow to take these missions.¡± Raven opened a small black and red portal the size of the palm of her hand and had it float in midair. ¡°I''d say I can also count as an exception.¡± ¡°We''ll see.¡± ================== ¡°Eek! You hear that Blake? Your feelings reached him!¡± The sound of girls squealing pulled Raven back to the present. She did not intend to enjoy the water and got up to leave. ============================ Meanwhile on the boy''s side... ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°... Dude, that sucks.¡± Robin and Sun patted Neptune on the back while Conner and Osagi gave him looks of pity. ¡°You haaaad to flirt with Raven of all people. Bad luck.¡± ¡°You can blame me, man.¡± Neptune complained. ¡°It''s the first time I''ve seen any girls from the different kingdom and She. Was. Hot.¡± ¡°But don''t you see girls in their bikinis at Mistral? You have beaches there right?¡± ¡°Even you would get tired of looking at the same thing over and over.¡± Sun answered. ¡°Although, it''s nice to look at, new stuff is always refreshing.¡± The boys nodded in understanding, especially Osagi who completely understood Neptune''s strife at failing to woo Raven. ¡°Wait. You said you also had a girl you like right, Sun? Who is it?¡± Sun beamed as he recalled that elegant figure. ¡°Yeah, she was fine. Slender figure, amber-colored eyes, long black hair. God. I never got to talk to her though. But man. She was cute.¡± =... That sounds way too familiar. = ¡°Wait a moment. Was she..yay tall?¡± Robin made a motion with his hand. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Wears purple eye shadow?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Sun said excitedly. ¡°Her''s name''s Blake. Do you know her?¡± ¡°¡±¡±....¡±¡±¡± Adam, Robin, Conner, and Osagi didn''t say a word. Sun and Neptune looked confused at their silence. Ophelia''s voice was heard over on the girl''s side. ¡°Pandemoniuuuuuum!¡± Chapter 52: Feelings (Part 2) ===================================== Chapter 52: Feelings (Part 2) ===================================== Conner looked at the wall with a grin, imagining the situation on the girl''s side. Meanwhile, Robin is desperately trying to ignore the fact Blake probably heard everything he said earlier. There was a different crisis in front of him at the moment. Adam and Osagi eagerly watched the situation unfold. Conner fired the first shot. ¡°You might as well give up.¡± Conner said mischievously. ¡°She belongs to Robin.¡± ¡°What!¡± Robin immediately caught onto Conner''s motive and glared at him disapprovingly. Unfortunately, it was too late. ¡°Wait really?¡± Sun sank into depression. ¡°Darn, she was really pretty too. Sigh...but I don''t wanna steal your girl, man. Shoot.¡± The three boys looked disappointed at his reaction. If he doesn''t fight for it, it''s not interesting. ¡°Ah, she not really my girlfriend.¡± Robin corrected reflexively. Upon seeing Sun''s depression, Robin felt the need to clarify their relationship. The boys smiled knowingly while Robin realized his mistake. This was exactly what they wanted. If they were stranded on an island, then Robin did the equivalent of shooting his own radio. ¡°Oh?¡± Sun immediately cheered up. ¡°So there''s hope for me then?¡± ¡°...Well. Yeah.. but..¡± ¡°Great! I''ll ask her out the next time I see her!¡± ¡°What? Why? You only just met her today, right?¡± Robin said flabbergasted. ¡°Yeah, so what''s the problem?¡± ¡°I mean, you might hate her personality. I mean, she could be antisocial, a bookworm, moody. You don''t know.¡± ¡°Well then I''ll find out when we go out.¡± ¡°...¡± Robin''s mouth hung in the open. Faced with Sun''s straightforward nature, he was at a loss of what to do. On a side note, this was the first time in a long while Conner or Adam saw Robin flustered to this extent. Usually, he was calm, confident, and collected, not even when gunfire broke out among protesters could shake Robin, yet the appearance of this faunus did exactly that. They were enjoying this immensely. = If I say nothing, Blake might go out with this guy. But if I do say something, that would mean I would have to admit to Blake (face-to-face) about my feelings. Either way, I''m probably going to regret this. Forget the White Fang, this is the bigger crisis here! = Of course, Blake would not say yes to Sun. Why would she after hearing Robin confess his feelings? But for young Robin, who was in the presence of a love rival for the first time, he forgot about this detail and was concentrated on the fact that he might not get Blake. Images of Sun and Blake going out to the movies, shopping together, kissing each other flashed through his mind until Sun suddenly got up. = SCREW THIS! = ¡°Ah, man that''s a relief. Hey, you guys think we''ll run into her here? I''m gonna wander a bit and see if I can find--¡± ¡°You can''t do that.¡± Robin said, suddenly standing up as well. ¡°?? Why not?¡± ¡°Cause she''s mine.¡± ¡°You.. literally just said she wasn''t your girlfriend.¡± ¡°I know what I said. And I''m saying she''s mine.¡± Sun was no fool. It didn''t take him long to register what exactly Robin was trying to convey. ¡°..I see. So you like her too. But you''re not her boyfriend, right?¡± ¡°No.¡± Sun stepped closer to Robin until their faces were inches away. ¡°Then you can''t stop me.¡± Conner and Osagi started to slap each other on the arm. It was finally happening. ¡°I would gladly step down if your were her boyfriend, but you''re not. You two aren''t together, so you two are not an item. In other words, it''s fair game.¡± Sun''s stance was already that of a gentleman. Normally, even if she had a girlfriend, there was no reason for Sun to not try to obtain her, yet he insists he would give up the moment they got together. Wouldn''t it be rude to tell him to step down now? = Even if I can''t tell him to step down, that doesn''t mean I should either. = Robin''s heart swelled with jealousy at the thought that someone else would get Blake. He normally only got heated up for fights, but this was the first time for love. ¡°Fine.¡± Robin said. ¡°We compete for Blake then. Fair and square. Whoever she chooses, becomes the boyfriend. The loser doesn''t complain. Agreed?¡± Sun nodded. ¡°Agreed.¡± The two boys stared at one another. With the air between them seeming to spark, Conner suddenly jumped in between the two and patted each of them on the shoulder. ¡°Nice, nice! What a lovely situation this turned out to be! Making friends, making enemies, making frenemies. Ah, such is youth.¡± With Conner''s comment seeming to resemble that of an old man, the atmosphere between Robin and Sun was dispersed, leaving them awkwardly standing far too close to one another. = Lovely situation my ass! This is your fault in the first place! = Seeking revenge, Robin turned the tables on Conner. ¡°Speaking of which, we haven''t seem to talk about you yet.¡± Robin said. ¡°...Eh?¡± = Gotcha. = If someone had to describe Robin''s face right now, it would be that of the devil. Adam also did not miss this opportunity to return the favor of all of Conner''s pranks he had to suffer through all these years. ¡°Yeah, that''s right.¡± Adam continued. ¡°Who''s your girl?¡± ¡°Naaah. You guys are being silly. I prank girls. I don''t love them.¡± ¡°Nope. ¡°I can read your expressions like the way you read a book, and that is the face of a man who''s lying.¡±¡± Conner frown after hearing his own words being used against him. Sun sank back into the bath next to Neptune. It was their turn to watch eagerly. ¡°...Ophelia.¡± Conner murmured as softly as possible. This wasn''t something he wanted the girls to hear. Adam, Robin, and Osagi all simultaneously threw their heads back. = Ophelia? The same girl that has been hurting him for the sake of raising points in Sadism? How is it possible? I mean, she''s always hitting him and trying to get in his way when he talks to Amy, but I guess they have been talking to each other a lot recently. Still I don''t..oh my god she''s a tsundere. = Robin slapped his forehead when he realized just what kind of relationship those two had. = Wait a second. Didn''t Conner also confidently say Ophelia would join us again after leaving the White Fang? I think at one point Ophelia also hated when Amy grabbed Conner''s hand when they first met too! My god, the signs were all there! = ¡°...Are you sure you don''t have a hidden stat for Masochism?¡± Osagi asked. ¡°Of course not!¡± Conner protested. The boys unanimously doubted that. ¡°Sorry, who exactly is -AOSIEFM¡± Conner put his hand over Neptune''s mouth. Placing a finger over his lips, Conner then pointed at the wall. The boys followed his finger and gazed at the wall. At the top of the wall was a small slit, capable of sliding so that people on both sides could communicate with each other. The slit was slightly open, and the other side was dead silent. Conner jumped out of the bath, walked up the walls, shut the slit that he purposefully left open until now, and then somersaulted off the wall and back in his original position. The boys all applauded Conner''s display. Obviously, it wasn''t just Robin who had trained himself this past year. Based just on his movements, you would not be able to tell that Conner was actually a lazy, easygoing prankster. ¡°Ophelia is a girl that Robin, Adam, and I have known since childhood.¡± Conner''s tone was very serious, and his voice was quiet. He obviously didn''t want the other party to hear him speak. ¡°She''s a overly serious person that is the daughter of a doctor and is Blake''s best friend. Sometimes she can be a bit annoying at times, but she''s actually a really caring person that blames herself more than anyone. Not only that, she doesn''t judge people by rumors and only trusts what she herself sees. Ophelia is a wonderful girl, and I really, really like her.¡± Conner''s eyes showed no signs of joking or mockery. Without a doubt these were his true feelings. ¡°Ophelia huh. She sounds like a nice girl.¡± Neptune said. ¡°You mind if you and I also compete over her?¡± = Didn''t you like Raven? That was fast recovery...= ¡°Oh sure,¡± Conner said smile with something that could not be described as a smile. ¡°But you better make sure you''re ready to be hit with a poop bomb that will make you smell for the next three months.¡± ¡°Haha. What are you talking about?¡± Neptune laughed nervously. ¡°There''s no way something like that-¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Oh it exists alright.¡± The one who spoke was Adam. ¡°The effect is guaranteed.¡± Adam shivered as he recalled the time he pissed off Conner. No matter how big Adam''s ego was, he learned that day why one should never make a prankster angry. ¡°I was just joking man I won''t touch her please don''t do that to me.¡± Just like that Neptune''s attitude did a complete 180 as the apology streamed out of his mouth so quickly even Conner was shocked at the change. ¡°..as long as you understand.¡± ¡°Now I''m sure we''ve been in here long enough.¡± Osagi said getting up. ¡°Lets get out of here.¡± ¡°Stooooop!¡± Conner suddenly bursts out and started to pant heavily. ¡°You fools. We come to a hot spring bath, and you don''t even consider doing this at least once?!¡± = Oh here we go. = Robin stood up and started to dry himself up with the towel. The other boys didn''t catch on to what Conner was planning. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Sun questioned. ¡°I''m talking about peeping of course!¡± = I knew it. = ¡°Not interested. I already got someone I like dude.¡± Sun said. Conner wasn''t convinced. ¡°Oh? And what if I said Blake was on the other side?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Conner wrapped one of his arm over Sun''s shoulder and pointed them at the slit. ¡°Just imagine that elegant figure. Her sleek skin glistening in the water. Her body naked in all it''s glory. Those huge, round boobs floating in the water.¡± Conner leaned closer to Sun''s ears. ¡°They''re D- cups.¡± Both Sun and Robin sucked in their breathe. = No! I can''t be fooled! This is gonna end the same way every other time has ended: we all get caught and Ophelia pokes Conner''s eyes out. = Although Robin said that to himself, he did not leave. He merely stood at the side spectating. Osagi who was beginning to leave was stopped by Conner''s next words. ¡°Raven could be there too you know.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°How silly.¡± Adam scoffed. ¡°I''m leaving.¡± ¡°You''re not going to see any of those foreign beauties, Adam?¡± At the mention of foreign beauties, Neptune was roped in as well. = Oh. So it wasn''t Raven or Ophelia, but just pretty girls in general. Wow. = ¡°Nah,¡± Adam replied. ¡°I''m good.¡± ¡°Ok then.¡± Conner shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I guess after today you''ll be the only one who hasn''t seen a girl naked.¡± Adam froze midstep. = Aaaaaand we lost Adam. = ¡°I mean, Robin has already seen Blake''s body, so he''s beaten you already.¡± Sun glared at Robin. He was not pleased with this new information. ¡°I didn''t see her naked, she was wearing a towel!¡± Sun''s expression just got worse. ¡°Potato, potahto. So, what are you gonna do, Adam?¡± Even if he asked, the answer was already obvious. How could the prideful Adam let himself be the last to experience this? Nope, they were all staying no matter what they had said previouly. In the end, they couldn''t ignore the call of this devil''s voice. ¡°Give me a boost.¡± Conner demanded. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Osagi comply and propped Conner''s feet on his shoulders. Like this, Conner''s face just reached the height of the slit. ¡°Onward men! To the Promised Lands! Ooh rah!¡± ¡°¡°¡°Ooh rah!¡±¡±¡± Just when Conner was about to open it, the slit opened it by itself. Two fingers jabbed Conner right in the eye sockets. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Conner recoiled backwards and lost his balance. Thanks to this, both Conner and Osagi lost their footing, and they landed back into the hot spring. ¡°We can hear you!¡± With those words said, Ophelia shut the slit and jumped off of Amy''s shoulders. Conner resurfaced and screamed back at her. ¡°You bitch! Do you realize what would have happened if I hadn''t used Enhance?! I would be blind right now!¡± = So you were expecting to fail! = Robin shook his head and headed to the locker room. After looking at the clock, he yelled a reminder for the rest of the boys. ¡°We should get going soon or we''ll be late.¡± =========================================== Kalte Schnee was currently sitting in a cafe of a five star hotel. Why was he here enjoying tea when he should be contacting his insider to ¡°adjust¡± the grouping of the combatants for the sake of his daughter''s victory? The reason was simple. This young lady in front of him forced him to stopped halfway to his location. Now what could possibly be so important that this person could stop him? The answer lied in the documents on the table. ¡°Who are you?¡± Kalte asked. ¡°I''m honored. The famous Kalte Schnee is asking for my name.¡± she said. ¡°Although, I''m sure you already know it since you''ve tampered with the competition through various means. Bribing officials, bringing personal equipment, and -ooh my favorite- altering your daughter''s teammates.¡± ¡°I know who you are, Diane Geotal. I meant who are you to be able to come across these documents?¡± Kalte pointed his finger at the table. ¡°Oh which one? The one where you illegally imported Dust? Or maybe hiring someone to steal the rights to land that was in the way of your expansion of power?¡± Kalte scowled at her. Who was this 18 year old? Where did she come from? What did she want? Kalte voiced these questions to her, receiving this response. ¡°I want control. I like to keep things in check. When things don''t go the way I want it to, I get mad, and you don''t want me to get mad now would you?¡± Kalte felt like he was getting a headache. He was getting blackmailed, by a child nevertheless. If this got out, what would happen to his company? To make matters worse, Diane kept speaking in circles. ¡°Just tell me what you want.¡± ¡°Hm. Impatient. Especially right after I said I liked to be in control. Well, no matter. Rumor has it you''ve struck a deal with the military in Atlas. Creating some new kind of weapon, correct? I want access to those models. In return, I give you back these extra records of your.. not so honest work.¡± Kalte was shocked. This was decided just yesterday over a private phone line. How does a mere student know this? He originally thought she wanted money, but Kalte suddenly realized this was something bigger. And the bigger it was, the bigger the headache. He decided he wanted this to end as soon as possible. ¡°Fine. However, in return I want copies of everything you have right here given to me.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. We have plenty more. You''ve honestly made this easier by involving yourself with shady people, so I appreciate it.¡± The head of the Schnee Dust Company was certainly learning to regret his actions. The line ¡°you reap what you sow¡± never felt clearer to him, but in reality, the true effect this deal won''t show it''s effect until two years later. Just as Diane was leaving, she twirled in spot and looked back at Kalte with a smile. ¡°By the way, you wanted to alter the Inter-School competition right? Hmm I can''t let you have control, so I''ll just do it in your stead. Consider it a thanks for doing it so willingly. What about this was willingly, Kalte wanted to retort. He had long since noticed the gun pointed at him from afar. The one holding the gun was Gaea Bronzewing, Myriad''s own Student Council Treasurer. Diane tapped Gaea on the shoulder and signaled for them to leave. ¡°..Did we get what we wanted?¡± Gaea asked. ¡°Oh yes. I''m sure the Madam will be very pleased.¡± Diane pulled out her Scroll. On it was a new message coming from an acquaintance of hers. Diane typed out a reply and sent it.
RipperHow did the deal go?
HEven better than expected.
HHow''s the new toy?
RipperWorks like a charm.
HGood. Because you''ll be able to use it real soon.
"Speaking of which. That man ignored me after I told him I wanted to be in control. How should I mess with him?" Diane asked. "How about you mess with his daughter?" Gaea proposed. "A fine decision! Lets see..Oh spoiled little Weiss hates faunus no doubt right? Lets group her with Robin! That should be interesting to see. No doubt she''ll endlessly complain to her father afterwards. Oh but it''s no good if I''m not there to see it. Let see..." Chapter 53: The Banquet =================================== Chapter 53: The Banquet =================================== As the teenagers were getting hot and bothered in the bath, their parents were gathered in one of their hotel rooms. Thankfully, the rooms provided to them by the officials were luxurious and spacious. Each room was a suite, capable of housing an entire family. The adults easily sat together at the dining table of Christina and Joseph''s room. A certain couple was having a minor discourse. ¡°Don''t be so mad, Honey, I was only thinking about the best thing for Robin.¡± ¡°...¡± Christina said nothing in response to Joseph''s excuses. They were supposed to convince Robin to leave the White Fang, yet this idiotic husband of hers allowed him to stay on a whim. Truly, it should be no surprise Robin''s dad got along well with Conner. Robin had taken the news about Jackson quite calmly if one thought about it. But if someone had a person as easygoing as Joseph as a dad, something like that wasn''t that difficult to wrap one''s head around. ¡°Come on now, darling. I care about him just as much as you do. Don''t be like this.¡± She gave him the evil eye, capable of scaring away even Exotic Grimm. Joseph began to sweat profusely. ¡°Honey, please, you''ll scare the baby.¡± As if on cue, Jackson starting to cry out loud. This forced Christina to change her expression from a devil to a caring mother. It was not too long before little Jackson returned to his slumber. ¡°Look,¡± Joseph said in a more serious tone, ¡°the entire purpose of telling Robin to leave the White Fang in the first place was because we thought he might still be naive, possible leading him to commit crimes he didn''t want to. Since he''s shown us that isn''t the case, what reason do we have to stop him?¡± ¡°Uh, how about the fact that he''s still a kid?¡± The person who interrupted him was Zuri Zittori, Ophelia''s father. Zuri was the husband of Victoria Zittori, and both of them were snake faunuses. Zuri had brown scales, which Ophelia had inherited, while Victoria''s were white. Zuri wore a buttoned shirt and khaki pants while Victoria wore a dress to match her scales. He was well groomed and pushed up his glasses closer to his face before speaking again. ¡°I mean, for God''s sake, Joseph. They''re 15! For all you know, they could be running wild behind our backs, getting drunk, having sex, and doing drugs! Why should we let them stay in the White Fang any longer than they have been. It''s just a negative influence on them.¡± Needless to say, Zuri was a worrywart. His words was just an exaggeration of the truth since none of the parents here actually thought their child would do such a thing. After all, they lived with their children all their lives. Who knew them better than those present? They could be almost certain that such a thing wasn''t gonna happen....Almost. Ebon flinched at the mention of sex. Blake was his little girl. There was no way in hell he was letting that happen to his innocent little flower. ¡°Nope, noooo way. There is no way my little girl is gonna stay in that group of savages. No thank you.¡± Ebon flat out proclaimed. Little did he know, the said ¡°innocent flower¡± was secretly reading erotic novels behind his back. Elina, who was actually aware of that fact but kept it hidden for Blake''s sake, interjected. ¡°Now calm yourself, Ebon. They aren''t all savages. At least from what Blake has told us.¡± ¡°I don''t know if we can trust the words of your daughter. She''s too infatuated with Robin.¡± The one who spoke this time was Risha Taurus. Risha was a panther faunus with dark brown hair. The man sitting next to her was her husband, Alexander Taurus. Surprisingly enough, Alex was a bull faunus, so that meant Adam inherited his faunus traits from his father. If two faunuses of different races were to mate, then the offspring would be between one of the two races involved. In terms of genetics, the offspring could only inherit specific features of one race, but it was still possible to inherit certain traits from each parent. In this case was between a panther faunus and a bull faunus. The child could only be a faunus, and it only be either bull or panther, but not both. However, the child is able to inherit a minor trait like the skin color from the mother while getting the eye color from the father. Risha sat with her back straight and her chin upwards. As a very proud individual, she constantly taught Adam to never think lowly of himself. Since he was the son of the strongest faunus in the village, Risha always reminded him of this and spoiled Adam. ¡°On the other hand, I believe it might be fine if they stay in the White Fang. Our son, Adam, is fighting for his beliefs after all. I couldn''t be more proud.¡± The women in the room smiled at Risha''s words. Yes, even if they wanted their children to quit, they were certainly proud that they were taking a stand. In comparison to when they were kids, things in the kingdom was different to a shocking degree. But that wasn''t the issue. Thankfully, Alexander had a much more normal outlook than his wife, allowing him to correct her when she stepped too far out of line. ¡°Ri- baby, this and that are two different things. Even if we''re proud, what''s the use if they''re in jail?¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± Zuri said. ¡°I only sent our daughter to become a Huntress, so she could learn to protect herself. I have no intention of letting Ophelia become a fighter on the front lines! She should come back to the village and work as the doctor, or go into a medical school and get her degree!¡± ¡°Darling,¡± Victoria said. ¡°Even if you want to plan out our daughter''s life, she inevitably has to be the one to choose. If she decides she wants to go to Beacon Academy, we can''t stop her." ¡°NO! That can''t work out. Never!¡± Ebon protested. ¡°I''ve been on the Internet! I know the statistics! All the rooms at Beacon are co-ed. According to the survey I saw, over 80 percent of students who attend Beacon graduate without their virginity! That''s not a school! That''s a brothel fueled by our taxes!¡± At the outburst of such an outrageous fact made the parents looked at Ebon with shock. ¡°Huh, really?¡± Joseph rubbed his chin expectantly. ¡°Sounds like I don''t have to worry about my boy''s experience.¡± The death glare was given. Joseph shut his mouth while Elina slapped Ebon''s. ¡°Don''t be foolish. By the time they graduate from Beacon they''ll be 19 to 20 years old. They''ll be adults by then so what''s the harm? Besides, even if you complain about our taxes, it''s thanks to that that all students attending Beacon don''t have to pay any fees. If we add in the fact they work the missions at the Guild, then they''re basically independent adults.¡± ¡°We''ve drifted from the main topic.¡± With a stern voice, Barney Dinkleberg drew the group''s attention to himself. Barney and his wife, Gera, were both fox faunuses with gray fur covering their tails. Unfortunately, Gera was injured when she was a kid and lost the ability to have a child. They had to settle with adopting Conner, which had put him in an awkward position. It was only recently they got Conner to truly open up to them. With a commanding air, Barney told them his opinion. ¡°Without a doubt, things have changed in the kingdom since we were kids. The White Fang which used to work under Alex is now under someone else''s command. They no longer are peaceful and will most likely serve as a negative influence on our kids.¡± Each parent nodded in agreement. ¡°Even if we force this issue now, they would probably still attend meetings behind our backs given how involved they are already. I believe the best conclusion is if they realized on their own just how foolish it is. That said, Robin might be the best way to convince them of that. Joseph, how did he react?" The parents were well aware of Robin''s role in the group. Barney, who was the chief, also recognized Robin''s skills as a leader. If Robin could convince them to leave, that would be best. ¡°Well, he was pretty much convinced that he had a purpose for staying in the White Fang, but he is aware of their violent tendencies and shortcomings. Robin''s constantly worried about his friends'' safety, and he has promised us to pull out the moment he catches wind of anything bad." ¡°Good, the sooner they leave, the better. Although it sounds terrible, we should be looking after our own rather than the situation between faunus and humans as a whole.¡± ¡°Wait wait. So we''re just going gamble on the fact that little Robin is gonna magically keep them out of harm''s way?¡± Zuri scoffed. ¡°Honey...¡± Victoria looked her husband with concern. He was a bit strict when it came to his daughter, but it was out of care that he said so. However, Victoria didn''t want her daughter to hate them no matter what the outcome was. ¡°No, I''m stopping Ophelia whether she wants to or not. Do what you guys will, but Ophelia isn''t going to be involved with them anymore.¡± Just then, Gera''s Scroll vibrated. After reading the message, she told everyone the details. ¡°They seem to have finished taking their bath. Conner says they''ll be waiting in the lobby.¡± ¡°I don''t think we should make a decision just yet.¡± Barney concluded. ¡°Let just enjoy our time together for now. We should make the final decision after the Vytal Festival.¡± The parents all gathered in the lobby to transport their children back to the meeting place. Upon arrival, they found Robin and the others gathered with their friends, occupied with idle chatter. Two kids were familiar faces that they had just met earlier that day, but there were another two boys that haven''t met yet. Ebon was not pleased with one of them. This blonde faunus was actually flirting with Blake. Robin, at the moment, was trying to keep himself between Sun and Blake, who was watching Robin''s every action with her hazel eyes. Ebon''s own hazel eyes stared at the two boys but with a much colder gaze. Sun and Robin both shivered as they momentarily felt bloodlust from behind. ¡°HEY GUYS!¡± Ebon said, inserting himself between his treasure and the savages. ¡°WHAT ARE YA DOING?¡± ¡°What am I doing?¡± Robin repeated. ¡°WHAT ARE YA DOING?¡± ¡°Nothing much.¡± ¡°FLIRTING WITH MAH DAUGHTER?¡± ¡°Flirting with your daughter?¡± ¡°ARE YOU?!¡± Robin found himself silent in front of this cat faunus. Sun, however, immediately said.. ¡°Yes!¡± "@$%!%" Ebon''s eyes went from hazel to bloodshot. Robin felt sorry for what was gonna happen to Sun. At the same time, Robin degraded himself silently for not being the one to speak up first. = He took the initiative, shoot. What are you doing, Robin? Pull yourself together. = Blake started to giggle at seeing Robin''s change of expression. It had been a long time since she saw this side of him, confused and flustered. The same could be said for Joseph and Christina, who also watched with interest. Conner placed himself next to Joseph. ¡°You can thank me for your new daughter-in-law.¡± Conner said with pride. ¡°Good work. Robin has always been a battle freak. This is good for him.¡± Indeed, Joseph and Christina secretly shipped Blake with Robin. After seeing the two of them together so often, it would be strange not to see them as couples. While Conner and Joseph bumped fists, Elina bumped hers on the top of Ebon''s head. ¡°What are you accomplishing by scaring the kids? I apologize for my husband.¡± She said while yanking on his ear. ¡°No, we were the rude ones. We haven''t introduced ourselves yet. My name is Neptune Vasilias.¡± Neptune put on the airs of a gentleman, silently signalling Sun to do the same. Sun woke up from his daze. ¡°Ah, yes. I''m Sun Wukong.¡± ¡°It''s a pleasure to meet you two. I''m Elina, Blake''s mother. This fool right here is my husband, Ebon. Greet them, Ebon.¡± ¡°H-Hey there! Nice to meet you. But don''t you get any kind of ideas with Blake, you hear me? She-YOW!%@$#@# !@#^!%¡± With another yank, Ebon starting speaking gibberish. After watching these two, Robin suddenly realized two things. The first was what a miracle it was that Blake somehow became a quiet bookworm when compared to the parents. The second was that this was probably what Conner and Ophelia would be like in the future. = ..Poor Conner. = Blake and Robin both held similar gazes at Conner who was now talking to Joseph. Upon noticing their gazes, he looked at them in confusion. It was then that Risha moved them along. ¡°Hurry along now. As people who qualified for the main competition, it would be rude to the competitors if you were disqualified for being late. Act out your teenage drama some other time.¡± They left in different groupings this time. Robin and Blake rode together with Joseph and Christina, Ophelia and Conner was with Barney and Gera, Adam rode with his own parents, Amy and Osagi sat in Zuri and Victoria''s car, and finally Ebon was forced by his wife to ride without any of the kids as punishment for being excessively annoying. Sun and Neptune left with their own parents. ¡°But-but our daughter is-¡± ¡°Growing up. Now get in the car.¡± Ebon made a face like he spat out a hairball. He momentarily looked at Blake and Robin before sitting in the car. Ultimately, he trusted Robin to do nothing to his daughter since he had not done anything over the last 14 years. As for Zuri, he also wanted to size up Osagi, hoping to see if he was good enough for Ophelia. Victoria herself was curious about the nature of this human boy. Ophelia at this time was holding the door for Conner to get in. On her face was a smile rarely seen when the two of them talked. Usually it was a face of being fed up with dealing with Conner''s antics. This made Conner slightly suspicious. ¡°...What are you doing?¡± Ophelia looked at him annoyed. ¡°I''m holding the door for you, moron! Just get in already.¡± Seeing that her expression was genuinely happy, Conner decided there was no reason for him not to. After they got in the car, Ophelia immediately jabbed his ribs with her elbow. ¡°Cough, cough....What was that for!¡± ¡°That was for calling me overly serious and annoying.¡± She pecked him on the cheek. ¡°That was for everything else.¡± ¡°...¡± Everything else included the fact Conner took the effort to light a fire between Robin and Sun, as well as revealing his own feelings for her. Conner had spoken softly in the bath and even closed the slit. At the realization he was overheard anyway, Conner blushed furiously and sat there in silence. Ophelia found this amusing, and she began to tease him the entire trip. It was later found out she had raised another 3 points in Sadism from the car ride alone. Gera looked at her husband, and they silently gave each other a thumbs up. This was definitely ok in their book. Meanwhile, Alexander was watching all of this unfold from the far back. After seeing each boy/girl pair walk into a car, he turned to look at his son, Adam. If Adam got his ego from his mother, then he was a sore loser because of his dad. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Adam?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Get a girlfriend soon.¡± ¡°...¡± ========================== Upon arrival in the hall, only the kids were allowed in. Osagi stood behind and waved them goodbye. No doubt he would meet back up with them later. After Robin and the others went inside Joseph and Ebon started talking to him. ¡°So looks like you didn''t get through huh? Tough luck sonny.¡± Ebon said while patting him on the shoulder. ¡°Haha, yeah Robin was just too strong for me. Like seriously, that Acupuncture of his was way too strong.¡± ¡°We also watched your fight.¡± Joseph said. ¡°You did good. Don''t be so down.¡± ¡°Does it show? My bad. It isn''t what you think. I was thinking about something else.¡± As grown adults, Joseph and Ebon also had noticed. Despite Ebon''s playful nature, he was a grown man. Both saw Osagi and Amy had neither of their parents show up. In addition, both kids had sad looks when watching their families interact with one another. Joseph and Ebon considered the possible scenarios. Ultimately, they decided to do some small talk to help alleviate his loneliness. ===================== Inside the hall was a giant banquet. Long aisles were set up with each one holding various snacks and beverages. Looking at all this food made the kids'' stomachs growl. This gently reminded them that they had ate nothing since early that morning. ¡°First, how about we get some food?¡± Robin proposed. Everyone nodded in agreement and each went to find some food. There was a large selection available and each of them starting talking with one another in their small little group talks. ¡°Blake, remember the plan. Ok?¡± Ophelia whispered. ¡°Let them fight it out right? Sure.¡± she said indifferently. ¡°Why do I have to do this again?¡± ¡°Because,¡± Ophelia scoffed at her friend''s attitude. ¡°this way Robin''s feelings for you only grow. You already like him, so you are basically boyfriend and girlfriend. Just let them fight over you a bit. Plus you''ll get pampered.¡± What Ophelia didn''t say was that she found it extremely amusing watching Robin and Blake interact. They were finally making some progress with their love life, how would that not be interesting? Blake, who understood Ophelia''s thought process, shook her head after seeing through Ophelia''s intentions. Certainly, she was made to be with Conner. ¡°If you want to be involved with love talk, you should talk to Amy.¡± As of this moment, Amy was stuffing herself with all kinds of food imaginable. Was she a big eater? Not really, but today''s events had left her depressed. From Conner''s confession about Ophelia, and seeing Team COBRA''s parents, she was left feeling sour and left out. It was on the trip back that Osagi actually consoled her, allowing her to feel slightly better. Watching Robin and Blake interact though only made her mood dip again. ¡°..That''s probably a good idea.¡± Ophelia walked over to the kitsune faunus. Amy noticed her coming over but didn''t stop eating her meal. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°You ok?¡± ¡°Do I look ok?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...Sorry. I didn''t mean it like that.¡± ¡°I know. It''s mostly my fault anyway. You liked Conner that much?¡± ¡°...Yeah. Even if he acted like an idiot, I could tell from the beginning. He cares about you guys a lot and understands more than he usually lets on. He''s a prankster, doesn''t know his real parents, and a fun loving guy. I just felt a connection, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah, Conner can act stupid, but he''s good stupid... You know you can always fight for him too. You don''t need to be like Sun and give up after we''re together.¡± Strange as it was to hear that from the girl Conner crushed on, Amy found it to be neither awkward or out of place. She only set her fork down and gazed at Ophelia with sad eyes. ¡°I''m not the same as Sun. I can''t be chase after a man as upbeat as he does after knowing he''s taken already. Besides, you feel the same towards him right?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Thought so.. Don''t worry. We''ll still be friends. I won''t let something small like this affect our relationship.We faunus gotta stick together, right? Even if we''re not in the White Fang, we don''t have to be enemies.¡± Ophelia sighed in relief. It felt as if a huge burden was lifted off her shoulders. Amy smiled and then adopted a mocking smile. ¡°But seriously though, that took Robin waaay too long to admit his feelings. Don''t you think?¡± ¡°Oh you said it, girl. Honestly, I think it''s a miracle he actually admitted his feelings. I feel like the only thing he''s thought about these past few years was books, training, and fighting. That guy might act calm and whatever, but any time he has to fight, he looks way too excited.¡± At that moment, the sound of static resounded through the hall. ¡°Attention, please.¡± Standing there was a young blonde woman in a black suit. She carried around her a tablet in her left hand. ¡°First and foremost, allow me to congratulate you on passing the preliminary round. Out of the thousands of Hunters and Huntresses that have registered today, only you have made it to the top 64. Maintaining control of the hills is no easy task, yet you all have done so. Take pride in the fact that among the best Hunters and Huntresses in the nation, all of them have accomplished the same task.¡± Each individual present had their chests filled with pride. Robin then realized that camera men and new reporters had flooded the room, pointing their cameras at everyone that was here. = They''re broadcasting this? So the reason they only allowed competitors inside the hall was for this? = The woman continued speaking and ignored the crowd. After tapping a couple times, she made a hand motion as if grabbing an object in front of the tablet and then threw it up in the air. Suddenly, a holographic screen appeared in the air. On it was a time table describing the events to come. ¡°If you''ll look at the screen above me, you''ll be able to verify what we''ll be planning to do for the Inter-School Tournament. The preliminary round was today, the main competition takes place tomorrow, and the semi-finals and finals will be on day three of the Festival. After that, we have scheduled a luxurious dinner and dance exclusively to those present and their families.¡± = I see. So the tournament only takes places for 3 days? But only two rounds of fighting will be done on day three. It''s also later in the day too. Huh, they give a lot of free time in between too. I guess it''s so people could recover. = ¡°Would everyone please reach under the tables and pull out this device?¡± The woman held her hand in the air, showing off a Scroll with a colored marking on the side. ¡°For the first round tomorrow, everyone shall be competing in a team of four, randomize by a generator. They function similarly to a status plate, so please insert your Aura in order for the device to identify you. Once identified, it will display your unique team. This will only be for the first round. After the first round, the rest of the matches will consist of one on one match-ups. Each round will alternate between an event round and a classic tournament match.¡± Without any further delay, Robin inserted his Aura into the device.
Aura: Received Scanning... Identified. Robin S. Wolfheart Teammates: SS@#$%#@$q^ q@#%@@^ @*(9@#@%^
= Um... The fuck? = Murmurs broke out in the hall. It seemed that everyone else had the similar problem. Thinking this was planned, Robin looked back at the woman seeking an explanation. To his surprise, the woman was extremely flustered and started to press her tablet. The holographic screen above her was supposed to show the team pairings just in case something happened. Unfortunately, the screen was also unreadable. = What the heck''s going on? = In the midst of the confusion, only four students knew what was actually happening. The Myriad Student Council members sat at their table calmly and positioned themselves conveniently so that Diane was blocked from the cameras. Hack Electricity flowed from her hand and into the device. Her conscious scanned and went past all the security barriers with ease, demonstrating the skills of a professional hacker. In no time, she rearranged the teams to her picking, covered her tracks of entry, and returned back to the real world. The holographic screen flickered and suddenly showed the teams just like it should have. The woman sighed with relief and addressed the audience. ¡°We apologize for the delay. It seems we were having technical difficulties. As you can see here, the teams are listed with an image of each individual. Please find your teammates before I continue giving the instructions.¡± = Ok fine. Lets see here. Oh? I''m with President Diane, some girl named Pyrrha Nikos, and..... =
Aura: Received Scanning... Identified. Robin S. Wolfheart Teammates: Diane Geotal Pyrrha Nikos Weiss Schnee
= Please tell me this is a joke. = It was a joke. A joke at Robin''s expense. Weiss Schnee was known a young, gifted Huntress, and a possible heir to the Schnee Dust Company. She had an older sister named Winter, and was the daughter of the infamous Kalte Schnee. If Robin had to described her based on his knowledge so far, it was that she was a talented princess that got whatever she wanted. All at the expense of faunus like Robin. = Wait. She''s not Kalte. Maybe''s she''s a nice girl. = The next scene disappointed Robin''s hopes. Upon finding his teammates, the said Weiss Schnee was wearing a short skirt with high heels. When Weiss saw Robin''s face --or to be exact, his ears-- she looked as if she saw someone eat and regurgitate poop, quickly turning her head in disgust. = Ok. So she''s a bitch. = ¡°Hello Robin. Enjoying yourself?¡± Diane asked. Robin returned the greeting. ¡°Hello President. I suppose I''ll have to try.¡± ¡°Try your best.¡± Diane said. ¡°Greetings. I''m Pyrrha Nikos.¡± Pyrrha was a red head with long luscious hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a Spartan-like armor on the top of her body. Strangely enough, it covered only the chest, back, and belly area leaving her neck and arms completely exposed. Despite this, the top of the armor revealed an alluring, well-developed bosom that seemed to attract the eyes. Instead of a helmet, she wore a bronze headband that fit well with the rest of her outfit. For the bottom layer, she wore a red miniskirt that exposed her toned thighs, and boots to seemed to click with every step. If Weiss was a pretty princess, then Pyrrha was a athletic beauty. Her demeanor was not arrogant in the slightest and her face could only be described as stunning with her vivid green eyes. She smiled at Robin and held out her hand. Robin smiled back and returned the handshake. ¡°It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Robin Wolfheart.¡± Pyrrha nodded and repeated the gestures with Diane and Weiss. Unlike with Robin, she shook her hands and even smiled at Pyrrha. Robin was beginning to hate her more and more. The woman on the stage once again gathered their attention. ¡°Ahem. Now that we''ve finished greeting one another. Allow me to introduce the game for round 1. The game iiiiis...¡± She made an exaggerated motion with her hand and pointed to the screen. Two words and an image appeared on the screen. [tr]
MAZE RUNNER
¡°Maze Runner!¡± Whispers broke out among the contestants. ¡°Doesn''t that take a lot of time to set up? You never see something that extravagant in a middle school tournament.¡± ¡°Right, don''t they keep the expensive stuff for the Vytal Tournament?¡± ¡°No, maybe that''s why they''re making Round 1 start tomorrow?¡± ¡°But they have always had Round 1 on the second day?¡± The answer was given by the woman in front. ¡°This year''s Inter-School Tournament is made possible thanks to the generous donation of the Schnee Family, a stunning amount of one million dollars!!¡± ¡°¡°¡°Oooooooooh!¡±¡±¡± Applause and praise rang across the audience. Weiss put on her public smile and waved to the crowd. Robin did not applaud. He was shocked by the amount of course. But he didn''t applaud. ¡°Now allow me to explain the rules. Now that you have been reshuffled, there will be 16 different teams of four people just like before. Tomorrow the arena, each team will begin outside the maze at sixteen different starting locations. In the center of the maze will be four orbs. The goal is to reach to the center and obtain that orb. However, just reaching the center and getting the orb isn''t enough. You must protect the orb and prevent other teams from stealing it. The time limit is one hour! The four teams that are the last to possess each orb will move onto the next round. But that''s not all! There are all sorts of benefits you can get! The first teams to possess any of the orbs will receive a tablet connected to a security system and a menu that will let you alter a portion of the maze as you wish! The four tablets controls the same sectors as labeled on its respective orb: North, East, West, and South. Furthermore, there are hidden treasure rooms spread throughout the maze. Some might grant you as shortcut to a location close to the center, or even lead to the center itself. Other''s might let you activate traps preventing others who are chasing you. Just like there are treasure rooms, there will be traps! Some might be Guardian robots that protects the orb. Others might be pitfalls, or automatically transport you back to the beginning!¡± = Holy crap! That''s a lot of different scenarios that could play out. Traps, treasures, speed bumps, and a changing maze! = The level of complexity was so much higher than in the preliminary round. That was just a simply conserving one''s strength until the last moment. Not only was this a race to the center, it was a huge game of tag that would get harder as time went on. Despite all this, Robin did not feel nervous in the slightest. Instead, he felt ecstatic at the challenge. = Just what kind of fights will occur in the maze? We might even be fighting a third party! God I can''t wait! = ¡°You have plenty of time until the match tomorrow. You are free to use the school''s facilities to spar and work out your strategies, or you can spend the day enjoying the Vytal Festival! Have fun, Hunters and Huntresses! We''ll see you tomorrow!¡± Character Page! THIS IS NOT A NEW CHAPTER. THIS IS A CHARACTER PAGE. EVERYTHING YOU READ HERE MAY CONTAIN ANYTHING UP TO THE MOST RECENT CHAPTER. IF YOU ARE A NEW READER DO NOT CONTINUE UNLESS YOU WANT SPOILERS So basically I''m creating this page for you guys who might not follow me on a day-to-day basis. My story is getting longer by the week, and this is to serve as a refresher for those coming back, as well as supplements to your reading. :D I also threw a little extra stuff in there. I put ??? to hide spoilers that I have deemed not ready to be revealed yet. *Please assume the details referred to are in the world of Remnant unless stated otherwise.
Main Characters (so far)
Robin Silver Wolfheart (Formerly Robin Cunningham) Robin Cunningham: Boy who was picked on, made fun of, betrayed by the girl who he thought was his friend. He tries to commit suicide, fails, but ends up accidentally committing suicide anyway. Robin Wolfheart: Robin is reborn as a wolf faunus with silver hair and yellow eyes. Currently is broad in build and decent muscles from continuous exercise. Calm, collected even in the face of danger. Only flustered when dealing with women. Currently the Leader of Team COBRA. He aspires to become the strongest Hunter alive in order to protect the things he holds dear, refusing to ever return to his weak former self. He looks as this was a new chance at life. All the while he is ignorant of the dark conspiracy unfolding around him. Raven Reah Branwen (Formerly Reah... (just realized I never gave her a last name)) Reah: the girl who betrays Robin in their former lives. Upon mistakingly thinking Robin had commited suicide, she goes into a period of denial, hatred, and then self-hate. She dies from a car crash. Raven: Reah is reborn as a child of Udane Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long. However, she is actually one of the many illegitimate clones of their actual daughter, Yang Xiao Long. Raven is the byproduct of human experimentation of Projects A, D, and G. Supposedly, she was accidentally left alive when the researchers abandoned their hideout. She believes the reason for her rebirth was to redeem herself for betraying Robin in her previous life. She takes it upon herself to wipe the criminals off the face of the planet as a Dark Hunter. The entire time she doesn''t realize that she actually ????????????????????????????????. Raven and Robin are unaware that they had both been reincarnated in the exact same world. They see each other only as rivals where (ironically enough) Raven seems to be a loner and Robin is a popular, outgoing guy. Blake Belladonna Cat faunus girl with wavy, black hair who was born and raised in the village of Rakshata. She is the best friend of Ophelia Zittori, and has a crush on Robin even from a very young age. Since they were little, she got along with Robin due to their similar interests in books. However, it was because of Robin ???????? that sparked Blake''s feelings for him. He continues to impress her through ?????????????? and later confesses his feelings for her in an indirect manner in the bathroom. Blake is quiet in nature, but becomes outspoken when it involves the things she cares about. Evident by her standing up to a bully when she was four, and committing crimes for the sake of equality between humans and faunuses. Conner Dinkleberg Fox faunus with orange hair and fur on his tail. Born in Rakshata. Childhood friend of Robin. He is a prankster that started to joke from a young age. His awkward situation as an adopted child made him despise anyone who interacted with him using fake emotions. He has a crush for Ophelia who is caring (mostly) towards others and never hides who she is. Despite being a joker, Conner is shrewd and understanding. Thanks to the fact he can read expressions so well, Conner is able to see past a person''s outer appearance. It is evident however, that even if he can read expressions he still doesn''t understand the reasoning behind them. Ophelia Zittori Brown-scaled snake faunus and best friend of Blake. Born in Rakshata. Childhood friend of Robin. Although she had sadistic tendencies, she cares about the well-being of every individual regardless of their nature and past. She frequently chats with Conner, and has a complex about her bosom as she is constantly surrounded by girls with breast sizes far larger than her own (Amy, Blake, and Raven). She expresses extreme loyalty to her comrades, forcing herself to stick with the White Fang even after being devastated with the loss of 10 lives due to an accident(?) because she values her teammates more than she values herself. Adam Taurus Tall, red haired bull faunus with an ego the size of a mountain. Born in Rakshata. Childhood friend of Robin. He takes pride in his strength and standing thanks to the influence of his mother and father, and adores the spotlight. Because of this, he despises the humans who treat him as dirt. He believes that he and his friends deserve better treatment, and is willing to do anything necessary to achieve that. His reasoning is simple: ?????????????????????? Osagi Aegis Blonde human student that they met in Myriad School of Combat and became good friends with. He is taller than Conner, but shorter than Robin. He''s the most muscular of all the guys present and is a righteous individual. (cough cough) His mother and father were ????????????????????????. He has a crush on Raven. Amy Seraphine Red haired, tall, dark-skinned beauty. A Kitsune faunus that they met at Myriad School of Combat and became good friends with. She is a prankster just like Conner, but is hard-working and dedicated to doing what is right. Unlike Adam who is willing to prove his worth no matter the cost, Amy wishes to preserve the lives of the innocent and to follow the rules, even if it means she is a hypocrite (I shall expand on this later). She has a crush on Conner but gives up when Conner confesses to Ophelia.
Good Guys (so far)
Taiyang Xiao Long Father of Raven, Yang, and Ruby. He is part of Team QUST and has married two of his team members, Summer and Udane. Udane, his first wife, ran away shortly after conceiving their child, Yang, with copies of Yang''s cells. His brother is Qrow who was also part of Team QUST. His most recent wife was Summer. Currently single. Summer Rose Mother of Ruby Rose, step-mother of Raven and Yang. She is a kind, caring, and gentle mother who tries to keep her daughters happy. She used to be in love with Qrow, but was pushed away for the sake of Taiyang who fell into depression after Udane''s betrayal. She was assassinated by Jack Ripper, causing Raven to ??????????????????. This traumatic event gave Raven a mission to find Summer''s murderer and kill him. Qrow Xiao Long Uncle of Raven, Ruby, and Yang. Brother of Taiyang. Former lover of Summer. Leader of Team QUST. Through a series of unfortunate events that I will not explain here but in a later chapter, Qrow and his team came under the tutelage of Ozpin.....???????????? Qrow sees the girls as his own daughters and treats them as such, constantly worrying about Raven''s mental health, even forcing her to go to a school just so she would socialize.
Important but not yet Developed Characters
Yang Xiao Long Sister of Ruby and Raven(She doesn''t know it yet). Daughter of Taiyang and Udane (She doesn''t know it yet) Ruby Rose Sister of Yang and Raven (She doesn''t know it yet). Daughter of Taiyang and Summer. Weiss Schnee A human girl with long white hair. Has a scar over her left eye. She is the daughter of Kalte Schnee and heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, 2nd in line only to her sister, Winter. Robin''s current opinion on her is that she is spoiled girl who acts like a jerk. Hates faunuses with a passion. (I could tell you how she''s really like, but that would ruin the point of character development in the actual story.) Neo Politan (Alt: Hyouka) Roman''s Partner-in-crime. Currently she is being held hostage by The Organization Roman Torchwick Master Thief. Currently being forced to work for The Organization due to Neo being held hostage. Robin met him when he was in jail. Loves to poke fun at others with sarcastic remarks. Zoro Ozpin (Professor Ozpin) Strongest man alive. Over 100 years old but looks 30. Prominent leader during the Great War and is the creator of the concept of Hunters and Huntresses. His status is that of a well-known celebrity, standing as one of the most influential Hunter in history. Glynda Goodwitch You don''t know who this is yet. Nora Valkyrie Robin''s temporary teammate during the Inter-School Tournament. Wields a grenade launcher/mallet Lie Ren One of Robin''s rivals in hand-to-hand combat tournaments when he was a kid. Pyrrha Nikos Robin''s temporary teammate during the Inter-School Tournament. Sexy, athletic redhead girl. Sun Wukong Robin''s temporary teammate during the Inter-School Tournament. Blonde monkey faunus who also likes Blake. Neptune Vasilias This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.Sun''s teammate. Jaune Arc You don''t know this guy yet.
Family members
Joseph Wolfheart Easygoing dad who likes to decides things on a whim. Robin''s father. A silver haired wolf faunus. Christina Wolfheart Robin''s mother. She is caring, worries often, but ultimately trusts her husband''s decisions. Jackson Wolfheart Barney Dinkleberg Gray-haired fox faunus. Conner''s dad. Chief of Rakshata Village. Demonstrates overbearing presence and likes to get things done quickly and efficiently. He is somewhat strict, but this only pushes Conner to be more free-willed. Gera Dinkleberg Gray-haired fox faunus, Conner''s mom. Because of an accident during her childhood, her ovaries were scarred, and she is unable to conceive a child. She pampers Conner as if he was her own, but that led him to believe he was in the right for rebelling against Barney at a young age. Kalte Schnee Human, Weiss''s father. Head and owner of the Schnee Dust Company. He believes himself to be the best and that being first place was only natural. He is resolved to even cheat his way to the top. Winter Schnee Haven''t met her yet. She is Weiss''s older sister and first in line to receive ownership of the Schnee Dust Company. Ebon Belladonna Black-haired cat faunus. Blake''s dad. He has a very playful nature, and cares about Blake very much. Sometimes too much that it turns out to be troublesome. Elina Belladonna Black-haired cat faunus. Blake''s mom. She wears the pants in their relationship. Constantly seen reprimanding Ebon for acting like a kid in front of others. Looks out for Blake''s privacy since Ebon usually steps into her bubble. Zuri Zittori Brown-scaled snake faunus. Ophelia''s dad. Head doctor of the Rakshata village. He is a worrywart and plans Ophelia''s future out very specifically. Likes to exaggerate things. Victoria Zittori White-scaled snake faunus. Ophelia''s mother. Assistant Doctor of Rakshata village. Cares more about the unity of their family than the future of her daughter. She reminds her husband constantly to consider Ophelia''s feelings. Alexander Taurus Red-haired bull faunus. Adam''s dad. Unlike Risha''s personality which makes her constantly proud of her son, Alex is rather normal and can judge things objectively. Funny enough, Alex is a sore loser. This trait has been passed down to his son. Risha Taurus Dark-brown hair panther faunus. Adam''s mom. Proud of Adam''s accomplishments and decisions. Very doting mother. This tends to cause her to make rash decisions that might not be the best thing for Adam.
Evil (?) People
Udane Branwen (Code name: Madam) Taiyang''s ex-wife. Currently has a large influence in the Organization. Ordered the death of a former comrade without blinking an eye. She is also Raven''s mother. Cinder Falls (Code name: ????) Mysterious high school girl skilled enough to infiltrate a police station (so far). Blackmails Roman into working for them. She reveals (?) The Organization''s true goal to be world domination. Diane Geotal (Code name: H[Hacker]) Myriad Student Council President. Likes to be in control. If things aren''t the way she desires, she get angry. But if they are the way she likes it, she is excessively kind. Part of Team DGTL Jack Ripper (Code name: R[Ripper]) Has some kind of ability to rip through objects without resistance (Surprise surprise). Enjoys watching others squirm in pain. Currently undercover as a P.T. instructor at Myriad. He is the one who killed Summer. Ted Turncoat Myriad Student Council Vice-President. Part of Team DGTL Gaea Bronzewing Myriad Student Council Treasurer. Part of Team DGTL Leila Atkinson Myriad Student Council Secretary. Part of Team DGTL Doctor Frank Victorian (Code name: Doctor) Man in charge of developing some kind of device. He refers to Neo as one of his ¡°best works¡±. Has some vision of creating a perfect race. Extremely jealous of Madam. I don''t actually know if I wanna do this section...There''s a lot of names that could go here..I''ll keep it here for now.
Misc
Tukson Owner of the book store Robin and Blake frequently go to. He is also a member of the White Fang. Junior Dillen Owner of a night club in the red light district. His shop was unfortunately trashed by both Raven and Yang. Melanie and Militia (twins) Twin beauties that guard Junior''s club. Alex Fexlar Former leader of the White Fang. Believed in peaceful protests. Jason Cruzel Current leader of the White Fang.Believes that people will only be influenced by a show of power. Simon Helix Amy, Weiss, and Pyrrha had him as a teammate in the Inter-School Tournament Traekul Lua Was one of Raven''s teammate in the Inter-School Tournament. Thomas Hadgen Guild master at the Hunter''s Guild. He is secretly also a Dark Hunter, handing missions out to Raven about missions involving criminal activity in the Kingdom.
Organizations
The Organization A large hidden organization of criminals operating under the radar. They''ve infiltrated many places inside the kingdoms, and have a large amount of funding and tight security. They''ve established numerous hideouts throughout all of Remnant. Even after all this time, the Kingdom of Vale has yet to grasp any solid lead on them. The only reason they know it exists was because of Udane. White Fang Formerly a committee of faunus individuals created to act as a representation of the faunus population worldwide. They were supposed to be the representation of peace and unity between humans and faunus, but changed when humans treated them as animals. They became a peaceful protest group under the leader of Alex Fexlar, but due to lack of results, the torch was handed off to Jason Cruzel. Under Jason''s leadership, the once peaceful organization led organized attacks. If not for Robin constantly using his influence as a prominent member to hold back their desires, the crimes committed would have been atrocious. Guild Led by the Guild master Thomas Hadgen, the Guild distributes missions to Hunters and Huntresses. The Hunters and Huntresses fight the creatures of Grimm and does various jobs in order to make the world a safer place. The Council The head of the government that runs each of the four kingdoms. Their distribute taxes and have higher authority than the military and Hunters and Huntresses. This is evident when the Council abuses their authority to ???????????????????????????????????????????????????? Dark Hunters They are Hunters and Huntresses raised and trained to kill by other Dark Hunters. Their existence is kept a secret from the public. They specialize in espionage, information gathering, and assassination. The Dark Hunters are not a collective group, but are split into different factions operating on their own sense of justice. Due to this there have been instances where their interests conflict (wink wink). Creatures of Grimm Creatures that spawn in the darkness of the night. The basis of their birth is unknown to this day. Each Grimm resembles the form of a living animal. They all have some features in common. Their bodies are black, their eyes are glowing red eyes, and lack a soul. Upon death, the corpse of the Grimm evaporates, momentarily leaving behind Black Dust which disappears just as quickly. As a creature of Grimm ages, they grow larger, their flesh gets tougher, and have more bones exposed on the outside of their bodies. Projects Aura, Dust, and Grimm All three projects were funded by the government to research each respective area. Their purpose was to push mankind to the next level in combating Grimm. After illegal cloning of children and human experimentation. Project A(Aura) and Project G(Grimm) was abandoned. After some time, Project A was revamped and accepted back in governmental research. Researchers who were fired due to reasons stated above escaped the grasps of the government and joined The Organization to continue their research. This ultimately resulted in the creation of Raven, ?????, and ?????, the byproduct of all three projects combined.[/b] Chapter 54: Overpowered ==================================== Chapter 54: Overpowered ==================================== With the announcement over, Robin and his new teammates began to talk among themselves. ¡°So, what now?¡± Robin asked the others. ¡°First, we need to come up with a plan,¡± Weiss stated, ¡°but it''s too crowded here. We''ll be overheard.¡± Weiss seemed to be responding to Robin, but she did not face him when she spoke. It was more like she was speaking to the other girls and Robin was listening in. Pyrrha darted her eyes between the two of them, but she did not bring it up. Instead she decided to move along the conversation. ¡°Well, what do you propose?¡± She asked. ¡°There is no need to think so hard about this.¡± The one who spoke up was Diane. She pushed up her glasses with her index finger, the lenses shined in the light. ¡°I believe I have the perfect plan for this scenario. We should relocate to one of the sparring rooms. Nobody uninvited will be able to intrude, and we can work out the details of our formation there.¡± None of them rejected this plan of action. As the four of them left the building, many people started to gossip as they were walking. The three girls were famous individuals among the contestants. In addition to their prowess, they were beauties each in their own right. It was only natural the eyes of every person turned to watch them. Robin picked up on some of the comments between men and women that flowed into his ear. ¡°Hey, isn''t that Weiss Schnee?¡± ¡°Oh my god, it is. She''s with Diane Geotal and Pyrrha Nikos as well.¡± ¡°They''re so beautiful. The atmosphere is too dazzling for me.¡± ¡°Could it be their all on the same team together?¡± ¡°There''s no way they can lose!¡± ¡°Who''s the guy with them?¡± ¡°Gasp! A faunus?!¡± ¡°Disgusting. Who does he think he is?¡± ¡°He''s not even close to their level. How dare he stand so close to them?¡± Such rude commentary was a normal occurrence for Robin. Instead of getting angry about their insults, he instead was curious about something they said. = Something about their levels? = Identify
Diane Geotal (Lvl 73)
HP:1770/1770
Aura:2500/2500
Pyrrha Nikos (Lvl 72)
HP:1700/1700
Aura:2300/2300
Weiss Schnee (Lvl 71)
HP:1650/1650
Aura:3000/3000
= Whoa! Three thousand! As expected of a Schnee. Even if she''s arrogant, she has the innate talent to match her attitude. That being said, they''re all 70 and above. I have some valuable teammates...Interestingly enough, Diane''s level hasn''t increased at all after that preliminary round. Huh. = Despite noticing Diane''s level, Robin did not find it to be strange at all. Leveling up isn''t as easy as it used to be. Before, just killing a single Grimm was enough for Robin to level up when he was levels 10-20. Now, it was extremely difficult to gain experience. You had to fight monsters, expose yourself to life-threatening events, or spar with fighters at or above one''s level to get decent amount of experience. Just from the preliminary event, Robin was involved in defeating hundreds of Hunters and Huntresses, yet he only rose two levels. This was evidence that gaining levels was not so easy anymore. In fact, the only reason he gained so much was probably because the event itself was a new experience. Who knows, maybe the next time he fought in the event he wouldn''t level up at all, just like Diane. While Robin was admiring the strength of the three ladies, Pyrrha walked up to some of the bystanders with a displeased expression. ¡°Excuse me, I hope you don''t mind me intruding.¡± The girls in question were flustered at one of their idols talking to them suddenly. ¡°Ye-yes! We don''t mind at all!¡± ¡°My name is Pyrrha Nikos. What are your names?¡± Their faces blushed red at the question. They were being asked for their names! Could she want to become friends with them? Anyone who saw Pyrrha''s face would have realized otherwise. ¡°I''m Nico, and this is my best friend Eya.¡± ¡°Well Nico. I want you to imagine something for me. Imagine a stranger you never met before talking about your comrade here. Insulting them in front of your face. How would that make you feel?¡± ¡°!.. I..uh..¡± ¡°You wouldn''t feel that great. Now, I don''t know much about my teammates. In fact, I just met them today. But they are still my teammates, and I don''t appreciate you insulting my comrade in front of my face. Do you understand?¡± The two girls were silent, their faces flushed with embarrassment. Right now the entire hallway was silent and staring at Pyrrha scolding the two of them. Without waiting for permission, the two girls rushed away in order to save face. Pyrrha was about to give chase when Robin patted her on the shoulder. ¡°That''s enough. A bit unnecessary, but I appreciate the thought.¡± Robin couldn''t help but smile at this red-haired beauty speaking up for his sake. Next to Osagi and Neptune, she was definitely the next on Robin''s list of friendly humans to get along with. Pyrrha sighed and rested a hand on her hip. ¡°Sigh..Atrocious. I can''t stand people like them. Judging others by their appearance and making assumptions based on their own lack of understanding. It''s as if they can only see what''s on the surface...¡± Pyrrha lost herself in thought as she stared at the palm of her other hand. Robin pulled her back into reality. ¡°Pyrrha?..We should get going.¡± ¡°!..Right.¡± As the four of them resumed walking, Robin struck up a conversation with Pyrrha. ¡°Those girls seemed to regard you as an idol. Are you someone famous?¡± Pyrrha seemed quite pleased with that comment while Weiss barged in on the conversation for the first time. She scoffed with disbelief. ¡°Are you saying you don''t have the slightest clue about who you''re talking to?¡± ¡°Not in the slightest, Ice Queen.¡± Robin retorted. ¡°Ah!¡± She scoffed. ¡°This is Pyrrha Nikos.¡± Weiss made a hand gesture toward Pyrrha. Pyrrha waved to Robin. ¡°Hello again.¡± ¡°Pyrrha is the top student of the first-years at Sanctum.¡± Weiss explained. The fact itself was interesting, but it didn''t really surprise Robin who was also one of the strongest first-years at Myriad. ¡°Meh.¡± Weiss scoffed again. Pyrrha seemed to beam with approval at Robin''s response. ¡°Ah! She was the champion of the Junior Hunters Weapon Competition, four years in a row. A new record!¡± Even fools at Sanctum knew about that competition. Was it possible for Robin not to know? ¡°The what?¡± Yes, because when he was younger, Robin and his parents were told to join the Myriad Junior Hunter tournament. As rivals of Sanctum, why would Myriad officials tell them about their rivals hosting a different tournament? In addition, Robin''s family only entered the Kingdom during the Vytal Festival period. Why would he know about that? Weiss could not believe her ears. Does this faunus boy live under a rock? The answer was no, he lived in a trailer. Weiss didn''t believe she would have to resort to this, but hopefully even this boy would know a fact that even kids knew. ¡°She''s on the front of Every. Pete''s. Marshmallow. Flakes Box!¡± This was a famous brand of cereal that got rapid popularity for a brief period of time. The only people shown on the front were famous athletes and cartoon characters. Even Robin knew about this cereal brand. Unfortunately, Robin''s response left Weiss''s mouth hanging. ¡°...I drink coffee.¡± Why would a man who didn''t eat cereal know what was on the front of a cereal box? ¡°Heehee..¡± Pyrrha held one hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter. Diane, who was smiling at their banter, spoke up again. ¡°Sorry to interrupt your comedy routine, but I need to go grab my gear. I''ll meet you all inside.¡± They had arrived at the building. Diane just finished registering them for borrowing a room while the three had their little conversation. They were each handed a key in case they had to leave for some reason before coming back. ¡°I have my weapon with me.¡± Robin stated and patted Pantomath which sat on his back. ¡°As do I.¡± Pyrrha said. ¡°My butler should arrive with my battle gear any moment now.¡± Weiss started to operate her Scroll, most likely she was messaging the butler which room they were going into. Diane then promptly left and the three of them walked inside. Compared to Myriad''s sparring room, Sanctum''s was larger and had service robots ready with refreshments of all kinds. ¡°Whoa.¡± Robin nodded with approval. ¡°Very nice look, spacious for AOE users, and immediate refreshments for the weary. And here I thought Myriad was a top-ranking combat school.¡± ¡°I believe the winner of the Inter-School Tournament receives additional funds the upcoming year. ¡± Pyrrha explained. ¡°I see. That explains why the room is filled with so many extravagant things... By the way, you''re a star athlete, right?¡± ¡°Yes? What about it?¡± ¡°Why don''t you show me some of that battle prowess of yours while we wait for Diane?¡± Robin said with a grin. Pyrrha caught on to his underlying meaning pretty quickly. She returned the smile. Weiss did not. ¡°You want to spar already? We literally just got out of the preliminary round and cleaned ourselves up. Why don''t we use this rare opportunity to relax?¡± Her words fell on deaf ears. ¡°I would be happy to oblige.¡± Weiss rolled her eyes. ¡°I don''t have my weapon. Do what you want.¡± With those words, Weiss sat down in the bleachers with one leg crossed over the other. While she looked to be uninterested in the match. She was carefully paying attention to the two fighters. They could be her future opponents after all. Robin pressed some options on a pedestal. When Robin and Pyrrha stood twenty feet across one another, a holographic screen popped up in between them.
Combatants: Robin S. Wolfheart and Pyrrha Nikos Activate your Aura!
Enhance Silver enveloped Robin''s body while a faint red color covered Pyrrha''s.
Aura Detected! Beginning Countdown: 10 9 8...
Pyrrha weapon was what seemed to be a sword and a shield. Both items were bronze colored to match Pyrrha''s outfit. The shield was circular in shape and fits on her arm-guard that she wore on her left arm. The sword itself had a strange shape. It had no cross-guard, and it resembled a spear that was cut short rather than a sword. Both fighters drew their weapons and stood ready for the signal.
..3 2 1 Begin!
With the disappearance of the screen so did the two fighter''s bodies. To a normal human without activated Auras, the speed of these seasoned fighters was no joke. They were Hunters and Huntresses capable of slaughtering monsters and surviving a ten story fall with ease. Furthermore, they were both above level 60, making them one of the best fighters in the competition. Despite their huge speed, the young Weiss watched them dash back and forth with her eyes following them closely. Without her realizing it, Diane sat down next to her, demonstrating her ability to hide even from this talented heir''s enhanced senses. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± ¡°!!...¡± Weiss momentarily looked shocked at this powerful third-year student before going back to the fight. ¡°...Pyrrha is superior in power and speed. It''s obvious this faunus boy will lose.¡± ¡°But Robin is superior in technique. No matter how she approaches, Robin is handling her attacks rather well. Besides, his skills are nothing to laugh at either.¡± Weiss frowned upon remembering her defeat to Robin. Acupuncture is a skill used by doctors and a few martial artists. Normally, even Hunters and Huntresses that fight using their fists did not use Acupuncture. Weiss did not understand how Robin saw through Amy''s illusions, nor did she expect him to use a weird skill like Aura Limbs, so how could she expect that he would apply Acupuncture through Aura Limbs. The fact she lost to someone weaker than her in level irritated her to no end. ¡°Doesn''t matter. In the face of absolute strength, strategy and technique are worthless. He is compensating for the difference in speed by using more Aura in Enhance. The gap in power will show itself soon.¡± Regardless of her views on faunus, her judgement was spot on. Currently, Robin had Pantomath in its dual sword form. Robin considered that this was the best way to counter Pyrrha''s shield and sword. However, even if it was the best way to deal with it, it didn''t mean it was easy. Pyrrha was faster and stronger, thus Robin was completely on the defensive. It was only thanks to Robin''s battle experience and Bloodlust that he was able to barely ward off her attacks. In addition, he was well aware that he had to use more Aura to keep up with her level of speed and strength, but inputing too much Aura into Enhance would result in him running out of steam before the match was concluded. = Such heavy strikes. Is this the power of level 70''s? No that doesn''t seem right. = Pyrrha''s sword swung at his side which Robin blocked using his left sword and counterattacked using his right one. Pyrrha simply bashed Robin''s right sword to the side using her shield and then jabbed the side of her shield towards his neck. Pumping Aura into his upper body, Robin clenched Pyrrha''s shield between his head and shoulder.
-170
Unfortunately, even if he pumped Aura, it wasn''t able to completely negate the damage. He then kicked Pyrrha in the stomach to gain some distance between the two of them.
-140
Pyrrha promptly pressed a button on her sword, and it suddenly transformed from a sword into a spear. Pyrrha pressed the butt of her spear against the ground to stop her momentum from carrying her back any farther. She twisted her upper body and then snapped her arm outward. The shield that was on her left arm was coated with Pyrrha''s Aura and and thrown like a frisbee at Robin. Boomerang Throw = What in the-- = Robin leaned back as the shield whizzed an inch over his face. Pyrrha clicked another button on her spear, transforming it into a rifle. With no hesitation, Pyrrha fired in rapid succession at Robin''s head and left arm, but he dodged the bullets by sidestepping. It was at that moment Robin felt danger approaching from behind. In less than half a second, Robin got down on all fours as a circular object whizzed back over his head. It was Pyrrha''s shield. Pyrrha had thrown it while calculating its trajectory in the air. She had shot at Robin which forced him to dodge to the precise location she was expecting the shield to travel to. Pyrrha caught her shield and placed it back on her left arm-guard. With a sprint, she charged right at Robin. Takedown Without warning, Pyrrha''s body began moving so fast that there were afterimages from where she was before. With her speed suddenly increased and Robin in an awkward position, he could only rely on taking the brunt of her attack. A large silver shield formed in the shape of a sphere around Robin. He braced himself for the impact. Aura Shield With a boom, the unstoppable force collided with the immovable object. The end result was Robin''s shield barely prevailing with noticeable cracks, and Pyrrha was standing outside of Robin''s barrier, unable to break through. Both sides were panting from the exchanges, but there was an obvious victor from the trade. ¡°I''m truly surprised.¡± Pyrrha stated. ¡°?..¡± Robin raised his eyebrow. ¡°Nobody has ever stopped my Takedown before. You''re pretty good.¡± ¡°Haha. You flatter me, but I doubt you have showed me everything.¡± ¡°That''s funny. I was gonna say the same to you.¡± Robin smiled wryly. Pyrrha used about 1/4 of her Aura reserves so far while he used about half. It seems both of them used a considerable amount of energy in that last exchange. Robin looked at the skid marks on the floor. = Still, that kind of charging power is ridiculous. She could crush the skeletons of Skull Grimms if she tried hard enough. = ¡°Well then, how about we end this here?¡± Diane said as she stood up from the bleachers. Since she saw the two of them starting a conversation, she used this chance to intervene. Robin and Pyrrha looked at her with startled expressions. They finally realized that Diane was already back. = ¡­How did I not notice her enter this room? = As if to answer his question, a window popped up.
After being exposed to multiple occasions where you have been unable to detect others, you have discovered a limitation to Bloodlust. If someone uses a skill to hide their presence, you will be unable to detect them using Bloodlust unless you were aware of their location before they activated their skill.
= That was convenient..Lets see. So if I activate Bloodlust or pay attention to them before they activate a hiding skill, it''s just like normal. But if I don''t pay attention to them, I lose track of them? Makes sense. I was concentrating on my spar, so I would naturally miss her using a hiding skill... Hold on, I''m pretty sure Blake has a similar skill that could hide her presence... I see, so I only discovered this now because I only see her use that skill when we sparred together. Since I was paying attention to Blake when we''re sparring, I don''t lose track of her with Bloodlust, this lead me to thinking it always would detect others. = ¡°Oh! I never saw you enter the room. I''m sorry.¡± Pyrrha apologized. Diane shook her head. ¡°No problem. Lets go ahead and talk about the game plan.¡± Robin frowned. ¡°Can''t you let us finish our match?¡± ¡°Save your skills for the matches tomorrow. If you really want to duke it out, do it after we''re done here. I don''t need you to be spent mentally before we even go over our strategy.¡± With a smile that showed no signs of anything suspicious, Diane beckoned them over as she started to draw on a whiteboard. Robin and Pyrrha wiped off their sweat and replenished their Aura through elixirs before joining the other two. As maintenance robots were fixing the damage done by their spar, Robin grumbled as he sat down. = Man, and things were just getting good...On the bright side, this means I don''t show off too much. So far I have only used Aura Shield, Aura Sword and Bloodlust. She might be stronger than me, but I still haven''t used Aura Limbs and Acupuncture. If I ever have to fight her, it''ll be difficult to win, but it''s definitely possible. = Diane''s words pulled him out of his thoughts. She was done drawing. ¡°First I want you guys to show each other your classes. Of course, this includes me.¡± Weiss frowned with disapproval. ¡°Why should we do that? We could be fighting one another in the future.¡± ¡°Because if we are to work together effectively, we need to know our strengths and weaknesses. Since this is a temporary alliance, we don''t need to show our skills. Just our classes should be fine.¡± Diane explained. ¡°You already watched us fight anyway.¡± Robin chimed in. ¡°At least be decent enough to share some info back.¡± Weiss was not happy, but agreed anyway. The four of them altered their status plates so that it would only reveal the class. Robin was already familiar with the details of his own class, so he obviously only looked at the others. The first was Diane.
Hacker
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. You value being informed of every little detail and will take any step that you deem necessary to achieve your goals. Thanks to this, you are able to gather information at an accelerated rate. As a hacker, any device that functions with electricity can be controlled by you. Security and firewalls fall before your skills as you can hack in two different ways. Current Bonuses: ????, ????, ????, ¡­. Current Skills: ????, ????, ????, ¡­.
= ..Any device can be controlled by her?...With the exception of some basic weaponry that don''t transform, I don''t think there is anything mechanical nowadays that doesn''t use electricity...What about Weiss? =
Shaman
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Born into a well-known family, you have something you must prove. Thanks to this, you must embellish yourself to be the role model others want you to be. As a shaman, you can use buffs and debuffs to alter certain characteristics, making you stronger or weaker as you see fit. Your semblance, Glyph, has altered your buffs to have stronger effects and allows you to stack buffs. Current Bonuses: ????, ????, ????, ¡­. Current Skills: ????, ????, ????, ¡­.
= Well...that doesn''t seem overpowered in the slightest... And Pyrrha? =
Gladiator
Your aura has given insight to your true nature as a person.You are blessed with talent and strength above the average person. Whether you are in the face of enemies or allies, your demeanor and fair heart stands out among all. As a gladiator, you become stronger when facing strong opponents, multiple enemies, or when fighting in front of an audience. Current Bonuses: ????, ????, ????, ¡­. Current Skills: ????, ????, ????, ¡­.
Robin could only stare dumbly at the classes shown in front of him. When the woman at the banquet earlier said they were the best, it was no joke. But what was even more astonishing was that his current team consisted of the best of the best. Pyrrha and Weiss were also shocked at the statuses, but Diane seemed calm as usual as if she already knew each class. Each one of them had overpowered classes. Looking at these plates, Robin realized that the chances that they would fail the next round were slim to none. Chapter 55: World Record ==================================== Chapter 55: World Record ==================================== The next morning, all the seats began to fill up in the stadium as families and friends came to watch the students fight it out. The Inter-School Tournament takes place at 8 in the morning all the way until noon. They recently changed the timing so that the Vytal Tournament, which consisted of the high-schoolers, takes place in the afternoon. This gave more time so that families could enjoy both tournaments if they desired. This definitely isn''t because the author forgot to take into account the timing. Definitely not. The holographic big screen appeared and showed three individuals sitting at a desk. All three were students that came from various academies, but the one thing they had in common was energy. Stage fright wasn''t a problem as they started to talk into their microphones without a stutter. The first to speak was a handsome purple-haired boy. ¡°GOOD MORNING VALE! How are you today?!¡± Cheers erupted from the audience, excitement and expectations were rising for the tournament, and it was the job of these three students to get the audience as excited as possible. ¡°I don''t think I can hear you. I said HOW ARE YOU TODAY?!!¡± They cheered even louder in response. ¡°Now that''s what I''m talking about! My name is Percy. I''m here today with Mina and Geoff. We''ll be your hosts for the Inter-School Tournament. How are you two doing?¡± The girl with pink hair spoke up with smile on her face. ¡°I''m fine, Percy. Thanks for asking.¡± The green-haired boy named Geoff also replied similarly. ¡°That''s great! Geoff, why don''t you give the viewers at home a run down of what''s happening today?¡± ¡°With pleasure, Percy. Today we''ll be beginning the main part of the Inter-School Tournament. There will be three rounds. Round 1 will slim down the contestants from 64 to sixteen. Round 2 and 3 will be 1v1 Event Rounds held immediately after Round 1 with only half the fighters moving on to the next round. The resulting top four fighters will duke it out in the Semi-finals and Finals tomorrow. Unlike today''s Event Rounds, tomorrow''s Semi-finals and Finals will be a classic 1v1 tournament-style duel. Last Hunter or Huntress standing wins.¡± ¡°Wow, we have a jam-packed schedule today don''t we?¡± ¡°Percy, you don''t know half of it.¡± Mina said. ¡°Round 1''s event is Maze Runner. All of the fighters are split into teams of 4 and positioned outside of the maze. When the timer starts, all teams rush inside and try to be the first to reach the center which contains 4 different orbs. Upon obtaining one of these orbs, the corresponding team reaps the benefit of altering a section of the maze to their bidding as well as access to security cameras monitoring the maze. At the end of the time limit of one hour, the four teams with possession of an orb moves on to Round 2.¡± ¡°Seems simple enough. But only at first glance right? This is an event that''s normally held during the Vytal Tournament for the high-schoolers. The maze contains many [treasure] rooms and traps that can both help and impede the progress of any team. Furthermore, unlike the high-school division who are familiar with their teammates, these teams were formed only yesterday. Their ability to cooperate with one another is another factor. Moreover, the maze itself is huge already. The difficulty of this event is not something to scoff at.¡± Geoff nodded. ¡°Indeed. Contestants are not allowed to jump over the walls at any time, and they are limited to only 10 Greater Elixirs. The shortest time any team has reached the orb is 15 minutes 25 seconds. Furthermore, after the orbs are retrieved by a team, they immediately begin to emit a pillar of light. This allows the rest of the fighters to become aware of the location of the objective, subsequently converging on the team that holds it.¡± ¡°After all this talk about Maze Runner, I''m sure the audience now grasps just how difficult this event is, so I would like to move this conversation towards a different topic. With all this in mind, who do you guys think will emerge victorious?¡± ¡°That''s hard to say, Percy.¡± Mina said. ¡°If you were asking which four teams will win, I couldn''t tell you. Many of the favored winners and tough fighters have all been scrambled into ridiculous team match-ups as if some weird twist of fate didn''t want them to win. However, there is one promising team that I think Geoff is also keeping an eye on.¡± ¡°If we''re talking about the All Star team, then yes I am. The team at entry point 9 consists of third-year Diane Geotal, first-year Weiss Schnee, first-year Pyrrha Nikos, and first-year Robin Wolfheart. Diane is a well known face. She currently stands as the strongest student at Myriad and is the leader of Team DiGiTaL (DGTL) which includes the rest of the Myriad Student Council. Together they are known as the Cruel Four.¡± ¡°Cruel Four?¡± ¡°You never heard of that nickname, Mina? Unlike their calm and caring demeanor in school, during their missions, Team DGTL is widely known for ruthlessly striking down all those that stand in their way. For example, Gaea Bronzewing is said to only aim for headshots whether it''s Grimm or fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses. Ted Turncoat, who before being tamed by Diane, was a wild, solo Huntsman. Liela Atkinson, who is a faunus, is able to crush bone into powder using just her bare hands.¡± ¡°Oh my!¡± Mina exclaimed. ¡°But what about the head of the team, Diane? What makes her part of the Cruel Four?¡± ¡°Diane''s class and semblance are no secret. Her class is a Hacker, and her semblance is Zaborg, which allows her command over electricity. The firepower of her electricity is something we have all witness. Yesterday in the preliminary round, just one burst of energy wiped out dozens of Hunters and Huntresses. The worst part is she never pulls her punches. There are even some rumors that the students that disobey the Student Council are personally punished by her in an electric chair powered by Diane herself.¡± Geoff and Mina nodded at one another. Just one blast eliminated that many fighters. To be tortured by her? Such a thought was truly terrifying. However, Percy pulled the two out of their silent atmosphere. ¡°Rumors like those can be extremely biased. Lets not get ahead of ourselves here. What about the rest of their team? What can you guys tell us?¡± Mina took the lead for this one. ¡°The other three are Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos, and Robin Wolfheart. Weiss Schnee is second in line to inheriting the Schnee Dust Company everyone is familiar with. Since this is her first debut in a tournament, her class is unknown, but we do know that her semblance is Glyphs. Glyphs is a recognized rare and unique semblance that is inherited only in the Schnee family. With its power to amplify qualities of their user, it isn''t a small exaggeration to say the participation of a Schnee family member can change the outcome of any battle. Moreover, rumors say that Weiss is a special case in the Schnee family since she is able to utilize Glyphs with effects that have been never seen before. Next is Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl. She is a star athlete known even by little children. As many know, every year we host a Junior Hunter Weapons Competition open to the ages 4-12. Unlike the Junior Hunter Tournament, this competition allows weapons users only. To the amazement of everyone, she emerged at the age of 8 and took first place for four years in a row. Her mastery of her weapons is something shocking to many and was deemed a true battle genius. Despite her fame, it is currently unknown what her class and semblance is. However, there is no doubt whether she lives up to the rumors. In yesterday''s battle, she was also on Weiss Schnee''s team and single-handedly protected her team''s standing on the hill against dozens upon dozens of Hunters and Huntresses using only her strength and speed rather than AOE skills like many fighters did.¡± ¡°Unbelievable. And we''re sure these two are first-years?¡± ¡°Hm.¡± Mina nodded. ¡°Amazing, and what about our last Hunter: Robin Wolfheart?¡± Both Geoff and Mina exchanged glances. ¡°This..I''m afraid I don''t know any data on Robin.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°He''s a first-year just like Weiss and Pyrrha, but unlike them he has yet to reach level 70''s. His name also isn''t really widespread among the contestants.¡± ¡°No wait, Mina!¡± Geoff interrupted. ¡°Wasn''t the reigning champion for the Junior Hunter Tournament for 5 consecutive years a boy named Robin?¡± ¡°Wait really? It''s been over 10 years, so I don''t recall.¡± ¡°Hm...¡± Robin''s name not being known was not something to be shocked about. The only times he made a name for himself was when he won those tournaments, but the shock of Pyrrha reigning a champion for 4 years in a row was more shocking than Robin for 5 years. The reason was simple. He was a faunus. When advocating the ¡°success of a genius¡±, news reporters would rather flock to the beautiful girl than the ¡°country bumpkin¡± faunus. Most likely, his success was downplayed a lot by the press. Not that it really mattered. At the time, he was gonna be inside the Kingdom of Vale for a mere four days each year. What was unknown about him didn''t really hurt him. It''s better if he remained under the radar. At least, that''s what he told himself. =================================== At the moment, all the Hunters and Huntresses were doing their final stretches on the field and going over their Inventory once more for last minute check ups. The announcer''s voices were loud and clear, and a simple glance would let them see that Robin''s team was currently being displayed on the huge holographic screen. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. = As expected, even if I try to tell myself, it still hurts to go unnoticed like this. = Robin scratched his wolf ears on his head. = I mean, come on. I won 5 years in a row. That''s gotta count for something right? = No matter how he tried to spin it, it really felt like he was the outsider in the group. He was used to such feelings since he grew up as a faunus, but on a grand stage such as this unnerved him differently than when he was walking in the hallways. If it was then, they would say something and look away. Here, he was the center of attention from beginning to end. ¡°Well that''s no fair. You tricked me.¡± ¡°?? What do you mean Pyrrha?¡± ¡°I mean you acted as if you''re not famous yourself. Isn''t winning a fight in hand-to-hand a lot more difficult than armed combat?¡± Robin was no fool. While she was showing obvious praise for his feats and teasing to lighten the mood, he could tell she was trying to cheer him up. To let her know he appreciated it, he gave a wry smile. She returned it back. Robin then shifted the conversation to Diane. ¡°Hey, they seemed to be aware of your class, Diane. Are you sure our plan will work?¡± Their current battle plan hinged on Diane''s ability as a Hacker after all. ¡°What are you asking at this point and time, boy? I am confident in my skills even if they threw in an extra firewall or two. Besides, worst come to worst, we play normally right?¡± ¡°True.¡± A loud Ding gathered the attention of all competitors, and then a loud voice went over the intercom. ¡°Hunters and Huntresses get ready to embark, we will begin the round momentarily.¡± It should go without saying each fighter was already prepared without the reminder. Robin''s nervousness disappeared and the feelings were replaced with apprehension toward the upcoming fight. ¡°The event is Maze Runner. Out of the 64 participates, only 16 will move on to the next round. The time limit is one hour...¡± The gates at their entry point shifted inward revealing a long corridor with stone pavement and walls with pulsating blue veins. A holographic screen appeared above the enormous maze, allowing those inside to see by looking upwards.
Time Remaining: 01:00:00
¡°Begin!¡± Roars spread throughout the crowd as all the participants rushed into the labyrinth at their respective entry points. All of them, except for Robin''s group. The four of them casually walked into the maze. After all the fighters entered, the gate that had opened now closed behind them and sealing them inside. Instead of rushing anyway, Robin, Pyrrha, and Weiss stood still and watched Diane. The person in question placed her palm on a wall and sent her Aura into the wall. Live Hack As a Hacker, there were two ways for Diane to hack into a device. The first was Auto Hack. This is basically the kind of hacking Robin was capable of. The individual would send one''s Aura into a device and then forcefully crack the code and manipulate it as one wished. However, this was slower and required an accurate of normal hacking in order to obtain the skill. The gain was that it was done unconsciously, so as long one activated the skill, they could concentrate on other issues while the skill worked its magic. The other kind of hacking was Live Hack. A skill exclusive to only Hackers. It manually sent one''s conscious into the device to hack the device. The speed of the hack was many times faster than Auto Hack, but required sending the conscious into the device. Normal hacking was looking at code, interpreting it, and then taking action. This was different. Inside the device- no the maze- Diane''s conscious stood like a human and the surrounding was all blue. In front of her was a door locked so tightly, it would be unthinkable for it to be opened by just her alone. In live hacking, security systems were like doors, only letting specific personnel through. But a door opens so long as you have a key. With no effort at all, Diane tapped the door and it opened her way into the mainframe. ¡°...Too easy.¡± The amount of time she came in contact with the wall was approximately 10 seconds. In order to not make it look too outrageous, she delayed her hacking purposefully, but the result was still the same. The moment she finished hacking, the wall pulsated. No, the entire maze pulsated. Walls began to move, traps were dismantled. The winding and blocked paths began to open up and the result was a long corridor from Robin and his team to the center of the maze. A straight path from the outside of the maze to the center that didn''t exist before appeared. ¡°With or without a terminal, so long as it runs on electricity, it is mine to command.¡± Diane said to nobody in particular. It didn''t matter anyway. Robin and the others were speechless. When Diane came up with this plan, they had their doubts about her hacking the entire maze, but seeing was believing. = ¡­Overpowered doesn''t begin to describe this. = Maze Runner was an event held regularly in the Vytal Tournament. If it was so easy to hack into, it wouldn''t be used at all, yet this girl did it in 10 seconds. Robin looked at his palm. = Could I do that too? Is my Mercenary class capable of grasping that kind of power? = He gulped. With Diane leading the way, the four of them headed to the center as if they were walking in the park. Silence. If a pin dropped on the ground, it could be heard throughout the entire audience stands. The three announcers stared dumbly. The first to speak was Percy. ¡°...Mina, how long has it been?¡± She looked at the clock on her desk and gasped inward. Her voice was heard throughout the entire stadium, every shop, and every home that was watching. ¡°...35 seconds.¡± The world record by matches in the high-school division was 15 minutes and 25 seconds. This same record was beaten by almost 15 minutes. They saw it, so they understood it, but they could not believe it. ¡°Wait!¡± Geoff shouted. ¡°Is this even legal? Tampering with the layout like this?¡± ¡°Everything is legal the moment the round starts.¡± Percy said absently, his eyes lock onto the beauty that made this feat possible. ¡°Otherwise how could someone alter the terrain with explosions and bullets. So long as nothing is done beforehand, it''s ok.¡± ¡°There should''ve been firewalls, viruses, at least some kind of defenses set up to prevent something like this from happening right?¡± Mina asked. ¡°Of course, that''s a given. This isn''t the first time a Hacker class has been seen. The security has always been tight for something like this.¡± ¡°Then, does that mean she somehow obtained the passwords to the security?¡± Geoff asked questioningly. His suspicion was obvious. This was done way too quick. ¡°Don''t be foolish.¡± Percy glared at him and snarled. ¡°If something like a password was all it took to crack this maze, why would the standing record be 15 minutes and 25 seconds? To hack a maze at this size requires immense talent and familiarity with the line of work. It''s not something that can be done at a flip of a switch, yet that''s exactly what she did.¡± Listening to his words, whether it was men or women, human or faunus, those at home or currently participating, all held a gaze of respect and awe towards Diane. No doubt the government would recruit her in the future. If that was the case, the Kingdom''s future was a bright one. That was, if she was on their side. Diane chuckled slightly as she felt the stares on her back. From the blackmail of the Schnee Family, the disorientation of teams, fame, and now she was set for a high position in government. All was going according to the plan. Security After hacking into a device, Diane was able to mold her Aura similar to Robin with his Aura Limbs. By doing so, she was able to create security cameras and move them at her will using her Aura. Floating blue holographic screens made of her Aura appeared in front of her. In addition to the cameras that already existed in the maze, she had access to the ones she created herself, and they were all displayed on the screens in front of her. Upon looking at the cameras, Diane frowned. Robin noticed the subtle change. ¡°What''s wrong?¡± ¡°It seems we''re not the only ones that had an early lead.¡± she responded. After she said that, the earth beneath them rumbled. They then also heard the sound of something crumbling in the distance. The audience began to clamor and they also heard the noise. The three stooges at the microphone spoke up. ¡°Wh-what! What''s happening?¡± Mina asked. Both she and Geoff searched the field to see the change but Percy was the first to notice. With a finger, he pointed towards the center of the maze. Mina and Geoff followed the finger and the holographic screen changed to the image Percy was seeing. With his hand trembling, Percy spoke words everyone thought they heard wrong. ¡°...4 more teams have made it to the center.¡±
Author''s note: I don''t really have much to add here. Wondering about your thoughts so far? I realize the paragraphs are more clumped up than usual. Does it affect your reading? Chapter 56: All a Ruse ================================== Chapter 56: All a Ruse ================================== A little bit earlier... ============================ Just like Robin''s team, there was other teams that were planning on taking an early lead. Blake''s team was one of them. ¡°..So loud..¡± Blake murmured. This wasn''t the first time she was at an event with a large audience. Every year, Robin and the others would come inside the walls to watch the Vytal tournament. Unlike Robin, who participated in the Junior Hunter Tournament, Blake, who watched from the stands, was not used to being the target of such attention. = There''s no way for others to know I''m a faunus because of my bow, yet these stares are still following me. They''re...different than the usual ones. They''re much heavier.. I can feel goosebumps all over me.. = The energy of the audience weighed down like weights. She could feel the tension in her body rising just like in the preliminaries yesterday. Currently, Blake was calming her nerves and preparing herself mentally while she could. = Did Robin have to feel like this every time when he fights in tournaments? Unbelievable. = ¡°Dang, this atmosphere is a bit overwhelming isn''t it?¡± Sun said with a smile. Despite his comment, Sun''s attitude showed that he wasn''t affected by it at all. His smile lacked tension as if he wasn''t even participating. Blake glanced at Sun in the corners of her sight. ¡°You seem just fine though.¡± Blake retorted. ¡°Ah, that''s because of my Rebel class. No matter how much attention is on me, the effects of pressure is reduced. Pretty useful, isn''t it?¡± he gloated. Blake raised an eyebrow. ¡°Then how can you say this is ¡°overwhelming¡±?¡± ¡°Well no. It''s like, it''s there, and I know it is. But at the same time, it''s not, cuz of who I am. Does that make sense?¡± Sun''s wording was slightly confusing, but the concept was communicated to Blake. She returned to her silent contemplation while thinking that such an ability was both good and bad. = It''s like the complete opposite of Robin''s. Sun ignores everything directed at him, but Robin is fully aware anytime someone looks at him. Sun literally doesn''t care what others think. = ¡°..It''s not like it''s that bad, you know.¡± = !! Did I say that out loud? = ¡°No, I''m just observing your expression.¡± Sun said with a grin. Blake blushed slightly at the thought of her mind being read from her facial expression. Usually she was more reserved in front of others. She tried to clear her mind, but it was useless with the boy next to her for some reason. His speech kept her mind far from empty. ¡°I just seem to notice your face changes when you or anyone seems to mention him... What do you find good about Robin anyway?¡± At that moment, the three commentators starting talking, causing the audience to roar behind them. When they started to talk about Robin''s team, Blake became a little irked by the lack of attention on Robin. Sun stared at her in silence, waiting for her reply. ¡°...¡± ¡°...Robin''s...¡± ============================ Present time... ¡°..So this is where they have the orbs?¡± Robin asked. Robin and the others had reached the center of the maze, and they looked around to take it their surroundings. The center was a spacious, flat grassland surrounded by the walls of the maze. There were four entrances to the center with one of the entrances altered to connect to the path they had just arrived from. Stone statues littered the grassland. Each one had an appearance resembling a warrior posing with a sword jabbed into the ground. In the middle of the grassland were four pedestals on raised platforms. Each pedestal was located in front of four different statues made out of metal that were 2 stories tall each. With the exception of the four larger statues, the rest of the statues all faced the four pedestals in the center. ¡°This atmosphere feels... off.¡± Pyrrha commented. The three of them agreed with a nod. With the presence of all the stone figures, it felt like they had stepped into a graveyard. At that moment, the sound of a bell ringing once was heard, and a holographic screen appeared in front of them. Ding!
Announcement
Team at Entry Point 9 has arrived at the center of the maze. Timer: 00:00:35 Participants: Diane Geotal Pyrrha Nikos Weiss Schnee Robin Wolfheart
= Great. Announce it to the whole world, why don''t you...No wait, this is probably being broadcasted globally, so that''s actually already happened. = ¡°Most likely, the possession of the orbs will be announced as well.¡± Diane said. ¡°We should be prepared to be constantly pursued by others once we get the orb.¡± = How troublesome. = ¡°So do we take it?¡± Pyrrha asked. According to the best case scenario, they were to grab it and monopolize their lead, but since they were no longer gonna be the only ones to arrive... ¡°Act according to the plan.¡± Diane said. And so they did. They stood there and did absolutely nothing. They didn''t have to wait long. All of a sudden, they started to feel a slight tremble in the ground beneath them. Bloodlust was activated to look for the source of the disturbance. Robin deactivated it once he realized who they were. He could guess the silhouette of the four people that he saw. Then, a hole appeared out of nowhere at another spot nearby. Out jumped four individuals he was familiar with. Why did they do nothing? Everything could be explained by the plan Diane went over with them yesterday afternoon. The memory of the scene resounded in Robin''s head. ============================ ¡°I''m going to hack the maze,¡± Diane stated as if it was the most natural thing in the world. ¡°¡°¡°...¡±¡±¡± ¡°Impossible.¡± Weiss denied. ¡°Highly unlikely,¡± Pyrrha corrected. ¡°Won''t there be security functions? Like a firewall or something?¡± Robin argued. ¡°I have confidence in my ability, child.¡± ¡°Don''t get me wrong,¡± Robin said. ¡°I can Hack into a lot of stuff too, but something like an entire maze is just...¡± ¡°Oh, so you have the skill Hack?¡± Diane questioned. ¡°Yes.¡± Robin confirmed. ¡°Ok. Unlock this then.¡± Diane pulled a lock out of her Inventory and tossed it to Robin. He caught it with a single hand and saw that the lock had no keyhole. ¡°That is an electronic lock made to only open through the use of the Hack skill. Try to unlock it as fast as you can.¡± ¡°?.. Ok....¡± Hack ¡°10 seconds. Not bad.¡± ¡°So what was the point of that?¡± Robin asked. He closed the lock and tossed it back to Diane. She caught it with a finger and the lock...opened up instantly. It hung on her finger as Diane smiled at Robin. Pyrrha and Weiss thought Robin didn''t close it all the way, so they thought it had flung open, but Robin saw. At the moment the lock came in contact with her finger, Diane had activated Hack, and electricity flowed into the lock and opened it. ¡°Wha- How?¡± ¡°Any skill that pertains to a particular class is always stronger than when used by someone who doesn''t have that class. You know that right?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Robin admitted. ¡°But is that enough to cause such a difference in speed?¡± ¡°That''s where I''m special. My semblance is Zaborg which allows me control of electricity. Because of my semblance, my skill has evolved. It''s safe to say hacking into the maze is probably a feat only I can do right now.¡± Of course this was with the help of stolen passwords and access keys, but she didn''t have to tell them that. The three of them rapidly grasped the meaning of her words. Evolved skills were stronger forms of the previous skills. Weiss''s Glyphs and Robin''s Bloodlust were good examples. Because they were well aware of the power of evolved skills, they didn''t expect her to cheat in order to hack into the maze. ¡°But would that be allowed?¡± Robin asked. Pyrrha nodded. ¡°Tournament rules state that altering the playing field before the round starts is strictly prohibited,¡± she explained. ¡°But so long as it''s done after it starts, almost anything goes.¡± ¡°Even if we didn''t get to hack successfully, we could always get to the center normally. What the main point of this plan meeting is not about how to get to the center, but what happens after we do.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Pyrrha asked. ¡°There is an abnormally high chance we won''t be the first ones reaching the center.¡± ¡°What!¡± Weiss exclaimed. ¡°Who else could possibly reach?¡± ¡°In particular, I know of two teams who I know for certain will reach the center early. Are you three familiar with the names Simon Helix and Velvet Scarletina?¡± = ! The bunny girl?.. Of course! She has Tunnel! = Pyrrha and Weiss didn''t know them. ¡°That''s normal.¡± Diane assured them. ¡°At last year''s Inter-School Tournament, they laid low and didn''t draw much attention to themselves, but those two have a major advantage in this round. Velvet is a bunny faunus whose class is Mage and has the semblance Elements. In particular, she can use a skill called Tunnel to dig into the earth. Just like me, her semblance enhances her skill, so I am almost certain she''ll dig a tunnel from her team''s entrance point to the center. As for Simon, his class is Digger which gives him some sort of awareness when he enters some sort of structure. Apparently, a Digger has to be aware of all the possible pathways, so I''m positive when he enters the maze, he know instantly what the path to the center is.¡± ============================ Present time... Ding!
Announcement
Team at Entry Point 4 has arrived at the center of the maze. Timer: 00:00:45 Participants: Blake Belladonna Gaea Bronzewing Velvet Scarletina Sun Wukong
= It''s Blake and the others! I see, so they had Velvet dig a hole underground all the way to the center. Normally, that''s impossible, but since she has a skill for going underground, they were able to go straight here too. = Robin had met with the others last night after the banquet, so he knew the team compositions of Blake and the rest of Team COBRA. Thus, it came no surprise that Sun and Velvet was with her. ¡°My my, and here I was hoping to get here second.¡± An unfamiliar voice reached Robin''s ears. When looking for the owner of the voice, he saw it belonged to a guy with shades that looked liked something a character would wear in a TV show Robin had watched at one point. In his right hand was a huge drill that had an uncanny resemblance to the weapon of the said character. The weapon looked like the head of the drill was somehow attached to the end of a tonfa. Holding his weapon, the guy in his blue and red jacket took long strides as he and his teammates walked in from one of the other entrances. The sound of the bell once more resounded across the grassland. Ding!
Announcement
Team at Entry Point 14 has arrived at the center of the maze. Timer: 00:00:48 Participants: Liela Atkinson Simon Helix Lie Ren Ophelia Zittori
One of said teammates was also a member of Myriad''s Student Council, Leila, who was a mouse faunus. Dressed in her black and red attire, Liela carried a thigh pack on her left leg that Robin assumed held weapons and other tools. From the slight glow on her clothing, Robin guessed it was Dust-infused clothing. Her clothing was light and insinuated she specialized in a style of combat that required a lot of movement. Since the majority of items could be stored in the Inventory, many people preferred to dress lightly. Ophelia, in her case, had on her favorite brown leather coat. Underneath it, a black shirt is seen that goes well with her white pants. Due to her jacket and the color of her shirt, others couldn''t discern that her clothing were actually Dust-infused, but Robin already knew this after growing up and fighting together. Her weapon was currently in its rifle form and attached to her waist. The last of the four was Lie Ren. He was a guy with long, black hair tied into a ponytail. There was a strand of pink hair on the left side that matched his eye color. Robin immediately recognized him to be one of his rivals way back in the Junior Hunter Tournament. He wore a dark green, diagonally buttoned, long sleeved tailcoat and white pants. From first glance, he was weaponless, but... Detect Two hidden, green, fully automatic pistols were cleverly transformed to fit on his arms, and they were hidden underneath his sleeves. Other than Lie Ren, Robin found nobody else were hiding their weapons. Velvet had a contraption of some sort hidden inside the chest she carried with her, but Robin couldn''t made sense of what it was. ¡°Hey there, Velvet. Thanks for your hospitality the other day.¡± the man with the shades said. ¡°Hello Simon.. I didn''t mean to hurt them, they were the ones to challenge us..¡± the bunny faunus responded timidly. ¡°Haha! Don''t worry. If anyone''s to blame, it''s me for trusting them.¡± Weiss''s forehead showed a vein bulging, but she didn''t say anything. = I see. That''s why he looked familiar. This was Weiss''s teammate that saved her during the preliminary round. = ¡°Diane.¡± Robin whispered. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°There''s three teams already. Shouldn''t we go for the orbs?¡± ¡°If we were to follow the plan, yes. But...¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°That''s if there were four teams or less.¡± As the meaning of those words registered in Robin''s mind, a wall of the maze was torn down in the distance. The distance was too far to be heard by those present in the center, but three individuals were aware of the change. Diane was constantly obsorbing information from the security feed, so she knew what happened. Velvet and Simon were the other two. Velvet, as a bunny faunus, was already more connected with the earth than most mages. The collapse of a wall caused vibrations in the earth and informed her that something happened. As for Simon, the collapse of a wall meant a new entry point and pathway, resulting in him getting informed of the change. ¡°Something happened.¡± Velvet murmured. ¡°Diane, it''s coming from the direction of your pathway.¡± Simon said. ''Do you have anything to do with that?'' was the implied question Simon showed on his face. ¡°So it seems.¡± ''Why do I have to tell you even if I did?'' was the implied answer Diane showed on her own. The feeling was too vague, so Velvet couldn''t discern what exactly occurred. Simon obviously wasn''t getting answers out of Diane, so he didn''t inquire further. As for the others who were in the dark as to what occurred, they could only look to those three for answers but did not get much. Diane didn''t say a word to Robin and the other two, so they didn''t learn anything. ¡°Psst.. Blake..¡± Sun whispered. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Why aren''t we going for the orbs? It''s right there right? And there''s only three teams, so there''s enough for all of us.¡± ¡°..Because this is Diane we''re talking about.¡± The one to answer was Velvet. She had a look of worry on her face. ¡°You guys are first years, so you don''t understand. Diane is scary. Not only for her power, but her knowledge. When people fought her, it was like she knew every move they were gonna make before they made it. The actions she takes are meticulous, only resulting in widening the gap between her and her opponent. Now do you not find this field the least suspicious?¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Uh..yeah.¡± Sun replied. ¡°The statues look like a trap no matter how you look at it, but.. that was expected right?¡± ¡°Of course, but the first ones here was Diane''s team, a team comprised of some of the strongest fighters in the competition, yet they stand there and waited not only for us but even Simon''s team to arrive. There might be something we''re missing here. I don''t think we should rush for the orbs just yet.¡± Over on the other side of the field, Ophelia was asking Simon the same questions. ¡°But isn''t there a chance this entire thing is a bluff?¡± Ophelia asked in a hushed voice. ¡°There might not actually be a trap, and they''re just toying with us.¡± ¡°Their objective is to gather the orbs just like us.¡± Simon replied in a whisper. ¡°What would they gain through bluffing?¡± Ophelia had no answer for that. Because both Simon and Velvet couldn''t think of an answer to that question, Diane''s actions made no sense. The longer she waited, the worst the position she would be in. But that fact only made it scarier. She stood there with a confident smile on her face. Unable to comprehend her plan, they could only wait it out. Thus, instead of rushing for the orbs, the three teams didn''t move and merely waited. The tension was thick, and all fighters present had long since activated their Auras. Bloodlust After activating Bloodlust, he saw that there was 8 individuals heading their way. = Eight? Looks like there''s going to be five teams here.. So Diane''s resorting to that after all.. Sorry Blake. = In reality, Ophelia was correct. The entire thing was one giant ruse devised by Diane. ============================ ¡°...and then in that case we''ll just wait it out and let them gather instead of rushing for the orbs.¡± ¡°Why? Won''t this put us at a disadvantage?¡± Weiss complained. ¡°Oh? Explain your reasoning.¡± ¡°It''s not exactly a secret that our team is composed of pretty strong individuals--¡± = A compliment? And here I thought she was being cold. = ¡°--for the most part...¡± Robin mentally crumpled the previous thought into a ball and through it out the imaginary window. ¡°...I wouldn''t be surprised if the other teams decided to gang up on us to eliminate us.¡± = ...At least she brings up a fair point. = ¡°I agree with Weiss.¡± Pyrrha said. ¡°If we wish to obtain the orbs, rushing from the start is the better option in my opinion. Delaying brings up too many risks.¡± ¡°Of course, that makes perfect sense.. if our goal was the orb.¡± The three of them did not follow her train of thought. ¡°Tell me,¡± Diane said. ¡°How do we pass the round?¡± ¡°By getting the orb?...¡± Weiss hesitantly responded. Diane shook her head, her blue hair waving side to side. It dawned on Robin. ¡°To have an orb at the end of the round,¡± he said. ¡°Correct! It doesn''t matter when we get it, so long as we get it. With me hacked into the maze, do you think it will be hard for us to locate people who have orbs?¡± Pyrrha was still confused. ¡°...If our goal isn''t to get the orbs, then what is it?¡± ============================ Present time... ¡°We''rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre here!¡± Ding!
Announcement
Team at Entry Point 8 has arrived at the center of the maze. Timer: 00:01:03 Participants: Yatsuhashi Daichi Adam Taurus Ted Turncoat Yang Xiao Long
Out of the pathway behind Robin''s team appeared a girl with a pale complexion and ridiculously long hair that reached her butt. She wore black shorts and a tanned vest over a yellow, low cut crop top. The vest and crop top hugged her upper body and emphasized her abundant chest and slender curves. Robin examined her from the infinity scarf around her neck to her boots on her feet and saw no particular weapon. However, he found the yellow bracelets around both her wrists suspicious, even more so when he saw she wore black fingerless gloves beneath the bracelets. There were two things that came to strike awe in Robin though. One of it was her beauty. Her outfit hardly covered any skin on her lower half. This resulted in revealing plump thighs, a sexy figure, and a beautiful face. Weiss was a princess, Pyrrha was an athletic beauty, and Blake was the kind of girl you would always want by your side. This girl was simply sexy, and her atmosphere would match it too... if it weren''t for the fact she was currently on her knees and doing a victory pose. The contrast between her looks and attitude suggested she was more of a wild type rather than a mature beauty. But in the end, the most shocking thing to Robin had to be... = ...She looks exactly like Raven! The similarity is way too extreme to be a coincidence. Is she her twin or something? = ¡°Don''t kneel like that. It looks ridiculous.¡± said Adam. In walked Adam, Student Council member Ted, and another tall guy Robin didn''t know, but Velvet did. ¡°Yatsuhashi!¡± she yelled out. The tall man waved his hand as a greeting. No, ¡°tall¡± wouldn''t be able to describe him. Adam and Ted were individuals who Robin considered the tallest out of people their age, yet this guy was actually not just bigger, but broader in build as well. He had well defined muscles and wore pale green pants. On the back = Oh it''s Adam...Wait, that''s Adam! Doesn''t that make her Yang?! = Robin''s distant memories of Yang was that of a hyperactive girl who cried when Robin beat her in a fight. He did not expect her to grow up looking so.. fine. At that moment, Robin felt killing intent far more dangerous than any other he ever felt. Staring holes into his back was Blake from far away. He was confused as to how she knew, but put the thoughts aside when the next four showed up. Ding!
Announcement
Team at Entry Point 7 has arrived at the center of the maze. Timer: 00:01:08 Participants: Jaune Arc Raven Branwen Dove Bronzewing Cardin Winchester
...Showed up wouldn''t be the right term. The four...three individuals were hiding at the entrance and observing the situation inside of the maze. Raven had grown tired of them playing the role of sneaking rats and walked into the center triggering the maze to register them as ¡°arriving at the center¡±. ¡°Raven!¡± the scraggly blonde boy whispered. ¡°What are you doing? Weren''t we supposed to wait for them to fight it out and then steal an orb beneath their noses?¡± ¡°First of all, that is impossible in front of these guys. Secondly, I got tired of crouching behind the pillar.¡± she responded. ¡°Hnng.¡± The blonde boy groaned. Robin recognized Raven right away even though she was dressed suspiciously with a hat, dark shades, a long sleeve red shirt and shorts. Rather than describing her as dressed for battle, she looked like she was a runaway criminal hiding their identity. As for the other two boys, their names and faces sounded familiar, but Robin couldn''t remember where he remembered them from. ¡°Whatever Johnny boy.¡± the ginger next to them said as he stood up revealing a tall build. ¡°I was getting tired of your lay low strategy as well. Besides, now I can get my revenge on you.¡± He pointed his finger at Robin. Robin looked behind him. Nobody was there. He slid to the left. The finger followed him. Slid to the right. Finger followed. Robin looked at the ginger confused. ¡°Yes you! You dumb dog. Don''t you remember me?¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°I''m Cardin Winchester. Me and my buddy Dove here got some overdue payments of ass-kicking for all the times you''ve embarrassed us.¡± ¡°What.¡± ¡°The Junior Hunter Tournament!¡± After 10 seconds of processing, Robin''s memory provided him with an answer. Robin hit his fist into his hand. ¡°Oh, the loser who got knocked out by JES!¡± ¡°My name is Adam!¡± someone said in the background. ¡°My bad man, I don''t remember losers who don''t know how to throw a punch.¡± ¡°Hoho, dog knows how to bark. Well it''s too bad you''re in the worst position possible. Hey guys!¡± The forgotten boy named Cardin was such a minor character, he actually had to gather the attention of those present. Velvet and Simon glanced his way, but didn''t take their eyes off Diane. ¡°There''s sixteen of us, and four of them. Why don''t we gang up on them and take the four orbs for ourselves? It''ll save us a heap of trouble in the later rounds.¡± ¡°¡°¡°¡°Nah.¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± ¡°Wha-Wh-why?¡± he asked dumbfounded. ¡°Diane is meticulous. I wouldn''t be surprised if she expected this to happen. That sounds too easy to work out well.¡± Velvet said. ¡°Even if we did work together to beat them, what''s there to say weaklings like you will help us and not try to take the orbs while we''re not looking.¡± Simon followed up. ¡°Besides,¡± Yang added her two cents. ¡°the competition would be way more interesting if they were in it. I don''t wanna do something cheap like ganging up on them.¡± Just like that, Cardin''s lame attempt to get them to destroy Robin''s team was diverted. The blonde boy who Robin deduced was named Jaune looked hurt as they were commenting on their actions of being ¡°weak¡± and ¡°cheap¡±. Gaea shook her head as she saw her idiot brother do such foolish actions. Unexpectedly, help came from the one place nobody expected. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Raven asked. All eyes turned to her. Raven was the last person Robin would expect to speak up for Cardin. ¡°If you don''t act now, you''re all going to lose.¡± This declaration confused the other teams. Only Robin''s team began to sweat. = Shit, did she find out? = ¡°You guys seem to have been worrying about Diane''s motive for standing there, but you''ve forgotten a fact that was made clear very early on..¡± Everyone''s ears perked up to catch her words. ¡°..She''s already hacked into the maze.¡± ¡°? I don''t get it.¡± said Yang. ¡°We all know that, but that doesn''t mean anything. So what if she can control the maaaaa...¡± The lightbulbs went off. ¡°Oh my god.¡± Velvet murmurred. If Diane can control the maze, the value of the orb to her was zilch. There would be no point in triggering the trap guarding the orb when they could just let the other teams weaken through fighting the trap and then take back the orb later in the round after they tire out. The reason she wanted them to wait was to gather more teams in the center. Since their victory was almost guaranteed, they wanted more teams to gather so they would fight among themselves for the three leftover orbs, hoping Diane wouldn''t target them for the final orb. ¡°It was a ruse the entire time! Diane knew we would be cautious because we were aware about how she dominated last year''s competition. Using that suspicion to her advantage, she waited it out to play her cards since she knows about me and Velvet''s ability to reach the center! You toyed with us!¡± Simon shouted. Diane said nothing and continued with the same confident smile on her face. Before it was nerve wracking seeing the smile due to the unknown factor, now it was as if it was mocking them as they danced in the palm of her hand. ¡°Unfortunately for you, there''s one giant flaw in your plan.¡± Simon stated. ¡°The number of teams gathered right now is five. In other words, the best course of action is to defeat you together and then take the four orbs for ourselves. Your entire plan goes down the drain if you can''t get the orb!¡± ¡°Yeah, that is the only flaw.¡± Robin chuckled. ¡°It''s too bad it''s still going according to plan.¡± ¡°What!¡± Robin took out Pantomath and transformed it into it''s dual sword mode. He stabbed one sword into the ground and aimed the other at one of the orbs. Pulling the trigger, Robin shot a bullet at one of the statues guarding the orbs. The statue came to life and deflected the bullet with the sword it pulled out of the ground. At that moment all the other statues came to life, drawing their weapons and facing the five teams. But the other teams did not idly sit back and watch this happen. The moment Robin shot the statue, Velvet aimed a skill at who she judged the biggest threat to all of them: Diane. Earth Spike However, the spike went through Diane''s body easily. The reason being that the Diane standing before them was a hologram. It was a still hologram of Diane in the same pose with the same smile for the last minute. ¡°Impossible! When did she switch?!¡± ¡°Before your team even popped out of the hole.¡± Robin answered. There was no need to hide it. Everything was revealed at this moment. Pyrrha, Robin, and Weiss were told to stay there as camouflage to hide the fact Diane was missing. If they had all stood still, it would have been suspicious. Ironically enough, Velvet and Simon, who were closely observing Diane in case she did something suspicious, didn''t find the fact she didn''t move abnormal in the first place. ¡°But Robin,¡± Adam said as he pulled out his katana. ¡°It doesn''t change the fact that you''re outnumbered.¡± Yes it was true. They were 3 vs 16. If they wanted to get out of their predicament, they needed to fight at least 4 people per person. A feat that is impossible considering the strength of the people present. ¡°Of course, that''s only if we didn''t plan this far ahead.¡± The one who spoke was Diane herself who appeared in the entrance to the east. She pressed a button on the blue screen in front of her. ¡°But I really wonder if beating us is your biggest concern at the moment.¡± Rumbling was heard as a blue wave pulsed through the maze. Any fool could tell Diane was manipulating the maze one more time. The maze changed itself again. This time, the change was even more shocking than the last, because the walls literally started to drop. Specifically, the walls disconnected from each other and fell over like dominoes. The sound of each wall hitting the floor was similar to thunder, and what was behind those walls surprised everyone inside, including Diane''s own team. = .. I can''t believe she actually did it. = While the people inside were distracted by each other, Diane manipulated the maze to forcefully push the other fighters toward the center while separating them to prevent them from hurting one another. Now that the walls have fallen, disregarding the few walls purposefully left to enclose them, all 64 fighters are now gathered in the center. In front of them were the guardians of the orbs. Behind them were the rest of the fighters who just realized that the orbs were in front of them, and started to charge for the orbs. Diane had effectively turned a situation that was ¡°we can take the orb anytime, lets beat our most difficult rival¡± into ¡°we need to take the orb now before someone else takes it¡±. Whether they liked it or not, the other teams no longer had the luxury of defeating Diane''s team who did not need the orb at the moment. The benefits of the orbs were too large, and the rest of the fighters did not overhear the conversations that took place in the center because Diane made sure they could not. Thus, they did not know that Diane would be in deep trouble if they all turned to fight Diane''s team. They just knew the orbs were here, and that others might get it before them. In the chaos, Robin, Pyrrha, and Weiss escaped to where Diane was and they left to a remote location far from the fighting. Who got the orb didn''t matter. When Diane left, she boxed in all 60 fighters inside the center of the maze, sealing the entrances. In other words, the only way anyone would leave would be if someone got an orb. From the looks of things, it would be a while before that happened. Diane began to laugh maniacally. ¡°In the end we accomplished our goal anyway! Since we don''t need an orb, we''ll eliminate as much of the competition as we can! Their own plan is being used against them, and they didn''t even know it! Hahaha. MUAHAHAHAHA!¡±
Author''s notes: Been a while, went on hiatus for a bit. Moved in to dorm, got adjusted to school, and was somewhat lazy. Then my Season 3 RWBY poster came in and I got hyped. In order to make up for the long absence I made this one extra long. Enjoy! PS: Lots of back and forth between memory and reality, so I added that title thing to help out. Chapter 57: Suspicions ================================== Chapter 57: Suspicions ================================== Shocked at her sudden, childish outburst, Robin, Weiss, and Pyrrha stood there staring at her with wide eyes. ¡°¡°¡°...¡±¡±¡± Feeling their stares, Diane remembered her teammates were not her usual ones, and she recollected herself. ¡°..Ahem. I suppose I got a little overexcited.¡± Diane said after her laughing fit had subsided. ¡°¡°¡°...¡±¡±¡± ¡°....Lets just set up our base.¡± Diane got to work operating her blue screen. Weiss rearranged the chairs and tables. Pyrrha stood on guard, and Robin began walking along the ¡°paths¡± Diane created that led to their base in order to set up various traps. Whenever he wasn''t studying or sparring, Robin would tinker with his Invent skill. The result was the creation of various contraptions that Robin was now setting up in the maze. An example of some of the newer tools he created was the device that showed a still hologram of Diane earlier. The maze had several areas that were designed to look like actual locations. The center, for example, was a grassland. The location they had decided to make their base was a fancy looking restaurant. At least, it looked like that before the walls collapsed. However, restoring the walls to its former appearance was a trivial task since anyone who possessed an orb was supposed to be able to do that anyway. An obvious problem was that even if Diane could Hack into the entire maze, it didn''t mean she had complete control over it. It merely gave her access rather than complete control. Furthermore, operating the maze meant she was constantly consuming Aura. Fortunately, she was able to alter how much she consumed when operating the maze. If she was just idling through Security, she consumed little to no Aura, but a huge problem Diane mentioned to them was that fighting for control over the maze consumed her Aura at an astonishing rate. In her case, because she used passwords that were stolen, she consumed considerably less Aura when hacking in the maze the first time. Of course, that meant the moment others had orbs, Diane was in danger due to others fighting for control over their area. Fighting for control meant consuming Aura. The longer fights when, the harder it was to obtain victory. This was why it was crucial for them to reduce the number of fighters. On the other hand, this meant before anyone grabbed an orb, she had full control of anything that happened regarding the maze''s structure. = That was the reason why it was so crucial to reduce the number of fighters, supposedly. On one hand, using Hack can result in time-consuming and inefficient consumption of Aura. On the other hand, this means that unless someone steps up to challenge her control of the maze, the flow of this match isn''t going to change. = Robin was currently hanging sideways on a wall about 3 meters in the air thanks to a grappling hook he made. Just because they couldn''t jump over the walls didn''t mean they couldn''t use tools to hang on them. As he was winding up a box on the wall, Robin began contemplating. = Even though her power seems overwhelming at first, no doubt someone would guess that controlling the maze is difficult. They might even aim to start a fight over control just to make her weaker. The worst about that kind of fight is that if she were to decide to give up on trying to control the maze, it would only make her weakness all the more obvious to others, especially if such a famous fighter stops trying to manipulate something that many thought was under her complete control. That would cause a commotion. = Robin dropped down to the floor and carefully lined up a thin trip wire in the shadow of the wall. Because there was sunlight shining on the rest of the maze, one would think putting a wire trap near sunlight would be a terrible decision. However, people''s eyes are naturally directed toward brighter objects and would miss the coated wire hidden in the shadow. The coated wire was also only noticeable if seen from a certain angle, and would be unnoticeable to victims turning the corner in the maze. = Given Diane''s cautious nature, she has probably already assumed this, and she would most likely abandon the strategy of using Hack and fight for the orb normally. If she is aware of her weakness, then the bravado that she showed earlier is most likely another act to put others on guard.... = Robin scratched his head as he made his way back to their base, carefully avoiding all the traps he had just set up. = It would make sense. She''s famous, rumored to be unbeatable, and just turned an impossible situation into a win-win scenario. Rather than trying to fight the unbeatable, other people would rather turn away and look for a better option. Her bravado act sells it even better. She''s taken so many scenarios into account when making this plan. It''s absolutely scary... but that''s why... = ¡°It doesn''t make any sense.¡± Weiss was sitting at a table sipping apple tea. At Robin''s comment, she turned his way. Pyrrha, who stood at the entrance of the restaurant, didn''t move, but her ears twitched to show she was listening in. The person who the comment was directed at, Diane, looked away from her blue screen to motion Robin to elaborate. Robin felt that something was wrong. This feeling appeared yesterday in their meeting, and it only intensified today. He did not just sit back and accepted orders like a robot- no that was the feeling he got from this group. It was as if he was an actor following a set script. A script that was written by Diane. He didn''t like it. ¡°How did you know about Velvet''s and Simon''s abilities?¡± Robin questioned. ¡°Because I did recon about the fighters. I make it a point that my MO consists of knowing everything there is to know about my opponent before I fight.¡± She said without hesitation. ¡°How exactly do you find out about their abilities?¡± ¡°Rumors here and there. Why exactly are you asking me this?¡± An answer that explained nothing. ¡°I''m curious about your methods of information gathering. I accepted it easily yesterday, but after thinking about it, the fact you found out so much about them through some rumors is hardly believable.¡± ¡°You would be surprised what you can find out in the grapevine. For example, I know many girls shun Blake for being a ¡°disgusting animal lover¡± because she hangs around you, and that one of our students has a thing for bondage. That was a secret that was supposed to only be known between the couple involved, yet it has made it''s way to everyone else. You can''t trust secrets to not spread somehow.¡± = There is some truth to her statement. This was the electronic age. Once information spreads to the internet, it could become widely known very quickly. As for Blake, people don''t know she''s a faunus due to her bow... wait that''s not the point. = ¡°This and that are two different things.¡± Robin rejected. ¡°The only way one knows for sure about another person''s semblance is if they were told by the person in question or saw their status plate. Otherwise, it''s just a guessing game. Yet somehow, you''re telling us you figured out that Simon innately understands all the possible routes of any structure he''s in by just rumors? It''s unlikely for you to discover these things through rumors. Especially since I can''t imagine the topic of semblances is popular weeks before a competition. That is essentially revealing to others your trump card.¡± Robin was only getting started. He twirled a chair beside Diane and straddled it. Pyrrha was no longer guarding the front door. Robin now had their undivided attention. He stared into Diane''s blue eyes with a blank stare, but Pyrrha stepped in before Robin could continue. ¡°...I suggest you stop right there.¡± Pyrrha interrupted while patting her hand on Robin''s shoulder. ¡°That''s taboo.¡± What Robin was suggesting was that Diane didn''t get this information through rumors. If she didn''t get the information from another person, then she must have used a skill. Knowing Diane''s class was Hacker, it wasn''t hard to guess what she might have done. Although Robin, Pyrrha, and Weiss had a general feeling behind the truth of the matter, they never confronted Diane about her skills because it was taboo as Pyrrha said. It was common courtesy to not inquire about other''s skills unless they were close friends or people you trusted. The normal way was to learn through spectating sparring matches. However the four of them were merely temporary teammates. Today''s allies would be tomorrow''s enemy. Despite knowing all this, Robin still confronted her about this. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°It''s fine.¡± Diane assured Pyrrha. Diane felt the knowledge was not something that would put a dent in her plans. Thus, she began to explain. ¡°I merely my Identify skill evolved by combining it with Hack. That way, whenever I identified someone, I am able to know a few other stuff as well. It depends on what I''m looking for though. Does that answer satisfy you?¡± ¡°..One last thing. How did you hack into the maze so easily?¡± ¡°?? I believe I went over this already? My semblance and class is unique. It''s a result of my evolved Hack skill. I thought I showed you that lock example, remember?¡± That same, overconfident smile rested on her face. ¡°....Of course!¡± Robin smacked a palm on his forehead. ¡°How could I be so silly as to forget that? Forgive me, President.¡± ¡°Haha, no worries.¡± Robin got up from the chair and went to grab a glass of water from the sink behind Diane. As he started to take a sip, his back was turned to Diane, and hers to his. ¡°...Robin.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...For you to start questioning me like this, it couldn''t be that you are suspicious of me cheating right?¡± She asked as she turned her head ever so slightly. ¡°What? No, I was just curious about a few things was all. You wouldn''t dare to break the law, right?¡± ¡°Ha, being caught committing crimes is grounds for disqualifications, you know. I''m not so foolish to do that.¡± Robin mimicked her smile. They smiled with squinted eyes at one another. A silence overcame the group. Robin sat at a separate table and slowly drank. = Hacking into the maze so easily because of the coincidence between her semblance and class? Don''t give me that bullshit. The officials know better than anyone else just how vast the world is. With each year, our technology improves. How is it possible they haven''t taken precautions in the case someone like her shows up. I didn''t think that hard about it yesterday, but after that skirmish with the other Hunters, it seems so suspicious. After thinking about it a bit, the example with the lock she gave yesterday actually doesn''t make sense. For her example to make sense to Pyrrha and Weiss, there had to be someone to compare the speed of her Hack. Otherwise, the validity of her argument goes up in smoke. That means she must have known I already had the skill...Given the research she somehow has into Velvet and the Simon guy, it wouldn''t be surprising if she knows about me. The biggest thing about that lock example that bothered me is the speed of her unlocking. Just like anything else, Hack works faster if you do it over and over on the same lock. Of course the speed of her Hack would be faster than mine. However, because I tried unlocking it first yesterday, I inadvertently convinced myself about her skill. All she had to do was keep practicing Hack on that one lock, so that when she used it as an example, we would believe her without a doubt. = Robin had long since finished his drink. He was just sitting and staring at his empty glass. What was the reason that caused Robin to suspect Diane to such an extent? Specifically, there is absolutely zero evidence that she is cheating, but that was the reason he began to suspect her of cheating. Her plan was flawless. Too flawless. It depended too much on coincidences. Diane just happened to have her abilities be a perfect match for the event. Robin just happened to have a device capable of making a hologram of her. There just happened to be five teams reaching the center just like Diane predicted. In all his thinking, Robin noticed one small verbal mistake. Diane had responded to his question not straight up refusing the act of cheating, but instead said she would never get ¡°caught¡± cheating. He didn''t know if that was a slip up due to overconfidence, but if he went to the officials and asked them to listen to the recordings.. = ..! That''s impossible! Diane has hacked into the maze''s security system. She has control over all the recordings. Even if I went up to the officials, there is no conclusive evidence she''s a cheater! = Out of shock at the revelation, Robin inadvertently looked in Diane''s direction, only to find her confidently smirking at him as if she knew he would figure it out. Almost as if she knew he was just like her. Someone who will think deeply about the situation in order to cover all the bases. It could be said that in terms of character, Robin and Diane were very similar. Diane contemplates every scenario possible whereas Robin contemplates counters to his opponents abilites through technique and clever traps. = Graaa! What a cunning woman! Her plan is so perfect, it''s aggravating! No matter how suspicious someone is, she is still basically a free woman. Still, no matter how much I think, I can''t figure out the why and how. = A perfect plan such as hers, which encompassed the hacking of the maze, arrangement of teams, and manipulation of moves like chess pieces, requires extensive planning in advance, research, and countless simulations. A perfect plan for what purpose? Her words earlier served a hint. She did not want to get ¡°caught¡± in fear of ¡°disqualifications¡±. In other words, her goal is to win the tournament. But why? For what reason did she need to resort to cheating in order to win the tournament? If it was power, she had more than enough to be seeded to win. Why bother doing something which would cast suspicion onto herself? And how? Just exactly how did she get access to the passwords and access codes to Hack the maze? The answers to these two questions did not come from Robin''s thinking, but Weiss''s. Recalling her father''s words yesterday, Weiss inferred that Diane was the one hired by her father to ensure her victory. As for how she got the passwords and access codes, she firmly believed Diane was provided by insiders bought by her father. The reason Weiss did not speak up about these facts no matter how much the thought of cheating irked her was to save the dignity of her father and his company. They went this far to save their so-called dignity. She might as well go with it for their sake, right? As she asked herself that question, Pyrrha looked into the distance saddened. Her own thoughts unvoiced. And the thing that broke the silence that hung over them was an announcement none of them expected. Ding!
Announcement:
Team at Entry Point 7 has captured the North Orb. Participants: Jaune Arc (Lvl 55) Raven Branwen (Lvl 52) Dove Bronzewing (Lvl 57) Cardin Winchester (Lvl 58)
¡°...Huh?¡± The first time ever, the three of them heard Diane genuinely confused with the turn of events. It was way too early for someone to possess an orb. There still had to be a huge number of Hunters and Huntresses leftover. If an orb came into someone''s possession now, then that cage which was supposed to enclose 60 people will... Discharge A loud bang resonated in the restaurant. The crumbling of the table Diane was sitting at was heard. The smell of burnt wood was in the air as blue electricity enveloped her arm. Anyone who looked at her right now could tell... She was furious. ¡°..WHO! WHO DARES TO MESS WITH MY PLAN!!¡± The biggest weakness of a carefully set plan. The more rigid the plan, the worst it falls apart due to outside factors. = ...Ah. = A fact dawned on him. A fact that only he knows, something --maybe the only thing-- Diane could''ve possibly overlooked. A fact that follows a single name that was on that list. = Does Diane know Raven can use portals? =
Hello friends. Been a while but here it is. It''s shorter than the last one, but I hope you can forgive me. Enjoy! Ps. Apologies if grammar is not as good. I''ll be actively correcting it over next few days. Chapter 58: Divide and Conquer ================================ Chapter 58: Divide and Conquer ================================ There was a VIP room reserved on the second floor of the hotel. Inside, three individuals sat surrounding a round, wooden table. Given how most materials were made of metal these days, the room gave a nostagic, old-fashioned atmosphere. Sitting next to Ozpin was a blonde woman with her hair tied back into a single bun with a curl hanging on the right side of her face. She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt and a black business skirt. Sitting with her legs crossed, Glynda Goodwitch stared at the man across from her with lowered eyes. The table had three different types of drinks. There was a pot of coffee and a mug, which was for Ozpin, a kettle and cup of tea for Glynda, and bottle of liquor for Qrow. Qrow finished the last drop of a shot and slammed it against the table. ¡°Fuaa. The taste of alcohol never gets old.¡± ¡°Enjoying yourself?¡± Ozpin asked. ¡°Oh yeah.¡± Qrow replied. He was among friends, so it was a rare moment where he could unwind. ¡°Most people come to the festival to celebrate freedom.¡± Glynda commented. ¡°I think you''re one of the few who uses it to grab alcohol.¡± ¡°Hey, Glynda. Try putting yourself in my shoes.¡± Qrow retorted. ¡°I''m a teacher on weekdays, Dark Hunter on weekends, and I have to constantly check up on Raven to make sure she doesn''t do something stupid. For all I know, the world will end tomorrow, and I gotta clean that up too.¡± Qrow rested his chin on the table and began to murmur. ¡°I mean, come on. I try so hard to give her a normal lifestyle, and she uses it to go to the gym. I had hoped she would have a boyfriend by now, yet all she thinks about is fighting. Where did I go wrong?¡± ¡°Perhaps if you gave the alcohol a break, she would actually listen to you.¡± said Glynda. ¡°Ha, yeah right. That stubborn girl is a mess. Ain''t I right, Oz?¡± he leaned towards Ozpin. Ozpin sipped his coffee, so the breathe that reeked of alcohol would not invade his nose. ¡°You said your other nieces seems to enjoy your presence though?¡± ¡°Heh, yeaaah.¡± Qrow leaned back on his chair, and stared at the ceiling. ¡°They''re pretty amazing. Especially Ruby. She looked so much like Summer, and she really likes my weapon too. In fact, I took the liberty of teaching her the ropes. Watch out Glynda, she''ll be the next me.¡± Qrow smile with glee. ¡°Save us all.¡± was what went through Ozpin and Glynda''s minds. ¡°Hm?¡± Glynda made a curious noise. ¡°Wait a second, are you telling me you taught a 14-year old how to use a scythe?¡± ¡°Actually, I taught her that when she was 12!¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°But I taught her how to build guns when she was 10! She''s a natural.¡± ¡°WHAT?!¡± ¡°I know right? Isn''t she a genius?¡± ¡°Do you know how dangerous that is? I hope you know what you were doing.¡± ¡°Pfft. Of course.¡± Glynda sat down. ¡°I made sure to limit myself to one beer per lesson.¡± Glynda nearly missed the chair. At that moment, a roar came from the holographic T.V. that was tuned to a channel broadcasting the Inter-School Tournament. Qrow had changed it earlier so that he could watch Raven''s and Yang''s progress when he wanted to. The announcer''s voices caught their attention. ....¡°If something like a password was all it took to crack this maze, why would the standing record be 15 minutes and 25 seconds? To hack a maze at this size requires immense talent and familiarity with the line of work. It''s not something that can be done at a flip of a switch, yet that''s exactly what she did.¡±.... The three individuals stared at the screen without blinking. As they listened to the announcers, the gears started to turn. ¡°..Impossible.¡± Glynda commented. ¡°So there isn''t a doubt of her cheating, huh?¡± Qrow scratched his chin. ¡°What were the arrangements for distributing the teams?¡± Glynda pulled out a Scroll and tapped a few buttons. A list appeared on the screen which she flicked outwards. The list was then displayed on a hologram floating above the table. ¡°Random selection I believe. Diane Geotal, Student Council President of Myriad School of Combat. Her team consists of famous individuals I recognize except for one boy named Robin Wolfheart.¡± ¡°Mmh. I know him. He''s the son of a friend of mine. He''s got decent talent from what I hear, but he excels at strategy.¡± Qrow sighed and murmured to the side. ¡°I had hoped sending a familiar face to school with Raven would at least make her open up a bit...But no love stories are to be found here..¡± ¡°...Ignoring your obsession for gossip, the likelihood that Diane purposefully assembled a rather competent team is high. I shall inform the authorities to halt the match.¡± ¡°Just a moment, Glynda.¡± Ozpin raised his hand to stop Glynda who had stood up. ¡°What is it, Professor Ozpin?¡± ¡°I think we should look at the bigger picture.¡± ¡°?..¡± Glynda sat back down and waited for him to continue. The one who answered was Qrow. ¡°Like how did she Hack in the first place..¡± ¡°.. I see.¡± she nodded her head, ¡°Passwords and access codes aren''t exactly handed out. Do you believe there was a mole?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± Qrow said uncertain. ¡°I see, I''ll go apprehend those related to the security detail immediately.¡± ¡°Woah wait!¡± Qrow waved an empty beer bottle at her. ¡°Won''t that stop the match?¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°No way! It''s the first time I get to see my cute nieces fighting in an official match.¡± Qrow pouted. ¡°This is hardly the time for that. If she cheated, then the entire match is invalidated. Why should we let her place any higher than those who got here with actual effort?¡± ¡°But without evidence, you''ll just be seen as a hindrance, and ignored.¡± Qrow retorted with slightly closed eyes.. ¡°Oh? You think they can ignore ME?¡± Purple Aura glowed around her. Sweat dripped down Qrow''s forehead. ¡°..Rather, I''m afraid of what happens when they do.¡± he murmured. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Glynda,¡± Ozpin interrupted, ¡°why don''t you investigate about who played a role with planning this event?¡± ¡°Professor?¡± ¡°I''m curious as to how an event designed for a team competition for the Vytal Tournament was suddenly adapted to be used in the Inter-School Tournament. I reckon you might have more success with taking that course of action instead.¡± ¡°I see. Right away, sir.¡± ¡°And Glynda? Please be discrete about this matter. We don''t want to be causing any commotion that would scare off the perpetrators before we have any concrete evidence.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± After Glynda left the room, Qrow looked at Ozpin with a disgruntled expression. ¡°..She listens to you quite readily.¡± ¡°Trust is important among comrades.¡± ¡°...So who''s our main suspect?¡± ¡°Most likely the generous donator of the one million dollars. I suppose Glynda will eventually track down the money trail of who got what amount. Until then, lets enjoy the tournament.¡± ¡°..Say, if you knew it was the Schnee Dust Company, why didn''t you tell Glynda?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°..Is it so she doesn''t interrupt the tournament?¡± Ozpin''s response was a smile and taking a sip of his coffee, only to be disappointed that there was none left. He reached to pour more into his mug. Qrow gave him a casual thumbs up. ¡°Now I can freely watch my cute nieces fight freely.¡± ¡°Are you sure you should be acting so carefree?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Qrow noticed Ozpin darting his eyes to the monitor and back through Ozpin''s dark spectacles. ¡°The one whom you refer to as being troublesome seems oddly excited for someone whose goal is to lay low.¡± Since they were watching the tournament, they would obviously see the scene where Raven stood out to call Diane''s bluff. ¡°!...You don''t think..that she suspects Diane as well?¡± Gulp. Gulp Ozpin was enjoying his cup of coffee. ¡°For the love of Aura...I just hope she doesn''t do anything reckless.¡± ¡°You''re not going to stop her?¡± Ozpin stops sipping to speak. Qrow looks at the screen, then at his liquor, then back at the screen. His decision was swift, and he poured himself another glass of hard liquor. ¡°Nah, I''ll just reprimand her later. Wait, aren''t you the one who wanted to watch the tournament anyway?¡± Ozpin stares at the screen without answering. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± =============================== ¡°Okay. Okay. So things didn''t go as planned. No problem.¡± Diane took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes. ¡°Lets just assess the situation and act according...¡± Ding! ¡°...ly....¡±
Announcement:
Team at Entry Point 2 has captured the South Orb
Robin, Pyrrha, and Weiss were too afraid speak. ¡°...The gates have been opened..¡± Diane silently scrolled through her holographic security footage. Then, static was heard as the video footage was terminated. ¡°...Tch. Of all the orbs, they had to take the South one which correlates with our domain. Weiss, you and I will head out to close those gates.¡± = ..Huh, she''s reacting rather calmly. I thought she would blow her lid or something. = ¡°Uh, are you ok?¡±, Robin asked. ¡°Huh?¡± She glared at Robin. ¡°I''m absolutely livid. Since the gates have opened, the situation has regressed to the chaotic state it would have been had our plan not been used. I''ve wasted so much Aura already. I refuse to leave empty handed.¡± = I suppose that is a normal reaction. = ¡°So what shall we do?¡± Weiss questioned. ¡°As I said earlier, I plan to close those gates, or at the very least, I''m going to implant a virus so that the other ones can''t open. After that, we will personally reduce the number of participants. Since we''ll know where they''ll appear, this will give us the advantage. While I''m using Hack, I would appreciate it if you were to give me backup.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Pyrrha and Robin will eliminate the stragglers that have already escaped our deathtrap. A total of twenty fighters seem to have escaped. However, their paths indicate that their destination seem to be our current location.¡± ¡°You want us to fight against 20 people?¡± Robin didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. ¡°You''re not planning to fight fair right? Besides, your situations are unique. Pyrrha has her class, and you have the traps you set up don''t you? If you seriously can''t beat them, just leave. Our goal is to cut down their numbers anyhow. We''ll contact you through the Scroll where to meet up.¡± Glyph of Haste After confirming the battle plan, Diane and Weiss set out. Diane drank an elixir to replenish her Aura she had wasted through manipulating the maze. A green glyph appeared beneath the two of them, increasing their movement speed for an extended duration. This glyph was different from the one of speed since it lasted longer, but provided a weaker effect. Just like that, the two of them dashed away. With Pyrrha and Robin being the only ones left, they began walking in the opposite direction. As they walked, Robin cautioned her about the various trip wires he had set up. Even though this was set up without anything special, Pyrrha could not helped being impressed with how cleverly hidden some traps were. ¡°Wow, did you really set up all of this?¡± ¡°Yes? Why do you ask?¡± ¡°I''m honestly surprised. I didn''t expect you to set something so elaborate in such a short amount of time. Even though you suspected Diane of cheating earlier, I feel like something like this is cheating as well.¡± ¡°?? What? You think using traps is underhanded?¡± ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Pyrrha said casually. ¡°A tournament is used to determine who is the strongest fighter. Events such as these are just to add diversity. Where is the honesty in using such tactics?¡± ¡°Pft. You can''t be serious. A fight you just described is no different from an arm wrestle, and even that kind of contest heavily favors the person with the larger physique. If two people were of equal strength, the bigger one wins. Yet even in a fist fight, the way someone fights matters. A prime example would be our bout yesterday.¡± Robin reminded her. ¡°Hm. I suppose you''re right.¡± Pyrrha said as she loaded her rifle. ¡°Even though I clearly am stronger than you, you possess much cleaner footwork and strikes. Your experience is clearly different from all the other fighters here. I suppose that''s why Diane seems confident with leaving you to deal with so many fighters. Speaking of which, I''m curious. Where did you learn that?¡± ¡°My footwork? I studied some martial arts, but I was mainly taught through training in my village.¡± ¡°Village? So you''re a nomad?¡± ¡°Yes. Everyone in my village knows how to do that much. Didn''t you learn your footwork in training?¡± Pyrrha shook her head. ¡°No, this is something I learned through observation and intuition. Hardly anyone is taught footwork inside the kingdom. Here, everyone just wants to swing a sword. Rather, the majority of the citizens don''t even fight. They have at most trained their eyesight in order to watch events, but the only ones who can truly comprehend our speed are actual fighters and retired veterans.¡± This news was a shock to Robin. He had assumed learning how to fight was common sense. To think the majority of citizens in the kingdom don''t even know basic footwork. =.. Actually that makes more sense. No wonder so many people were easily taken care of during the preliminaries. I had thought it was strange these so called Hunters and Huntresses were so bad at fighting on a hill. I see now. The reason she found my logic to use traps as underhanded was because the lifestyle between nomads and citizens differ. = ¡°In my village, we were taught to use any means necessary to win. Living on the move meant we could be confronted by Grimm at any time.¡± Robin explained. ¡°To us, failing to defeat an opponent meant certain death. In a situation where you could live or die, it''s foolish to die because you thought something was ''lame'', right?¡± Pyrrha frowned. She understood Robin''s reasoning, but couldn''t accept it. ¡°I suppose...But if you think that way, why did you confront Diane about cheating?¡± Robin stopped in his tracks. It was his turn to frown at Pyrrha''s reasoning. ¡°This and that are two different things. Just because I would go to such measures in a life-or-death situation doesn''t mean I have no sportsmanship. I might go to desperate measures to win, but I don''t break the rules.¡± Pyrrha blankly stared. Then, she suddenly had an outburst of laughter. ¡°Pft..Ha.hahaha! No, you''re right. Forgive me for doubting you.¡± Robin smiled wryly before starting to walk again. = That being said, Pyrrha actually thought I would accept Diane''s methods for winning huh?.. I guess I am rather fixited on fights like Blake and the others said, but I am different from Diane. She might be obsessed with winning, given how much effort she puts into her plans, but I treasure something much more important than that. Trust. Even now, I expect myself to lose due to some retarded disqualification for being a faunus. She might want to win at no matter the cost, but by doing so she''s just proven that I can never trust someone like her. After all, who would be stupid enough to trust a woman who breaks the rules agreed upon for the sake of her own goal? = This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. As he was thinking such thoughts, he detected life forms with his Bloodlust, which he had kept active this entire time. It also just so happened they reached a fork in the path. ¡°They''re coming.¡± Robin said. Pyrrha grabbed her shield that was on her back. ¡°Which way?¡± she asked. ¡°They''re coming from both paths... They won''t get here for a while. Actually, do you want to just split up and take each group down by ourselves?¡± ¡°Why would we do that?¡± ¡°Because you''re not familiar with the layout of my traps. If you were to fight with me here, you might end up hurting yourself. Lets split up and take on each group by ourselves. You can take the ones on the left path. There are eight of them. I''ll take on the twelve people coming from the right. If I use my traps, I can guarantee I can last long enough for you to beat them and come back to help me. What do you say?¡± ¡°Sounds feasible.. Alright! We''ll go with your idea.¡± ¡°Oh, one more thing.¡± Robin threw a pill he took out of his Inventory. ¡°What''s this?¡± Pyrrha asked. ¡°An antidote for one of my toxins. You might come back after I release some gas, so swallow this before you go.¡± ¡°...Right..Well, I will try to get back as soon as I can! I wish you the best of luck!¡± ¡°You as well.¡± With that last remark, she dashed into the left pathway towards her enemies. Robin, in turn, pulled out six throwing knives. Three with Red Dust crystals embedded into the middle, while the other had Yellow Dust crystals. Holding three in between his fingers of each hand, Robin stood and waited for his unseen foes while hiding his hands behind his back. = Well, I don''t intend to lose though. If I were to go by Pyrrha''s comment, then most of these guys aren''t really used to living in the wild.. Well, I''m sure they''ve at least fought Grimm, but they''re inexperienced in the finer details of combat huh...I can take advantage of that.. = Robin was observing with Bloodlust, thus he was aware that the twelve seemed to be acting together rather than fighting one another. He bent his right arm behind his head as his unsuspecting victims began to make their way to the corner. Robin flicked his right hand outward twice. The first throw sent one Red knife flying towards the wall. The second flick was used to send the two other Yellow knives after a slight delay. The first blade hit the wall, the collision caused the embedded Red crystal to detonate and explode, causing a small explosion in the area where it hit. Due to the delay of the second throw as well as the angle the blades were launched, the first explosion sent the other two blades flying in a different directions and toward their assigned targets. Whether it was due to the surprise that their ambush resulted in getting ambushed themselves or that they were unprepared in the first place didn''t really matter. The moment the knives embedded into their arms, an electric current ran through their body and rendered their respective limbs useless.
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Robin didn''t care about the quantity of the damage. The quality and the purpose of where each strike was placed was all that mattered. The numbers merely confirmed the successful hit. With their plan(?) exposed, the group of fighters ran from their hiding spots in an attempt to overwhelm Robin. ¡°Morons.¡± This resulted in them splendidly triggering the trip wire which Robin had set up around the corner. The wire triggered two things. The first was the dispensers placed strategically on the top of the walls of the maze. These small dispensers carried needles soaked with paralysis poison. He had angled them in such a way that it would be impossible to block completely without a shield that covered all 360 degrees. There were four people who charged forward first including the two injured fighters. Unfortunately for them, every single one of them got stabbed by at least two needles. According to Robin''s estimation, they should be unable to move for about five minutes. ¡° 4..¡± = Just from what they''ve done so far, I can tell they only know how to correctly respond in an ¡°fight¡± but not a ¡°war¡±. = The second thing the trip wire did was trigger the Smoke Canisters that were lined up along the wall. Smoke Canister was an item Robin had created to accomplish the same thing a Smoke Bomb could. The only difference was that Smoke Canisters were slower to create the smokescreen, but the smokescreen lasted longer and could be remotely activated. With the four canisters triggering all at once, the path was quickly filled with smoke. Sneak Step One of the contestants used a skill that seemed to reduce the noise produced by their feet. The said figure ran through the smoke in an attempt to surprise Robin with a sneak attack with his dagger and gun combo. Putting aside the fact the person in question had a strange combination of weapons, Sneak Step was like an inferior version of Blake''s and Conner''s Hide Presence, which cancels all noises and even erases their presence. Although, even if he did use Hide Presence, it was useless against Robin''s Bloodlust. Robin stepped into the smoke to greet him. Given that Robin knew exactly where he was while the other person just planned to jump out of the smoke to surprise him, Robin simply threw a Yellow knife towards the arm holding the gun and the remaining two knives in his left hand into the air. Robin stood ready to receive the student''s thrust. Enhance Robin increased the amount of Aura in his hands for a brief interval. The individual was surprised to find a knife embedding itself into his left arm and Robin suddenly appearing close enough he could count the hair on Robin''s wolf ears. In panic, the boy aimed the barrel at Robin and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, the electricity from the Yellow knife caused his aim to miss before his arm hung loosely at his side filled with numbness. ¡°Why you!¡± He stepped forward and slashed with his dagger. Robin dodged by leaning left. The boy followed up with a quick horizontal swing. Robin ducked beneath and stepped back slightly. This resulted in him being positioned awkwardly on purpose. The enemy took the bait and thrusted his dagger into Robin''s face. Instead of jumping back, Robin clapped his hands together in front of him. His right palm hit the wrist of the boy''s arm while his left hand hit the back side of the hand that held the dagger. This caused the boy''s hand to suddenly snap inward. Due to the anatomy of a human body, the grip that tightly held the blade loosened slightly. This slight loosening of the grip caused the blade to fly out of the boy''s hand due to the force of Robin''s slap. ¡°Wha-¡± Robin wasn''t done. He gripped the boy''s right hand with his own left hand and twisted upward, forcefully straightening the other person''s arm. Robin punched hard into the elbow using his right fist. The unnatural bending and loud snap confirmed that Robin had indeed broken the boy''s arm.
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¡°Aaaaaaargh!¡± = ..5.. = ¡°Mark!¡± The teammates of the person called Mark approached within the smoke. Two were equipped with automatic machine guns while the third, tanned individual had what seemed to be gauntlets with circular razor blades attached on top. The tanned boy punched his fists outward. A mechanism in his gauntlets shot out the razor blades toward Robin. In response, Robin simply grabbed the clothing of the boy whose arm he had just broken, and he lifted his body in front of the projectiles. The two blades embedded into his back, causing the boy to scream in pain again. The tanned boy who had shot the blades in the first place gasped with regret. ¡°Wha- You devil!¡± Robin ignored his cries and pushed two buttons that was on a remote he had worn like a watch. He tossed the person he was holding at the tanned boy who charged at him while ignoring the other two people who were aiming their weapons at him. The reason was because the two Red knives Robin had thrown into the air had just landed in front of them. The following explosion disrupted their aim and knocked them backwards. At the same time, the tanned boy caught his teammate in worry of his health. Tick...Tick...Tick... The tanned boy began hearing a strange ticking noise. It was only after looking at the body of his teammate that he realized one step too late that Robin had slipped a bomb to the inside of the clothing. The explosion that followed sent knocked both people out, evident by their blue shields popping. Boom!
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= ..6.. = ¡°What a savage you are.¡± A voice was heard from the direction where the smokescreen should''ve been. Apparently, someone had somehow dispersed it using someone''s semblance to manipulate the wind. The voice came from the boy named Cardin. Robin also recognized the other two next to him as Jaune and Dave. = ..2 and 3 more makes 11.. = ¡°Using sneaky methods like this suits an animal such as yourself. Can''t even fight with real weapons?¡± ¡°You talk big for a guy who seems to have convinced 10 other people to gang up on a single person.¡± = Why are you even talking at this point? We''re in the middle of a fight. = Robin pretended to be oblivious, and allowed the other two teammates of Mark and the tanned boy to stand up. He took a pill out of the Inventory and swallowed it. ¡°You''re just standing there and letting us get ready to fight you. Now that all your traps are triggered, you really think you can fight all 5 of us at the same time?¡± = I see. So they had an alliance because they thought that increasing their numbers guaranteed a few would get past the traps we had set up at our base?... Are they stupid? = ¡°I don''t know. After all, I have never fought you before. However, before we do this, I want to ask you a question. If you''re so convinced all my tricks have been used, then can you explain what purpose did those canisters fullfilled?¡± Robin pointed to all the canisters attached to the wall. ¡°Did you become so stupid you forgot the details about your own trap or something? Of course it made the smokescreen earlier.¡± = Wow. Just by looking at their facial expressions, I can tell they all think the same thing..no wait. The Jaune guy looks worried at least. Everyone else is just standing there looking confident and letting Cardin finish his conversation. = ¡°Sigh...I''ll at the very least enlighten you. You''ve made three mistakes. Your first mistake was to try to trigger everything just so the few that''s left survives to beat me. Since you don''t even know to what extent I''ve planned things out or even what kind of traps I use, you don''t even know for sure if your numbers was enough. Your second mistake was approaching from one side. Although you split your forces to come through two paths, you ultimately only came from one direction. Since you didn''t even have a large number of people, your ''strategy'' lead to over half your force being wiped out. To begin with- ¡± ¡°Is there no end to your jibber-jabber?¡± Cardin began scratching the inside of his ear. ¡°This doesn''t change the fact you can''t win against all of us. I had wanted to hear your desperate plea for help, but I''ve changed my mind.¡± Shield Bash ¡°I''m going t-eniEve!¡± Pyrrha came dashing from behind, her collision with Cardin''s back caused him to bend backward and yell nonsense mid-sentence. Robin sidestepped to avoid the body that flew past him. ¡°I''m back.¡± Pyrrha smiled. ¡°Wasn''t that a bit too fast?¡± Robin questioned. ¡°I was worried, so I rushed over here.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± The mess that was Cardin, grabbed his mace that hung on his back and began to stand up. ¡°That does it! I''m gonna¡ªOof!¡± However, he just felled back down to the ground. He could be seen pitifully struggling just to get his face off the ground, but he wasn''t the only one. At the same time, all the other contestants'' body began to feel numb. Their weapons fell to the floor as their grip slackened. It became difficult just to stay standing. ¡°What''s going on?¡± Pyrrha looked at Robin with an eyebrow raised. ¡°My gas is finishing things up. I gotta thank you though Pyrrha. Talking to you made me confident my trap would work.¡± ¡°W-what did you do to me?!¡± = He can still talk? = ¡°Just my poison gas taking affect. I mixed a special toxin in my smokescreen that paralyzes whoever breathes it in.¡± ¡°Wh-where in the world could you-gag!¡± Robin took a canister and stuffed it into Cardin''s mouth. After pressing the button, Red gas started leaking from the top of the canister. ¡°Made it myself. I based it off the poison of Deathstalkers and scorpions. Pretty proud of it actually. I got the idea after getting stabbed by one of their tails. This leads me to the third mistake you made. Stop talking so much. Finish your conversation after you win. I only started talking because I wanted to wait until the poison started to take effect. Well, if you tried to fight me instead of talking, it would only circulate the poison faster anyway.¡± Robin stood up and motioned for Pyrrha to follow him. As he passed by the collapsed fighters, he picked up the gun of the boy named Mark and pulled on the chamber. Cardin''s body couldn''t be seen anymore since the area was dyed red as if there was a mist of blood, yet Robin still aimed the barrel accurately at the canister in Cardin''s mouth. At this point, Cardin couldn''t spit out the canister even if he wanted to. ¡°Later.¡± Bang
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Author''s notes: Hi, so I''m pumped with Season 3 of RWBY starting. Things I want to mention. According to the series, Raven Branwen is now confirmed to be Yang''s mom, and not her sister, and apparently Qrow''s last name is Branwen and is the brother of Raven, not Taiyang. >.> Due to the reveal of Season 3, some details in this series is now noncanon, BUT I will not change my story! This was an original story anyway. Of course, I will try to keep things as close to the real thing as possible, but I just wanted to inform you all about what will become of this story. Thus, I want to warn you. Should any of you go to watch RWBY, please be aware some facts don''t match. Thanks for reading! Chapter 59: Collision ================================= Chapter 59: Collisions ================================= What did it mean to have omnipresent vision? Unlike natural vision which takes in details through the eyes, Robin''s Bloodlust gives him information of someone from every angle. Robin''s mind does not approximate how far someone is from his location. He literally knows the dimensions of whoever his semblance deems to be an enemy. As if that wasn''t absurd enough, Robin''s semblance had evolved so that it could recognized objects as well as people at around the same time he became able to hide his Bloodlust from others. However even with his current semblance, it couldn''t be considered omnipotent. It a lot of ways, it was just like having regular vision. When shown a piece of paper full of words, a human mind will ¡°understand¡± that there is a paper full of words in front of them, but they can only focus on a few details like the name written in the corner. The only difference here is that Robin''s mind is forcefully focused on his enemies. From a young age, Robin''s parents trained him and taught him how to expand his vision to even recognize the ¡°non-threats¡±. Even now, Robin''s evolution is still occurring. With him acquiring the most recent skill, Echolocation, his body has already starting to merge the skill with his semblance in the same way Diane merged Hack with her own semblance. It would not be long before Robin would have omnipresent vision of ALL objects rather than items and individuals aiming to hurt him. It is thanks to this incomplete evolution that Robin detected his next crisis. As an assassin, Raven aimed to strike quick and deadly. Naturally, the most opportune moment would be when the opposing side''s guard was down. However, that moment was getting harder to find. She waited in the shadows, hidden from sight, and observed the fight. With each moment that passed, more enemies fell. Raven watched, so she saw Robin''s eyes confirming each enemy, counting each one. = He knows.. = Against an enemy who is aware of how many they are fighting, the moment their guard would be completely down would never come. Thus, she decided to strike at the second-best moment, the moment right after a successful kill. It is then that their mind will briefly relax. The best evidence would be Pyrrha''s smile that indicated she was about to congratulate Robin for his one-sided slaughter. It didn''t matter if Robin saw it coming. In this case, Pyrrha was no longer a threat. Raven masked her killing intent perfectly. She went in as if she wasn''t even going to hurt someone, but instead stab her katana into the stone they stood on. A blood red portal opened above Robin. Through it appeared Raven falling with her katana drawn. Robin counted the bodies, so he was aware there was a twelfth person. Knowing Cardin, Jaune, and Dave was a part of this group, it didn''t take him long to guess who it was. Thus, he had already taken care to not to be surprised by the portals he knew Raven could use. Even so, he was still almost unable to react in time due to the suddenness of her attack, the proximity of it, and the hidden animosity involved. But the reality was he did, and he leaned left to just barely avoid the blade slipping past his face. Raven changed targets. Since her first blade failed to hit, she used her second. With a snap of her arm, Raven threw a throwing knife embedded with a Yellow crystal similar to Robin''s at Pyrrha. The unsuspecting girl never fathomed she would be attacked right then, forget by a girl falling from the sky. It was impossible to draw her weapon to block it, but purely by instinct she leaned and avoided the blade aimed at her eye. It was reaction speed that would have been applauded by the masses, but Raven already thought that scenario through. The moment Raven fell through the portal, she had already closed the one in the sky to open one behind Pyrrha''s head. No matter how insane her instinct was, Pyrrha couldn''t dodge the same thing twice without knowing it was coming. The Yellow knife slipped past her left ear, into the portal, out the new portal Raven opened near her leg, and the knife embedded itself into Pyrrha''s left thigh. With a clinking noise, Raven''s katana made contact with the ground. She landed kneeling to soften the impact at the same time Pyrrha''s body fell paralyzed due to the electricity. Robin did not idly watch this occur. He drew Pantomath from his back and swung downward at Raven who swung her blade to change the course of Robin''s blade to the side. She followed up with a sweep of her blade at Robin''s feet. Naturally, he jumped to avoid the blade. To his surprise, Robin''s foot was grabbed by the individual in question, stopping him from traveling any farther. Light suddenly filled their vision. Apparently, Raven had also used a flash grenade in order to blind Robin and Pyrrha. She then opened a portal underneath them like he feared, and jumped in with Robin in tow. = Shit! = Polarity Pyrrha expelled the electricity using her trump card. However, by the time she stood up, Robin and Raven had disappeared. When Robin exited the portal, he found himself in a large room with steel needles lining up the floor. Raven threw Robin toward them. If he wasn''t a faunus or didn''t have his semblance active, he would have not noticed the needles since it was nearly pitch black in this room. Aura Limbs EoD: Item Creation Silver arms manifested and stopped Robin''s motion and he readjusted himself to float upright. Upon doing so, he found Raven safely perched on a black platform that wasn''t there before she tossed him. Despite being in darkness, the two stared directly into each other''s eyes. Their hands simultaneously reached out to grab throwing knives from their Inventory. What happened next was the sound of knives colliding in midair. = Info check: Raven can use portals in succession. From evidence gathered, I can conclude she can only open one set of portals at any given time. = Robin threw a knife behind him to block the knife Raven threw into a portal to catch him by surprise. = Current maximum number of portals she can create is unknown. Best to assume it''s infinite. Despite being in total darkness, evidence suggests that she also has night vision despite being human and not faunus. = Robin glanced at the platform Raven stood on. = That gives off the same vibe as the iron bars I found sealing the windows of the mansion of the guy I was a bodyguard for some time ago. It also feels the same as that time when she erased my Aura somehow. Does she possibly have the ability to create objects? = He glanced back at Raven. = Portals, item manifestation, and that black Aura which she hasn''t used despite being at school for an entire year... If the situation remains as is, I can only defend against her attacks. I will never win that way. I must change the situation in my favor... = ============================== = Two surprise attacks have now failed. I had made sure to hide the portal from his view all four times I used Pursuit. Even if I passed the first time he dodged my attack as pure instinct, the last one was definitely expected. He must know my identity as the masked vigilante. Why? No, that doesn''t matter. What matters now is to take down the criminal, Diane. The faster I take down their team, the faster Diane goes behind bars. = Raven stared at Robin''s hands which continued to draw out knives. = ..But just how abundant are his resources? It''s unthinkable for the average person to have the money necessary to spend on so many useless knives.. So long as he knows I can use portals, my greatest weapon as an assassin is useless. At this rate, he will take back the momentum... = =============================== = I cannot beat her so long as she has more cards to play. = =============================== = I cannot beat him in a prolonged fight. = =============================== = = I have to bet it all on this! = = EoD: Item Creation Black Aura manifested itself in her body, which she directed outward. She forced it to crystallized as a new type of Dust: Black Dust. Combining the Black Dust with her Black Aura, Raven made it manifest itself into an actual weapon, a katana. Robin, at the same time, grabbed from his inventory one Smoke Bomb, one Smoke canister, and one Elixir. Raven realized what he was aiming for, pointed her already existing katana at Robin, and pressed a button. The blade extended rapidly towards Robin, but he merely dodged it since he saw it happen before and threw both the Smoke Bomb and the Smoke canister at the floor, instantly causing smoke to expand in the darkness. She might be able to see well in the dark, but it didn''t mean she could see hard enough to see through smoke. This did not apply to Robin, since his Bloodlust became his second pair of eyes. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Raven threw her extended katana to the side and gripped her new one with both hands. EoD Aura Sword Black Aura enveloped her body and her blade. Her eyes darted back and forth in an attempt to grasp where Robin was. However, her efforts were in vain since Robin never moved. Instead he used one of his Aura Limbs to toss an object at high speed toward Raven''s right side. Hearing the sound, Raven slashed downward, thinking it was Robin''s sword. Tick...Ching It was a time bomb that Raven''s empowered katana sliced through like tofu. The slicing of the bomb only forced it to explode. Raven opened a portal in front of her so that the explosion would not harm her. Boom! Aura Sword Robin did not miss this chance. The moment he saw her swing, he used his other Aura Limb to extend. His body shot like an arrow toward Raven as he swung down on her. He was met with another surprise. Raven had used the explosion of the grenade to readjust the course of her blade. = This person..! Is that reaction level even human?! But this is still my win! = The explosion still caused her to only be able to grip it with one arm. Because her right hand let go of the grip, the katana flew left. Two arms against one, great sword against katana. It should''ve been obvious which broke. But reality wasn''t like that. The katana Raven created defied common sense. It was created with EoD, the Essence of Darkness, which consumes normal Aura. The moment the black katana collided, it began to eat away at the Aura which surrounded the sword due to the skill, Aura Sword. Without Aura Sword empowering the blade, the sword could no longer have the durability that would normally prevent its destruction from colliding with colossal Grimm. The two blades collided, sparks flew, and Robin''s Pantomath was sliced in half. = WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!! = Raven stabilized her grip on the katana, but before she could swing... Piercing Bullets Bang! Robin pulled the trigger on what was leftover of his sword. The barrel was cut in half, but it could still fire by some stroke of luck. The bullet broke the blade of the katana which was already damaged by the collision earlier. = Impossible! = Raven couldn''t believe her eyes, but believing would have to come after the fight was over. Normally, skin would be able to stop the entry of bullets if enhanced with Aura. Of course, it wouldn''t be stopped at the surface, but the bullet wouldn''t travel all the way through at the very least. Even though the bullet would have Aura running through it since all weapons were conduits for Aura, Raven was confident even her damaged black blade wouldn''t be snapped by simple bullets. But the bullets were under the effect of Piercing Bullets, a skill Coco had designed with the intent to rip through the armor Grimm possessed on the outside of their body. Normal bullets would deflect off the same armor that would be pierced like cheese by Piercing Bullets. It should also be noted that this is the same skill Coco spent hours creating and perfecting, but Robin acquired by seeing it once. Raven ducked as Robin''s body flew overhead from his leftover momentum. Robin landed on the platform only to immediately feel some of his Aura being consumed by the Black Aura in the platform. It wasn''t as quick as when Raven held him when they were younger. The two foes stared at each other. Only afterimages remained as they approached on that thin beam Raven had created. Enhance Enhance Left with no weapons, they could only fight with their arms and legs. With each moment, Robin''s reserves were depleted, and the same went for Raven. EoD converted her Aura into Black Aura. The longer she held this state, the weaker she would become. They aimed to settle the match quickly, so they made their body stronger, yet their own skills and prowess would not allow even that.
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Fist collide with fist.
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Blow matched with blow.
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Eventually, their Auras was depleted, yet their fight raged on.
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It shouldn''t even be said that because they trained so much, their bodies were sturdy enough to endure weak blows even without Aura. Even with the situation as it was, Robin couldn''t help but smile. = You! =
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= You were my goal. My superior. Even now, I cannot land a decisive blow you monster of a woman. =
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= Other people cannot compare to you. Raised inside the kingdom, their strikes are weak! =
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= Nobody else could make my blood rush like this! =
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= Nobody else could hit as fierce as this! = ================================= = Why won''t he go down? =
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= You are just a regular nomad who I happened to deem as a friend! =
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= Even now, I don''t understand why I opened up to you. Why did I help you? Teach you? =
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= You are different from the rest. You spend each moment like it was your last. =
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= Don''t you smile at me! I hate it. Why is it you can laugh with your friends while I must suffer? =
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================================= = So that I can surpass you! So that I can reach my goal! So that I can never feel that pain again! = ================================= = So that I can redeem myself! So that he can rest in peace! So that Summe''s death will be avenged! = ================================= = = I WILL DEFEAT YOU!!! = = Their fists, each with its own burden and desire, collided with their opponent''s faces. Their body recoiled backwards, but only one stood standing. The other collapsed backward. The ceiling started to collapsed. It wasn''t noticeable before, but the needles and ceiling was made from Raven''s EoD just for the match. As the pieces of the roof collapsed, it dissolved into Black Dust before disappearing into the air just like the bodies of Grimm. With the ceiling gone, the sound of the crowd was heard. Robin stood tall, light reflecting off his silver hair as he stared at the clear, blue sky. ¡°Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!¡± His two fists clenched at his sides as he howled at the sky in victory. Raven watched his silhouette from the shadows of what remained of the stage she had set up. Even though she was filled with bitterness from her loss, she felt that despite everything, she couldn''t bring herself to hate him.
Author''s note: "= = " refers to both people having the same thoughts. Chapter 60: Round Two ================================= Chapter 60: Round Two =================================
+34 Exp. +29 Exp. ¡­ +240 Exp. Because you defeated your rival at full strength and on her turf, your experience is doubled. Thanks to your class, you''ve identified the techniques Essence of Darkness and Essence of Darkness: Item Creation. However, because of race restrictions, you are unable to use these skills. Instead, the inferior technique, Dust Creation, was acquired. Because you are already adept at Aura manipulation, you are able to learn this skill immediately.
[tr] [tr]
Dust CreationThanks to your class, you''ve derived a fundamental skill required for a superior technique that normally isn''t possible. By using this skill, you can now give physical form to your Aura by converting it into Dust. The Aura you expend recovers normally, and the Dust you create continues to exists. Amount of Aura required depends on the amount of Dust you want to create. Unique Effect: Because you are adept at Aura manipulation, you can reverse the process and reabsorb the Dust back in the form of Aura. This is only possible with the Dust you created from this skill. Unique Effect: Because of your class, the type of Dust you grasp the fundamentals of all Dust. Thus, you can create all forms of Dust possible for your race. Cost: --- Aura
Robin used two fingers to rub his temple. He looked at the screen in front of him and then looked away. He was unsure if he was actually awake. The information that popped up gave him a headache. = She''s not human? The info from the window implies that.. I mean, I''ve known her this long, yet I never knew she was a faunus. There were no signs..Actually, why didn''t I ever think of that? She was actually tolerating me. I could''ve sworn she was human though... Maybe she''s of the raven species? I don''t see any feathers though. = Robin grinned at the image of Raven flapping a pair of wings with black feathers rather than arms. It only looked funnier because the individual was a cold person. = ...But Dust Creation....Really? That goes against all common sense. That''s like meeting someone who can generate his own water to drink. That isn''t how the world works, and to top it all off, I suddenly can do this too.. = As he felt his common sense being tested, he recalled the fight earlier. In the darkness, two people stood above a floor of spikes, accurately throwing knives against one another. It was pure coincidence that both Robin and Raven decided to act at the same time. If Robin had waited a moment more before grabbing an elixir to restore his Aura, Raven would have already created her weapon and won. On the other hand, if Raven had more patience, she would have reacted more appropriately. Perhaps she could''ve thrown a knife through a portal to interrupt Robin. Even if Robin had seen it coming, he would have a hand occupied in his Inventory, resulting in his lost. In the end, Raven''s impatience lead to her defeat by Robin''s recently acquired skill, Piercing Bullets, and absurd Bloodlust. On a side note, the individual in question was properly screwed into the ground with some portable cuffs Robin taken out of his Inventory. Because Robin had hit her pressure points in the brawl earlier, she couldn''t resist during the process. That was the reason he was able to nonchalantly browse the messages while sipping on an elixir. ¡°How long do you plan to stare at me?¡± Raven questioned. ¡°I don''t know. You''re pretty interesting to look at, in my opinion.¡± ¡°Pervert. Do you like staring at women laid on her back, chained down, and unable to resist or something?¡± ¡°That was oddly specific, and not really.¡± ¡°Hmph. I have something to say, so release me. I''ll properly leave the competition, so don''t worry about me suddenly attacking you.¡± ¡°You know I''m the one who makes that call right?¡± Raven stared at him with unamused eyes. Robin stopped his teasing and unlocked her. Raven immediately took out an elixir. Robin grabbed her hand with his Aura covering his body. Between Raven who had no Aura and himself who recovered already, it was easy to determine who would beat who. ¡°Hey now, I wanted to see you take out the North Orb, not an elixir.¡± ¡°Yes, but the things I want to talk to you about is something I don''t want foreign ears to hear.¡± she whispered. ¡°If it really bothers you, take it.¡± She tossed him the orb which she withdrew from her Inventory. While Robin was confiming if it was genuine, Raven chugged on her elixir. ¡°Are you aware that Diane is cheating?¡± Raven asked in a hushed voice. ¡°Yeah..¡± ¡°And you didn''t stop her?¡± ¡°I didn''t have the evidence. Reporting her wouldn''t do any good.¡± ¡°Hmph. Excuses. Not only did you not stop her, you actually kept silent and profited from her actions. I had a better opinion of you, but I guess I was wrong.¡± = She says she wants to talk, and then begins to insult me. = ¡°Now listen here.¡± Robin stepped closer to Raven, and he looked her in the eyes filled with irritation. She put a finger to her mouth, signaling him to keep his voice down. ¡°The wall have ears,¡± she said. ¡°..I only realized she was cheating less than 30 minutes ago. She had cleverly convinced us she wasn''t a cheater, so I had not doubted her until I thought about it more. Also, I would rather try my best during the round, and then report her after the round is over. That way, even if my entire group gets disqualified, I still get the experience from defeating all the Hunters and Huntresses.¡± Raven blinked. ¡°So you would suck her dry of the benefits and then throw her away?¡± ¡°You telling me you wouldn''t if you only started to suspect her in the middle of the round?¡± ¡°I won''t deny that..¡± Robin did not care for the person who tricked him, and Raven did not care for villains regardless. Thus, they would both have no guilt for taking advantage of Diane. ¡°So what will you do now?¡± Robin questioned. ¡°Well I WAS planning to force her to be eliminated from the round as soon as possible after beating the rest of your team. Then I was going to get the officials to apprehend her as soon as possible, but I suppose catching her will have to wait until after the match concludes. Our spar served as a good warm-up at the very least.¡± It was Robin''s turn to scoff. ¡°What?¡± she asked. ¡°Oh please, you lost after throwing everything at me. Don''t even try to brush it off as a sparring match.¡± ¡°Don''t get cocky.¡± Raven retorted. ¡°You won because I let my guard down. If I had waited a single second more, I could''ve taken you down. You were just lucky.¡± = She also seems to have came to the same conclusion. How sharp. = Despite that, Robin felt her behavior was undoubtedly cute. Why? After reading the message window, Robin was certain Raven had gone all out that match. Apparently, she was a sore loser. ¡°Yeah ok. You talk as if all you care about is stopping criminals, but despite all that you sure seemed to be having fun back there.¡± ¡°?..What are you talking about?¡± ¡°What am I talking about? Weren''t you the one smiling in the middle of our fight?¡± Raven raised an eyebrow and stared at him as if he lost his mind. She was filled with feelings of envy, hatred, and a sense of duty. Why would she be smiling? ¡°You must have been hallucinating.¡± ¡°I''m perfectly sane thank you very much.¡± ¡°Debatable.¡± ¡°Hey now. I''m not the one putting on a mask and acting as a superhero.¡± Robin casually dropped a bomb that he knew about her identity. ¡°So you did know it was me. Since when?¡± ¡°Since I saw you. By the way, that wouldn''t happen to be the reason why you never used that portal ability elsewhere would it?¡± ¡°It is. I don''t need people to make the connection that I am the masked person, so I hide it.¡± Raven nodded her head. Thankfully, Robin wasn''t a dull person, so he realized her goal for conversing with him. The conversation about her secret finished without unnecessary explanations. Robin smiled wryly at her. Her image as the Grimm Reaper reminded him of a certain superhero who dressed up like a spider. Although in Remnant, he would just be considered to be a spider faunus. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh nothing. Nothing.¡± Despite Robin being the only outsider Raven had confirmed to know about her secret, she doubted he was the one who leaked it to her enemies, otherwise he would not have allowed her to live after beating her. ¡°It goes without saying, but don''t tell anyone about my semblance.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Your secret is safe with me.¡± Looking at his sly grin, Raven misinterpreted it as him being happy because of his lucky(?) win. Seeing that smile caused a vein to bulge on her forehead. Now that their conversation was finished, she took the initiative to end this meeting. ¡°Hmph. Then leave.¡± Without hesitation, Raven threw a light grenade at the ground and caused a light to blind both Robin and the security cameras from capturing video footage of her semblance. She then kicked Robin in the stomach, so that he fell into a portal she conveniently opened behind him. ======================================= In the meantime, Pyrrha was sitting idly at the same location where Raven kidnapped Robin. The bodies of the people who were defeated by Robin sank slowly into the ground, but before they did Pyrrha was able to see the wounds inflicted on them through the transparent blue shield. Some were riddled with needles soaked in poison. Others with daggers stabbed into their limbs, and the majority of them had burnt skin from the explosion. This was supposed to be a competition set with guidelines, but this scene looked like the aftermath of a battle in a war. Her imagination started running a different scene in her head. Robin was on her side now, but what if she was one of those people who ran into those traps? She could not help but shiver at what kind of traps he would have had for her. In particular, she wasn''t really worried about having lasting scars if it ever came to that. After all, modern medical treatment would heal all those wounds, given enough time in the hospital. Not to mention she had the shield that would activate if it seemed anything would threaten her life. Nevertheless, she didn''t want to go up against such brutality, even if it was from someone as handsome as him. Pah. Speaking of the devil, Robin dropped out of the sky and landed face first into the pavement. Thankfully, his training allowed him to stop in time before getting any damage to his nose. ¡°Jeez what a violent woman.¡± Robin grumbled. ¡°That was completely uncalled for-- oh hi Pyrrha.¡± ¡°Hello, angel. How was heaven?¡± she asked. ¡°Very funny.¡± He pulled out the North Orb. ¡°Shall we group up with the others?¡± ================================= Diane was confused. She and Weiss traveled to the gate as planned only to find a group of fighters waiting for them. In her research for potential enemies, many were deemed to be non-threats. However, she made a crucial mistake. She would never have imagined that the worthless group of fools that originally should be no threat had assembled as an alliance to take out her group. The instigator behind this was Raven and Cardin of course. They managed to convince the masses who were afraid of Diane''s power to rise together and overthrow her. The result was Diane and Weiss also retreating in different directions in an attempt to lower the number of chasing individuals. To make things worst, she could not figure out who was responsible for opening the gate in the first place. After separating from Weiss, Diane contacted her original teammates through her Scroll. They were inside the walls at the time in order to monitor any changes that were to occur due to extraneous factors. However, none of the three caught Raven in the middle of her act since she cleverly snatched the orb during the chaos. As for how they never realized about the existence of the hidden coalition, this alliance was brought forth behind Diane''s back while she was planning with her team yesterday. Since none of the Student Council members were a part of Raven''s team, they naturally had no idea. Diane''s escape came to a stop as she hit a dead end in the path. The fighters rushed at her, optimistic of their victory. One boy swung down his great-sword clad in flames at her skull. At that moment, chains of steel wrapped around his arms. The spikes on each link stabbed into his arm, causing his intense pain.
-25
Zaborg Blue lightning then rushed along the chain and immediately electrocuting him.
-705
With the activation of her semblance, Diane converted her Aura into electricity and discharged it out of her body. She could manipulate the electricity in different ways, but the most raw form was through simple discharge. With a flick of her wrist, she threw the boy''s body flying to the side. This was her weapon. They were two chain whips with pointed daggers at the end of each chain. Along the chain were spikes meant to dig into her opponent''s body. The fighters did not let that stop them. With their advantage in numbers and Diane''s lack of escape route, they continued to assault her with the hopes of defeating her. Even if they were not as experienced, they weren''t stupid. Now that they saw her weapon, they were being especially careful not to get hit by them. They couldn''t land any hits, but she was constantly pressured back further and further. It was a shame they never noticed what was behind Diane''s back. The path she lead them in was precisely toward one of the traps set up in the maze. It was a very simple trap. A giant tank of water meant to flood the path, disrupting whatever battle that was taking place, and ruining equipment. Diane stepped on a tile on the floor, causing the wall behind her to separate. Immediately, a giant wave of water rushed out of the tank sweeping away all the Hunters and Huntresses. After the water level settled, each individual stood up soaked. It was then that they saw Diane standing there smiling. She had stabbed her whips into the walls and used them as an anchor to stop her from moving. Everyone was wet and the entire group was linked with the water that was on the ground. Discharge This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
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Not too long after she destroyed the plebeians, windows began popping up in front of her. Ding!
Announcement:
Team at Entry Point 9 has captured the North Orb. Participants: Diane Geotal (Lvl 73) Pyrrha Nikos (Lvl 72) Weiss Schnee (Lvl 71) Robin Wolfheart (Lvl 65)
Ding!
Announcement:
The number of participants has been reduced to appropriate levels. Thus, the round will now automatically end. The teams that will move on depending on the remaining participants. Participants: (North) Diane Geotal (Lvl 73) Pyrrha Nikos (Lvl 72) Weiss Schnee (Lvl 71) Robin Wolfheart (Lvl 65) (South)(by default) Blake Belladonna (Lvl 62) Sun Wukong (Lvl 59) Velvet Scarlatina (Lvl 67) Gaea Bronzewing (Lvl 70) (East)(by default) Yatsuhashi Daichi (Lvl 68) Adam Taurus (Lvl 65) Ted Turncoat (Lvl 73) Yang Xiao Long (Lvl 66) (West)(by default) Nora Valkyrie (Lvl 59) Conner Dinkleberg (Lvl 61) Neptune Vasilias (Lvl 58) Fox Alistair (Lvl 65)
Beep! A sound rang on her Scroll. Diane picked up the receiver and heard Liela''s voice. ¡°I''m sorry Diane... We lost.¡± ================================== With the first round ending, the maze sunk into the floor and the stage returned to its flat stage-like appearance. The remaining combatants gathered up in the center, and they found themselves showered with applause from the audience. ¡°Amazing!¡± A voice boomed out the speakers. One of the announcers, Mina, could be seen pumping her fists excitedly in the holographic screen. ¡°Such brutality! Such power! Every fighter, whether they''re here or in the medical room, should be proud of their efforts! We''ve witness a lot of talents here today!¡± ¡°That''s right,¡± the person who agreed with her was the other announcer, Geoff. ¡°As a reward for your display in prowess, every person here will be receiving a free batch of elixirs!¡± Robin felt no impact due to the acquiring the potions. After all, he was kinda rich by a lucky coincidence. Of course, he would still accept the free gifts. ¡°Now then, lets get on wit-¡± Enhance ¡°STOP!¡± A female''s voice rang loud and clear. The entire stadium went silent as a blonde middle-aged woman stepped out the gates and onto the stage. In her hand, she held a riding crop that was swinging by her side as she walked in her high heels. Her purple cape flowed elegantly as she pushed up her glasses before speaking. ¡°Diane Geotal. You are under the suspicion of cheating and are hereby disqualified from the competition until further notice.¡± Gasps could be heard. Diane was cheating? Thinking about it made sense, but how did she do it? = So the officials noticed..but... = ¡°Excuse me Professor,¡± Diane spoke, ¡°I am no rule breaker. I merely hacked into the system using my semblance, Zaborg, and some of my skills. Since I did it after the timer started, it shouldn''t be against the rules right?¡± Glynda crossed her arms and maintained a stern expression. ¡°Of course, but in order for you to hack into the system that quickly, you would require passwords and access codes that must have come from an outside source. Outside help PRIOR to the competition is naturally against the rules.¡± Diane began to sweat. ¡°But Professor, I did no such thing. If you would like, I can give an explanation about my abilities.¡± ¡°If you want to, then come with me. Until we confirm you are actually innocent, you will be removed from the competition. If you really are a cheater, then we cannot allow you to mess with the results any further.¡± No matter what, this professor was determined to remove her from the stage. This meant Diane would not make it to the finals regardless of what the result of the investigation was. By the time it would end, she would not be eligible to become the final victor. ¡°But..¡± ¡°I will not take any excuses young lady.¡± ¡°...If I were to leave now, I will mostly likely not be eligible to win. Can we make a bet instead? If I can withstand three of your attacks, I get to stay and you pull me out if you really find proof of me lying. If I cannot hold out, then I''ll come peacefully.¡± It had rapidly approached this point where she had to make such a request. Of course, this was with her knowing who she was up against. Murmurs could be heard throughout the crowd. There was no reason for the official to accept such a request. ¡°Fine. Activate your Aura. I don''t wish to cripple you.¡± = Oh? This will be interesting. Knowing how cautious Diane is, she most likely knows how strong this person was. She probably has thought of some ways to deal with such a situation. Looks like Diane will walk away free. = Enhance Blue Aura surrounded Diane''s body, and she immediately went into a defensive stance. Diane placed one hand out in front of her as if she was catching something and the other behind her head to protect it. To Robin''s surprise, he saw Diane was clearly sweating. This was a clear sign of nervousness he never saw before. She had always been surprised, but never nervous or fearful. Telekinesis Glynda''s semblance activated, and she flicked her riding crop up and down. Diane''s body flew into the sky to match its movement. The force was so great, she couldn''t even maintain the defensive position she had set up. Immediately after rising, she slammed into the ground. Once. Bam! Twice. Bam! Three times. Bam! The exchange took no longer than an instance, and Diane''s body moved like a rag doll. Robin''s mouth was hanging wide open. Diane did not get up because she had lost consciousness after the second impact. ¡°Wh-who is this lady?!¡± Robin exclaimed in a hushed voice. ¡°THAT Diane was defeated in an instant!¡± ¡°You don''t know her?¡± Pyrrha whispered. ¡°That''s Glynda Goodwitch. She''s a professor at Beacon Academy.¡± = She''s a teacher! What the hell! If that''s how strong people are at Beacon, what is the use of a combat school?! = Glynda did not waste a moment more. She simply walked away with Diane''s limp body floating behind her. ¡°U-Um. Excuse me?¡± Mina spoke out softly into the microphone in fear of Glynda. Glynda turned and stared. ¡°If she is removed from the game, what do we do about the competition?¡± ¡°The only one we want to question at the moment is Diane. The other three will be dealt with later.¡± Gulp. ¡°For now, they may continue without any worries. Lets see, since they were on the same team, we should enforce a handicap to even it out the advantage they had before. For Round 2, all members of Diane''s team must participate without their weapons. After that, they can fight normally. That should do for now.¡± With that, Glynda walked out of the stadium. The roar of the crowd filled the background as the competition began anew. ¡°And there you have it ladies and gentlemen. The fight will go on! Since Diane can no longer continue, according to the rules, the last person who lasted before getting disqualified in Round 1 will participate in Round 2! And the lucky person is...... Simon Helix! (Lvl 67) Come on down!¡± Simon stepped out of the medical room and rushed over fully healed and ready to fight. A screen popped up above all the participants to see. The pictures of the competitors began scrolling through like a slot machine as it began randomizing who would begin first. Ding!
Robin S. WolfheartvsSun Wukong
The fighters cleared the field, leaving only Robin and Sun standing and staring one another down. Sun immediately threw his staff off the stage. Robin raised his eyebrows. ¡°Since you cannot use your weapons, I will not either.¡± ¡°You don''t need to..¡± = Even if we could both fight with weapons, mine is broken. Thanks Raven. = Sun shook his head and smacked his chest with his fist. ¡°No, I DO have to. Because with this match I am aiming to win Blake''s heart.¡± Robin was surprised. = Why did he become so adamant on beating me? Oh well. Works out for me. = ¡°Fine, I guess it''s time to show you once and for all just who she belongs to.¡± Obviously their voices were heard by everyone watching. The crowd when wild, wolf whistles were heard, and Blake cupped her face in her hands in embarrassment. Yang Xiao Long whistled at the two boys in the battlefield. ¡°Whoever this Blake girl is, she sure is lucky. Two boys fighting with their fists over me would be a dream come true.¡± The reason for Sun''s decision went back to his earlier conversation with Blake. She described his personality and traits with religious fervor almost, and ultimately was rejected. How could Sun possible just stand there and say ¡°ok¡± after such a rejection. He just needs to prove to Blake he was the better man. Then obviously she would fall for him instead. The situation on the stage progressed quickly, thus the announcers missed the timing to announce the event they were competing in. They awkwardly looked at each other. ¡°Mina, you do it.¡± ¡°No way, I talked more than enough. You say it, Geoff.¡± ¡°Nuh uh. I''m the oldest one here. If we go by age, Perry should do it.¡± ¡°Yeah Perry, you do it. You don''t talk much anyway.¡± Their mumbling gradually got the attention of all of the people present. Robin and Sun stared at them while wondering what was taking so long. Perry sighed in resentment. ¡°And now we will announce the event which will be in Round 2!¡± ======Oh yeah. ====== was the entire group''s thoughts. Sun started stretching out his muscles. He barely fought in Round 1, so he was raring to go. Robin began reviewing what information he had on Sun. On both sides, this was a fight they could not lose. ¡°The event will be: Rock, Paper, Scissors!!¡± ¡­.The entire population shifted their gaze to the announcers. Only Raven, who was staring at the screen from the medical room, laughed at Robin''s current situation.
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:65
Experience:605/650Semblance:Bloodlust (Evolved)
Health:1520/1520
Aura:2100/2100
Strength:390Dexterity:400
Agility:285Endurance:295
Vitality:411
Inventory57/200
Mercenary
Your Aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+10 Active) Martial Arts Master, (+10 Active) Sword Mastery, (+14 Inactive) Dual Sword Mastery, (+16 Inactive) Axe Mastery, (+10) Sharpshooter, (+10) Knife Juggler, (+10% Exp) Rivals Forever, (+10% Active) Lone Wolf Current Skills: Identify, Enhance, Detect, Lockpick, Helmsplitter, Aura Sword, Defuse, Hack, Aura Limbs, Aura Shield, Disguise, Piercing Bullets, Dust Creation
Author''s Notes: I think I might add the status plate thing at the end of the chapter every time there''s a change. The only time I will do this will be when there''s a new skill I think. Also, below is the list of how many people were defeated by the groups. The total number adds up to 64. Total Enemies Defeated: Diane: 8 Weiss: 4 Pyrrha: 8 Robin: 12 Blake: 1 Velvet: 2 Sun: 0 Gaea: 1 Yatsuhashi: 1 Adam: 2 Ted: 0 Yang: 2 Nora: 1 Conner: 2 Neptune: 0 Fox: 1 Extra characters that were knocked out by extra characters: 3 Chapter 61: Rock-Paper-Scissors ============================== Chapter 61: Rock-Paper-Scissors ============================== The whole audience was in an uproar. Rock-Paper-Scissors?! They truly planned to make such a game the main event of Round 2?! Disappointment and confusion could be seen on everyone''s faces. Two males in particular were glaring at the announcers. Sun was not smiling in the least. Surely, even he would feel a bit of shame if the match boiled down to a kid''s game after loudly declaring his feelings. Robin, in comparison, had a suspicion that there was more to the event than they thought, but he was still annoyed at their roundabout way of announcing. ¡°Ahem! Now, now, lets just all calm down everyone, just calm down.¡± Perry the announcer said. ¡°While the event is indeed called Rock-Paper-Scissors, it is actually an adaptation of the common children''s game with a few more rules. I am embarrassed to announced the true reason it is called this way was simply because the rule-makers and ourselves were unable to come up with a better one.¡± The population sighed with relief. Perry had their full attention now as he explained the rules to them. ¡°As many of us know, mankind was raised in an unforgiving world. Danger and Grimm lurked in every corner. In order to defend ourselves, we developed weapons and honed our skills. We have incorporated the very history of man inside this very game!¡± ¡°The following match-ups will be randomized from this point forward. The selected individuals will play a set of the evolved game, Rock-Paper-Scissors. Each set consists of three rounds, and each round will begin with both players playing a single, normal Rock-Paper-Scissors game. The players will then engage in combat lasting 30 seconds long. Depending on the outcome of the previous game, the fight''s conditions will be altered. Paper If a player chooses Paper as their choice of action, the corresponding player will engage in hand-to-hand combat only for that round. Before the inventions of weapons, the only thing mankind could depend on was the strength of their two fists and legs...... In this style of combat, gauntlets and gloves are permitted, but they can only serve as protection. Any other weapons cannot be used. Scissors If a player chooses Scissors, they will be allowed to fight using any weapons. This is a representation of humanity''s technological advancement. When we were in doubt of our own abilities, we began to arm ourselves to pierce through the armor which our fists could not break!......If you prefer fighting with hand-to-hand combat, that is allowed even if you choose Scissors. However, you can only use weapons if you choose Scissors.....And finally--! Rock If a player chooses Rock, they will be allowed to fight using any type of gun! This alludes back to when mankind discovered the gunpowder form of Dust! With the development of ranged weaponry, mankind''s arsenal diversified and multiplied in strength! The firepower we are capable of achieving with this advancement earns it the right to by represented by Rock!......With your decision to use Rock, you can only fight with guns, explosives, or any other items that is ranged. Any other type of weaponry is not allowed! You may defend yourself however you wish, but you may only attack using ranged weapons.¡± Mina, the other announcer, took over from there. ¡°The winner will be determined by a point system. The beginning Rock-Paper-Scissor match awards 1 point to the winner. If it''s a tie, 1 points are added to each player. The winner of the following 30 second of combat will be decided both by Aura level and situational judgment by referees.¡± She gestured toward the men and women standing near the sides of the arena with black and white striped uniforms on. ¡°The winner of the fight will be awarded 2 points, and if it''s a tie, 1 point will be awarded to each player. That concludes one round. At the end of three rounds, the individual with the highest points moves on!¡± The camera zoomed in on Geoff as he started to speak. ¡°Lets go through a mock set to help clear out any confusion. Suppose Mina and myself were to fight each other. The first thing we do is play a game of normal Rock-Paper-Scissors.¡± ¡°¡°Rock-Paper-Scissors!¡±¡± Mina chose Scissors, and Geoff chose Paper. ¡°Scissors beats Paper, so Mina gets 1 point!¡± Perry says. A table popped up on the hologram.
Mina:Geoff:
10
¡°Now, Geoff and I engage in combat. Because I chose Scissor I am allowed to fight with my fists or my weapons that isn''t ranged. Naturally, even if my weapon can also transform to become a gun like many weapons can, it is not allowed to transform as such and must only be used in a form that fires projectiles.¡± ¡°And because I chose Paper, I can only fight with my body. Lets say I am deemed the winner during these thirty seconds. The points now look like this.¡±
Mina:Geoff:
12
¡°That''s the end of round one. And now we do round two without replenishing Auras. Let''s assume Mina wins both the game and the fight. The points look like this.¡±
Mina:Geoff:
42
¡°Now we would go to round three. If I were to win the Rock-Paper-Scissors game,¡± Mina explained, ¡°the points would be 5-2, and the winner would be decided then and there. This is because even if Geoff won the combat, I would win 5-4. But if Geoff wins the game, we go to combat with a score of 4-3. He still could potentially win with a score of 4-5, or I could win by being victorious in the fight with a score of 6-3 or ending in a draw for the combat with a score of 5-4.¡± ¡°Are there any questions?¡± Perry asked. One student raised his hand. ¡°What if we fight with a bow and arrow? Which category does that belong to?¡± ¡°Bows and any form of throwing weapons belong to the Rock category. Please also take note that any and all skills can be used regardless of which category you select. So long as the skills in questions can be used with the weapons you are allowed to fight with." The explanation was clear, and the rules were rather simple. Even if some people didn''t understand the minor details, the general idea on how to move on was clear. The citizens nodded in approval of the game the announcers and tournament planners had come up with. = These rules are pretty interesting. Everyone has to consider their own talents, make judgments on their opponent''s arsenal, and then make the best decision out of the three choices. It''s new, so people will find it refreshing. We''re not allowed to drink elixirs, so the previous decisions matter...Man, it seems so fun, but I can only use my fists. = Robin momentarily regretted keeping silent about Diane''s cheating. If he could use the weapons in his Inventory, he would have so many more options. It was only for a moment though. The experience points he gained were too good to pass up. Currently, Robin could only choose Paper or Scissors if he wanted to have the ability to retaliate. Although if he really needed to, he could choose Rock to win the point and then only dodge for the next 30 seconds, but that seemed difficult and energy consuming. = Judging from Sun''s character and his current abilities, I don''t think I need to do that though. Besides, we''re fighting for a different reason than normal anyway. This isn''t a fight for victory, but a match of pride. Thus, I need to assert my dominance. = ¡°Well then, let us begin Round 2!¡± With all the questions having been answered, a young female referee walked up with two floating cubes made out of glass. These cubes floated behind her as she walked forward. Robin could see Green crystals embedded on the bottom of each cube. = Wind Dust huh.. = This reminded him of his new skill, Dust Creation. He made a mental note to tinker with the skill later in the day. ¡°Both of you will decide on a choice for the Rock-Paper-Scissors game and make the hand gesture inside the cube. The glass will turn black to prevent cheating.¡± the woman explained. ¡°Once you''ve made the gesture, please place your hand against the glass. If the glass glows, it is indicating you have made your decision. You cannot and must not move your hand after placing it on the interior glass, as that would cause the cube to stop glowing, indicating you have changed your choice after seeing the opponents decision.¡± The two faunus boys nodded their heads to show they heard her. Robin then looked at Sun, finding him staring back at him. ¡°Since we want a fair fight, I must warn you.¡± Robin said. ¡°I don''t need a weapon to fight against strong people.¡± ¡°That''s ok. I know.¡± Sun replied. ¡°But I can fight without a weapon too.¡± Sun and Robin placed one of their hand in the cube with was now black instead of transparent. The two cubes glowed, indicating they made their decision already. The cubes then turned transparent again to reveal the boys'' palms laying flat inside. ¡°Paper v. Paper!! It''s a fist fight ladies and gentlemen!¡± ¡°Please stand 5 meters apart.¡± The referee said to the two of them. ¡°When I signal, the 30 second interval will begin.¡± The lady took out a stopwatch. After confirming everything was in order, she raised her hand in the air. ¡°Begin!¡± Enhance The lady jumped backwards and landed off the stage with the timer ticking. Sun and Robin''s bodies glowed yellow and silver respectively. Sun immediately backed away and clapped his palms together in front of him. Decoy Clones of light were formed next to Sun. They dashed toward Robin at top speed. Robin caught the fist of the first one that arrived. = ...Each one has power and speed equivalent to the original. = He jumped over another clone that tried to sweep his leg under Robin. Robin then used the clone as a launchpad to fly over the first clone. As he landed, Robin threw the clone over his shoulder since he already had a grip on him. = They each have the same mass too. Differentiating them from the original is simple though because the others are made of light. The ability is too unique to be a skill. It must be a semblance. = Pop The clone disappeared upon impact with the ground. Two more appeared at his sides and attacked simultaneously. Robin stopped both blows by guarding with both arms. A third clone did a jump kick at his chest. Robin leaned back immediately without letting his back touch the ground. Because of this action, he dodged the kick, and the two clones on the side fell forward due to Robin pulling on them to counteract the motion. His hands then shot up, gripped on their throats, and squeezed. Pop Pop = They all disappear after the first sign of damage just like Blake''s semblance, Schrodinger. Unlike hers, Sun''s clones seem to be able to perform complex actions whereas hers just substitutes where she was in the last location before disappearing. This is the second time I''ve seen this, and Sun seems to need to be still in order to concentrate on the clones. = Robin glanced at Sun who stood off in the distance, creating more clones. Just when he looked over, one of Sun''s clones who was behind Robin decided to attack. The clone slammed the interlocked hands on Robin''s head. Bloodlust Killing intent spread out from Robin as his eyes changed from its shining yellow color to red. The sudden outburst caused the clone''s hands to freeze slightly in its descent, but that was all Robin needed. He spun and hit the fists with his elbow that rotated upward. Robin grabbed the back of the clone''s head and slammed it into the ground. Pop ... The situation continued for some time, and Robin dealt with each threat that approached him with ease. Clones were useless if they disappear after the slightest damage. While they might seem frightening at first, dealing with multiple enemies wasn''t that difficult with Bloodlust keeping him informed of all threats. Thanks to Robin''s skill at hand-to-hand combat, countering and deflecting blows was as natural as breathing. Of course, Robin didn''t get off without taking any damage. Due to the sheer number, there were numerous times he had to guard instead of deflect and let some weak attacks get through his defense. ¡°What in the world is with this guy?¡± Sun asked himself in shock. His original plan was to overwhelm Robin with numbers. Gradually the damage would accumulate, granting Sun an opening to land the decisive blow. Naturally, the deciding blow didn''t have to given in this particular round, he just needed to weaken him but ¡­.Sun began to panic. Robin refused to be cornered. At first, Robin got hit by various attacks as he was adjusting himself. Then, he began to be able to predict the clones'' movements. Sometimes, he would purposefully take a hit in order to escape to a more open location. He seemed to be getting more accustomed with the situation as time went on. Furthermore, the atmosphere around Robin became heavy due to Bloodlust, and Sun picked up on it through his clone''s senses. Because Sun was an ally, he had never felt the full brunt of Bloodlust. This was the first time he felt it entirely on him. Looking through multiple clones didn''t help. ¡°Haha.. I guess Blake wasn''t kidding when she said you were one of a kind. That is some heavy pressure you''re giving off.¡± ¡°...¡± Despite beating up Sun''s clones, Robin did not make a move to approach him. It was as if he was signalling to Sun that he could handle what Sun dished out no matter what it was. To make matters worst, Robin had a calm expression the entire time. Surprise did not register on his face, only amplifying the unexplained terror Sun felt. ¡°..Scary....¡± With reluctance, Sun stop clasping his hands together. The clones of light ceased to exist. Sun calmed downed quickly thanks to the mentality granted by his class, Rebel. Accumulating damage wasn''t working anymore. Robin stopped getting hit long ago, so any further attempts would only waste Aura. ¡°Done with the light show?¡± Robin asked. ¡°..Yeah.¡± Sun''s figure disappeared and reappeared in front of Robin. He had concentrated more Aura at his feet momentarily for a burst in speed. = Woah. = Robin wasn''t too surprised though. Sun did a quick right jab. Robin did not back away, but instead moved forward. He brushed off the attack with the back of his hand and countered with a fist to Sun''s chest. However, the blow was caught by Sun''s other hand. Sun tried to knee Robin, but Robin blocked the movement by raising his own knee up. Robin''s right hand was caught by Sun, so instead Robin pivoted his elbow upward to smash Sun''s chin. Sun responded by leaning back, dodging the blow. However, that was a feint. A blow from the elbow would not have much power in such a position. The purpose of the movement was to block Sun''s vision as Robin retracted his left fist, spun counter-clockwise, and rammed his left elbow onto the back of Sun''s neck.
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= Not much damage. Did he expect the blow and increased the Aura at his neck? No, if he did, then he would stop the blow instead of taking it. = It was at this moment that Robin was attacked by something he neglected at the time: Sun''s tail! The thin tail covered in blonde fur wrapped itself around Robin''s neck and began to choke him. Robin did not panic. Instead, he showered Sun with a flurry of fists as he turned around. Normally when getting choked, the person would grab and try to stop the choking as soon as they could. Sun did not expect Robin to downright ignore the choking and continue to attack him. Thus, he was easily hit in the center of his chest.
-80
Robin stepped forward. His right fist followed up. Sun tried to block it, but would Robin let him? Aura Limbs Two silver arms grew out of Robin''s body and grabbed Sun''s arms. There would be no retaliation now. Robin stepped forward. His right fist hit Sun''s chest.
-75
Sun took a step backward from the blow. Robin stepped forward. His left fist went this time.
-85
Sun tried kicking instead. Robin punched the knee that went up and forced it back down. Another hit in the chest.
-95
The blows were weak, but all this happened in an instant. Speed was the key. Robin kept his flow of chain punches coming, forcing Sun to back away. Sun would step back, and he would step forward. The chain continued for a few more seconds before the glow around Sun''s body brightened. ¡°Wuooooo!¡± Retaliate Sun activated a skill unique to his Rebel class. While overwhelmed or restrained, Retaliate would break him free from the chains that bind him and allow him to land the decisive blow on his opponent. The glow vanished and with it Robin''s Aura Limbs. This was natural because they were used to hold Sun''s arms back. = My skill stopped working. = Sun swung his arm, the speed and strength of the haymaker was stronger than usual thanks to the influence of the skill. If that connected with his head, the match would have undoubtedly ended. Aura Shield Fight skill with another skill. A silver shield appeared. If it could block Pyrrha''s Takedown, then this shield could withstand a last ditch effort swing from Sun. With a bang, the arm collided with the bubble. ¡°What!!¡± Acupuncture
-55
-65
Sun dashed backward. He had long ago released his tail''s grip from Robin''s neck. He didn''t want to be in reach of him any longer. Sun gripped his exposed chest as his shirt was unbuttoned as usual. Robin also panted due to holding his breath, but it was nowhere as desperate as Sun. He looked onward calmly. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. = I was negligent. His tail has a surprisingly long reach and grip contrary to its thin appearance. That could have been dangerous it the stalemate continued... I should make a weapon like that sometime...A mechanical tail that moves however I will it to... = ¡°Ha...Ha...You son of a bitch...¡± Sun wheezed. ¡°What did you do to my arm?!¡± Sun''s left arm hung uselessly at his side. Because it stopped moving once it hit his shield, Robin took advantage of the opening. ¡°Relax,¡± Robin replied. ¡°It will recover in a minute anyway.¡± ¡°...¡± Beep! ¡°Stop! The round is over!¡± The female referee called out. The two of them backed away. ¡°Wow, such an intense fight!¡± Mina said. ¡°Robin Wolfheart continues to impress as he shows off his martial prowess. He has skillfully dished out blows that all have connected with its intended targets. However, the damaged he''s collected from the clones are not to be ignored. What are the referees'' decisions?¡± The five referees that surrounded the stage all carried two colored flags. They each raised a flag. The result showed itself on the scoreboard.
Robin:Sun:
31
Sun looked at the score and wanted to sigh, but couldn''t because doing so caused chest pain. A unanimous decision. Robin did not suffer significant injuries, whereas Sun was punished harshly for fighting up close. The clones did not do anything than give Robin bruises. It was painful, but tolerable. ¡°Pick up your weapon.¡± Robin''s voice rang across the stage. ¡°You cannot beat me without a weapon. Pick it up.¡± This was not arrogance. This match would already be over had Robin decided to use Acupuncture from the start instead. However, that wasn''t his goal in this fight. ¡°I''m going to show you once and for all who the better fighter is.¡± ¡°Both fighters please make your choices,¡± the referee interjected. The female referee was back with the same two floating cubes. Sun silently walked toward the center. This time he had his staff which one of the spectating players, Neptune, tossed to him. The two cubes glowed, and became transparent again. Sun chose Scissors, and Robin chose Scissors.
Robin:Sun:
42
¡°Another tie! Scissors v. Scissors! Will we see just what kind of weapon Sun has in store for us?¡± Mina excitedly asked. Sun ignored the audience and spoke earnestly to Robin. ¡°I must apologize to you.¡± Sun said as he checked the condition of his weapon. ¡°I said I abandoned my weapon because it wouldn''t be fair, but that was only half the truth. When I heard you could not fight with a weapon, I thought it was my chance for victory...I kinda knew you were strong in close quarters combat after talking to Blake, but I didn''t want to lose to you..I didn''t want to believe I would. I threw away my weapon thinking that winning this way would make it indisputable that I was stronger than you.. Heh, it''s kinda funny. I ended up not respecting your skill, and lost instead.¡± Sun chuckled and shook his head. ¡°For that I apologize, Robin.¡± Sun bowed his head. Robin awkwardly smiled. ¡°No problem. I didn''t really warn you anyway because I wanted my prowess to shock you, so I suppose we are even.¡± Sun looked up with blinking eyes. The two guys looked at each other before a grin appeared on both their faces. ¡°Are you two done?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°My apologies.¡± They said to the referee. She raised her hand in the air. Sun twirled his staff fluidly and placed it in a comfortable position with both hands gripping it. This time, Robin took a solid stance with both feet planted firmly into the ground. ¡°Begin!¡± Enhance The moment it started, Robin disappeared and reappeared in front of Sun. Because of his stance, Sun had thought Robin would be on the defense once more. Little did he know, that was one of the stances Robin had learned in martial arts that makes it look like he was firmly rooted in place, but was in reality a setup for sudden movements. Bloodlust Sudden movement and killing intent blasted Sun in the face in order to create an opening. Robin punched forward, mercilessly aiming for the same spot he hit three times already. However, this time Sun was ready. With his guilty conscious removed, his mindset was not bothered by Bloodlust anymore thanks to his class, Rebel. He moved the staff in front of his chest to block the hit. ¡°Ha!¡± Aura Limbs Pow!
-225
-175
However, Robin predicted that Sun would be able to block this first hit. Even though Robin''s movements would catch him by surprise and Robin knew he was stronger and faster than Sun, Sun would subconsciously protected a new injury well. Thus, the moment he struck, he sent two Aura Limbs to strike past Sun''s guard with one in the stomach and the other in the face. One hit had become three, sending Sun''s body flew backward. He did a flip, and then slowed down his momentum by grabbing the floor with one hand and feet. He didn''t get cuts nor burns on his hand thanks to his Aura, but they were instead numb from the impact with Robin''s fists. Robin had enhanced the strength in his limbs more than normal, like when he had fought against Pyrrha. Unlike it that fight however, he had done that in order to keep up with her. Here, he was trying to end the fight decisively for two reasons. The first was because without the ability to use his vast arsenal in his Inventory, Robin''s options were limited. Naturally, he had to resort to using his skills rather than concealing his full strength. The second was that his goal was to have an overwhelming victory. ¡°God damn! What is with that-¡± But Sun didn''t get time to finish his sentence because Robin was already in front of him. This time, he kicked at the side of Sun''s head. ¡°-!!¡± Sun hurriedly guarded using his staff, but because his stance gave little support on the side, the force of the kick sent him flying to the left. Sun stopped tumbling and looked up to find Robin on him yet again. This time Robin was about to do an axe kick on Sun. ¡°That won''t work twice!¡± Sun poked his staff under Robin''s knee, so that he physically could not bring it down unless he broke the staff or messed with it''s positioning. Robin chose to do neither. He used the staff as a fulcrum and kicked upward with his other leg. Sun replied by twirling the staff, using the other end to push Robin''s legs away from his own body and dodging the blow. He then followed up with a single-handed thrust of the staff into Robin''s stomach. Because the connection was at a single point, the result was very painful. ¡°Cough!¡±
-245
Robin tried to grab the staff as his body flew back, but Sun had already pulled it back. Robin borrowed the momentum to do a backflip, stabilizing his body on the ground. This time it was Sun that was in front of him. Through a series of thrusts and sweeps, Sun attacked Robin without pause. Robin dodged the blows easily, but could not close the distance between himself and Sun. Instead, he was being pushed back in order to avoid attacks. = Hm.. I always had the impression he was more laid back, yet his attacks seems sharp...No, the flow of the momentum is weird. It''s as if he hits where he wants to, rather than where is most efficient. Its unorthodox nature is throwing me off as to when to retaliate. = Robin stepped forward. Sun responded by thrusting the staff at Robin''s face. In response, Robin grabbed with both hands, but he grasped nothing but air. Sun didn''t fall for his feint and hit his leg with the staff instead.
-155
= Feints aren''t working either.. Does he see through my actions? No, it seems more like intuition... Geniuses are everywhere around me. = Robin was not the only one complaining though. Sun made sure his thoughts were known without fail. ¡°Are a robot, man? Dude, I''m like hitting everywhere on your body. Why are you able to block everything?¡± Although he complained internally, Robin did not get discouraged. He got where he did with hard work. If an opportunity doesn''t present itself to him, he just needs to make one. Ignoring Sun''s comments, Robin stepped forward once more with both palms together as if he was praying. If Sun thrusts his staff, catching it would be a simple matter. If he attacked his side, Robin would use one arm to block and the other to grasp it. Since Robin crouched as he approached, Sun could not hit his legs without being obstructed by Robin''s arms. Thus, Sun hit downward from above.
-192
If one could not get through safely, then minimize the damage. Robin blocked the blow with an arm instead of diverting or dodging the blow. He stepped forward to attack Sun with his his other fist.
-245
At this moment, he felt danger approaching from behind. Sun''s staff, just like many weapons, had different forms. It consisted of two nunchucks. The four metal rods could connect together to form a staff. This was something Robin already saw and confirmed with his own eyes. What he didn''t see was that the end of the staff could partially disconnect, forming a three-section staff. Robin blocked the middle section, but the end continued moving and threatened to damage the back of Robin''s head. Aura Limbs Robin silver Aura grew from the side of his body and grabbed the staff. Sun had also blocked Robin''s fist by his other hand moving the closer end of his staff that also disconnected in front of the blow. Thus, the two competitors separated without any deciding blows...Not. Acupuncture
-25
Robin''s Aura Limbs can make two additional limbs. One grabbed the staff to protect Robin while the other jabbed a pressure point on Sun''s arm. When the two separated, Sun''s right arm hung loosely at his side. ¡°..You''re just full of surprises aren''t you?¡± Sun said. ¡°..This was a rare opportunity for me to fight using pure martial arts rather than relying on my skills, but it seems you''re too skilled for me to have that kind of luxury.¡± ¡°...¡± With one arm useless, a three-section staff was too difficult to fight with. It would do more harm than good, so Sun transformed it back into his staff form. Robin waited patiently as if it wouldn''t effect the outcome. Enhance Sun emptied his remaining Aura into his body. He was well aware at this point that there would be no third round. His only chance of winning was a decisive knockout that prevented Robin from continuing the competition. With a dash, both fighters approached. Sun thrusts his staff at Robin''s chest. Embodied in it was his vigor, strength, and pride. Aura Shield As if to reject all that, Robin''s Aura Shield appeared. Sun''s expression was filled with distraught. His dominant arm was useless, his breath ragged from exertion, and his body was covered in injuries. Despite all this, he still fought. He still retaliated, yet Robin seemed so far above him in every aspect. Bloodlust and silver Aura filled Sun''s vision. It was as if he was fighting a god. ¡°Never..¡± Sun gritted his teeth. Just holding his staff with his hand numb from constant collision was hard enough, yet Robin still decides to bring out a skill that stopped his Retaliate here. Sun felt his staff stop, unable to pierce through. ¡°..I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!¡± Ursurper Bright yellow Aura expelled from Sun''s body. In the face of absolute power, a rebel makes their stand to overthrow the one at the top, effectively changing who stands at the peak. A skill that only activates once he exhausts all his other options, and Sun was at the brink of defeat. That blinding light enveloped Sun''s entire body. The staff that had stopped moving, began to make progress again. Crack. Silver and yellow Aura collided. Sun''s thrust now made progress through Robin''s shield and toward Robin''s heart. ¡°MAAAAKE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!¡± ¡°WOAAAAA!!¡± What felt like ages occurred in a single moment as both individuals collided. An explosion was followed by debris from the stage flying into the air. The audience watched in silence. They waited both patiently and excitedly on the edge of their seats for their vision to clear up. Who had won? The rubble settled, revealing both individuals remaining standing. However, there was a distinct difference between the two. One had a blue shield appear to protect their life. The other was injured, but still not disqualified. Sun inhaled deeply and spit out a mouthful of blood. That last exchange pushed his body beyond his normal limits. In exchange for displaying such power, his body was stressed out and injured. Thankfully, if he was treated immediately, his time in bed would last only a week. ¡°Power that rejects all restraints...that.. is the power of my.. ha..ha.. Rebel class.¡± ¡°You were.. above me.. in all aspects.. cough.. That''s why it showed.. so much power.. even though.. it wasn''t enough.¡± Unable to stay conscious any longer, Sun collapsed on the floor with the blue shield protecting his body. Robin stood still with the staff impaled in his shoulder. Robin would not easily forget Sun''s skill, Retaliate. At the very end, he expected a similar experience, so he had used Aura Shield to block the blow. When Sun''s staff pierced through, Robin''s hand pushed the staff away. Sun''s strength at the end was far stronger than anything he showed before. It even destroyed one of Robin''s Aura Limbs that he had used to try to grab the staff. Robin used his left hand to grab the staff, softening the blow however little he could while his right hand pushed the staff away from his heart. Meanwhile, he directed his remaining Aura Limb to land the decisive blow. Acupuncture could not stop Sun fast enough, so Robin concentrated his Aura into a single point. Instead of poking the pressure point, the silver limb became a sharp spear and pierced into Sun''s body, stopped only by the blue shield that erected to preserve Sun''s life. ¡°We both put our pride on the line.. ha..ha.. and fought to the very end... Even though I will not give you my woman, you have my respect, Sun Wukong!¡±
+68 Exp. Level up! Thanks to your exceptional control over your Aura, you''ve created a new skill, Aura Spear. Because of a great struggle over a similar goal, you''ve gained a new rival. Bonus from Rivals Forever is increased from +10% to +15%. Because you''ve constantly overcome situations where you should have lost by normal standards, your affinity with Chaos has increased.
Aura Spear
Your ability to manipulate Aura has allowed you to manifest it physically. You were only able to interact with other objects slightly until now. With your increased ability to manipulate Aura, your Aura is now capable of becoming a weapon. Cost depends on how much Aura is used. Cost: ---Aura
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:66
Experience:23/660Semblance:Bloodlust (Evolved)
Health:1545/1545
Aura:2160/2160
Strength:395Dexterity:410
Agility:295Endurance:300
Vitality:411
Inventory57/200
Mercenary
Your Aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+10 Active) Martial Arts Master, (+10 Active) Sword Mastery, (+14 Inactive) Dual Sword Mastery, (+16 Inactive) Axe Mastery, (+10) Sharpshooter, (+10) Knife Juggler, (+15% Exp) Rivals Forever, (+10% Active) Lone Wolf Current Skills: Identify, Enhance, Detect, Lockpick, Helmsplitter, Aura Sword, Defuse, Hack, Aura Limbs, Aura Shield, Disguise, Piercing Bullets, Dust Creation, Aura Spear
Author''s Notes: It''s been a while, but it''s good to be back. Edit: I accidentally deleted a sentence. Sorry about that. Chapter 62: Essence of Chaos ============================== Chapter 62: Essence of Chaos ============================== Robin''s parents both sat in the hotel room along with the rest of their close friends. As they watched their son fight, Joseph pumped his fist into the air while Christina silently cheered Robin on. Although she was quiet in order to not disturb little Jackson, her facial expression more than enough to explain her current feelings of pride. ¡°YEEAH!¡± Joseph shouted. ¡°That''s my boy!¡± ¡°Honey please. Jackson will wake up.¡± Christina reprimanded him. ¡°Your kid''s talent is astounding,¡± said Zuri. He pushed his glasses up with a finger. ¡°Within a year, he''s already strong enough to compete at this level.¡± ¡°Fool, you''re admiring the wrong thing.¡± Alexander disagreed. ¡°In terms of talent, nearly every one of those individuals far outstrip him. Despite this, he still stands on top. That is the work of another factor.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Barney chimed in. ¡°Ever since he was young, he''s always been a hardworking boy. I don''t think anyone here has forgotten how he runs laps around the village every day.¡± They all simultaneously nodded their heads. The one who spoke this time was Risha, Adam''s mother. ¡°Certainly, had Robin not been there to push Adam, I would never have seen his talents flourished to this degree. You''ve raised a fine son, Christina.¡± Christina gave her thanks to Risha. Her face had pride plastered over it, yet it was slightly sullen. Joseph did not miss this detail on his wife''s face. ¡°What''s wrong, honey?¡± ¡°It''s just.. Robin seems so blessed.¡± They waited for her to continue. ¡°Even as a kid, Robin was different from the others. He didn''t complain about the exercise like the other kids, nor did he cry when he got hurt. I can''t help but be worried about his future.¡± Joseph looked at her with a smile. ¡°Worried about what? Our kid is smart, strong, and was raised to be cautious thanks to being brought up in our village. He''s also not arrogant by any means. Not only that, he doesn''t even seem to be hitting his limit. He''s probably going to keep getting stronger too. Stronger than he is NOW. Think about that, honey. He''s in the top 16 Hunters of his generation across KINGDOMS.¡± It was at this moment, Robin''s first round against Sun was finished. An overwhelming victory. Joseph rubbed Christina''s shoulder to assure her. ¡°See?¡± However, she wasn''t moved. ¡°That''s exactly my point!¡± Joseph looked at his wife in shock. ¡°Honey..?¡± ¡°Robin has always been a talented kid. We''ve known that from the beginning. Not just him, even his friends- Blake, Adam, Conner, and Ophelia- all seem to be geniuses. But they grow as if to match his pace. His growth rate is astonishing to say the least, and it''s only getting bigger! It''s as if he has been blessed by the gods. I mean, who else from our village have gotten as strong as them? They were so good, we actually had to chase them out so that they wouldn''t be hindered by us!¡± ¡°Christina, calm down. I don''t understand what you''re trying to say.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°..When we were young, did a single one of us appear on that screen? Nope. We lost the preliminary round. We weren''t famous people, we were just pebbles among a sea of people just waiting to be washed away, but we could not let that happen to us. As nomads, failure meant death, so we honed ourselves to the point of exhaustion. Before we knew it, we founded a village, but death was always one step behind us.¡± Christina gently caressed little Jackson''s cheek as she recalled their history. ¡°Then comes Robin, born on the lowest rung of the ladder with the talent that surpasses those we only dreamed of walking next to. With that kind of future, I can''t help but worry about the trouble he has to face in his life.¡± The gathering of friends all had their own opinions about the subject. Naturally, this was a concern all the parents had when they sent off their kids one year ago. It was a part of the culture of Remnant to be lenient and free, but it didn''t mean they couldn''t worry. Although they each had words to say, it wasn''t their place to say it. That was the husband''s job. ¡°Honey..¡± Joseph began. ¡°Struggling is a part of life. Whether he struggles now or later both depends on him and luck. The only thing we can do as parents is help minimize it and help him walk through it.¡± ¡°Of course I know that, but Robin is different. He''s not like us who trained all our lives to get to this stage. He''s talented, and while being talented is a good thing, being too talented will only bring trouble... I just can''t shake this feeling that something bad is gonna happen to him, and if we can barely beat him now, just what can we do for him then?¡± ¡°Then, the answer is simple then: just don''t let it happen.¡± Christina stared at her husband in disbelief. ¡°The number one thing engrained into every one of those kids in our village was that safety was always the number one priority. If it''s too strong, run. If there''s a threat, don''t blindly charge through. Robin''s gotten stronger, but that seems to have made you forget he''s smart too. Never has he bitten off more than he can chew. You taught him that yourself.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Didn''t you hear what he said to us in the car? The reason he wants to become strong is to protect the things he care about. No man that cares that much about others would do something reckless.¡± Hearing those words, Christina finally loosened her shoulders as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her. Indeed, she was the one who talked to Robin about safety the most all those nights on their porch. Although she realized this was her needlessly worrying, she still wanted to hear her husband console her. The friends at the table smiled wryly and repeated those thoughts in their hearts. Their eyes were on the T.V. the entire time, but it was then that the explosion on the screen caught their full undivided attention. Seeing Robin''s victory, every individual without exception cheered. Someone from their tiny village was among the top 8 in the world! Little Jackson began crying at the noise, forcing Christina to rock him in her arms. Although her worries were quenched at the moment, she couldn''t completely shake off that uneasy feeling. ======================================== ¡°And the winner is....ROBIN WOLFHEART!!¡± Robin knelt down. Because the adrenaline was starting to fade away, the pain came rushing back. If the fact there was a thick metal object embedded in his shoulder wasn''t clear before, it was sure clear now. ¡°Gasp..Ha...Ha...¡± Enhance Four men and women dressed in white appeared on stage with a bed cart like those you would see in the hospital. One pair examined Robin and Sun each. ¡°How''s he looking?¡± the assistant asked. ¡°He''s demonstrating heavy signs of exhaustion and Aura depletion. Nothing seems to be life-threatening. This boy on the other hand..¡± The lady looked at Robin. She placed two fingers on Robin''s neck to measure his pulse while simultaneously using Identify. ¡°Ssss..¡± She sucked in air through her teeth. ¡°His health is decreasing steadily, but there isn''t an immediate threat. Thankfully, the impaled staff is keeping him from bleeding out quickly. Help me get him on the cart.¡± ¡°But the patient can''t lay straight with it in him.¡± ¡°No choice. If we were to pull it out and use an elixir to heal him, the wound would close immediately. However, doing so means his bones might not heal in the correct position.¡± ¡°Look, I know this is gonna hurt, but I''m gonna need you to bear with the pain for a bit until we get to th--¡± = Fuck that = Robin grabbed the staff with his right hand. In a single stroke, he yanked out the staff that was no longer red from only the paint. Sweat dripped down his forehead as Robin tried to not make too much noise. ¡°Graaah! Ha....Ha..¡± ¡°--..Or you can do that.¡± The lady placed both of her hands on each end of the hole in his shoulder. Cauterize The flesh solidified into a dark red color as the surface was burnt closed. The assistants put both fighters on the carts. An individual of each pair of medics activated an identical skill. Stabilize A glow of light surrounded both boys'' bodies. Their health stopped dropping for the entire duration the skill was being used. With the boys'' bodies no longer in danger, they pushed the carts out to transport them to get treatment. As they were leaving, robots were busily coming out to the stage in order to clean up the mess Robin and Sun made. Before long, the stage was looking as if nothing ever happened. ¡°Well then, lets move on to the next match shall we?¡± ¡­ Robin was sitting up in a room that was crowded with patients. Students lined up the wall up to the very end. The majority of them were glaring at Robin with stares that seemed to drilled into his soul. With his treatment over and done with, Robin was waiting for the doctor to do his final check up in order for him to leave. Unfortunately, with so many patients, Robin could only wait. ¡°Why are they all staring at me?¡± The question was directed at Raven and Sun, who were both sitting in a similar bed across from him. ¡°Aren''t most of these guys in here because of you and Diane?¡± Sun replied. ¡°There are over 50 people in here....¡± ¡°A lot of people from the preliminary round still aren''t finished with their treatment.¡± Raven explained. ¡°Because they need to give priority to participants in the future round, everyone else gets minimal treatment.¡± = I guess that explains why they all look like mummies. = In terms of hatred, Robin got more stares than other people. The reasoning was because Robin''s team left the most destruction in their wake. Sun''s nunchucks was a shotgun, Nora''s hammer was a grenade launcher, Velvet was a mage, and Robin, being Robin, used needles, bombs, grenades, flash bangs, or whatever he grabbed on the battlefield. If one were to look at it from another angle, Diane was actually merciful since her electricity would knock out her opponent instantly while others would have to burn in the flames for who knows how long. Robin didn''t pay them any attention after that though. They wouldn''t have any scars left after the treatment anyway, so he turned a blind eye to their actions. ¡°Speaking of which, is that why you''re still here?¡± ¡°Yes. Because your grenade exploded in my face, the fragments injured me. I protected my face with the thing, but as for the rest of myself..¡± ¡°Ah...looks like I caused you trouble. Sorry about that.¡± ¡°It''s whatever.¡± Sun stared at the two who were having a conversation that obviously ignored that he was here. ¡°Well, I don''t believe we''ve met. I''m Sun.¡± Raven casually looked at him in the corner of her eye and said nothing. If he was curious, he could look at her name with Identify. Seeing the difference in treatment, Sun was shocked silent for a few seconds. His eyes darted back and forth between Robin and Raven. ¡°...You actually claimed her to be your woman, yet you have another at your side....¡± ¡°¡°I''m /She''s not his/my woman.¡±¡± Sun rolled his eyes and his body as he sulked at the wall. ¡°No..it''s fine.. Not like polygamy is illegal anyway... I''m not judging.¡± ¡°You''re totally judging.¡± Robin retorted. ¡°No I''m not.¡± It was Robin''s turn to roll his eyes. With Raven remaining silent and Sun quietly murmuring to himself, Robin sank into his own world as well. He stared at the newest windows in front of him.
+68 Exp. Level up! Thanks to your exceptional control over your Aura, you''ve created a new skill, Aura Spear. Because of a great struggle over a similar goal, you''ve gained a new rival. Bonus from Rivals Forever is increased from +10% to +15%. Because you''ve constantly overcome situations where you should have lost by normal standards, your affinity with Chaos has increased.
Aura Spear
Your ability to manipulate Aura has allowed you to manifest it physically. You were only able to interact with other objects slightly until now. With your increased ability to manipulate Aura, your Aura is now capable of becoming a weapon. Cost depends on how much Aura is used. Cost: ---Aura
= That is some insane experience I gained here. Although, if I didn''t get that much for having my shoulder impaled, then I would be seriously angry. I also seem to have gotten a new skill too. Aura Spear, huh. I''ve tried making weapons with my limbs many times before. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I wonder why it decided to work now. Maybe I haven''t tried hard enough? Wouldn''t that mean I can technically make anything with Aura? That''s insane. I should try making wings. That attempt in the preliminary round was neither bad nor good.... Speaking of new skills... = Robin reread the first window. = The hell is Chaos? I''ve never been taught nor heard of anyone having ''affinities'' toward anything, never mind Chaos. Whatever that means. = Robin tried thinking of what it could possibly mean. With no knowledge about the subject, he could only experiment and gather the facts. The first obvious thing was to look at the conditions. Impossible battles? If one were to look at recent battles, Sun''s trump card was a skill that was meant to turn the tides at the last second. In the battle with Raven, Robin''s Aura was depleted so he should have been disqualified. Despite this, Robin still won in both cases. = There isn''t any similarities between the condition of either of the two fights other than me fighting in a perilous situation that threatened my life. Is the condition itself related to my life or is it strictly based on the difficulty?.. Hm.. I feel like that isn''t it.... Impossible battles.....Wait a second. What if the key word here is ¡°Impossible¡± not the ¡°battle¡± part.¡± Robin tossed the idea around in his head. Nobody disturbed him since the other two were doing their own thing anyway. The more he considered it, the more it seemed plausible, but how would he test it? = The only thing I can think of is Dust Creation! That totally defies common sense. I bet if I used that skill, I could trigger the conditions. If I don''t, it just means I''m wrong. = Robin did not expect much from the experiment. He was merely exploring due to his curiosity. He held his open palm in front of him and activated the skill. Dust Creation Robin channeled his Aura into his hand and closed his eyes. In his mind, he imagined a crystal the size of his thumb. As for the element of the crystal, Robin imagined a Red crystal that contained explosive fire that he was very familiar with embedding into his weapons. First, the image was a blob of mist. As the mist got more and more concentrated, the more defined the boundaries became. Finally, Robin''s hand closed to form a fist. In his hand, Robin could feel the smooth surface of the crystal he had imagined in his mind. Robin opened his eyes with nervous expectations. Confirming the existence of the Red crystal in his hand, Robin began to laugh excitedly. He had create something from nothing! His happiness was short lived as he realized he was no longer in the infirmary. What filled his vision was simply darkness. Up, down, left, or right. No matter where he looked, the void seemed never-ending. He suddenly felt hot air blowing on his face. Robin tilted his head up to find himself staring into a pair of glowing, red eyes. It was an existence too large to describe. With fur darker than even the void it existed in, the creature nodded it''s only free head as if judging Robin. Robin had not noticed it''s existence due to how its vast figure encompassed his vision. Had the three-headed beast not been sealed by the numerous pillars poking through its body, Robin felt he would already be dead. If he considered the situation logically, he would know he was safe, but Robin did not have such luxury. Dread filled his entire being as he began sweating profusely. Its appearance only provoked more fear inside of him. The three heads stared with red eyes that seemed to see into his soul, and then it smiled. It was just a smile, yet Robin felt it was something that was far more terrifying than anything else he had ever felt. ¡°Robin?¡± Robin blinked his eyes to find himself back inside the infirmary. Just as quickly he had found himself in that situation, he had returned. He darted his eyes back and forth. He was back in the same bed, surrounded by the same stares as if that had never happened. Upon examining himself, he noticed he was rapidly breathing in and out. ¡°I-I''m fine,¡± he assured Sun. ¡°Oh, don''t scare me like that man. I thought you were dying or something.¡± ¡°...¡± Robin look up to see Raven staring at him. To be more precise, she was eying his fist. Robin glanced down to find himself clenching a lump of Red Dust crystal. It was a success! Windows popped up in front of him.
Because you''ve done the impossible, your affinity with Chaos has increased. Conditions have been met. You have become a messenger of Chaos. Essence of Chaos acquired. Thanks to your class, your basic understanding is stronger than others. Essence column has been added to status plate.
Essence of Chaos
Inside you is the potential of Chaos. Just like Good and Evil, Peace and Order has a polar opposite. As you come to understand more about this profound concept, the greater the effects your Essence of Chaos will have. In the face of chaos, the natural order and rules have no meaning. When activated, your Aura will be converted into Essence of Chaos. Depending on your understanding, the effects can vary. You can transmit the Essence of Chaos to influence surroundings. Known effects: Creation
A warm sensation enveloped Robin''s entire body. It felt as if a foreign element was forcefully trying to enter him. Warm quickly turned into burning as Robin felt his insides try to reject it but failing to. ¡°Gah!¡± He bent forward in the bed, furiously panting. Sun stood up quickly in worry. He hurriedly asked what was wrong, but Robin was too blinded by pain to answer. All kinds of emotions began filling his mind. Feelings of jealousy, anger, lust, pride and envy circulated within his thoughts. His mind quickly drifted toward insanity. = What a worthless piece of scum. = = I''d fuck her. = = Kill! = = An animal! = = I''ll kill him! = = Beautiful! = It was as if Robin had acquired a sixth sense. It was totally different feeling from using Bloodlust. Robin originally thought Bloodlust was like a sixth sense, but the two were simply incomparable. His semblance was as if someone noticed a tiny detail by concentrating while this sense was like suddenly being able to hear after being deaf. The burning sensation stopped and so did the pain. With it, so did the insanity. Robin''s mind sobered up, the feeling of going insane had vanished. He realized these feelings actually did not belong to him, but to the people around him. He had become able to read the feelings of other people! The emotions he felt were not limited to negative thoughts. He could also feel positive ones, although there were few at the moment. = What is going on? = The sudden intake of so many emotions had left Robin confused and dazed. Although he had sobered up, Robin felt his thinking ability feeling sluggish as if it was overloaded with work. Enhance With Robin''s Aura now activated, his cognitive processing speed increased. The results were obvious as he felt the burden lift from his mind and began analyzing everything that had happened. = ...I created Dust for the first time, and then I got dragged into complete darkness. What was that thing? A.. Grimm? But it was so huge. Bigger than anything else I have ever seen! It was larger than an Armored Nevermore, and a normal human is only as tall as the beaks of those things!... Sigh, no point in contemplating about the things I cannot understand. Rather, the more urgent issue is my body. = Robin looked down and was astonished. His body was not covered in its usual silver glow, but was a light purple instead. Before, his body was already fully recovered by treatment of Heal among other things, so Robin could not distinguish if this purple Aura was responsible for healing his body. Why did such a thought pass through his mind? As of right now, Robin''s body was full of vigor. His senses sharper than ever before. = I had only enhanced myself slightly, yet I can already hear voices in a room down the corridor. Is this the work of Essence of Chaos? I don''t understand everything, but there is no doubt that it''s powerful. However... why does this feel so familiar? = Various emotions flowed through Robin as he became aware of an existence. An existence that contained a concentration of negative emotions so deep Robin felt he would drown in it. Sadness and pain so deep Robin could not explain yet at the same time was so familiar with. The carrier of these emotions was Raven. He stared upward into her eyes and she into his. His eyes had curiosity whike hers contained shock. The nature of each Essence was different, but its origin was the same. If Robin could feel the similarity between his Essence and Raven''s which he was the target of time and time again, it would be no surprise that Raven, who had been using this since she was young, would also. The moment Robin created the Dust crystal, Raven had felt something was wrong. Then, she felt his body filled with Essence, and subsequently, become a being similar to herself. Essence of Darkness With her usual red Aura converted into Essence, it turned into a dark black color. The two Essence flickered on the surface of their body, as if they were resonating off of one another. It wasn''t like anything either of them had ever seen before. Aura does not resonate with other people. They merely enclosed around the host. The two individuals were so confused and lost in their own thoughts they did not pay attention to Sun''s cries of worry at all. Then, the world froze. Domain of Time Essence of Time: Pause
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:66
Experience:23/660Semblance:Bloodlust (Evolved)
Essence:Chaos
Health:1545/1545
Aura:2160/2160
Strength:395Dexterity:410
Agility:295Endurance:300
Vitality:411
Inventory57/200
Mercenary
Your Aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+10 Active) Martial Arts Master, (+10 Active) Sword Mastery, (+14 Inactive) Dual Sword Mastery, (+16 Inactive) Axe Mastery, (+10) Sharpshooter, (+10) Knife Juggler, (+15% Exp) Rivals Forever, (+10% Active) Lone Wolf Current Skills: Identify, Enhance, Detect, Lockpick, Helmsplitter, Aura Sword, Defuse, Hack, Aura Limbs, Aura Shield, Disguise, Piercing Bullets, Dust Creation, Aura Spear, Essence of Chaos
Chapter 63: New Mission =============================== Chapter 63: New Mission =============================== Just a warning. Scene contains Attempted Rape. The change did not occur in an instant, but the speed was so fast it had felt like such. A chill ran over both Robin and Raven''s bodies. In response to the change, both of their Essence flared out instinctively to protect their respective bodies. Robin suddenly felt the Essence in his body increase.
Essence of Chaos detected! The natural order of the world has been disrupted, filling the area with Essence of Chaos.
= What?... = The emotions that Robin had felt in his surroundings vanished.... No... Rather than vanish, it would be more accurate to say they stagnated. They still existed, and Robin could feel that they did, but it was as if they were frozen in time. It was then Robin noticed. The unnatural silence. There was no hum of the air conditioning. The soft breathing of anything living had stopped. They all stood, laid, or bent in whatever positions they were in previously, completely still like statues. ¡°What the fuck is going on?!¡± Robin exclaimed. ¡°I-I have no idea.¡± Raven replied. ¡°This feeling is without a doubt Essence, but I''ve never felt this type nor something of this magnitude before! It feels.. different from the one I have.¡± She sucked in her breath. ¡°It''s so thick that the entire atmosphere is filled with it.¡± Questions filled Robin''s head. So much was happening all at once. = Essence? So like me and Raven? Who does this Essence belong to? No, the more important thing is, what''s happening right now? = He got out of bed and walked to a random student. No matter how he moved, the student didn''t seem to respond to him. ¡°Hey, you okay?¡± The student didn''t respond. It was as if they were encapsulated in ice, frozen in place, but..without the ice. The gears started to turn in Robin''s head. However, while he was contemplating, a warm sensation permeated throughout his body. Essence of Chaos has started to enter his body. Slowly, but surely, it started to influence his mind. = They''re all frozen? Frozen? Time? Raven''s hot. Why can we move but they can''t? What about my friends? Is everyone okay? I can skip hospital fees. Fucking Diane. Fuck. Blake''s hot. Raven''s hot. Fuck Raven. Fuck Blake. Fuck. Fuck! = What started out as serene, deep thoughts gradually became more unorganized and primal. The amount inside his body began increasing. As more was absorbed, the light, purple color that glowed off his body began turning into a darker shade. Robin''s mind wandered from concern to his surroundings to concern for his comrades. As the images of them went through his mind, so did their features. His thoughts naturally steered towards Blake''s attractive body which in turn went to Raven who had an even more attractive one. If the Essence was like a pool of water, then Robin was the drain. The more that entered his body, the more quickly Robin lost his sanity and became primitive. With a sudden jump, Robin lunged himself at Raven, his mind filled with simple thoughts full of lust and intent to rape her. Surprised by the assault, Raven was pushed against the ground with Robin on top of her. Robin tried to rip off Raven''s clothing, but she would never let him do such a thing. She stopped both of his hands with hers. Unfortunately, Robin then locked his lips with her own. Her eyes widened with shock. This motherfucker.... The vanishing of all the negative emotions around her had left her dazed. The thought of another being with Essence had occurred to her, but never had she imagined she would come in contact with two at the same time. Moreover, Robin had a sudden spike in negative emotions due to losing his sanity. The lack of emotions suddenly turned into a concentrated dose full of lust. This motherfucker had tried to assault her while she was worrying what powerful entity was causing this mess in the first place. Emotions full of rage boiled inside of her.
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Raven kneed his jewels without hesitation, causing him to squeal in pain, and then she followed the action with a headbutt to his face. With a single motion, she rolled the two of them over, effectively reversing who was on top. Essence of Darkness: Item Creation Two daggers formed from Black Dust appeared in her hands. She drove them into the palms of both of Robin''s hands. Robin''s thoughts were simplistic, the complete opposite of his normal demeanor, so he was only thinking about the enormous pain coming from his genitals. Thus, he didn''t react to the attack.
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¡°Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooww!!¡± he screeched. ¡°You biiiiiiiiitch!!¡± Raven started to stab vehemently at Robin. Robin responded by punching her with his bloody fists, hitting her with a headbutt, or even biting her with his teeth. Raven inflicted pain onto him, so he retaliated back while his mind filled up with rage. Their positions eventually changed from on the ground to standing up. The worst thing was that Robin wasn''t the only one losing his mind. Stab. Get Stabbed. Feel anger for the pain. Hate her for the pain. Negative emotions filled Robin, and Essence of Darkness subsequently was being formed and absorbed by Raven. Her mind was then affected, becoming more primitive and violent in the process, thus forming an infinite cycle. The only way for it to stop would be if Robin somehow restrained her. However, Robin had already.. lost consciousness so to speak. His logical and calculative mind was broken, leaving behind nothing more than a shell. Due to the influence of Essence on his mind, he became nothing more than a beast. Even his initial cursing had become nothing more than growls and howls of pain. With their minds crippled, there was only simple logic governing their actions. Their merely responded directly to outside stimulus. The surroundings were filled with only the sounds of their struggle until a breath of wind entered the room. Woosh As the gentle wind entered the room, the still papers that were on desks lifted slightly due to it interacting with one another, but they soon settled, demonstrating the delicate control of the user''s speed. His cane tapped softly against the floor as Professor Ozpin rested both of his hands on the handle. The two that were previously fighting stopped and observed the old man. The origin of the Essence of Time was definitely coming from him. If they were in their normal state of mind, they would definitely ask what was happening, but that wasn''t the case. Professor Ozpin looked at the two of them with a worried expression. ¡°Raven?...and the boy from yesterday....To think the two of you were the source of the Essence I had felt...¡± ¡°Grrr..¡± The two of them separated. Robin bended over the ground and got on all fours. Raven flipped in the air and perched herself on a cabinet as if she was a bird. Both individuals assessed the situation. Was this new individual a friend or foe? ¡°Do you not even recognize me anymore? It seems that without my knowledge, you had already approached the Awakened state. I had assumed this would happen eventually, but nevertheless, this comes as a surprise.¡± Raven silently looked at Professor Ozpin, not reacting at all to his words. It was as if the words didn''t register in her head. She tilted her head in confusion. Did she know this man? How come his voice sounded familiar? ¡°I see some remnant of your mind is still persisting.¡± She didn''t even notice him move. Professor Ozpin''s cane smacked the back of her head and knocked her unconscious. He returned to his original position so quickly Robin also didn''t even register he had attacked Raven. Professor Ozpin glanced at Robin with questioning eyes. When Professor Ozpin ran into Robin previously, Robin only struck him as a very intelligent and motivated individual. Who would have thought the young man in front of him was a holder of Essence? And more importantly, it wasn''t just any kind of Essence, but the Essence of Chaos. That was not a good sign. ¡°Who are you and how did you acquire this power?¡± ¡°Grrrrrr...¡± ¡°So it seems my words fall on deaf ears. Figures. I don''t know who you are or what your goal was, but you must have absorbed too much Essence that your body cannot handle. Your mental state must have already shattered into pieces. It is truly regrettable. I wanted to ask you some questions about your origins. Now, what should I do?¡± Ozpin pondered out loud. He spoke out to no one in particular. From what Ozpin could tell, Raven was also in the process of losing her mind. It was still possible to save her though. That was why he knocked her out so quickly. Robin on the other hand.. Bloodlust Robin finally noticed Raven was knocked out. Thinking that Professor Ozpin was the cause, he misinterpreted this as meaning that Ozpin held malice towards him. Robin growled menacingly at Professor Ozpin. ¡°No need to be so impulsive. This old man was simply pondering knocking you out. Although, at this point, I don''t believe there is a doubt about whether you can even understand me.¡± ¡°Roaaaar!¡± Robin jumped on instinct as well. It told him Ozpin meant him harm. Harm meant he was an enemy. Enemies must be eliminated. Essence of Chaos: Aura Limbs The Essence of Chaos affected his skills. Instead of two silver limbs growing, six purple limbs were now formed. Each one originated from a different point on his body. Essence of Chaos: Aura Spear The ends of the limbs transformed from hands into spears. It''s appearance looked more like tails than limbs. Each spear had enough destructive power to drill through thick metal plates as if they were butter. Professor Ozpin stood still as the spears approached from every direction. Although his mind was no longer present, Robin''s sense of battle was engrained into his body. The moment the spears got close, the air around Professor Ozpin shimmered as he moved. Each spear, which held the power to blow a hole up on a mountain, was destroyed instantly with each swing of the cane. Professor Ozpin accomplished this so quickly that his afterimage look as if he had not even moved from his spot. Robin couldn''t see it, even with enhanced vision. That was the kind of speed Ozpin had. He was in an entire different league. Robin jumped back since his initial attack failed. His instinct told him he should not get in range of the cane. If he did, it meant certain defeat. Essence Blast Robin opened his mouth. Essence of Chaos began gathering in front of it as he used a new skill that he never had before. The Essence became so concentrated that it became visible to the normal eye. ¡°Essence Blast!!!¡± Ozpin sighed in displeasure. He did not want to kill the boy unless absolutely necessary, yet if he pulled this move out in a medical room, there would be no doubt that there would be casualties. He could no longer do this the easy way. In fact, there was a huge mistake that Primitive Robin had made. Merely just backing off did not put him outside of Ozpin''s range of influence. Professor Ozpin slowly raised his cane into the air with one hand as one would with a sword. Aura Sword Powerful Emerald-colored Aura covered his cane in its entirety. No excess Aura leaked off the edges like other people''s blades. It did not glow so brightly that it was blinding, nor did it give off an impression of something abnormal. It was just a cane. A simple cane filled with Aura. Robin unleashed the condensed energy, causing a beam of purple light to fire towards Ozpin. The man shook his head in disappointment. If he went through with the strike, he was well aware of the injuries he would inflict onto Robin. However, Robin''s actions gave him no choice. Just when he was about to swing his cane... a message window popped up.
Stop, Oz.
Ozpin raised his eyebrows in shock. Of all the people who ever lived, there were only a select few who called him using that nickname and without any honorary title. However, the warning came too late, if he didn''t take any action now, Primitive Robin''s blast would kill everyone present. The cane was swung, and a collision of the two forces caused the building to shake. Boom!.... The cloud of rubble began to settle. Professor Ozpin stood there holding his cane with one hand in front of him. There was a slice mark on the ground in front of him. Also on the ground was a pool of blood and a severed limb. When Ozpin swung his cane, all the energy he gathered exploded outward and disperse the blast of energy Robin had fired. The result was that the building was ruined and Robin had one arm cut off from being so close to the collision, but the kids were safe. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± ========================================== Darkness. Complete and utter darkness. ¡°...Where am I?¡± Robin turned left and right in confusion. He was standing on nothing, surrounded by nothing. No answers came from his surroundings, so he began indulging in his thoughts. A calming sensation overcame him for some reason as he recollected what happened. When Primitive Robin took over, Robin acted without control, yet all of the events that occurred were definitely seen by ¡°Robin¡±. Thus, Robin remembered. From the moment he went insane, to the moment Professor Ozpin cut Robin down. Robin held his head with both hands. His mind, although calm, was thoroughly confused. = ..What have I done? I...I tried to rape her.. Why? What came over me? What the fuck is going on? = The seconds ticked by..or so Robin figured. There was no way to see the time since his watch didn''t work. He pondered and pondered, and two main questions persisted in his mind. No matter how one looked at it, this must have started because of Essence. Thus, the obvious question was ¡°What is Essence?¡±. The second question was an even more immediate question than the first. No matter how he tried, Robin could not recollect any memories past getting sliced by Ozpin. Moreover, he showed up in an empty dark void. A sense of fear crawled into the depths of his mind. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. = Could I... possibly be dead? = He immediately rejected the notion, not out of logic but out of fear. Could it really be over, just like that? Without warning? Without understanding why he died? But if he didn''t die, where was he? ¡°You are inside a space inside your mind created by the connection between our souls.¡± A voice resonated behind him. Robin turned around to find the source of the voice that called out to him just when he was beginning to feel despair about his situation. He was relieved to know he wasn''t dead, yet that only made him more skeptical about what that implied. Filled with such thoughts, he instinctively grabbed the air for the dagger that would come out of his Inventory, but no such tool came. Certain now that he could not use his tools, Robin silently looked and found a middle-aged woman wearing a purple dress. No, he couldn''t see her clearly. Her figure was faded and fuzzy as if he was looking at a low quality image. From what he could tell, her hair and iris color matched with her clothing, and her face had a cold expression. ¡°Excuse me?¡± Robin said confused. ¡°You are inside a space inside your mind created by the connection between our souls.¡± ¡°Yes, I heard you the first time.¡± ¡°You show signs of confusion.¡± ¡°Of course I am!!¡± Robin retorted. ¡°You seem agitated. Please calm down.¡± Robin laughed, his state of mind no longer tranquil. ¡°Calm down? 30 minutes ago, I was just another patient in a medical room. Then, I came face-to-face with one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen! But not even a minute passed that event before I suddenly became able to sense other people''s emotions?!¡± He didn''t notice, but the space began heating up around them the more angry he got. ¡°Never mind the migraine that came with that, but then time just FUCKING FROZE. Now, I have to deal with the fact that I just committed sexual assault on one of my friends while going insane, so I APOLIGIZE if I feel a little overwhelmed at the moment!!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Ha..ha..ha..¡± ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°Who are you? What did you mean by a connection between our souls? How and why is there such a connection? And why the hell am I suddenly thinking straight when moments ago I had lost my mind?¡± ¡°Concise and specific questions are signs of a stable mind that was preserved thanks to the actions I took in order to save you.¡± A vein popped on Robin''s forehead. ¡°My name is Cortana, and I am the reason you are here, Mr. Cunningham.¡± Goosebumps ran over Robin''s body. ¡°What. The. Fuck.¡± She ignored him and continued. ¡°The bond was formed when I dragged your soul into this world. I created this bond in order to monitor your progress and provide a certain level of protection in case you needed it. I withdrew your conscious into this state when your mind was being influenced by Essence of Chaos. Because your mind was preserved successfully, you can now think normally.¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a moment please.¡± Robin held up a hand as if to motion her to stop. ¡°You''re only making this more confusing.¡± ¡°That is because you asked specific questions. If you had let me tell you everything from the beginning, you would not be confused.¡± Robin grinded his teeth. The questions he asked were definitely specific, but it also couldn''t be help since any normal person would want the answers to such questions first. ¡°I am sensing irritation. Does my diction bother you?¡± = Fuck you. = Robin said in his mind, but he had the tact not to say it out loud. He needed information, and he didn''t want to offend the woman before getting it. ¡°Your profanity is unnecessary, but your sense of manners is appreciated even if it has ulterior motives.¡± Robin squinted his eyes and stared at her. ¡°..You can read my mind?¡± ¡°Our souls are connected.¡± ¡°Great. Fantastic,¡± Robin said sarcastically. He wanted to complain, but doing so would solve nothing. One thing he learned growing up was that usually it was better to take care of the immediate situation first, and leave complaints and opinions for later. ¡°I believe that was the correct decision.¡± Cortana said with a bland voice. ¡°Stop reading my thoughts. You''re going to drive me insane.¡± ¡°Well, technically-¡± ¡°Don''t psycho-analyze me.¡± he interrupted. ¡°...What do you know about Remnant so far?¡± Cortana asked, moving the conversation forward. ¡°Shouldn''t you know that best?¡± he retorted. The fuzzy outline of her face made a very obvious mocking smile. ¡°You asked for meaningful answers, yet you continue making irrelevant comments.¡± ¡°..It''s a world filled with danger and racism.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± she agreed and began to expand on it. ¡°Among all life that are born in this world, humans are the only race that Creatures of Grimm choose to attack. When they attack other animals, it is mainly for disputes over territory. What is more disturbing is the basis for their attacks on humans.¡± She paused, implying for Robin to answer. ¡°They are attracted to negative emotions.¡± Robin answered. ¡°Fear, jealousy, lust, hatred, and loneliness to name a few.¡± ¡°Correct. Even harboring ill intent is enough to attract Grimm. Thus, humans have adapted their cultures in order to minimize the magnitude of such emotions. For nomads, they promote calm and serious natures in their children. Early training from a young age is a must in order to culture a body capable of combating Grimm while at the same time preventing panic that would inevitably lead to villages being overrun by Grimm. For citizens within Kingdoms, the majority of citizens don''t hold a gun even once in their life. Thus, they went with the next best idea. They created Grimm dolls and told stories of heroes and villains rather than stories of Grimm. This ended up effectively downplaying the threat of Grimm, and subsequently, the risk of panic, while happiness within the Kingdom remains at an all time high. This is consistent with your experiences with fighters from inside Kingdoms thus far. The thoughts of training are far from being the priority of most teenagers or adults inside the Kingdoms, which explains why in, terms of experience, they are far beneath you.¡± ¡°I don''t understand.¡± ¡°Was there something I said that was unclear?¡± ¡°Hardly. It was very concise, and it made a lot of sense.¡± ¡°Your reasoning is contradicting. Please elaborate.¡± ¡°What I mean is what''s the point in saying this? Maybe if this was fifteen years ago, your explanation would make sense to me, but I''ve lived here for fifteen years now. I already know all this.¡± ¡°Then did you know that Grimm were originally human?¡± ¡°..What?¡± ¡°Or that you were not the only one to be pulled into the world of Remnant? No? Then I recommend you silence yourself and let me finish.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°It is common knowledge that the method to combat humans have developed is the usage of Aura and Dust. But what are they? Aura, as you know, is the manifestation of our soul. Dust, however, is the manifestation of Essence, and Essence is the manifestation of nature. There are many things you need to know about Essence, but I have neither the time nor patience to continue speaking with you about it. You will learn it from Ozpin anyway.¡± = Ozpin? What does he have to do with anything? = Robin did not say aloud his questions this time. Although Cortana would prefer he never even thought of them since she could still hear them, she left it alone since he did not speak this time. ¡°To put things simply, Creatures of Grimm are humans with corrupt souls that manifest physically using the Essence of Darkness. But the main reason I bring this up is because this has no longer been happening naturally.¡± Robin waited for her to continue. ¡°Someone has been forcefully corrupting the souls of humans and creating man-made Grimm. The scale of their operations is not small, and should they not be stopped, many more souls will be jeopardized.¡± ¡°So what, you want me to hunt them down and stop them?¡± ¡°Normally, I would either leave it to Ozpin, or I would do it myself. However, during my investigation, I came to realize that the leader of their organization is a Divine Essence wielder like myself.¡± ¡°A what?¡± ¡°Another term that Ozpin will teach you.¡± she said as if that explained everything Robin needed to know. ¡°Not long after I came to know of their involvement, I learned they were cultivating a disciple. This disciple was how they were able to keep an eye on their organization''s movements. They planned to use the results of their research to increase the power of their disciple before using their forces to take over the world.¡± Robin looked at her with skepticism. ¡°You don''t believe me?¡± ¡°Hardly. Can''t you read my mind?¡± ¡°My time runs short. I can not maintain this state for much longer. I read your mind earlier in order to process your memories. Please elaborate.¡± As if to prove the truth of her statements, her figure faded in and out of different levels of clarity like an image out of focus. ¡°You keep talking about criminals and war. We''re in a time of peace. The last news feed I read about conflict was about the White Fang attacking a shop that refused to serve faunus, and I should know. I planned the attack myself.¡± Cortana shook her head. ¡°What you understand about Remnant is only the information that exists on the surface. Your enemy is not only just some group of humans that hate the faunus.¡± ¡°So where do I fit in all this?¡± Robin inquired. ¡°Due to previously existing chains, nearly all Divine Essence wielders have been, to put it bluntly, sealed away except for some individuals including myself. The only way to combat them was to get disciples of my own. The best and quickest way to nurture a disciple to the same level of the enemy''s was to use an individual with an exceptional soul. Because as you know, the stronger the soul, the stronger the Aura. However, their disciple had progressed much too far already. Thus, I and two others reached out to gather souls from other worlds. If we could combine... together... possible... stronger than anything...¡± ¡°Are you ok?¡± Her speech got fuzzier, and at the same time, her figure faded in and out. ¡°Not much... left......I must rest...until next time.¡± ¡°Hey! You didn''t explain everything! I don''t understand anything yet!¡± ¡°I left... permanent message....altered your body....Find the others... Raven Branwen.....Forgive me.. I''m sorry...so sorry.¡± With the vanishing of Cortana''s figure, the world flashing in a blinding white light. Robin raised his hand to cover his eyes.... ============================= When the light dimmed down, Robin found himself faced with a cane centimeters away from poking his eye. = !! What the fuck! = ¡°...¡± Ozpin stared at the young man in front of him. After confirming something, he silently withdrew his cane. The first thing he said to him was.. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Robin checked myself physically and mentally. He was certainly mentally sane right now. The most puzzling thing was his body. His clothes were ripped to pieces. His pants existed only from the knee up on both legs, as if something cut off his legs, but he somehow regrew limbs. The same could be said about his shirt. = ¡­!! = Then he saw his surroundings. He was not in the medical room. Somehow, he had arrived at the stadium. The stage was a mess. Chunks of the earth were either missing or overturned. Many holes and slice marks were scattered in the area. Blood and severed limbs were as numerous as the number of holes, leaving Robin even more confused as to what occurred. ¡°Yes, I''m fine. What happened here?¡± ¡°Hm..You don''t remember?¡± Robin shook his head. ¡°You did this.¡± = ¡­.Huh? = His eyes scanned the damage once more. Robin couldn''t believe it. How did he do this without remembering it himself. Even when he lost his mind, he remembered Ozpin fighting him. ¡°Cortana took control of your body. Do you know who I''m talking about?¡± Ozpin inquired. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± = So, we weren''t just talking in my mind? She was manipulating my body this entire time? What else has she done to it? = = ¡­...........................................WHAT. THE. FUCK. =
-Robin S. Wolfheart-
Race:Faunus (Wolf)*
Class:Mercenary
Level:40
Experience:12/1060Semblance:Bloodlust (Evolved)
Essence:Chaos
Health:1795/1795
Aura:2355/2355
Strength:400Dexterity:450
Agility:305Endurance:350
Vitality:450
Inventory57/¡Þ
Cortana:Sleeping. Don''t bother me.
[+]Inbox:1
Mercenary
Your Aura has given insight to your true nature as a person. Thanks to your past experiences, you tend to doubt others and closely examine their purpose for getting close to you. Thanks to this, the only things you can trust is money and a few people whom you know very well. As a mercenary, you enjoy using all forms of weapons and can grasp how to use them very quickly and efficiently. This results in extra bonuses depending on the weapon. Furthermore, you are able to learn general skills of any kind. Current Bonuses: (+10 Active) Martial Arts Master, (+10 Active) Sword Mastery, (+14 Inactive) Dual Sword Mastery, (+16 Inactive) Axe Mastery, (+10) Sharpshooter, (+10) Knife Juggler, (+15% Exp) Rivals Forever, (+10% Active) Lone Wolf, (+10 Bonus Stats) Infinite Growth, (+10% Bonus Stats Inactive) Primitive State Current Skills: Identify, Enhance, Detect, Lockpick, Helmsplitter, Aura Sword, Defuse, Hack, Aura Limbs, Aura Shield, Disguise, Piercing Bullets, Dust Creation, Aura Spear, Essence of Chaos, Reset
Author''s Notes: It has been a long time. Here you go. If Cortana''s speech seems to be contradicting in terms of how she speaks, then I did it right.