After what felt like years of waiting, it was finally time for my "master" to take his test with the rest of the students. As such, we were all on the cliff side outside of Beacon listening to Ozpin talk about the trial. Well, the students all were, I was just staring at Ozpin. Well, more like "looking" at his soul.
'He is rather old. I can't tell if he's as old as I am though. Close maybe? He's at least 100,000 years old. I remember Ozma and Salem ruled over the humans when they popped back up. But I can't remember the exact time frame for it all.'
Ozpin took a quick break to drink from his legendary cup, and tried to sneak yet another peek at me.
'It's clear he didn't buy Jake's story about me being his summon. Well, I AM his summon, technically, but not because of his semblance.'
I was broken out of my thoughts when they started to launch the kids into the forest to start the trial and Ruby yelled in glee and fun.
Ruby: "WHEEEE!!"
Jaune: "No, really. What is the landinNNNNGGG EEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
Jake: "Saber, I want you to catch me before I crash okay? Saber. Saber? SABER?! SAAABBBBBEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!??????????"
As Jake was sent flying off into the distance with the other students, I was still just staring at Ozpin.
Ozpin: "You… uhh. You going to do as he commanded?"
Turning my head to look at the still screaming Jake flailing in the air like the pathetic mongrel he is, I could only mentally sigh.
Artoria: "Tch."
Bending my legs lightly, I jumped off the ground cracking the cliff side as I launched myself after my pathetic "master."
Coming up to the STILL screaming pile of disappointment, I grab him like the sack of potatoes he is and tossed him over my right shoulder. As we continued to fall down to the forest, I heard Ruby yell "Birdie no!" followed by several gunshots from a few people.
'I always thought it was clever how they used the force of their weapons to slow their descent.'
Not bothering to pay anymore attention to everyone falling, I crashed down onto the forest floor, creating a small crater. I then dropped the shivering child inelegantly onto the ground.
Jake: "Oof! That was horrible! They made it look like they had so much fun in the show! But that shit is terrifying in real life. Ozpin is fucking insane to just launch us like that!"
Jake then got up from the ground and started to dust himself off while talking to me.
Jake: "You could have been more gentle with me you know."
When I didn't answer him he looked up, only to find me just silently staring at him.
Jake: "I don't know why I keep forgetting who I am dealing with… whatever. Come, let's go."
I started to follow him as we started making our way north, towards the goal of this little trial. As we were walking, I kept searching the souls around myself. None of them were particularly strong in the grand scheme of things, but a few were of note. When I first saw Ruby, I was surprised by how strong her soul was. It felt on par with Glynda's soul.
'Honestly, the entire main cast has strong souls. While a lot of the "extras" had average souls. Still though, to be that age and have a soul as strong as Superman? Damn impressive honestly. Or, could simply be because of Aura.'
I was broken out of my musings by several growls around us.
Jake: "Ah, looks like the puppers have come out to play. Alrighty, Saber. Do your thing."
Rolling my eyes, I just walked up to the closest Grimm creature. A beowolf I think it was called. What was really interesting to me though, was it not reacting to me in the slightest. Even when I poke it on its Grimm mask it just looked around in confusion.
(Source: https://rwby.fandom.com/wiki/Beowolf)
Jake: "Huh, neat. They can't see you. How does that even work?"
Ignoring him, I did my final test and directed some killing intent towards the Grimm. This did catch its attention, as it turned to look directly at my position and quickly pounced at me. I simply, and rather lazily, backhanded its head clean off its body. I then made quick work of the rest of the Grimm that had us surrounded.
After the last of the Grimm was fading away into black particles, I turned to look at Jake and spoke with as much annoyance as I could.
Artoria: "I was summoned for such weak foes? Are you so weak that this needs me to raise my hand?"
He smiled wryly at me and said, "Look, they'll get stronger. And we are not as powerful as you, Saber. We're only human after all, yeah?"
Shrugging his shoulders he then started to make his way north again.
Jake: "I am surprised I have not run into anyone yet."
As we continued making our way to the ruins with the "relics," I noticed one of the stronger souls had started to hover around us. Turning my head to look towards the soul, all I saw as a bird atop of a tree.
'Ahh. That must be Raven Branwen.'
Raven kept watching for a while before she flew off somewhere else. Probably to watch Yang, her daughter, some more.
'Never really understood how her and Qrow could turn into birds… was that ever explained?'
While I was thinking about the feathery siblings, we broke out of the forest and into the clearing that led to the temple ruins.
Jake: "How did I not run into anyone yet? Jeeze."
Just then there was a loud yell as a girl was singing "I'm the queen of the castle!" while playing with a Rook chess piece.
Jake: "Ah, just in time I guess. Let's go join them, Saber."
As we were walking up to the group, Yang spoke up as she saw us.
Yang: "Oh! You ARE real! Cool armour girl!"
Blake: "What do you mean real?"
Yang: "I mean, look at her. She's see through. I thought I was hallucinating when I saw her at the launch pads, he he."
Blake: "I guess that is fair."
(Source: Both are from the https://rwby.fandom.com website.)
Before anyone could say anything else, Ruby then joined us as a loud monstrous roar came from the forest. We all turned to see Pyrrha burst into the clearing, being chased by a Deathstalker Grimm. A giant scorpion basically.
(Source the same as the last two pictures. Ignore the useless Jaune hanging from the Deathstalker tail~.)
Blake: "Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?"
Jake: "Don't worry everyone. I got this. Or, rather, the spirit my Semblance summoned will. Saber, kill that Grimm."
Releasing an annoyed huff, I appeared above the Grimm instantly and axekicked its head. A loud explosion sounded out from the force of my kick as half of the Grimm vapourized instantly from my attack while the kinetic force of the kick blew apart the earth around it.
Blake: "Did she just teleport?"
Yang: "Forget that, did you see the power behind that kick?! How awesome was that?!"
Everyone was interrupted by a scream coming from above us. We all looked up to see Weiss Schnee screaming as she hung on for dear life to the talon of a rather large Nevermore.
(Source: Same as before~.)
Jake: "That one as well, Saber."
With an exasperated sigh I bent down and then jump, cracking the ground heavily again, my way up to the Grimm and Weiss. Arriving in no time, I simply backhand this one as well, obliterating most of its upper body with my "attack."
As we started to fall back down to the ground, Weiss coughed to get my attention.
Weiss: "Hello. Um, nice to meet you. However, if I could impress upon you to save me if you are able too, I would be eternally grateful."
Looking at her, I sigh. I move over to her, and hold her in the princess style.
Weiss: "Thank you very much, Miss."
Shaking my head at her, she wrapped her arms around my neck and prepared for the impact. Much to her, and everyone's, surprise when we hit the ground there was no large impact or crater.
'Honestly, I didn't want to deal with her bitching about how hard the landing would have been. More so when a little splash of magic could prevent me from hearing her complain.'
As I let her down, she nodded to me as she thanked me. Jake however, just had to speak up.
Jake: "What the hell, Saber. I knew you could have made the landing smooth."
Yang: "THAT WAS AWESOME!"
Thankfully for me, Yang's outburst pulled everyone's attention from Jake as she rushed up to me.
Yang: "That was so awesome! How did you do that?! You were like ZOOM, BOOM! Do you normally fight with no weapons like me?!"
Blake: "Yang, let the poor woman go. We got our piece, let's go finish this test."
Yang: "Ah, right. Get your piece, Ruby! I'll meet you back up at the meeting point."
Ruby: "Ah! Okay!"
She then poofed into quite a few red rose petals before cheering.
Ruby: "Woohoo! Last one, and it's a horsei!"
Jake: "Wait what? What do you mean the last one?"
We all turned to look at Ruby, and all the pedestals. The empty pedestals.
Jake: "Oh, what the hell is this? Does this mean I failed?"
Yang: "Cheer up dude! You killed some powerful Grimm. That has to count for something! Well, I mean, she did. You did jack squat. But you know what I mean!"
As the group started to make their way back, Jake was just grumbling and generally bitching about the situation.
~A while later, back up at the Beacon Cliff~
As we all arrived, Ozpin waved at us with a smile on his face and a cup in his hand.
Ozpin: "Welcome back everyone."
Jake wasted no time in speaking up though.
Jake: "Headmaster Ozpin! There were not enough chess pieces for everyone. I was unable to get one because of that!"
Ozpin: "Really? Oh my, how strange! Maybe I am getting forgetful as I am getting older. Well, how about this? Since you completed the trial with everyone here, I'll just add you to one of those teams?"
Jake smiled and nodded his head.
Jake: "Yea, sure. That works for me!"
'This smells like a play by Ozpin. I bet he was counting on this kind of scenario to happen, so he could control who Jake was teamed up with. Why, though? He should more than likely be able to watch Jake, or more precisely me, regardless of which team he ended up on…'
Ozpin: "Wonderful! I'll have you join Ruby's team, since you are already familiar with her more or less. Now then, congratulations for passing students! Let us return to the Academy and get the show on the road!"
Students: "Yeah! WOO!"
~Beacon Academy dorms at night after the rewards~
As all the kids were getting their area's set up on the frankly rather old and piss poor looking beds, I just watched from the side of the door.
'Co-ed bedrooms are still a little wild to me, but a different world with crazy mankiller monsters would shift how society works in a lot of ways.'
Looking around at most of the main cast from the internet show, I couldn't help but notice and then sneer at the slowly forming lewd look on the plankton's face. He had finished setting up his corner of the room rather fast, and was now just watching the girls like a damn creep.
'Truly, nothing but hormonal garbage. If he does anything like that to me, I am going to rip his d-'
My thought was interrupted by Yang walking up to me and addressing me with excitement in her voice.
Yang: "I still really love your armour! Let me introduce myself properly. I am Yang. Nice to meet you! What's your name?"
As Jake was about to open his mouth, I instead answered her myself.
Artoria: "My name is Artoria."
Jake: "What the hell, Saber?! Isn't it bad for people to know your true name?!"
I merely scoffed at him and said, "There is no Holy Grail War going on, 'master.' I sense no mana signatures of other servants or masters. I can't even sense the Grail itself. Hiding my name has no meaning here."
Ruby: "Mana? Grail?"
Jake: "Don't worry about it Ruby…"
Weiss: "By mana, do you mean Magic?"
Blake: "Magic is real?"
Artoria: "Of course magic is real."
Weiss: "I don't believe that. Anything magical is clearly just an unknown Semblance."
Artoria: "Then it is a good thing magic does not need nor care if you believe in it in order to work."
I then decided to leave and started to sink into my shadow slowly. The girls all gasped at the action, with Blake muttering how cool that was.
Jake: "Whoa, hey! Saber, where are you going?"
Slowing down my descent even further I look at him and said, "That headmaster of this school, he interests me. His soul is old, but he is so incredibly weak. I want to know why."
Jake: "Oh, uhh. Okay, um. Yea, sure. Just be careful of what you say about me."
Without saying anything else, I quickly disappeared. Following my senses to the strongest soul in the school, I appeared in a shadow near the wall in Ozpin's office.
(Source: https://rwby.fandom.com/wiki/Ozpin%27s_Office)
He was currently seated behind his desk taking a sip from his coffee cup while he and Glynda were listening to Qrow talk about something. Deciding that I didn't feel like wasting time and spying on them, I started to rise out of the shadow.
To all of their credit, they reacted to my presence almost instantly and turned towards me. As I finished leaving the shadows and stepped into the room proper, Ozpin spoke up.
Ozpin: "Ah, Saber. Welcome."
Artoria: "Artoria."
Ozpin: "I am sorry?"
Artoria: "My name. It is Artoria. Using my class has no meaning right now."
Ozpin: "Class?"
Artoria: "Ask my summoner. I have no desire to explain."
Qrow: "I understand what you two were talking about now. Ozpin, I have to agree with Glynda on this one. She is causing all of my instincts to go off, in a bad way."
Ozpin: "Nonsense, we have nothing to fear from Artoria. Uhh. Right, Artoria."
I answered him while I looked around his rather empty room.
Artoria: "Unless my summoner commands me to attack you, or you attack him or myself. I have no reason to wantonly slaughter such weak humans. Or extremely disappointing ones, in your case."
I looked directly at Ozpin when I had said the last bit of my sentence.
Ozpin: "Oh? And, why am I such a disappointment in your eyes."
Artoria: "Your soul is old. Maybe even as old as me? But you are so unbelievably weak, it nearly disgusts me."
Everyone's eyes widen at that, as the gleam in Ozpin's eyes sharpens as he leans in and rests his chin on his hands.
Ozpin: "You can see my soul? And, how old are you exactly, and how old do you think I am?"
I tilt my head a little as I answer, "Yes, I can. As for my age it is rude to ask a woman, but I will humour you so I can get some answers myself. I am over three and a half million years old. As for you? I want to say a hundred thousand years at the very least."
Qrow: "Damn, you are ancient!"
Glynda smacked him on his arm for that outburst, while he scowled at her.
Ozpin: "Well, you are quite a bit older than I am. I am around 150,000 years old. Give or take a few thousand years. Don't keep a very accurate count, you see."
Artoria: "And yet you seem to be hardly any stronger than the other humans in this room. How disappointing."
Ozpin: "You see, there is a reason for that. I-"
But he was interrupted by a portal opening behind me and a woman with a Grimm mask attacked me.
'I was wondering when the little birdie would make her move.'
(Source: The wiki~.)
I didn't even make a motion to defend myself as Raven's sword went for my neck. Much to everyone's great surprise, when the blade met my neck the expected outcome didn't happen. In fact, nothing did. As her blade hit my skin, it just stopped and released a soft ting sound.
Raven: "Wha?"
I then vanished from in front of Raven, and appeared behind her. I gripped her by the back of the neck tightly and raised her off the floor. She gasped in shock and tried to pull at my hand with one hand while trying to stab me with her sword in the other.
Artoria: "At least you have a warrior's mind even in this situation. Still trying to attack instead of whimpering like a babe in her mothers grip. I recognise your wonderfully grey soul from the forest earlier today. Give me a reason why you attacked, and I might very well spare your life if I can understand it."
Qrow: "Raven!"
He then brought out his scythe from Tearwyn knows where, and was about to charge me when Glynda put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
Ignoring the little outburst, I loosened my grip a bit to let Raven talk.
Raven: "You are… a monster. You feel… just like her! NO! WORSE! I… won't… let you be… near my... Daughter!"
Artoria: "Her? Her who?"
Sadly, Raven went back to struggling against my grip.
'Damn it. I was so close to "learning" about Salem. Well whatever. I'll find a world map soon to see where this "Dragon shaped" land mass is. Most people believe that is where Salem is.'
Artoria: "So you attacked out of a desire to protect your kin. I can respect that."
I then tossed her towards Qrow rather suddenly.
Qrow: "Whoa!"
He dropped his scythe as he caught his sister. While she was coughing and Qrow was making sure there would be no lasting damage, Ozpin spoke up.
Ozpin: "Sorry about that, Artoria."
Artoria: "I can not beget a mothers wrath at a perceived threat to her offspring. But, who was she comparing me to?"
Ozpin seemed hesitant, as he tossed a glance at Glynda.
Ozpin: "No offence meant, Artoria. But I do not think I trust you enough yet for that information."
I nodded my head at that and said, "That is fair. I will just ask my summoner then, it matters little to me where I get the information."
Everyone's head snapped to me at that remark.
Ozpin: "What do you mean, you'll ask your summoner?"
Artoria: "Just that. He seems to have some advanced knowledge about this world. I am sure he will know who the little bird was talking about."
Glynda: "And for what reason do you think that child will know what you seek?"
Artoria: "He has already displayed he has knowledge about events yet to happen. He sought out that child, Ruby, so he could get into Beacon early like her. He specifically ordered me not to kill all the attackers because he didn't want to give up the advantage his knowledge had so early."
Qrow: "Why are you telling us this? Didn't your summoner, as you call him, tell you to not spill the beans or something?"
Artoria: "His exact order was, "Be careful what you say about me." So I am. I am being careful to get every detail right, and proper, as ordered."
Qrow: "Oh."
That's all he managed to say, as he was a bit dumbfounded with my response. With this, they should understand more about the "relationship" between my summoner and myself. And how I view it.
With a sigh, Ozpin just shook his head at the whole situation.
Ozpin: "I will of course be looking into that. But still, you'll have to forgive me if I don't take your word for it and still not tell you."
I shrug my shoulders and say, "Like I have stated. I care not where the information comes from."
Coughing some more, Raven finally got herself under control and pushed herself out of her brother's arms to stand up. She glared at me with obvious hostility.
Raven: "What are you even, creature. Why did my weapon do nothing to your neck?"
I turn my head to face her and calmly ask, "And why should I answer your query little bird. What do you offer for such information?"
Raven: "Tch."
She just huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she continued to glare at me.
I just gave her a shit eating smirk and said, "Not used to not getting your way, little birdie? Not used to being unable to do anything about it either, I bet."
I swear I was able to see the "angry tick mark" from anime appear on her forehead as her glare intensified.
Artoria: "Humans are always so fun to torment and mess around with. Even in another world, you are all the same."
Glynda: "Another world?"
Looking at her I say, "Yet another item to add to the list to ask my summoner about it seems."
Noticing a world map on one of the walls, I walked up to it and examined it.
Artoria: "Another world, indeed."
I turn around and start to sink in my shadow as I address them one last time.
Artoria: "I do hope we continue to meet in a peaceful manner like this. It would be a shame if you did something stupid to earn the ire of my summoner."
Ignoring the shouts and questions quickly directed at me, I fully enter the shadows.
'That little useless warning should slow Ozpin down a bit from questioning my "master" and give me time to check out Salem. I really want to see how the Black Pools of Grimm react to my Black Water.'
Stepping out of the shadows in the forest where they took their little test, I jumped up into the sky and headed north west. Crushing the meagre speed of sound, it took me no time at all to pass the ocean and arrive at land once again.
I continued onward, further inland. As I was passing over the land, it was quite noticeable to see just how the very earth itself started to darken. And soon enough, I started to see black tar like spots appear dotted over the landscape sparsely.
I kept going for a while before I found a pool big enough to catch my attention. Coming to a stop in the air, I then let gravity take hold as I fell down and landed with a soft thud near the liquid.
As I was leisurely walking up to the pool, a Beowolf was forming in it and started to crawl out of it. After it finished crawling out of the pool, it shook off the remainder of the black liquid and then ran off in a random direction.
'Huh. I felt some kind of mana surge when that was created. So, these work off magic then? Well, not overly surprised I guess. They were created by a god after all.'
Walking up to the bank, I lowered myself and reached to touch the Black Tar. But much to my surprise, the liquid lurched away from me to avoid my touch.
???: "Now that is an interesting reaction to an equally interesting creature. What are you, and what are you doing in my lands?"
Standing up, I turned around to see who was talking to me. And as I expected, it was the big bad herself: Salem.
(Source: Notice a pattern yet?)
Artoria: "It is common courtesy to introduce yourself first, or have you lost your manners when you were blackened?"
She peered at me for a moment, before she gave an ever so slight nod.
Salem: "You may call me Salem. Now, I asked you a question."
[author] And the two finally meet~! Well, it happened quite fast, but you get what I mean hehe. By the way, I tried something new with posting a lot of the pictures of the people, instead of just leaving it up to the readers knowledge of the source. Is it distracting, or does it help with the story~? Anyway, hope you enjoyed the rather long chapter, and I'll see you in the next one~![/author]