[A/N:
So once again, I do apologize for taking so long on these next few chapters, but hopefully, you find it as worth it as I do.]
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Slowly awakening from my sleep, a gentle fragrance of vanilla deep in a forest began to waft to my nose. Lightly moving my head from left to right I couldn't help but smile at yesterday's events as the girls slept.
Instead of getting up like I normally would, I continue to lie there for a few moments and enjoy the happiness I feel. Though soon a rustling to my left signified that Trivia was beginning to wake up, to which I rolled over to be facing her.
"Good morning Trivia." Unlike the usual response of a smile, she nestled into my chest and gave a moan of affirmation, though she was still partially asleep as her eyes hadn't opened yet. 'This is new, but I can't say I don't enjoy it.' Gently wrapping my arm around her I pull her into a hug, before soon getting up and proceeding to my morning routine.
'I guess with us having explored everything the city has to show, we'll probably be leaving tomorrow. That being said, I think it's time I finish off my library escapades.' Having been here for about a week and a half, I found the time to go around and explore the layout of the property. There was the massive ballroom, a few more bedrooms, some empty rooms, and a laboratory that sadly had nothing in it.
And finally, my personal favorite, since the lab was empty, is the library. Though it didn't seem to have too much knowledge specified in any direction, there was some biology, world history, engineering, and more. Out of all the topics though, some of the most complete was Grimm 'Anatomy', Semblance 'Directory', and Combat.
The Grimm 'Anatomy' was the simplest of them, being a bestiary for all known types of Grimm and any variations they have had over the many years since they have been documented. Since we couldn't dissect Grimm it was mostly every detail about their surfaces, such as weak points, their capabilities, strong points, and their danger level.
The danger level was something that was a happy surprise because now I had a basis of Grimm to Huntsman strength. The level was designated with a point system, and from what I could tell it had a similar form to the Richter Scale that would have the points represent the number of average-strength Huntsmen it would normally take to defeat one.
The reason it's like the Richter Scale is because as the number rose, the difficulty would exponentially increase. Each level would take several times more than the previous ones, but thankfully the majority of the higher level Grimm seemed to be either from days past or far away from most of civilization. Though obviously if there were enough low-level Grimm, the difficulty level would be raised to similar levels.
The Semblance 'Directory' was just a thick-booked collection of recorded Semblances. They were categorized by type, elements, versatility, etc. It was pretty easy to find what you would be looking for, but because of the inherent uniqueness of Semblances, it wasn't every day you found two people with practically the same Semblance.
That being said, knowing the ins and outs of these similar Semblances can lead to an easier time fighting with or against those who have ones similar to those previously recorded.
An example could be Pyrrha's Polarity, which would allow her to control the poles/magnetism of metal around her. Without her or a wiki page in front of me, I wouldn't be able to recall specifics, but there have been recorded magnetism-related Semblances that could make it easier to understand the best way to work with or against her.
Finally, there was the section for books on Combat. These ranged from every melee weapon to every ranged weapon one could think of. It gave a general understanding and image of what said fighting style/weapon included, and it would go on to describe forms, moves, breathing, training, and workouts best suited for these weapons.
What I had not been expecting though was a small journal that was shoved behind the books of spear, sword, and scythe-wielding to fall onto the floor as I pulled them out to read them.
They had been the final books for me to read, since I mostly focused on the three sections that interested me since we arrived, so to find something shoved behind these orderly bookshelves intrigued me.
Grabbing it from the floor and bringing it with me to one of the reading chairs and table, once I put the others on the table I finally got a good look at the journal and noticed how plain it was. It was just a dim leather-bound journal with no title that seemed to be no thicker than a few dozen pages and was about half the size of a regular book.
As I opened it, the lightly oxidized pages gave me that familiar book smell that I found to be one of my top 10 smells of all time from both lives, and the first page had merely a single sentence.
~ A present for the last of us. ~
"Who would leave a present for someone here? From what I could gather only so many people can even access the inside of this building, so someone must've misplaced it, but what could this 'last of us' even mean?" Despite my confusion, I proceeded through the very short read, and I can safely say that this was the last thing I would've expected to find.
In the next few dozen pages, my attention wouldn't have moved from the pages even if a nuclear bomb were to have gone off. Portrayed in simple yet extremely detailed wording and diagrams was a short manual on what I can only describe as the very method my father hinted at when we were training all those years ago.
It made sense why it would be in the combat section now because it gave me everything someone would need to begin training once their aura is unlocked. To simplify it, there were two methods. The first method was arguably the simpler of the two because all one had to do was fight to the death.
At least, that's the simplified version; allegedly I would have to go through a very rough fight, getting injured and emptying all forms of energy in my body, and then forcing my body to continue fighting until death is basically in front of my face. This would cause a qualitative change in both my body and aura and is the more effective of the two.
The second method was pretty much a meditative one. The person would have to meditate, focus on their aura, and very slowly drain the aura out of their whole body. As in pushing it out in all directions evenly, and it had to be slow enough, otherwise, it would end up doing nothing and end up as a waste of time.
The only actual downside to it was that this method was much slower than the first, but it was so much safer that it evened out.
~ With this knowledge now in your hands, I wish you luck Braxely.
S.Q.C ~
'… what?' Before I could even begin to comprehend what I just read, Ivy came into the library, and upon seeing me smiled as she approached.
"Argento, the parents are calling for us." Doing my best to put the information I just learned to the side for a second, I make my way to the dining room, where I see everyone waiting for us. Seeing everyone sit at the table, Amelia stood up to address everyone in the room.
"Well now that we're all done here, I believe it's about time we head home. While some of us could stay here longer, our resident doctor can only take off so much time before she gets in trouble, so we'll be setting out early tomorrow morning. Does anyone have problems with this?" With the collective answer being no, our day of departure was now officially set, and we were once again free to do whatever to pass the time.
This however did not include me, because I couldn't escape my own brain even as I mindlessly 'read' the remainder of the books from the library. Because of the eidetic qualities of my brain, I only had to see the book pages to remember them, but it was something I avoided relying on after I was reborn and my memory seemed to selectively fail me.
'Speaking of reborn, how in the HELL did that name appear here, in a book I read, in a building that should be practically locked up from almost everyone? And if for some reason it really was for me, what am I the last of?' Though the likelihood of it being for me was practically impossible, in a world with a distant history of magic, dust, aura, and more, makes it have that chance, no matter how infinitesimally small it may be.
While I was lost in thought, across from me, now intently staring in my direction, were the two girls.
*Ding*
{So, do you know what's wrong with him this time?}
"No clue, I think he's been like that since I brought him to the dining room hours ago."
{Do you think we should try to help him?}
"Help him?" As Ivy looked between me, the book I was 'reading', and Trivia, she gave a confused scrunch of her nose. "How would we even help him if we don't know what's wrong? And that's if there IS something wrong, you know how he gets like this even over non-problems."
With Trivia donning a similar contemplative look as Ivy, an idea soon popped into their heads, and with the slightest tinge of a blush, they looked at each other, knowing the other had the same idea, and decided to act upon it.
The library reading area consisted of a few couches at tables, some with coffee tables, and all were located relatively close to a fireplace. The spot I found to be to my preference had been a couch near the window, letting in a large amount of natural light, and I sat on the middle of the three cushions.
Amid my overactive thoughts, while I was still loosely holding the book in my cross-legged lap, I felt the couch move on either side of me, and immediately after arms became intertwined with mine.
Snapping out of it, I finally noticed that the girls had come into the library, and on top of that were now sitting on either side of me while they lightly hugged my arms.
"Well to what do I owe this happy surprise?"
*Ding*
{You looked troubled about something, and we thought this would at least ease whatever has you worried.}
"Did it work?" At Ivy's question I smiled, because every time I think I can hide my inner thoughts from others they seem to see right through me.
"Of course, it worked." Gently pulling my arms from their grasp, I set the book on the coffee table while their faces turned from confused to slightly red again as I leaned back to where I was and wrapped my arms around them, pulling them into a group cuddle. "I would question my sanity should your presence ever not make me happy."
For the next while, if one were to look in the library, they would be overwhelmed with the amount of warm pink that was floating around.
'You know what? It doesn't matter. Whatever is to come, it can try, but as long as I can make those I love strong enough to defend themselves then it will have to try its damn hardest!'
- - - - -
Now standing in front of the estate's gate were all of us, excluding the guards who were busy getting the transportation settled and packed, and as the gates closed Maxwell put his hand on the center of the gate, making them shine gold as an invisible bubble of the same golden hue encased the property.
Making our way down the city to the prepared vehicles, I got my final view of the beautiful sight of all these cherry blossom trees in full bloom in the rising sunlight. With the lack of people this early, it was far more peaceful than every other day we have been here, and I knew that I would have to come back one day.
I'm normally not an optimist, but I can't see anything splitting the three of us up, so it might make for a good romantic trip with just the girls.
Now that we were finally back in the trucks, it came down to a simple waiting game to get back home. Though it would make me kinda sad for them to have to go home, it's good to have some measure of space between partners in a budding relationship, especially one at younger ages.
That being said, for the next few days we spent most of it playing board games, talking about random things, and overall having a good time. Or at least, we would've, if not for the second day in.
At about noon the trucks suddenly stopped, and without any other words, my parents told us to stay put and jumped out of the car. Looking out the window, we saw that we had been flanked by Grimm, not quite by strategy but just by chance.
On one side was a group of less-than-single star Grimm, which was the slightly bigger one being faced by Cromwell and his guards, and on the other was a group of almost all single star Grimm being faced by just my parents, and though it was a smaller group it was the more dangerous one of the two.
While the guards were having some trouble fighting off their group of Grimm, one could see that with ease and grace both of my parents danced through their group. My father interchangeably wielding his katana in either both of his hands or one of them would easily kill most in one cut.
At the same time, he would sometimes grab their white bone-like covering and manhandle them, using them as shields, weapons, or maneuvering objects.
My mother on the other hand was choosing speed over power, running between groups and swinging both her blades faster than the normal human could track with their eyes. When enough would surround her she would throw her blade into the nearest Grimm and loop numerous throwing knives into her hands, and proceed to spin and nail every target around her perfectly, making all that were hit drop dead.
After this, she would jerk her arms in several directions, and all of her knives would fly back to her for her to use again or to put back on her waistband.
Their group didn't last nearly as long as the guards' group, which they went over and assisted after they were finished. During this whole encounter, I got a base understanding of their capabilities, now knowing how Grimms were classified and got my first real look at the Grimm, and they were much closer to nightmare fuel than the animations would have you believe.
The black liquid that makes up their bodies looked like the coagulated form of the souls of the damned, their noises would give chills that sunk straight through bone, and looking them in the eyes felt like I was looking at a physical form of death.
After that encounter, the frequency seemed to increase, until the fourth day when we were attacked at night while camping. It wasn't a very large group, but I could quite easily tell how much the constant attacks were getting to the girls.
Hell, they were starting to get to me, even though I know that this wasn't even a fraction of the power of Salem's forces.
*Ding*
{I know that your parents will continue protecting us, but the number of attacks we're running into is starting to scare me. We didn't even have a single one on the trip there, so why are we running into so many now?}
Though Ivy was staying silent, I could tell from her light nodding that she too felt the same way, and rightfully so. I don't have too much knowledge on Grimm, but for them to be this constant in attacks on such a major road means that something must've happened, and close too. But as worried as I also was, I thought it only right to do my best to cheer them up.
"Don't worry you two, it may not be normal, but we'll get home safe, I know it." Thanks to the guard duty and off time between attacks so far my parents seemed to be doing well, but if the attacks continued to grow in frequency then soon enough they would be fighting almost non-stop.
I have immense faith in their abilities by now, cemented by the fights they've won up to now, but no one can go on forever. To now lighten up all three of our moods, I decided to slide my hands into theirs, pulling them a little closer in the process.
We were about a day or so out from Vale, so there was only a little longer to hold out for. Though this trip back was taking a toll on us, it would make being home that much better, so for now I would look forward to that and -
"MAX!" Suddenly yelling my father's name, Amelia slid from her seat and forcefully pulled the three of us into her arms.
"I know!" Maxwell did the same with the adults on the opposite side, and at the same time, both of my parents sprouted a beautiful, transparent golden bubble around those in their arms. My mind couldn't even register what had just happened before the next series of events that would turn my life upside down occurred, and it all started with a -
*BOOM*