[||||=LEVEL 26= ||||]
I immediately activated my eyes. My purity affinity shot up in intensity. It wasn't my prime since the eyes were a modifier and not the base but Gem certainly benefited from the five hundred sixty thousand purity affinity I had. Her strength grew immensely. Her status designated her as a colossal elemental.
I released her and a huge huntress wielding a spear and a bow slung across her back formed in front of me. "Hello again master." Gem spoke in a lilting, elegant sort of voice. I was surprised that she could speak but Icmant interrupted first.
"̤̺͕̱̦̪͔̯̃̊̔͑͟͠Si͇̇̆̄͑̏̏͗̈́̌́ͅl͔̳͍̅̎̂͐̃͋͝ve̒̓̕͝ṛ̮̹̱̺̣͕̬̅̊̔͐̆͝ͅ ȩ̛̻͔̤̮̱̭̯̻̦͆͂̇̒̚y̴̧̬͓̗̝̭̝̯̱̎̋̓́̇͌̌̓̎e̺̜͉̮̹͈̐̅̀̄̅͒͑s̵̤̳̘̥̹̻͔̠̣̾̒̅͗͋͊͡͞!̡̧͔̹̟͖̹̦̝̪́̽̾̇͗̈́ N̷̜̲̹̦͎̗͂̈́͒̉̓̈̕͡ỏ͓͎̪͓̬̘̀̊͝͞.̸̛͖̬̝̩͖̲̻̗̉̋̄̽.̧̛̩͔͇͙̑̈̆̂̓͆͊̓̉.̛̇ P̀̎̆r̠̪̣̦̝̊͌̓̀̅ȩ̸̫̞͖͉̙̩̝̝͙̿̌͒̐̃̃̐̉̚cṵ̜͈̻̲̯̑̓͊̎̃́͘͢͝r̜̖̖͖̤̜̖̲̿̐͋̾͑͂̉̕ś͓͈̭̙̭̆̃́̈́̄̓̇̇͞o̜̪̳̟̺̟͓͈̟̐̓̌̈͐̌ͅŗ̯̫͚͆̒̎̅̊͟ ş̢͈̖͎̟͗́͊̿͆̂͠͠ỉ̯͎̯̯̫̘̖͕͈͋̈́̔͗͊̈́̃ḻ̫̱̞͖̹̥̘̥͉̓̐̃̽͋͘̚v̸͇͓̤̍̇̈̉̎͊͢͡ͅé̗̤͕̘͍͛̇͊͂͋́͘͟͝͡ṛ̸̢̛̼̼̳͔̦͉͙͛́̌̄̅̋͘͠ e̶͇̬̺̝̳̯͎̲̬̽̾̓͑͑̉͐͛͒̚͢y̶̡̳͚͙̜̼͐͒̇̎̈̇́̏͠e̙̙̟̞̋̽̽́̒̀͟s̠͉̞̠͚̉͋̂̽̇̌͡!̛̳͖͉̭̫̋̀̀̆͗̿̓́ T̢̮̹̖̹̹͇̐̔͗͐͗̔̇́̆̈́ṟ̨̨͓͓͕̙̩̩́̍̾̔̄͌̆̍̊̚͢ủ̶̬̲̳̙͓̣̑̆̉͒̋l̸̛̟̹̪͍͍̉̿̓̂͆̈̐ẏ̴̛̖̘̭̹̠̓̇͐̈́̅ I̵̧̧͔̤͎̙̣͊̌̈́͌͡͞ͅ h̴̺̳̠͙͙͉̍̽̽̆͢͢͠͡ͅa̷̧̤̘͈͉͓̥̺͂̆̍̿̂͊͗v̨̛̝̦̩͉̝̏̑̓͋͛͜ȩ̵̜̤͍̮̫̏͒͊̓͑̇͋̄́̄ f̶̢̻͚̣̗̜̭̥͈̭̋̑̍̒̂͋̓̂͞o̸̡͍̱̪͕̗̅̉̅̑̔̇̌͘͟u̴̺͉̥̺̞͚̮͕͂̏̄̉̋͋͘̕͜ņ̸̨̮̬̬̹͉̀̈̌̓̕͠ͅd̶͖̝̟̦͍͔͊̐͗̆͠ ȧ̧̡̢̛̠͈̯̳̰͓͊̑̑̂͠ w͔̘̪̼̆̃̐̆͋̓̌́͋͢o̶͎̘̳̯͓̣͊̀̊́͂͑͗̓̉̕͟r̘̹̥̻̣̣̋̄͊͋̎̓̄͢t̞̥͈̼̙͉͈̥̺͒͂̑̅̋̃̑̄̚͜͞h̨̢̛̥̤̣̻̼̗̦̘̿̿̅̔͒͝y̧͖͙̹͓͌̌̓̋̓͛͐͝ o̴̘͇̪̝̟̥͋̎̈̉̃̑̚͟͝p̯̯̥̮̋͆̇̋̽̕͟͢p̨̤͎͕͍̩̂́͆̈́̇̎̍͡͝o͉͓͇̯̠̍̀̑̽̃̾̍̃ͅn̤̙͔͓͎̬͛̃̊̏̒̓̉ȩ̵̨̭̱̱̳̒͋̌̓͂͆͘͘̚n̠͉̻͓̥̏̒͗̉͠t̟͓̙͔̲̅̃̈́̆̌̒͊͡!̵̛̜̦͙̱͖́̾̄͘͞ Ỵ̵̛͔̼̥̬͔͇̲̓̽͋́̔̀̉̚͞ȩ̸̹̞͇̯͔͍͖̦̝̽̇͑̔̑̎̊͡t̡͙͚̗͂̓͌̈́͊͜ y̴̢͓̘̻̞͚̞̾̔͋̓̇̒̆̄̚͢͠ő̖̟̰̣͍̣͐͐̓͊̋̅͠u̢̲̥̟̹̥̹͈͗̑̒̇͆͛͐͑̕͢ a̸̧̦̫̬̘̭̣̖̝͇̽̽̐̓̄́ŗ̪̘̲͍̞͔̏͆̏͋̒͋͐͘ẹ̴̡̟̜͇͇̳̤̎̾́̊̒ͅ b̨̖̞͍̗͖̖͖̀̌̏̐̊͢͡ú̱̰̩̦̱̤̩͂̒̌͒̆̕̕͞͞t̢̰̤̫͓̤͙͚͎̔̐͋̾̚͜ a̤̮̘̱̣͓͊̇͗̊̏͠ ẁ̸̛̪͚͔̼͖̙̈́̒̾͛͆h̵̢̛͎̮̮̻̱͕̳̗͛͋̊̕e̶̛̱̦̲͍͍̩̾͑͊͘͘͝l̢̢̛̠̙̬̻͓̺͈͌̊̎̈́͋̅͞͠ͅp!̷̡̣̺͖̥͛̈́̉͐̔̚͞! Ņ͇͓͍͙̊͒͊͐̑͘͢ò͖͔͎͓̜͓̫̝̘̙͆̿̄͞͞w̸͖̲͔̠̺͕̎̎͛̈͐͑͞ f̩͎̩̮̻̯͑̆̈́̒̂͢͢͞i͎͙͚͙̟̒̀̈͛͂̆͘͜ḡ̰̹̒͌̀̌h̛͗̑̓̈́̕̚t̵̢̗͓̖̹̉̍̓̽͢͞!̋͊̊͋̇͂̕!̧͕͉̺̝͖͕̃͊̓͗̌̀̐͂͢!̡͓̰͉̯̋̇͋̌͑̆͝͝"̳̰̭̘͍̞͆͋͐̀̈́̂͌́́͡
It was a little hard to decipher what he said but the roar that followed was certainly challenging. I formed a bolt of projected purity mana. It shined like a miniature star. I threw it at high speed and Icmant formed a shield of his black ice.
"̶̧̛̺̩͇̺͔̘̉̀̎̂͂̚͢͜͠͠͞Y̷͕͖̺̜̼̗̼̻̎̒̌͆͂͊͟͡ͅE̼̟̰͇̭̔͌̅͋̈͒̉S̰͍̹͙͔̰̅̊́̑̊̓̐̀͜͡S̸̼̣̥̙̟͚̠͋͌͊̉̍̍͋͆̆͗ͅS̴̨͚͇͉͍͈̝̲̊̿̍̅̓͛͛͜͡S̻̺̳͖̲̣̻͊̑̈̈̌͜!̵̠̺̺̼̫̯̗͛̊́̄̔̊̉͡!̸̛̬̤̹̜̼̭͚͇̾͋̀̌̐̅̚͟͢!̨̥̲̪̳̫̤̎̌̿̂͟͡ͅ F̤͚̜̹̦̱̜͕͚̉̿̀̏͋̃͗͟Į̤̞̠̬̟̘̭̳̏̾̌͐̾ͅG̷̛͎͙̙͖̣͕̺̭͓͊̄̍̆̌̀͘H̛͍̘̱̗̬̣̯̱̀͆̓͌͐̿̓͘Ţ̷̖̤͓̩̠̟̐̆͆̀̂̎̑̕ͅ M̷̧̠̲͓̮͔̘̍̐͆̐̊͢E̷̻̲̟̝̺̋̆͛́͗͆̒!͖͓͇̺͑̉͑̇͑̆̿͜͜!̤̟̗̞̌̾̀̉̓̂͛̂̕͜!̡̼͓̝͖͓̳̌͒̀̐͗̚͢͝!̧͚̠̝̳̟̔̉̇͊̓͐͋̄͠͝
I released my aura and mana freely from the net system. Like a whirlwind of light my pure aura beamed out from me. Even with my muted affinity for air it impressed onto my purity mana, being my prime affinity. I couldn't use it on it's own but I felt faintly that I could form my purity affinity to act like it. I did so and swept my hand. A hurricane-like gust of wind swept through the clearing that glowed faintly with purity. It ran into Icmant and his skin steamed as he roared.
I continued lobbing purity constructs and Icmant roared as he charged at me, blocking where he could with his icy shield. The shield hissed and melted where it was hit by my purity mana but it regenerated with Icmant's mana.
I jumped upwards when Icmant came close and readied the all too familiar beam attack I used with ice and heat. I shot a beam of purity but Icmant raised his shield and blocked it with a laugh. He jumped and came rocketing to me. I changed to air with a purity affinity and blew away. I'm glad that still works. I can express my wind affinity a bit though it was at maybe half it's real strength. That was still stronger than what I had before. My dodge didn't deter Icmant though. In fact it made him more eager to fight. He shot off a pillar of ice at me again with a roar.
We played this game of cat and mouse with me striking back at him and him pursuing me. Eventually, though, Icmant grew tired of it. I had landed plenty of hits on him and brought him down roughly forty thousand HP but still he seemed fine.
He threw out his hand and a massive amount of black snow flooded over the whole forest of ice, which was tens of miles wide. I had to fly into the air again as I watched the snow flow and settle. The landscape… the trees and… well everything was destroyed completely.
Gem took the liberty of engaging him directly now. She landed without theatrics on the ground and struck at Icmant. She only reached up to his waist. Icmant moved a leg and low-kicked at her. Gem dodged and Icmant formed a battleaxe of ice with a bladed shaft. The blades blunted under his touch as to not hurt him. An armor of his black ice spread across his body as an armor to make up for his shield. So it was a battle of mana. He knew I would lose… But I have a little trick for that. I drew rose eclipse from my inventory.
Icmant struck out at Gem in sweeping patterns. Gem was weaker than him and smaller by far so she dodged entirely whenever she could and deflected whenever she had to.
Seeing a small opening in Icmant's stance Gem struck out with a half step. He roared as the spear pierced his armor and pivoted with a sweep of his hand. Gem moved to the other leg and slammed the spear into the back of his kneecap. It barely pierced before a flurry of ice spikes shot out from Icmant's back at Gem and she had to retreat, taking a spike along the way. A sort of hiss was heard as the spike went straight through her. It came out as a blackened spike but with no red tine. So only corrupt mana hurt her.
I was busy with a bullet. I had made a few out of moribus for extreme situations where an enemy was weak to an element and this was most definitely a serious situation. I infused as much purity mana into the moribus bullet as I could. Icmant sensed my infusing and looked at me curiously but Gem saw my intentions and a series of jabs towards him distracted him from my works.
I focused almost single-mindedly on the bullet only occasionally dodging the occasional attack from Icmant. A parallel assisted me while two were meditating on purity and for the mana boost and the rest were drawing unity mana from the mimic. I had a guess that the unity affinity was drawing my purity and wind element together. If it was high enough I may be able to use wind more strongly. It was kind of working I think. Unity hadn't risen high enough to work that way and I didn't want it as a dominant affinity so I wouldn't draw it too high as an affinity. For now, though, it was fine to raise it.
When I was finished with the bullet I removed the magazine and the loaded bullet and replaced it with my purity bullet. I took aim. I wasn't great with snipers but I knew how to use them at least. Icmant was moving fast, almost to a blur with his high DEX, but he wasn't too fast to comprehend.
Gem took a little initiative and moved into an ice spike. Icmant grunted in surprise and looked to me in caution. In his lapse of attention Gem stabbed down hard on his foot and drew her bow. Icmant roared and tried to tear his foot out. Gem shot an arrow fit to bursting with purity mana and hit directly into Icmant's helmet. Hes head reared back and the helmet lost most of it's face portion.
Smiling at the clear opportunity I took the shot. The bullet flew at it's normal insane speed right at Icmant and into his forehead. A shattering and a blast of black ice from the back of his head signalled the bullet passing through.
Icmant screamed and the waves of mana pulsing off of him increased to more that triple what it was before. My breath caught but I forcefully calmed it. His corrupt mana was strongly repelled by my far more potent purity mana.
HP – 460,364/697,600
"̶̨̛̜̻͈̗̠͔̭̜̈̓̈́̚Ÿ̧̫̼͙̣͈̪͔́̒̓̾͑̚͜O̶͎̦̖̣̣̗͚̻̱͌̊͒̿̀Ű̵̧̦̳̰̜̗̱͋̓͌̓ D̴͖̰͎̩̲̥̺̄͐̓̈́́̃͜͜͞͝Ȁ̸̰̳̬̭̜͛͋̓͌̚͠ͅR̨̹̰͙͔̺̉̃̑͛̚E̴̠͔̻̺̩̤̪͐͆̐̓͒?͍̘̻̹͈̱̽̂̆̀̅̚͜͜͟!̰̜͎̟̮͙͐͒͊̀̾̆̔͆̕?͍̩̖͉͇̝̯͒̈̂̃̅̾̕͜͝͞͠!̮͉̫̼̠̞͈̆͋̊̆̕͜͡͞ D̛̫̳̩͓͈̤͓͗͆̃̍͘͜͞Ḭ̴̡̛͇̬͖͙̱͖̌̾̆͛̾̿͘͘͢E̶̼̬̤̻̫̾̇́̐̈̎͐͞ Į̶̮̥̤̰̳̦͇̰͋̍́̿͘͠ͅM̵̡̡̧͍̬̭̥̟͇͂͆̒̎̇̾̏́̄͠M̧̢̛̟̞̝̼̯̀̈́̊̄̈́̀̋O̭̱̤̺̬̽̎̈́̃̒̀̚R̷̙̞̪̜̙̃̋̽͌̆͗̋͂́͡T̵̡̳͔̙̤͈̤͎̩͂̀̓̉̇̍͊̀͝Ą̵͖̬͕̳̆̔̍̒̆͋̀̚L̡͔̝̫͈͔̊̓͒͐̔̃̋̚ Ṡ̢̬̺̩̣̭̖͖́̑̿̑́̌̅͛͜͞C̢͇̪̦͖̺͓͆̆͗͑̂̈͘̕͢͞Ụ̸̢̼͖͙̗͓͍̮̉̄̓̕͟͞M̵̖̣̯̲̽̍̐̓̾͂͜͠!̡̘̭̭̭̻͈̳̬̯̏͆͗̆̔̌̀̑͠ Y̞̖̘̠͙͙͙̑̉̎͌̔̄̚͜͟͠Ǫ̷͎̰̘̼̹͊́̆̉̌͢͠Ų̨̻͈̟̈́̾̃͑͒̏̿̉ A̰̤̹̟̝̞̺̯̮͌͆̀̄͊͑̏̕͟͞Ņ̣̘͍̙̟̙̫̇͌̓̊́͗͐͝͝D̸̨̫̱͙̤̦̣̬͕͐̃͆̀̽͊̈̀͊͝ W̸̨̯̜͖̜̘̎͊͆̎̀̂̆͘͜͠H̸̡̛̺̩̤̦̼͓̻̍͗͛̓̍ͅͅĄ̵̼̗̩̟̲̺̳̝͑̓̌̏͂̀̆̓̕͝Ť̴̳͇̱̜̥̼͓̗̮̿͒̽̀̍̽̕͟͝͝Ȩ̟͇͕̟̇͐̈́̽̿͞V̵͉͎̜̞͚̤̹̜̆̿̅͛̔͐͌́̕͢͟Ę̛̞͈̪̣̳͈̥̾̊̑̋̒̑̕R̸̲̝͎͖̜̪̯̠̺̜͌̐̔͒̅̆̀̀̕ S̘̣̘̱͎̓͌̒̓͂͜͞P̵̧̡͖̭̜͈̥̬̍̌̓̿̊́͑͆Ą̸͉̭̫̖̰͇͂̀̌̉͐̇́̽͛͆͜͢W̸̝̘̘̰̦̙̹̯̻͔̾̔͛̈̇̏́́̕N̡̢̘͎̟͋͂̌̽͝ Ỏ̧͇̦̠̙̳͊̊͂͂̀̓̚̕͟͝F̸̢̯̪̯͚̄̑͒́̊̔̚͜͡ Ỹ̸̨̺̣̬̻̐̅̑͋̑́͒̚O̶̧̱̹͈̝̭̓̑̈̀̓͟͞U̶̳̟̞̝̤̹̲̞͂͌̅̾͡ͅR̡͓̺̦͕̟̼̈́̽͛̊̍͟S̴̢̡̠̞̗̪̦͋̾̇͆̈́̑͆͝ Ẅ̢̢̦̫̜̤̟̰̭̻́̂̏͒̔̾̍̈̂R̺̳̘̓̓́̾͊́̾̽̚͟͢͢͞I̴̛̙̱̤̣̪̠̟͕͐̎͐̅̂͘T͇̼̬̬͙̟̹̅̾̈́́̋̏̂̋H̷͖̺̱̔̑̆̇̿͟ͅE̷͎̲̥̜̳̣͑̎̈́̔̽͗̂̆ͅ I̶̡̭͉͔̱̱̎̈́̋̾̿̇͡N̷̜̤̫̙̺͉̦̓͌̋̊̇͘ T̴̡̨̡̧̛͇̻̯̦̪̰͑͐̌̀̈̔̏͆͛H̶͓̼̪̰̻̩͔̠̍̏̒̾͐̿Į̵̢̘̹̣̮̟͆̈̈͌͡͞S̢̡̧̱̗̮̯͓̝̆͂̑̀̑͟ P̧̢̩̜͈͚͒͂̅̂̈̎͒͢Ả̢̡͖̥̹̯̦̫̄̍̔̇͗͢T̢̙͕̘̜̈́͋̾͌̀̄͒̂̍͗ͅͅH̸͓̙̖̭̮̻̬̅́̍̓͆͛̚͜͜͞Ḙ̸̻̮̹̥͓̈̌͊̂̀͡T̨̺̣̤̙̟͓̟̊̊̑̑̓̅͢ͅI̸̧͖̻͖̮͔͑͂̋̄͗͋͡ͅC̷̮̰͕͉̯͋̋̐̈̆͌̚͝ R̙̦̠̲̬̜͕̀̓͗͊̅̿̓̈̍͡E̖̺̱͇͈̣͑͂̽͑̈̌͐͌̕͜͟͠A̶̖͙̟̮̟̪̮̲̖̳͛̆̀̀͝L̳̯͇͎͖̜̹̟̠̪̔́͑̈̑̉Ḿ̶̡̭̺̭͚̻̺͖͓̅͒̑͘ W̶̖͈̜͕͎̤͖̦̪͚̽̓̄̓̓̃̕I̡̪̰̼̺͗͌͆̒̓̕͝͡Ḽ̷̛̝̖̬̟̝̄̇͛͗͢L̵͎̳̠̲̫̗̙̮͛̂́̔͗͐̕͢ F̡͓͕̱͎̓̔͌͋̀͗R̡̞̪̼̤͐̋̊͒͞ͅĘ̪̺̣̘̺̯̩͍̏̿͊̍͑͟E̡̢̼̗͍̣̦̻̗̿̄̆͑̏̀̚̚Ž̷̠͖̼͂͑̄̿͐̚͜͝͡ͅĘ̸̻̰͎̙̳͛̈́͆͗͗́͌͟ I̸̥̟̫̻͚̟͓͉̤̾̓̔̔̐̀͘̚Ṇ̨͖̹̣̔̔͊̏̄́̓͘͡ Ą̨̤͖̳̥͔̯̀̏͗́̋̊͗̐͒̕ W̴̢̡͚̗̹̗͓͒̃̓̐̂͋͂̀͋̃͟ͅO̳̼̯̪̲̲͕̝͂͒̃̌̈́͆̕͢R̨̙͉͔̭̜̘̒̃̆̀͢͝͞͞͞Ľ̡̩͔̜̫̈́̆̂̉̿͞͝D̰͙̘̘̬̯̒́̊̽̓̿̐͘̕͘͟ O̼̬̭̻̪̩̬͈̒́̀́̓̓̄͑͘̕F̶̧̣͇̫̝̘̭͊̾̏̄͌̉̌̍́ C͕͖͖͇̝̮̫͑̾̍̈̃̀̚͡Ớ̷͈̝̠̬̰̣̝̍̈̐́͐͗L̵̯̗̜̗̭̫̱̀͌̋͗̽͒͊D̡̪̜̫̲̞̭͐̀̔̉̌̒̕͡!̵̡̫͖͎̺͚̇͗̏̂̅̅͡ͅ!̶̛̼̳̠͙̺̓̌̽͗͟!͕̩͕̫̤̹̥̏͛̇̌͗͐͌̍̀̔͟͢"̸̲̯̱̰̖͕̦̩́̊̀̍̉ͅ
I hissed and resisted clutching my head at his screaming voice. I had to make another bullet. It would take three to disable him and one more to kill him. How sad that I only had enough mana for one more. That bullet and the time spent flying had taken half my mana… well it seems like I'm running. Sorry remnant. It was nice knowing you.
A chitter was heard and I moved my head to the sound. A bullhead?! What the hell?! It had fired at Icmant at least. His armor had reformed and defended him from all but a few of the bullets. He roared though whether to me or the bullhead it was unclear. Then a massive storm of black ice in a blizzard of razor proportions of sharpness flew from a savage wave of his hand. Both of us then.
I tried to escape but I wasn't fast enough. A shard of sharp ice rammed into my face. My aura repelled it but it's speed took a hefty price. So did the many others that stung my body.
I turned to wind and escaped swiftly. Bruises and very light cuts littered me.
AP - 19,364/120,000
Five sixths of my aura gone in one attack… fuck. And I'm at half my mana too. This better be the fucking cavalry… or actually I had Raven in me! She could send me mana! I focused all my desperate need in a tiny piece of aura and sent it across the link. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Almost immediately a packet of aura and mana flowed across filled with hidden worry, some apology, and frustration. Thank you Raven…
I looked to the bullhead doors that opened to see - holy shit the cavalry has arrived. Ozpin and a woman with brown hair jumped out. Ozpin brought a canister. Probably coffee. I instantly observed her stats. I don't need her life story right now.
Amber Floyd
Titles: Maiden of fall ;Traveller
Level – 201 (1005)
HP – 6696
AP – 10,320
MP - 301,600
STR - 52 (+260%)= 187.2
VIT - 186 (+260%)= 669.6
DEX - 120 (+260%)= 432
INT - 377 (+0%)= 377
WIS - 258 (+0%)= 258
LUK - 12 (+0%)= 12
Semblance: Procrastinate - You can temporarily make injuries, fatigue, hunger, thirst, and other status conditions obsolete until later. Severity determines aura cost.
Affinities:
Electricity: 4238
Earth: 4192
Ice: 4108
Wind: 4169
Fire: 4088
Nature: 4011
Water: 4000
Lightning: 36 (+1060)
Light: 28
Perks:
Maiden of fall - You are a maiden. One of the heirs of the legendary women blessed with powers by the wizard. Whether this power is a blessing, a burden, or a tool is decided by you and you alone. No matter your decision you are worthy.
-1000% to MP capacity and regeneration.
-Mana and aura are unlocked.
-Nature, fire, water, ice, wind, lightning, and earth affinities are increased by 1500.
-Luck increased by 100 in fall. No limits on your total affinities.
What the hell is she doing here?! She's way too weak to get involved in this BS! Dear dust I hope Ozpin knows what he's doing.
"Use as much mana as you can." Ozpin said swiftly and commandingly to me. "I'll back you with my own reserves. I have a mage in the bullhead who can support us if needed. Go." He put a sticky note - wait is that actually a… yeah that's a pink sticky note with a shared soul space runic matrix on it. Ozpin's I suppose. I sensed a matrix for transferring mana in the space that was funneling mana to me. I see I'm not the only person who thought of that.
"This is the best option." I said calmly. "Gem, my elemental, is working hard to keep Icmant at bay but this gun is the best way to damage him. Throwing mana won't work. His reserves are over a hundred times what I have. Combined we reach a single percent of what he has but it won't work. I can, however, use your stores. Together along with the maiden we may be able to win this." Ozpin nodded seriously then he narrowed his eyes at me.
"Abyss?" I nodded. He gritted his teeth but said nothing for a moment, seemingly in thought. He seemed to swallow his anger then and looked piercingly to me. "We will be talking about this." I nodded, knowing I was in trouble. Damnit…
"Can you use your time affinity to slow Icmant?" I asked. Ozpin nodded.
" I am. He is countering my mana with his far more potent mana. It's too thick for my mana or spells to properly work. Your purity affinity with the use of your precursor silver eyes, which I should add I thought were an illusion of a boy having dreams and being cocky and we will be talking about how you acquired those eyes in the first place, is the only thing capable of harming the demon."
I nodded and loaded the bullet to the gun. I aimed at the best chink in the armor but paused. "Can you use a sniper rifle?" Ozpin nodded.
"I trained in one, yes." I handed rose eclipse to him.
"I'm only trained in it a little bit." I explained. "I'm by no means trained in it. Simply able to hit a target. Not truly aim. I'll prepare my bullet instead. Wait for gem to make an opening and fire at it." Ozpin nodded and aimed down the barrel of rose eclipse with a strangely practiced ease that looked out of place on him.
"What can I do?" Amber asked.
"Nothing." I said honestly. "He's simply far too strong for you… well you can use your reserves of mana to help mine. Please do, in fact." Amber scowled but transferred mana to me along with Ozpin and Raven. I was receiving plenty of mana by now.
Ozpin saw a gap in Icmant's guard and fired swiftly. The bullet tore through his armor and Icmant's armor once more. The shattering was weaker this time from the entry but still plenty strong. We could do this… but Gem looked to be weakening from the hits. I channeled some purity mana to her from my pool. It took fifteen thousand for her to be back at full strength. I could handle it. So could everyone else backing me.
"Can you handle Icmant if he gets loose from Gem?" I asked. Ozpin seemed to consider it.
"Yes but I will have to speed myself up with my time magic. That will cut into your supply." He decided. "It's more efficient to use your elemental, who is doing quite well by the way. What rank is she?"
"Colossal." I said. He raised an eyebrow.
"Only a few times have I ever even seen a colossal elemental… I saw a gargantuan elemental of light once… They take the form of butterflies of a sort. Or moths. Same thing, really. I prefer butterflies as I don't really like moths but they're probably moths since… well light."
"Interesting. I need to get a heat elemental but I don't know where to get one and I'm not yet powerful to summon one. I can summon an ice and nature elemental now so I should eventually acquire one." Ozpin looked to me incredulously.
"You're twelve." He said disbelievingly.
"Fifteen technically if we're going by physical body." I said. "Though I'm thirty one by life experience." Ozpin sighed.
"Fine. But even so you're beyond prodigies… you're on the level that almost none hope to reach. At your current pace you'll be an archmage by the time you're twenty." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee holding rose eclipse in his right hand.
"… I think Althea's watching me since I'm doing so well." Ozpin choked on his drink and coughed for a few seconds.
"Wh-... where did you hear that?!" He said quickly.
"Althea's watching humanity and rather interested according to the demon." I said. "He thinks there's something about to happen. A new order of heroes or a turning of an age. I just can't think of much going on that's not related to me. I know of several heroes that are coming to a blossom but I'm right in the middle of it… though I really don't want to be I'm not exactly capable of just stepping out at this point." Ozpin looked to me with that piercing stare and sighed.
"No… I suppose you're not… Althea if you can hear me you're a bitch. I want Abyss as my apprentice. Don't elect him as your champion or something." I chuckled at that. I wasn't going to be his apprentice. Not a chance in hell. But Ozpin isn't a huge threat to putting me under his submission anymore. We're roughly equal at this point after my little points dump.
But I'm going to be working my ass off to solidify my information network when I get back and training my purity and wind affinity. Demons and Salem are seemingly the only true threats to me at this point though I'd rather be prepared for anything. Demons can be hurt through wind as well as purity. I'd rather be prepared for magical beasts and powerful humans as well as demons.
I passed another bullet to Ozpin. He took aim and fired nearly instantly. Icmant's shoulder bone cracked and he screamed once more in pain. His legs quivered.
"̜͔͖̖̦͖̫̹͗͑́̃̒́̓͟͜A̷̡̲̲̼̤̠͗̓̍͋̽̓̈͛̎̚ c̨̧̹͖̱̤̝̋̉̒̂̀͘̚͞u̶͇͇͚̻̜̓͋͒̃̌̑̎̓́͞r̴̢̭͈̜͓̟̈̿͌̓́́̈̉ͅs̴̺̬̗̞̥̳̮̬̒̂̐͑̎͋͘͢e̺͈̰͍̙͑̉̇̌̔̌̾͋̊̃ u̸͓̘̬̫͍̮̰̽̑͑̿̍͠p̡̛̟͕͙̳̋̍̇͆̈́́͛͜͡ơ̙̦͉̩͔̠̠̗̜͋͑̾̚͢n̛̹̺̗͉̹̺̈̐̽̈́̂̽͜͞ y̼̰̬̹͔̲̳̑̂͗̀̇͛͋̃͘͜͜͡ò̡̖̖͓̯͚͊̔́̉͗̚͞ų̛̬̖̫̘̐́̓̏.̴̤̱̰̹̰̳͐̄̈́̏͌͛̈́̚͞ͅ Ä̧͙̙̦̦̑̾̿̽̄͘͘ c̴̢͉̟̮̦̦͑́͛͌͂͌̔̅̕͘͟u̘̭̹̬̳̹͋̿̀̿̂̃͗̓͠͠r̲͉̳̲̘̪͉͑̐̾͒̏ͅs̲̣͕̫̆͐͒͘̕͢ͅͅè̮͕̼͙̯̤̙͐͋̔̾̎͗͋ ų̰͚̱͓̪͑̌́́̆͘p̳̬̲̜̬̙̈̇̎̾̆̈́͆͂͛́o͙̝͙̜͗̓͋͜͠͝ņ̷̧̟͙̆̈͂̀̾̀̀͟ ỳ̶̜̺͖͍͓͇̟͍̗̌͊̋̓̔̅͒̇̇o̺͓̱̦̹̹͎̤̳͙͗͑͗̂̓́̀͂͋̚u̢̝͙̻̲͎͚̙̮̺̔̿̏̓̆͋̍̐̕͞r̴̢͚̘̟̮͉͑̀̎̏̈͘͝ f̞̥͔͚̹͊̍̐̐̃̾̕͜ą̴͔̟̺̟́́̎̅͢͡m̵̰̳̺̟̹̥͙͈̅̉̅̈́͂̈́̽̎̉̕͢͢ḯ̷̢̧̺͓̯̟͎͔̥̒̽̿̐̿̒͞l̵̡̠̱͈̳̗̐͆̅̇̀̈͢y̷͕̗͎͇̤̼̏̀͐̕͢͜͞͡͡.̝̬̬̤̦͈̱̲̭͆͆̍̇̀̚͜ M̷̨̞̣̱̖̲̤̃̾̚͘͟͡a̢̢͓̭͚̩̻̠̥͛̇̅̿̐y̴̢̧̝̞̪̖̻̅͌̈̽̃͟ y̢̤͍̬̹͑̃͐͒̈́̓͛̀o̡͙̤̱̳̦̦̫̍͆͛̐͒̀̾͊͜͞ͅu̵͙̯̦͉͗̀̽̕̚ͅͅ r̜̦̘̤͎̟͎̮̋͆̏̔̏̔ǫ̰̠̺̣̤͛̍̊̎̿͌̍̎̚t̵̼͈̭̯͚͂̈́͊͗͋̚͡ ỉ̴̛͚͕͙̮̜̝͎̇̎̂͐͂̚͢ǹ̸̦͓̤̠̘̻̘̪͋͛̒́̒̉̑͜͢ t̳̲̪̬̬͖̰̎̽̐̈́̚ḧ̵̛̜̟̥̰̲͙́̀̀̌͋̐͢͞e̸̮̫̟̺̥̯̋̐͂͂̏̔͊̅͟͠͞ a̛̬̯̹̯̹͎͂͂̅̌̈̈́́̏̚b̵̧̥̞̬̠̲͍͚̮̯̉̈̐̿͐̈́̈́̕͘͡ý̸̢͚̬̬̲͙̣́̒̃̓̋͢s̡̛͔̘̤̟̝̓͗̆̀̆̃͊̽̋͜͢ͅs̴͙͓͔͕͔̤̪͕͇̪͒͋̾̂̄̀̈́͗̕ t̸̢̮͇̪̓̌́̿̕͟͟͝ͅǫ̵͙̹̘̞͍̬͈̲̋̆̄͆͐̆͐͜ b̸̡̗̮̖͕̰̄̾͋̋́͢è̠͖̠̳̮͔͂̍̿̾͞ͅ t̴͉̙̲͕̹̣͙̱͔̓̎͌̿͊͆̋͝͝ͅo̢̙̰͍͙͉͋̇̓͑͋̔̔͆̂̏r̸̳͉̲̬̺̀̊̀͊̀̃̊͠͝t̢̖̗̱͔̘̉̈́́̑̓̑̏͘̕͠u̷͎̰̼̫͂͋̊͆̾͜͡͞r͇͓̥͉̲̖̦̓́͂̾̆̔e̛̝͖͇̭̜͌̍̏̊͌̏͂̾ͅd̶̤̰̹̝̫͇̒̋̍͐̊̒͞ b̶̧̰̠̺̼͋̈́̔̓̆̾̾y̙͙̟̦̿̎͊͑̎̈́̆͗̅͜͡ m̢̻̗̞͚͉͙̲͍̠͋̀̆̋̇́̍̆͠ý̤͕̩̪̯͆̀̀̄̚ b̷̛̥͉̬̩͎̈̾̈̈́̿̀̎r̟̙͚̙̹͒̌͌͐̽͑̀e͕̰̜͇̤̥͗͑̇͗̉̎̍͌͜͠͞t̵̛̤̪͖͉̮͕̫̳̽̈̄͑̐̈́h̡̬̯͔̪̱̱̳͆̎̅̂͠ͅr̤̙̳̭̞̞̖̀͂̊͌̑̀͒̋̏̕͟͜e̯̰͕̫͙̳̜̝͑͐͑̒̏͐́ñ̫̮̟̠̰̭͌̉̇͐̄̓̀͢ f̬̰̮̼͐̆̂͌́͆̚͢͡͞ó͚̙͎͍̦̺͆̑̋͢͡r̶͕͚̪̣̻͒̌̏̊̆͢e̡̨̨̪̯̣͒͐̀̽̑̔̇̽̆̓v̨̺̳̹͚̠̼̈́̓́̀́̈́̈̒͜ę̡̝̬̜͈̖̒̉͛͗͌̂̋̚͟͡r̶̨͕͎̼͊̒͑̆́̃̂̚͢,̵̢̡͖̼̱̱͎̘̣͓͑̀̀̇̄ ļ͚͖̯̬̮̇̋̾̋͠͠ȉ̸̛̳͕̱̘̩̮̱̒͗̓͒͜͝͡ͅt̰̝͖̞̆͋̈́̌̌̐̿͐͢͢t̷̡̞͓͎̮̙̫̗͑́͒͠͝l̴̡̮͚̰̣͕̳̾͗̿̽͛͆͜͠͞͝ę̶̡͓̣̟̮̙͇͗͆̌̅̅͒͘ͅ ẃ̵̢̢̛̛̛͓̭̹̺̬̥̳̔̽̉̃i̶͔̙͕̓̎̑͐̀̆̀̓ͅͅẕ̢̯̖̝͖̎̒̃͗̓̋͢͡͞a̧̛̛͖͙͚̬͎̺͕͕͈̎̓͐̈̊͑͒̕ŗ̵̭͇̙̜̟̹͙̔͆̃̓̕͢d̴̡̫̫̝͚͍̘̒͑̋̌̈.̢̹̻̳̭̯̠̥͈͊̌͐́̊͟͝"̴̡̳̱̞̖̘͗̏̇̓̐
.
I saw Gem take advantage of Icmant's moment of weakness and throw a jab. But he was not as unprepared as he had seemed. He snatched towards Gem and got a hold on her. He threw her carelessly to the side and she hurled away. In a roar her channeled nearly all his mana in a huge ice beam. Ozpin grabbed Amber and I and I watched as time slowed to a crawl. Icmant moved at roughly… half the speed he was at before.
I turned to wind and flew away from the blast site. I could see in the distance though… for miles upon miles upon miles black ice sprung out from the black snow. Even into the desert ice sprang up. Incredible… but he's no great fighter. He's powerful but clearly unskilled. My eyes and rose eclipse make the fight rather unfair, though.
Raven's and Amber's mana finally wavered and cut off entirely. Not that she had much. A twentieth of what I have isn't really important. Ozpin's mana held strong though at a sixth of what we had. Well that wasn't really strong. For as unexciting as the battle was for us it was incredibly draining.
I handed the final bullet to Ozpin. Icmant tried in vain to get up. It just occurred to me that he was a huge load of XP… "No." I said. "Let me do it." Ozpin eyed me curiously but handed me the gun.
I took aim and smiled slightly as I pulled the trigger. Icmant's head exploded into a mess and I got just the message I wanted and more.
*Ding!* You have killed Í̴̡̙̥̪̠̻̾̂̃͡ͅć̨͙͇̞̖͛͒̓͐̏̚̚͞m̶̢͇̱̫̫͙͆̎̏́̏́̚͡a̴̯̳̝͉̜͋́́̈́͂͠ͅñ̡̤͍̌̈̆̚͢ͅt̡̺̘̪͉̤̳͗̌̇̄͋͢͞ t͇̻̳̗͓̳̑̉̍̓͋͑͋̌̍̌͢ḩ̷̭͙͔̯̹̲̎̕̕͘͡ē̳͇̭̳͖͂̊̓̚ i̴̗͈̼̠̥̫͇̓̉́͘͡m̧̢͍͉͍̠̃́̾͌̽̌͢͠ͅp̺̝̯͇͚̃̀̍͋̎̿̕͝͠r̨̡̹̰̳͇̠̫̆̅̄̉̓͛̚͜i̵̢̨̨̲̪͕̺̒̌̾̽̑̾̄͆͘͠s̸̢̼̬̺̲͉͖̩̐͐̒̃̐̅͆õ̡͎͕͙͖̩̱̫̓͋̒͂͒̒̕̚͢͞n̢͙̜͇̬͌̍̉́̊͢ȩ̞̼͕̹̲̹̌̀̌̄̿̿̈̽̕͟ͅͅd̶̨̛̙̰͔̳̤̟̟͙́̈̀̕͟͡ ǫ̸͔͓̟̜̀̏͆͗̕n̢̻̗̝̘̭͎̊̎̄̾͑̃ę̸̦̼̼͎̂̋̀͘̚͞͡! You gained 78,426,897 XP! You leveled up 229x
*Ding!* Through killing a creature of great power and corruption affinity you have unlocked a new stage in your silver eyes.
Precursor silver eyes (Rank 2) - You've proven skill in your eyes by killing a creature of great evil. Power has been unlocked through it's death. None have passed this final stage of the precursor silver eyes.
-Looking at any being with a corruption affinity may deal damage should you will it.
-+300% WIS and +200% INT
-Purity mana may or aura will be made if aura or mana are channeled through your eyes. This mana can be used by you or to further damage the corrupt via eyesight.
-Your eyes may be 'flared' to multiply your purity affinity by 125x. No other affinities may be directly used in this time. All mana and aura is purity attuned during this time.
I sighed as if in relief and hid my elation at the boost in power. Ozpin kept his eyes locked on Icmant's body before he frowned. "We should burn the body. I don't believe that he would fall into the wrong hands but he is certainly not something to risk. Would you purify him?"
I nodded and the lion's portion of Ozpin's remaining mana flowed into me. I walked up to Icmant's corpse and placed my hand on him. The purity spell was pretty simple. You just actively searched for corruption affinity and destroyed it. A simple and easy spell.
My mana flowed into Icmant and without his being actively fighting there was just his innate affinity, which I tore through easily with my high affinity for purity and the mana I had. I channeled a little back to Ozpin, Amber, and Raven. Finally… the part I've been dreading came to place.
"So Abyss." Ozpin said calmly. "How did a demon escape from a prison - one of very few in remnant, might I add, and how did you get those eyes?"
I sighed. Obviously my acting skill is getting a workout.
[|||| == ||||]
"… Do you think he's going to be okay?"
"Judging by the fact that we're still alive? He's alright. I just hope he will stay that way."
"Yeah… what do you think… IT was?"
"Something powerful. Far more powerful than you or I."
"At least he has rose eclipse with him."
"That will help him for certain."
"Uh-huh. My weapon is awesome… but Abyss needs a better one."
"… Your brother fights things beyond what anybody should do. You yourself have grown in strength so immensely simply keeping up with him… Ruby, I do not think you will spend your life fighting grimm."
"Bad guys?"
"No. I think you will delve into places like this. Places that are difficult for even the mightiest of huntresses to delve. I don't think you realize how strong you are going to become, Ruby. Even with just that weapon alone you prove deadly to any huntress. I don't know if Abyss could survive more than three shots of that weapon. Besides that you are so so strong for your age. You are unskilled but in body you are stronger than many. You are proficient in three weapons unlike the one or two that most would pursue. You will surpass me before you finish beacon even if you slow down."
"And what about Abyss?"
"He has already surpassed me by far. Do you see me out there fighting the beast?"
"… No… do you think I'll be able to stand with him when the time comes? He always has this feeling like there's a goal he's striving for. Do you think I can be with him? Not even to help but just to be with him?"
"I truly wish I knew, Ruby. I believe so but I cannot say for certain… perhaps if you were to become a mage and worked hard to hone your powers than maybe. But Abyss grows at a rate beyond anybody else. Exponential growth, even. I can't give any advice other than to grow as strong as you can. Otherwise you will be surpassed."
"I don't want to be left behind."
"Nobody does. Work hard and you may find yourself standing beside him. Slack and he will try to pull you to his standards or you will fall."
"… I want to grow strong like Abyss. Eclipse Rose is a start but I can do better. I can become a mage like my mother and grow strong enough to help… I don't want to stay behind him or get put in here whenever something dangerous comes along…"
"Actually… I think I know a way to help you with that. Ruby, what do you know about the maidens?"
[|||| == ||||]
Talking with Ozpin was tiring. Very tiring. I lied about just about everything. Icmant was released because of a trap at the icy forest set by the archwizard of ice with a long name (Lie), I was there searching for ice magic books which I didn't find (Lie), I was the only one there (Lie), and the only unexpected thing at the forest was the extreme concentration of ice mana interfering with my spells and Icman's emergence (Lie).
Ozpin didn't know a thing about the managuard or the tower of Methanthelios. He didn't ask about that at all. I said that Icmant had let that flood of snow out but that it had only destroyed the ice trees and a little building made as a trap by Methanthelios.
The only thing I was honest about was the precursor eyes. My purity affinity, which I had gained from Summer during our time sharing souls, worked with the eyes to supercharge them to what I had now.
Ozpin was skeptical about it but he couldn't really refute me on anything. He had no evidence otherwise and I was a good liar. He eventually let me loose and I made a portal to the apartment.
With a groan I walked over to Raven's room, which had a table in it. Mine and Ruby's didn't. I sat down tiredly in a chair and released Ruby and Raven.
They looked around, getting a sense for the new environment, and Ruby ran up to me and hugged me. "I'm glad you're safe." She said into my shirt. "Sorry I couldn't help with the thing."
"Don't worry about it. I don't expect you to help with that kind of guy."
"Who was it?" Raven asked as she sat down.
"His name was Icmant. He was a middle-level demon. He had an ice, corruption, abyss, and blood affinity. He also had a massive amount of mana but no aura. And by massive I mean more than a hundred times what Ozpin has. I pulled out some stops to have to get to even the level where I can struggle against him. Apparently aura is a human thing, though that makes me wonder how the mimic got aura. It's not my problem, though."
"What was the fight like?" Ruby asked. "Why did you need rose eclipse?"
"We didn't immediately fight at first." I explained. "First we talked. He asked me about some things and I answered. We ended up with me asking six questions for my helping him. I had to give him the arch-wizard's staff in exchange for five and my answers counted for the sixth. First I asked him about something I've heard about a while ago. Othos and the Abyss."
"Othos? And the Abyss?" Raven muttered. "I've never heard of either of those."
"Othos is the name of the dark brother." I explained. Raven's eyes widened. Ruby looked puzzled. "And the Abyss is Othos' personal realm, which supposedly holds demons and his pet serpent Ouros. I don't know about Ouros. He seemed like a footnote more than anything."
"What do you mean with dark brothers?" Ruby asked. Raven sighed, reluctant to put me on hold.
"Remember what I told you about the maidens and the relics?" Ruby nodded. I looked to Raven piercingly. I had told Ruby about the relics but not in detail. The brothers of light and dark weren't important so I had only mentioned them. Ruby probably forgot. "The brothers of light and dark made the relics. They're gods." Ruby made an 'oh' sound and quieted.
"Yes, well I learned quite a bit. Othos made the grimm and Althea, his sister, made the magical creatures."
"There's a sister?" Ruby asked.
"The story of two brothers is wrong. There's the light sister and the dark brother. Anyways, they're incredibly strong purity and corruption elementals. Althea made the magical creatures and Othos the grimm in the image of her creatures. The grimm and the magical creatures didn't really get along well so they came to a compromise of sorts. They conceived humanity in physical forms."
"Wait… they… you don't mean magic, do you?" Raven asked off guard.
"They made physical forms and did that together." I said. Ruby looked confused but didn't ask. Raven looked uncomfortable. "Anyways," I said, "they made humanity and the faunus, which are just more on Althea's side of the family tree, and Althea and Othos began watching humanity. But then humanity got lazy and weak so they dropped Salem, the first grimm, onto humanity with some rules. She stays on the dark continent being one of them. The archwizards of humanity raided the continent for their land back and got destroyed but Ozpin was spared and cursed to reincarnate."
"Why Ozpin?" Raven asked. "Did they say?"
"His semblance is photographic memory. Salem asked that humanity never forget her conquest as a boon for killing the first circle of archwizards. Othos and Althea cursed him as a record keeper of sorts. Ozpin must have misinterpreted something they said as 'kill Salem' since he's fighting against her now."
"That's… Kinda sad." Ruby said in concern. "We should tell him." I snorted.
"We're not allowed. For some reason Althea and Othos want him in the dark. I don't know why but I'm not going to tell him at risk for myself." Raven shrugged. Ruby looked disappointed.
"Now, that's about everything but there's a few points here that need addressing. Firstly is the Abyss. The demons are strong enough to easily crush humanity and they yearn for destruction but for some reason they're not kicking out weak little butts. Secondly is the weakening of humanity. Why are there no mages? Why is magic so scarce? And finally is the most interesting piece of information. Althea is watching humanity now. Closely and with interest. Call me self absorbed but I think she's watching me. Icmant thought that perhaps there's a new age of heroes emerging or the cursed one, which is probably Ozpin, has lived up to some sort of potential. Ozpin is still sitting on his hands playing chess with Salem so I think my actions have alerted Althea and she's watching me."
Raven frowned. "That is… not great. Catching the attention of gods doesn't seem like a great thing. Freedom is hard to obtain under the eyes of a god."
I nodded. "Maybe she's benevolent? I think it's better to just focus on the here and now than gods and conspiracy theories right now. But back to the fight. Gem, my purity elemental, fought with Icmant and showed me a weakness, where I shot it with purity infused bullets. But making just one of those suckers took half my mana. So then the cavalry showed up. Ozpin and Amber dropped by."
"What?!" Raven said sharply.
"Ozpin took control and shot Icmant - since he knows how to use a sniper better than I do - and supplied me with mana. Amber helped. I used his mana to make the third and fourth shots needed to kill him. Ozpin took me in for questioning and I lied my ass off. He knows nothing other than that I have precursor silver eyes."
Raven leaned back and frowned. "… So what now?"
I smiled a little. "We have a far more treacherous and evil enemy to face… school. I'm going to be working on my information network and draining the mimic while you finish with Roman. Then there's the mistralian regional tournament at april, which all of us are taking a break for, and finally summer, where I plan on venturing into forever fall. I'm going to put out feelers for the managuard too. Using that address and the name and information we already have. I'll cast the net wide just in case. I'll put my best operator on it."
Raven nodded. "I've got a side project of mine going on. I may have to take a few trips around. I'll keep the empire first but I have some moe work to do. I'm also going to be upping Ruby's training."
"I'm going to finish sketching the drafts for your weapon. I'll try to get it before summer." Ruby said. "And do you mind if I keep this glove?" She held up the inventory glove.
"Go ahead." I shrugged. Ruby smiled.
"Great! Um… how many days until school?"
"Three." I said.
"Great… wait, what time is it?" I looked towards the clock on the wall.
"Uh, one in the morning… I'm just gonna go to bed." I said. Raven made a noise of agreement and Walked over to her room.
"Goodnight."
Ruby skipped off out of the room. "Goodnight Abyss!"
"Goodnight Ruby." I said. I blinked to my room and got out my journal of the expedition… I have a lot to write down… and experiment with. It's good that I don't need that much sleep.
[|||| == ||||]
"Ozpin… you didn't ask him."
"How he became so strong?"
"Yes."
"Glynda… whatever he's doing is working. And if I knew I might want to stop him. It's better to let him grow strong and hope for the best… if we make an enemy out of him I don't believe we would survive. He is too crafty. Too strong. Too cunning."
"You don't want to stop him since we need him but you wouldn't approve of what he's doing?"
"Yes. Remember that I have lived a long life. I have seen so many magic users attempt to gain power through some depraved mean. I hope that Abyss is not one of those people but truly… I don't want to know."
[|||| == ||||]
"So class! Good to see you all back! Now for the question that's been stewing in us all…" Bella stared at me. "What in the name of dust and all it's parts is your family into?!" I smiled my calmest smile as Ocean, Cesium, Kerrigan, and Bella stared at me.
"We know Roman well. He backs our company, nature's bounty. I'm sure you heard about it. We made a bit of a splash."
"Yeah no kidding." Cesium deadpanned. "I know red sap is expensive but your company's now THAT huge, right?"
"It's a monopoly on it." Kerrigan explained. "They are the only people who can make and export red sap industrially. There's also the promised yield of new crops they're going to farm, the almost entirely faunus labor force, and that they've taken horrible land and made it prime for growing. Not to mention Abyss' uncle's power."
I nodded. "Now… how were your assignments?"
"Recruiting was fine. A little boring and frustrating but we got it done." Cesium said.
"Bouncing was… very boring." Kerrigan muttered.
"Sneaking around was pretty fun." Ocean said with a smile.
"I enjoyed dismantling that drug dealer." Bella said with a wide smile.
"You mean his operation?" I asked. Bella said nothing. I shrugged. A little creepy but that's alright. "And how about the rewards?"
"My family is confused but happy. Thanks." Cesium said with a smile.
"My family wants to set up an arranged marriage between you and my cousin Opal." Kerrigan said stoically.
"I like the new poisons. They're interesting. Especially #5435b. The cardiac contractions are still confusing though. I'm trying to replicate it with the mistralian moth venom." Ocean said happily.
"Dear god Qrow is incredible in bed. He has some serious moves." Bella sighed happily. "We've had three dates so far. It's been awesome." A silence was all that was heard after that.
"Bella I know this class focuses on information but please know when to not give us information." Cesium said with a grimace. "Also, isn't Qrow like fifty?"
"He's forty seven." I said. "Bella is thirty nine. Not that big of a deal actually." Bella shrugged with a smile.
"Thanks kid. You just made my whole year with that date."
"You can thank me by keeping your bedroom activities vague. I don't need to hear about my almost-an-uncle and his sex life. I'm not really sensitive to that stuff but my uncle and teacher going at it is a bit much for me."
"Yeah yeah. Anyways, have you got the assignments already?" Bella waved off my request easily. Kerrigan scowled at her. Ocean ignored her details. Cesium looked resigned to it. He probably heard plenty of stuff in the slums that was worse than anything Bella could cook up.
"Sure. Actually this is a group thing so you can talk about it between yourselves if you want." I took four packets out of my inventory and passed them out.
"Bella. You have an address and a name. They're a black ops research operation that Vale had twentyish years ago. I want a list of so-called sites and their locations. Don't dig too deep or you might disappear in the process. And take everything you learn with a grain of salt. Don't tell anyone anything. Even Qrow. Actually, especially not Qrow. And you can't know why." Bella frowned.
"You just run across the oddest stuff. Fine. I don't really have anything better to do. Just fill me in eventually, alright?"
"I'll be sending you on a summer assignment to learn everything. I'm planning on pulling back the curtain for everyone next year and a little more the year after. If everything goes well I have a very special… reward at graduation." I received some very curious looks but everybody kept their mouth shut.
"Next is Cesium. You and Kerrigan have the same assignment this time. I provided samples of some… things. Get a whole laundry list of data on them. Convince a chemistry guy to do it maybe. If you need a few resources… well I'm pretty flush at the moment."
"Ocean. This is sort of a… personal assignment from me. I'd like to know Yang Xiao-Long's typical schedule. If you don't want to do it you can help out Bella and I won't judge you any differently." Ocean shrugged.
"I'm fine with it. Yang messed with me a few times. Do you mind if I mess with her and her life a little?"
"Don't ruin her. Here's a little tip. She takes meticulous care of her hair. Her shampoo must be expensive. It would be a shame if someone were to add a bunch of purple food coloring to it." Ocean grinned. What have I unleashed upon Yang? Something not my problem.
"Everyone's got it?" A round of nods went through the room. "Great. Oh, and Cesium, you mentioned that you got some enemies in the slums, right? Get me a list and I can handle some of them. The reward this time." Cesium nodded with a grin.
Bella clapped her hands. "And now… has everyone been practicing their aura sensing?"
"Of course." Kerrigan said
"I've tried." Cesium said.
"When I can. I haven't made much progress though." Ocean muttered despondently.
"Huh… well we're going to be learning all the secret routes around signal today. To help move around easily and unseen. I'm going to show you how to bypass the emergency alarms too. Let's go!"
[|||| == ||||]
"Roman."
"GAH! Why is everybody sneaking up on me?! … Well hi bosslady. Have a nice trip?"
"Somewhat. Mostly no though."
"Ah. A shame. If it's any consolation Neo and I were kind of bored here so you weren't the only one suffering."
"Fine. I'll clear out a gang for you. That should alleviate some of your boredom."
"Alright. We've only got like seven small gangs left anyways. Them and the AK gang. Robo-nerds… anyways, we've got Vale in ou-your. Your pocket. Or Mystic's…"
"I have a person for you to find."
"Oh?"
"Her name is Dianthus Null. She stays in Atlas. Find her."
"I'll get on it."
"I expect results by July."
"I can do that. I have some buddies in Atlas that know the going ons. Can I contract the Granite family too?"
"Yes. I'm going to eliminate the blooded grimm gang."
"I'll send in some guys to sweep the emo gang in an hour."
"… Hmph. It's good to be back."
[|||| == ||||]
"Roman." I called, dressed as Mystic. "What's the issue?" Roman spun in his chair with a smile.
"Hi boss. This came for your kid." He tossed a letter towards me that I caught. I flipped it to the front and my eyes widened.
To Abyss Mavros - From Pyrrha and Leonidas Nikos
"Oh Roman you beautiful bastard." He looked fake offended.
"My mother was married mind you." I chuckled at that. This is going to be a good day.
AN: That is the ending segment… or close enough to one for me anyways. Perhaps I'm getting a little lazy with them.
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