I felt Rumble's presence spread across the battleground. He didn't appear before me this time as an invisible spirit when he wasn't fully manifested into the world, instead, he stayed as a presence in the back of my mind. I knew he was there and as long as I stayed close enough to the ground I can use his influence over the earth as I saw fit, so I wasn't too distress over not seeing his invisible (to others) form this time. This is not an efficient use of his powers, he himself has far better control and doesn't waste energy when I give him command of my Aura (plus he could act on his own), but it allowed me to basically become an Earthbender and use the battlefield as I saw fit.
As I made sure my partner was ready, I pulled out a sizable earth Dust crystal of my own, hoping to use it to explain my sudden control over the ground. I just wish that explaining that would be as easy as explaining to Neo how I managed to recharge her Aura like I just did.
Iraklis grinned to himself and charged us, swinging his weapon in a wide arc. Neo and I dodged in opposite directions, watching our opponent's club smash into the spears of earth he created. The rocky pillars crumbled immediately into several smaller pieces and Iraklis swung his club like a bat and smacked one in my direction and another in Neo's.
I leaned to the side and let the rock fly passed my chest, making sure to constantly fire my cane back in his direction. Iraklis twirled his weapon around and deflected the Dust round barrage as they neared him, at this point in time I've focused too much on my opponent and lost track of Neo and I couldn't help but wonder where she was. I didn't have enough time to wonder too much as Iraklis swung his club in an upwards arc, making sure to dig a groove into the ground, in my direction. A stone boulder erupted from the ground in front of the Huntsman and I had to make a hasty dodge, it was larger than I anticipated it to be and I needed to use Rumble's powers to shift it a little as it drew nearer.
When I finished my over the shoulder dodge I used some of my own command over the earth, with a dramatic swing of my arm that held the earth Dust, I used Rumble to make a large stone pillar shoot from the dirt in front of me. Iraklis jumped over the pillar and began running down its length, intent on smashing my face in.
"For such a large beast of a man, he sure is agile," I couldn't help but think to myself.
Iraklis jumped into the air when he was halfway down the pillar and swung his weapon down, I used Power Jump to get back just in time to see a large crater forming under his heavy blow. My opponent stood back up without a care in the world, his weapon transforming into a long barrel with a large two-handed grip. A reloading mechanism of some sort on the side of the weapon spun briefly before he pointed the overcompensating mech shift weapon at me. I felt very nervous staring down the barrel of that thing.
[Your Sense Danger skill has gained a level!]
"Don't level up at weird times!" I angrily thought to myself. I had a small window of action here, my cane's handle shot from the main body of my weapon and the hook snagged on the edge of a broken window. Just as I was dragging myself to safety, Iraklis fired the cannon.
I blinked and heard the shattering of glass, as well as the exploding boom of the cannon and I, felt a massive pressure shoot past my head. As my cane was yanking me back to the ground I saw Neo under the barrel of the cannon with her leg straight up. She managed to kick the thing just in the nick of time, keeping me from having my head blown from my shoulders by the shell of that thing. Or, if I was touched by the gods, knocked out.
When I reach the ground once again I unsnagged the hook and kicked off the side of the building and sent another Far Strike in Iraklis's direction. In addition, I used Rumble to make another pillar of rock slam into the back of his head. As he was busy fending off Neo's furious assault he didn't seem to expect that and stumbled forward, barely managing to bring his cannon back down and guard against my Far Strike and Neo's blade. He growled in irritation and swung his cannon in front of him, Neo bent backward out of the way giving him a solid kick to the abdomen for his troubles.
Didn't do a whole lot of damage to his Aura, and didn't even make him budge, but any bit counts. However, what we need to beat this guy is a single large attack.
Iraklis sent a kick of his own at Neo, his cannon turning back into the club he used for most of the battle so far. She ducked under it and continued to weave around the rush of fists and feet our opponent sent her way, Iraklis had a pretty decent grasp of close-quarters combat beyond his weapon. After doing next to nothing during his rush assault, Iraklis roared in anger and raised his club up long enough to bring it back down to the earth.
A crash followed and a very large amount of the ground around Iraklis fissured and cracked before exploding upward in a shower of rock shards and debris. I swore to myself as I was pelted by rocks and carried upwards from the blast, I watched the houses and stores around us cave in from their foundations being ruined beyond simple repair. On the bright side his club didn't have that brown glow anymore, so he had to have used up all his Dust in that one strike.
I twirled myself into a graceful landing next to one of the fallen houses. The sound of shattering glass next to me told me that Neo had appeared too. With a glance I could see that she didn't come out of that blast completely unscathed, her clothes looked ruffled and she had dirt and dust smeared around her body. Her Aura took a hit as well, she was back down to two-thirds while Iraklis didn't look the worse for wear.
"He looks angry," I said. Neo nodded but she didn't look too worried.
I wasn't worried either, but I also didn't want to spend the rest of the day fighting this guy. Sure, I could make us wear him down through nothing but time and effort and plenty of cheesy skill use, but I didn't want to spend too much time fighting a powerful foe like this as it is.
I thought back to an earlier part of our brief fight where I threw a Burn Dust crystal into his face and shot it. That attack did a lot of damage to both me and him for such a small piece of the action, it was responsible for most of the damage to his Aura so far. My cane's shots, Neo's hits, and my Far Strikes did a number on him too, but all combined together barely made up half the damage.
So, blowing up Dust in his face is the way to go.
"Neo," I started. She looked up at me briefly before turning back to keep an eye on the huntsman stretching his body in the large crater he was standing in. "I have an idea, but I need you to keep him distracted. When I shout your name you need to get the hell out of there."
She nodded, still staring down at our opponent.
"Good, now go kick his ass," I smacked her back and recharged her Aura once more. She shivered a little but composed herself, sprinting down to Iraklis and beginning her attack. I didn't stay in one spot, instead, I used my Chameleon spell and snuck around the side of the battle, keeping a close eye on the fight going on nearby.
I needed to stay out of sight and out of mind from Iraklis for this to work. While he was big and muscular, he did not seem like a fool and if he caught on he would ditch this area and our fight would be that much more prolonged.
As Neo slammed her foot into the side of his face I brought my inventory up and pulled out a Lightning Dust crystal. I carefully slipped it into one of the many cracks and splinters formed from Iraklis's little temper tantrum. When it looked like he was about to get the upper hand over Neo I used my control over Rumble's abilities to make some rock clamp down over his feet and cause him to stumble. Neo swiftly recovered herself and went right back on the attack.
I repeated the hiding of Dust crystals all across the battlefield, filling in other places with powdered Dust. I somehow managed to keep myself hidden and out of the fight the entire time, my only interference was giving a small helping hand with Ruble's powers every now and then when Neo was having a hard time, just long enough to riddle this place like a minefield. I came out of Chameleon a good distance away from the crater's edge, pointing my cane at the nearest Dust crystal.
"Neo!" I shouted, urgent. She didn't hesitate to tense up and shatter into a thousand pieces. I took that as my cue to fire my cane, the bright, exploding round rocketing out of its barrel. Iraklis had enough time to look my way and widened his eyes when he saw where my weapon's round was aiming for. Iraklis slammed his club into the ground to shield his body from one side and used his arms to cover his head, his body began shimmering with Aura.
When the glowing round hit the ground the entire village and everyone in it had to have felt the blast. I was knocked off my footing from the force and bounced down the street a good two dozen feet. I heard the shattering of glass and Neo came slamming back down next to me looking battered and a little singed, despite her high agility she took a beating from her very personal fight with Iraklis and it showed when I saw that her Aura was getting dangerously low and her health points were even being affected. I wasn't as quick as I would've liked.
[Dust Mastery has risen by 10 levels!]
"That better of finished him," I thought to myself. "That took a good chunk off my Dust supplies."
Neo and I picked ourselves up from the ground and stared at the results of my idea. The houses that had caved in were little more than charred pieces of debris and firewood and the more mundane dust was still settling down from the initial blast. I wasn't able to actually see through its haze, although…
I grimaced to myself when I saw a shape being formed in front of our eyes.
"You have got to be kidding me…" I muttered in disbelief. Neo eyed me, confused, and I just pointed down at the, now significantly wider, crater. She turned to where my finger was pointing and her eyes widened in surprise. Iraklis was still standing.
He was beat up, he was bleeding from a gash on his head, his clothes were a burnt mess, and his club had a large dent on it… but he was alive and his health and Aura were down to small chunks. Iraklis gasped in pain and stumbled forward, catching himself on his club before he could fall. He looked up at us in fury, but he didn't charge us in rage. Instead, he kept himself at a cold burn.
"Forcing me to use my semblance for something like this… you crazy bastards win this round. I can tell the town has already fallen by now so there is no point dying here uselessly. Let the Grimm take you and all you hold dear for all I care," he grunted out as he picked his club out of the ground. Iraklis leaped out of the crater on the edge opposite of us.
"If I survive this, I will not forget it. I have your faces," those were his final words to us. With what he wanted to say out of the way he turned and ran, heading for the nearest edge of the town's wall. I didn't bother chasing him, according to my ability we already won.
You have won a boss battle by forcing your opponent to flee!
You have gained 200,000EXP!
You have gained 50,000Lien!
By fighting this boss with an ally you have gained 1,500 reputation with Neopolitan!
[You have gained two levels!]
[Iraklis is now your enemy!]
[You and Neopolitan are now friends!]
I smiled at that last message and as I closed them a new one took their place.
Quest completed!
You have finished the minor quest "Banditry"!
Rewards:
Full acceptance into the Branwen Tribe!
10,000 EXP
3,000Lien
[You are now friends with the Branwen Tribe!]
[Quest Updated]
One scoop, or two?
What's a master criminal without his true partner in crime? Going lone wolf will only take you so far in this industry. But, unfortunately, you have no idea where this prospective partner of yours is. For now, you will just have to wait for Junior to come up with something.
It seems Junior has pulled through for you and presented you with the location of this partner you so desperately want. It's too bad she's stuck with a bunch of brutish bandits, isn't it?
Quest Progression:
-Commission Junior for his services in finding information. [X]
-Wait until Junior contacts you about the information he found. [X]
-Go to Junior's club at the time he tells you to. [X]
-Find your way to the last known location of the bandits. [X]
-Complete sidequest "Banditry". [X]
-Bring Neo to your side and escape the Branwen Tribe.
Rewards: 100,000 Lien, 1,000,000 EXP, new title "Partners in Crime", a new follower, storyline progression.
Failure: Death.
I sat down on the ground, mentally exhausted and just thinking about just how different huntsmen bosses and Grimm bosses were like. Neo followed my lead and practically fell down next to me with a huff, a quick glance above her gave me a bit of a start. She gained a level and was sitting at level eighty-seven. I looked up at the sky, the day probably hasn't even reached noon and it already feels like an entire day has gone by. I pulled out a bottle of water and drunk from it greedily before passing it over to Neo who finished it off. I started laughing, that made Neo look at me like I was a weirdo but it seemed like it was infectious enough and she began quietly laughing alongside me.
I heard people running in our direction, from the harsh way they were speaking I figured they had to be our mutual bandit friends. I really didn't feel like talking right now, but I guess that I didn't have much of a choice. In the distance, I swore I heard the howling and snarling of the creatures of Grimm. God, I need a cigar…
We weren't spared the task of helping the rest of the attack group move most of the loot before the Grimm set in. Which I thought was bull because we ended up fighting the real huntsman threat that this town had, I would have preferred to be on sentry duty and keep a watch out for the Grimm. Neo didn't look pleased with the prospect of manual labor after a rigorous fight either and in this instance probably would have welcomed guard duty. So, we both scowled and bonded some more over our mutual dislike of the task.
Other than some Lien and a good restock of my Dust I didn't find anything useful from the raid.
After the whole thing was officially over and all of the loot was nice and organized Raven welcomed me into the tribe and we partied that night over the successful raid and a new member joining the family. I still stayed close by to Neo, I wasn't much for mingling with a bunch of drunken men and she seemed to welcome my company. Oddly, she never questioned how I managed to restore her Aura like I did during our battle, and so I never said anything. You know the old saying about gift horses.
A month went by after that attack on the village and I settled into a routine. I woke up early and had breakfast with Neo, chatting with her about anything. She didn't respond verbally, but she seemed to enjoy it all the same. After breakfast, I would join Neo in whatever duty she had, almost always guard duty at the front gate, after lunch, I'd wander out into the desert to train and try and create new skills in a rocky area that looked like an arena. When my training time was over I'd come back and rejoin Neo for her evening guarding and then eat dinner together.
It was a wonderful system in my opinion and I didn't even have to lie about where I was going, I just had to say that I was training in a quiet place away from everybody. As I was one of the stronger people in the tribe most just shrugged and accepted it. Even though it was the complete truth, I don't think everyone bought it at face value. More than once I'd catch Vernal eyeing me as I wandered out into the desert, Raven spent most of her time in her tent.
My training was met with mixed results the entirety of the month I've spent here. I had to put Summon Elemental on hold until I left Raven's tribe, I wasn't too displeased about that since it was level ninety already, but I didn't need her snooping around too much. I didn't have a lot to practice with right now so I mainly focused on two skills Aura finally reached level sixty and I boosted Physical Endurance up to level fifty-three, I had a massive fifty-four percent decrease to physical damage thanks to that. Stat wise I managed three vitality points and five strength, it was getting much harder to increase dexterity the workout way.
As a negative to my training, I was not able to create a skill similar to a mage's Blink skill right now, or any sort of variant. I think it's because I had no frame of reference to go on when it comes to teleporting. With Chameleon I had a vague understanding of blending into the background behind me using colors, using my Aura to constantly shift the colors on my body in order to blend in like the animal itself. Granted, to my knowledge, it was supposed to be much more than that, but I had some understanding of what went down. Even the Kamehameha wave was something I understood how its basics worked now that I know how to manipulate my Aura, I just didn't have the power necessary to use it.
I needed some way to create a decent combat movement skill. Flash-Step, Shadow-Step, something. At this point I was contemplating on looking for a dungeon to crawl, defeating a boss might give me a skill book or something. I didn't have an Abyss to buy magical things from so I need to do everything the hard way.
Even as my training came to a bit of a hitch, I made significant progress with my friendship with Neo during my month here. She's comfortable with my presence and seems to genuinely enjoy my companionship, I've even come to like being around her beyond the whole fan thing. I now know that her favorite color isn't white, pink, or brown, but it's actually green. She does enjoy ice cream a lot, her favorite does correspond to her name, she doesn't have any siblings, and she wants to experience the world more than just from what she can get from the tribe.
That last one she hesitated to tell me. Almost like she expected me to say that her place was here.
It was nighttime in the camp and Neo and I were relaxing against one of the camp's walls away from all of the other rowdy bandits. Secretly, I reached into my inventory and pulled out an ice cream filled cup while Neo was looking elsewhere and handed it over to her. At the rate she was demanding ice cream of me, I might just run out. Her eyes brightened and she attacked the treat with all the gusto I'd expect from a child around her size. At this point in our time spent together, she doesn't even blink an eye at me pulling things out at random times.
I laughed in amusement as I started on my own cup of rocky road and she smacked my arm.
I stared off and looked around the camp, contemplating how to ask the question I've been meaning to ask. I should probably just ask it directly. I'm not used to beating around the bush and, to be honest, Neo really isn't the type to do it either. In the time I've spent here so far I've found that she's pretty open about what she wants, what she likes, and what she doesn't like.
Sucking it up I asked, "Neo, why do the others… not like you?"
I felt her tense up next to me.
I scratched my cheek and continued, "I mean, I don't get it. You don't seem like a bad person to me, occupation notwithstanding. I just don't understand."
I looked over at my friend, she was staring at the cup of ice cream she held in her hands, thinking. After a solid minute of contemplation while watching her ice cream slowly melt she looked up at me and motioned for something to write with. I obliged and pulled out a notepad and pen I kept around just for something similar to this. I watched as she took the pad and pen from my hand and scribbled some words on the first page.
She brought the pad up to my eyes after she was done.
It's a long story. You might not want to be my friend if you know.
I shrugged, "I've got nothing but time and I doubt I'd ever not want to be your friend, Neo. Want to start with your life story?"
Neo seemed to hesitate and bit her lip but nodded in agreement. She flipped to a new page and began writing…
I guess that telling you what started it all might give you some context...
Raven wasn't always the leader of our tribe, when she was younger we were called the Essen Tribe. In the past, she and her brother were the strongest of us and were the ones chosen to go to a huntsmen academy to learn how to fight more effectively. The tribe always had trouble against huntsmen, the leader at the time, my father, knew that if we didn't get stronger faster, we were going to die a slow and painful death. So he held a tournament for the younger generation at the time, I was too young to participate but I do have very fuzzy memories of Raven and Qrow Branwen dominating their opposition. It was almost no contest to them.
When they were off to the academy they didn't immediately come back when they finished. It made things uneasy within the tribe. After a year and a half, Raven finally came back to the tribe, Qrow didn't come with her. She explained that Qrow abandoned us and didn't want to be a part of the family, most of the tribe at the time thought that was why she was gone for so long. Personally, I think there was something else.
Raven didn't take the role of leader right away, she stayed as a subordinate to my father for roughly two years. Soon enough she felt like the tribe wasn't going anywhere under my father's guidance, she made a big spectacle of it in the middle of camp and directly challenged my father for leadership over the tribe. He had to accept the challenge or look weak in front of the tribe and lose his position anyway.
Clearly, she won the dual. Handily. My father didn't stand any chance against her, not when she was trained at Beacon itself. When I saw my father falling to the floor dead… I charged Raven myself in grief and anger. It was a foolish decision, what could I have done?
Raven humiliated me in front of the entire tribe, she beat me to within an inch of my life and kicked me down into the ground next to my father's body while proclaiming that the tribe was reborn into something new and needed a new name. All without ever drawing her sword or sparing me more than a glance. That was the day I lost my father, my pride, and my voice.
I don't know what happened, I'm no medical doctor, but the closest to one we have said the pain of loss and humiliation was what might have caused me to lose my voice. At the time I wasn't bothered by it, I just let things pass by while I retreated into myself in grief and anger. Years later when I tried to speak again I got nothing but gasps and wheezes, this time my voice was gone from lack of use. I can say very short words now after so long of practice, but it's painful.
Over time my rage and anger at Raven continued to grow but I knew I couldn't take it out on the object of my rage. She would just kill me as I am and that isn't what I want. I kept my anger in check by training or by exploring new places as we traveled across Remnant. I've never visited any of the major cities of the world but I hoped that I would get the chance someday.
What caused my situation as you know it now happened during a small raid not too long ago, a few months before you came here, but it wasn't what we were raiding that made it happen. Attacking a small farming community doesn't carry all that much risk.
Over the years I had built up a reputation among my fellow tribesmen, everyone except Raven and Vernal feared me. But one of the men I was leading in the attack either didn't seem to know about it, didn't believe a small girl like me could do anything, or just didn't care. He was a new recruit, barely sixteen and full of hot air.
I was having a bad day, I'll spare you the specifics and just say that most of it came from a comment I heard Raven say offhandedly, so I was in a foul mood during the attack and was looking for a way to blow off steam. The new recruit noticed my foul mood over the course of the mission and decided to rile me up with comments about my height, my petite frame, or my inability to speak while we were in the middle of the attack. The others with him tried to get him to stop, but he ignored their warnings.
At that point my blood was heated from fighting some of the farmers who tried to fight back against us and my still ever constant reminder of what Raven said that brought back up years of hatred still kept locked inside me, I lashed out at him in anger. He wasn't very experienced in fighting and only recently had his Aura unlocked, he couldn't bring it up for long against me and my blade ended up carving through his chest and heart after a hard swing.
The other men backed away from me in fear and ran off to go tell Raven what had happened.
I didn't run off because I was still in shock at what happened, I broke one of the tribes most important rules.
"Don't betray your family."
And what's more of a betrayal than killing one of your own? And… what does it mean when you enjoyed killing someone? I had killed people before, but for some reason, it was the act of killing that annoying boy that made me realize my true feelings about it.
I let whoever came by to bring me to Raven take me without any resistance and they brought me in front of the woman herself. There was a long debate over what to do with me but the short version is that Raven didn't want to waste fighting talent like me. I wasn't allowed out of the camp unless we were going for a larger attack or if one of our smaller raids needed a helping hand because they had come into trouble from something stronger than them, but that was very rare. I was regulated to guarding the front door of the camp most of the time, Raven was careful about what battles she had us fight.
I don't think having someone strong guarding the gate was the only reason she had me do it, I think she knew that I enjoyed seeing new sights and wanted to constantly punish me by showing me that I'll never get the freedom to see them under my own power. Only when she wanted me to, when she allowed it. To be honest… I don't think that I have a place here anymore.
I set the pad back down as I finished reading what Neo wrote for me, the camp had quieted down after a while and most of the others were asleep or dozing off. I contemplated over what I just read, Neo has had a hard time. Working under the woman who killed her father and beat and humiliated her to the point she lost her ability to speak. She had to keep her emotions bottled up so she didn't do anything rash…
I felt Neo's eyes bore into me and I finally spoke up, "I think… that you have your reasons to hate Raven. Good ones too. You had to bottle up your hate and only express yourself in a couple of ways for a good chunk of your life. I can see how all your pent-up anger over the years came to its tipping point when one idiot stirring up the pot made those hidden feelings show themselves."
I smiled down at Neo, "But this doesn't change anything, I don't blame you for what happened and I won't judge you negatively for who you are." I paused and rubbed my chin, "Actually, I think this just makes me want to be your friend even more! So how about it? Still friends?"
I stuck a hand out and stared down at the girl with a big grin on my face.
[You have gained 1,500 reputation with Neopolitan!]
I felt arms wrapping themselves around my waist, I jolted back a bit in surprise but gradually returned the sudden hug. We stayed like this for… I wasn't sure. But I was not about to end it until Neo felt better. Neo tightened her grip on me and I just patted her back, our ice cream cups long forgotten.
(A/N) Hope you enjoyed the chapter. And remember, this story arc only seems long because I only update once a month.
Name: Roman Torchwick
Age: 25
Class: The Gamer
Level: 48 (Next Level: 21,580/116,600)
Title: Kingpin
Bounty: 38,000 Lien
HP: 3,156
HP Regen: 63.12/min
MP: 5,933 [3,828 + 191.4(5%) + 1,914(50%)]
MP Regen: 623/min [296.65(base 5%) + 296.65(100%) + (29.67(10%)]
STR: 65.8 [Base 47 + 14.1(30%) + 4.7(10%)]
VIT: 75.6 [Base 54 + 16.2(30%) + 5.4(10%)]
DEX: 164 [Base 80 + 12(15%) + 24(30%) + 8(10%) + 40(50%)]
INT: 142.8 [Base 102 + 30.6(30%) + 10.2(10%)]
WIS: 56 [Base 40 + 12(30%) + 4(10%)]
LUK: 43
Elemental Affinity: Earth (10), Wind (10), Fire (10), Ice (10), Lightning (10)
Attribute Points: 60
Lien: 2,492,620
Status Effects: Inactive Aura(Toggled Off)