[||||=LEVEL 44= ||||]
It was odd, really. I never quite expected… this.
"You're a maiden," I said with a neutral expression. What had changed? Had I done something? I hadn't thought that Cinder might actually become a full maiden for some reason. She hadn't changed that…
Oh. Ember Fall. I don't recall Cinder ever saying she had a sister in the show but she never mentioned one either. I'm not sure whether Ember is native to this world. I'm evidence enough that this world is different than the show portrayed it as.
Cinder's smirk grew slightly, as though hearing it from another's mouth made it more satisfying. "Yes." She savored the word, like it was delicious in her mouth.
"Hm…" I stared at her as I considered this. "How did you kill Amber?"
Her smirk stayed firmly in place. "I ambushed her. Mercury kept her busy whileand I used a technique granted by my mistress to sap her powers."
"The parasite," I noted. She didn't seem surprised at all that I knew of it.
'Yes," she said easily. "It is necessary to use the parasite to take the powers. Killing them is somewhat safer but less assured."
I nodded understandingly. I wonder what changed to make her kill Amber more easily? Curious… but not entirely terrible. Cinder being the fall maiden was a game changer. Ozpin only had one maiden now…
Wait… would he bring her to Beacon or squirrel her away? Should he bring her to Beacon the third season could be reenacted in a way with Cinder stealing her second maidenhood through the parasite. I wonder what she has planned after?
Should the maiden not come to Beacon Cinder would have to track her down. Or maybe this mysterious 'Ember' would do it. Whichever way it goes it isn't my problem. If it becomes my problem, however, I'll likely not have much trouble solving it. I'm not averse to killing Cinder. It's Salem I'm concerned about. Killing Cinder would piss her off immensely and that was quite bad.
"Strange," I muttered. "And what do you have planned now?"
"The original plan is still happening," Cinder said smoothly.
"Good then," I said easily. "And trouble controlling the powers?"
"They try to act on their own sometimes," Cinder admitted. "But they are controllable."
I was slightly relieved that I didn't have to teach remedial mana control again. I wouldn't particularly mind it since I could be harsh with Cinder. She wasn't grieving or anything. Hell, I don't even care if she likes me, though that's no reason to be an ass like Roman would.
"And what of your subordinates?" I asked.
"Mercury was injured. Emerald is fine." I raised an eyebrow. Mercury wasn't injured in the original timeline… I think.
"Anything other than your ambush happen?" I asked.
"A man with a sword showed himself as we were leaving. Amber must have had some sort of emergency beacon she switched on." Qrow then.
"Fine," I sighed. "Just… do your work and play with your powers."
"Is that how they get stronger?" Cinder asked in what I think was amusement. "Playing with them?"
"They get stronger by a few different ways," I said. Cinder knowing how powers get stronger isn't a big deal. We aren't enemies anyways. Her having something like goodwill towards me could be useful. At least taking my word on these matters will be useful. "Meditation is the fastest way for me by myself. For Raven or Ruby it's constant use or training."
"The fastest way alone?" Cinder raised a manicured eyebrow and looked at me.
"With a partner and a runic matrix I devised it gets far easier to raise affinities so long as you have a partner with the affinity at a higher level than you do."
"Oh?" Cinder seemed to want to hear more. The fastest way to power, right, I almost forgot for a moment that she was a power-hungry backstabber.
I looked steadily back into Cinder's eyes. They weren't as brutal as Salem's but there was a fire in them. Not a pleasant one but a hungry and consuming one. How these villains get such interesting eyes is… you know what? I can't talk on that topic. It'd be hypocritical.
"Yes," I said clearly. My tone clearly indicated the end of the topic.
"Hmph." Cinder didn't appear upset at all. "Alright then. You have Beacon to attend tomorrow, correct?" I didn't respond. She knew I did. "Enjoy your night then Abyss."
I teleported and frowned. Cinder using my name felt weird. Like… somewhat like if I were to call Yang 'big-sis'. I could, but I don't. It's out of the norm. The problem is that there's nothing else to call me. Abyss is my name.
I'll just get used to it.
But before that…
"Abyss you're back!"
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Holy shit is that…"
"That's Pyrrha Nikos. You… remember the tournament?"
"I heard she was so disappointed by what she considered a draw that she retreated to train alone for years."
"I heard she decided she wasn't worthy of Mistral, having lost, and left."
"What do you think she's doing here?"
"To become a huntress, maybe?"
"Well this is Beacon. So probably."
"…"
"…"
"That's Abyss Mavros."
"Uh-huh."
"Holy shit."
"Uh-huh."
[|||| =+= ||||]
"You have everything you need?" I asked to make absolutely sure. "Absolutely everything and I mean everything you need? Not too much or too little?"
"Yup!" Ruby said cheerfully. She glanced once more at the runes on her skin and flicked them on and off once more, seeing them fade and appear on her skin. She had asked for them to be a sort of pinkish color and found some nail polish for reference. I got some tattoo ink in that color and just did it.
I think doing hers in pink made her a little special but then again her runes were a little special. She was like Raven and me. Her runes didn't need a power source since she was the power source.
"You don't want that poster?" I pointed at her wall, where a poster for something called the Achieve Men sat.
"Nope!" she said in the same tone as before. She made a little flame in her right palm and made it shaped to a little serpent. It twisted and turned around her palm. With a happy gleam in her eyes she watched the ice dust from the dust system get melded with the fire serpent, making it burn blue and cold. A huge grin went over her face at the frostfire. She never really got that spell quite down. With the dust system she could do it effortlessly and with a far greater control and power than before.
"Fine," I said with a shrug. "You know how to do it, right?" I referred, of course, to her new link to my soul space. A tiny tattoo that was on the back of her hands with tendrils down to her index fingers and thumbs. She just had to touch something with either fingers or the backs of her hands and channel aura or mana.
With a small giggle of giddiness Ruby poked her suitcase, packed full of clothes and knickknacks, and it popped away. She laughed at the disappearance as her runes faded to be hidden from view once more.
"Woohoo!" she cheered, "I don't have to wear gloves anymore!"
"Like that's even a big deal," I muttered.
"It's a huge deal!" Ruby insisted.
"Not even," I denied. It was no big deal to wear a glove in exchange for a near infinite spatial inventory. I swear I cater to her too much if she can consider that an inconvenience. At least she's not spoiled. Raven made beyond sure of that. Not that Ruby was ever a bratty girl. Well, except for her princess phase. Luckily that was only a month of embarrassment. It was better than her emo phase. Gods that was just beyond embarrassing.
"So we're ready?" I confirmed.
"We have to get the kitchen," she reminded me.
"I already got that." I dismissed. Everything was packed in the house I have in my soul. I had all the food I could ever need and the house was self-sufficient. I had a gas stove and enough gas to keep it going for a year with all burners on high. Ridiculous? I call it being prepared for the possible apocalypse.
"Everything?" she prodded. By everything she meant enough cookie dough to last her rampages.
"Everything," I assured her. We'd still be having school lunches and breakfasts but we might have dinners in the team rooms. It wasn't against any rules and it'd be a good team bonding exercise. Eating together brings comradery of a sort, right?
"Then we're ready… right?" Ruby glanced around one more time, as though she had anything left in her room she might need to take.
"We're missing one thing. She's loud and flirtatious and takes up the whole room."
"Oh!" Ruby realized. "Right. Let's grab Yang and get going." Then her eyes lit up.
"Ohmygodwe'regoingtoBeacon!" she squealed. She leapt from her bed and hugged me hard. I took it in stride and opened the portal. Ruby kept hugging me even as I stepped through my portal to see Yang mostly packed putting on some makeup. Not something big but just some stuff to accent her eyes and face.
And her breasts because she's just like that.
Yang glanced at me and Ruby before grinning and seeing what was going on. "Family hug?" she asked. I rolled my eyes.
"You tell me."
Yang got up and slid over to Ruby, hugging her hard. "Welcome back to Vale, little bro," she said fondly.
"Yang!" Ruby said excitedly. "We're finally going to Beacon!"
"I know!" Yang said, mimicking Ruby's enthusiasm. "Who do you think will be your partner?"
"A totally awesome girl I can be bestest buddies with who gets me!" Ruby's eyes went a little sparkly as she fantasized about her dream partner. "We'll go on rollercoasters and be awesome besties who hug all the time and kick bad guy butt!"
I ignored the fact that Roman Torchwick was a bad guy. THE bad guy, in fact. And that he had met Ruby a few times before. He didn't like her but Ruby thought he was funny with his uncomfortableness in trying not to insult her. I don't think she realized how much she annoyed him.
"Totally!" Yang agreed, getting really into the mood. A large grin went over her face. "I'm going with whatever comes but I'm hoping for somebody who can party!"
"Because you're so lacking in parties," I said with another eyeroll.
"Well… actually, yeah," Yang admitted. Both Ruby and I looked at her in surprise as we separated from the group-hug. "Kerrigan is… well he's a really good boyfriend. I didn't think he'd be so attentive. Normally the guys I go out with are just in it for the thrills, which is fine by me but Kerrigan is really attentive and surprisingly good at parties. I just have to get him out of his shell."
I nodded. As if Kerrigan had a shell. The man was made of stone. He was attentive, perceptive, and clever, but a party animal? Not quite. Not at all, I mean. He could definitely fit in with how socially adept he is but a natural partier he is not.
I had checked in on Cesium and the gang and they seemed fine. Cesium was working a little better with Roman and sort of working with Cinder. He had met her and knew her at least. Ocean had scouted out the White Fang base in Forever Fall, where Adam Taurus was. Kerrigan had been proactive and poked around to learn a little about what he and Ocean were both doing. He learned a little of how to do both their jobs.
Roman and Cinder had worked something out. Mostly Cinder manipulating Roman according to Raven but that's fine.
Raven had taken some of my snark about getting lax seriously and trained a little. Her skills were as sharp as ever and her continuous practice of magic made her only stronger.
Other than my side and my machinations Bella's wedding planning was going steady. Qrow was drinking less, apparently. Not that he wasn't a complete drunkard still but he was less intense in his drunkenness.
I'm more curious about whether or not they'll get a honeymoon. With Salem getting active again and myself shaking things up I think they'll have to put it off for a little while. Or maybe spend a week or a month in Vale off just doing as they pleased. It's inconsequential to me in any case. They'll figure it out.
"You ready to make a portal?" Ruby asked. I blinked and effortlessly made one to Beacon.
"Not there!" Ruby said in an offended tone. Oh no. "We're going to ride the ships! Everyone rides the airships!"
"Why?" I asked. It was nearly rhetorical. A look in Ruby's eyes told me everything I needed to know. She had prepared to convince me of this for a while now. She might pull out the puppy eyes if I resist. "Nevermind." I waved my hand once more and a new portal opened a block away from the airship docks. I remembered the location since I'd been there a few times for gang related matters and the pamphlets Beacon gives to every initiate say the location.
"Now if you'll excuse me…" I stepped to my Beacon portal but was pulled back before I could get through. My eyes widened a little. That's Yang's hand. It's bigger than Ruby's. Did they plan this?!
Yang was taller than me and effortlessly pulled me into the air and through the portal to the docks. Oh no.
I looked to Ruby only to see her pushing mana and aura into the portal. THe delicate construct of mana was destabilized and collapsed at the instability, winking out of existence.
Yang looked incredibly smug. Ruby held up her hand and they high-fived. Dust dammit they did plan this.
"Come on!" Ruby said, ignoring how they had kidnapped me. She grabbed my arm and pulled me upwards, which I grudgingly allowed. They had planned this whole thing out. I might as well play along. I'd just take a nap if I got to Beacon early, after all. I might meet Pyrrha or Weiss or so on if I got on the ship.
Oh. That's why Ruby and Yang are taking the airship. To socialize. Right. I forget that I need to do that sometimes.
"Whoa that's a pretty big ship," Ruby said in fascination. I looked over the carrier vessel critically. It was cheap and mass-produced but it did look pretty sleek, as almost all of Remnant's crafts did, and it was larger than most buildings. You could fit most of the student body on it with ease, but I'd bet it could carry over five hundred if it really had to. As it was there were three of the ships, all of which had students just beginning to funnel into them.
"Which one do we get on?" Yang asked concernedly.
"Any of them," I replied. "The pamphlet was pretty clear on that. Any student can get on any of the ships. They're not particularly stressed over protocol when it comes to transport."
"Oh." Ruby paused for a moment. "Which one's Pyrrha on?" She asked me, looking with the beginnings of her dreaded puppy eyes. She wasn't using them full blast yet.
I could, of course, easily tell that Pyrrha was on the leftmost ship, the one least full. I could sense her aura passively but if I wanted to be sure I could sense through space with my affinity or use mage sight, the most foolproof method.
Not that I was telling Ruby this. She dragged me here. She can figure it out for herself.
"You can figure it out," I said casually, ignoring Yang's eye roll at my petulance.
"The left one then!" Ruby declared.
"How-" I immediately shut my mouth as Ruby grinned victoriously. Cheeky brat… that was textbook stuff, using my expressions. I should really be more guarded when she's manipulative like this.
Ruby grabbed me once more, as if I'm going to run off like this. She got me here fairly I can get out of it fairly. Teleporting away would be rude.
I'm also not really upset about seeing Pyrrha again. She's nice and I want to see how she's changed. I can already sense that her affinity for magnetism has grown quite a lot and her aura is far more controlled now. Does she still use her weapons or does she rely on her semblance more now? Does she use it subtly like she did in the show? How much has she learned?
I guess we're going to meet her soon.
Nobody quite noticed us when we got on the ship. I may be famous, but less so than I was as Mystic Mavros. Besides, Yang drew the eye far more than I did.
Ruby kept her eyes vigilant for Pyrrha. I saw her easily and nearly laughed when Ruby's eyes went over her several times. Pyrrha looked different to an insane degree.
First of all she REALLY didn't stand out. She wore slightly muted red colors, firstly. They weren't the striking and vibrant colors worn by a lot of huntsmen nowadays. Leaning against the airship walls like she was she was well hidden. She also had darker skin than before, likely from getting tanned on the road. It blended her in with the walls nicely.
Her armor was interesting. Extremely so. I don't know what exactly it was. Some sort of metallic weave of cloth and metal that was flexible enough to appear like regular cloth. My most useless affinity, being the metal affinity, whispered of its properties. It was harder than high grade steel and about an inch thick, better than most armors. This made it extremely heavy, however. How she was lifting it…
Oh right. Semblance.
The actual clothing was practical but didn't stand out either. It looked like a long sleeved shirt under a light jacket with leggings at its base, all somewhat plain with the flashiest thing on her being the red on her clothing. Not that that really made her stand out at all amongst all the bright and colorful clothing on every huntsman and huntress in sight. She looked like a civilian at first glance until you noticed some small things.
Her jacket's left and right sides were heavier than they should be. Odd but not unwarranted. She kept a dagger in the left side's inner pocket and more interesting things in her right pocket.
Iron sand.
Or I think it's iron. It's certainly something metallic and fine-grained. I'd bet she can use it quite creatively.
Even with two spare weapons, well, one spare and one more flexible weapon, her old weapons remained in good repair and mounted at her sides rather than the back-sling she seemed so fond of before. Upon a closer look I saw that they had been designed to be foldable in half to be convenient. They were partially hidden under her jacket.
Overall she looked a lot like a huntsman dressed to blend in or kick ass. It was impressive, really. I wonder if she has a more combative outfit? Possibly. This seems like practical wear more than combat wear. If she had armor somewhere I wouldn't be surprised.
She was also looking right at me. Did I mention that? No I don't think I did.
I smiled at her and she smiled back.
Socializing completed. Now I'm going to go meditate a little until the ship lands.
"Hi guys!" Pyrrha said, suddenly right next to us.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby exclaimed. She leapt forwards and hugged her easily. Pyrrha was a little awkward at first but seemed to put it past her.
"Hello Ruby," she said cheerfully. "You got in?"
"Mmhm!" Ruby acknowledged with a grin. "I got in early. It took a ton of work but it could have been worse."
Pyrrha looked a little confused. "I thought Beacon didn't allow underaged students. They've never done that before."
"They made an exception for me because of a few reasons," Ruby said, a little more sheepish now.
"Huh. Alright then." I raised an eyebrow at Pyrrha. She just… accepted that? I mean, it's kind of a big deal to some people. Huh. Okay then. I guess she learned to just roll with it during her time spent travelling. I wonder what stories she's got to tell. I seem to be wondering a lot from her now. We'll have to catch up later.
"Hi! I'm Yang. Ruby's sister." Yang stepped in, extending a hand to shake with Pyrrha. She didn't even blink. She easily shook her hand with a smile on her face. I guess she had a lot of experience meeting new people.
"Nice to meet you," Pyrrha said with the same cheer as before. She looked over all of us. "What sort of teams are you all hoping to get?"
"The best buddy ever!" Ruby cheered.
"People who can party," Yang grinned.
"People who I can work with. A high bar," I said smoothly. I was hoping for people who won't mind me doing my own thing sometimes. To just cast my net wide, however, being able to work with me was a good goal to set.
"I'm hoping for somebody who can push me." Pyrrha's old fire got in her eyes again. I felt a reassurance at that. She still had her fire to be better than before. That she'd gone years and still had that was something I could barely help but smile at. As it was I think Pyrrha and my sisters noticed my slight glee.
In response Pyrrha cracked a grin. She seemed better now. More free. More expressive. Less meek. I liked her, though I hope she's still reserved. I don't need another Yang, though I don't think it'll come to that.
"So what have you been up to the last few years?" Pyrrha asked, her eyes clearly interested. Since she never quite finished Sanctum I'm not surprised that she's curious.
"Well…" Yang started. We all looked to her. "Abyss got the school under his thumb completely and fully after he made a school mafia that doubled as a spy organization,-"
"Allegedly," I interrupted.
"Ruby scared our replacement weaponsmith for third year so bad he peed his pants before she replaced him in all but name throughout fourth year,"
Ruby's eyes got angry, a rare look for her. "That faker didn't know an iron alloy from a steel alloy if they were labelled!" she spat. Pyrrha looked a little surprised she could even be so angry.
"We got occupied by the White Fang,-" Yang wore a full blown smirk by now.
"Blake does NOT count as White Fang occupation," I said with irritation. Yang and Blake didn't even know each other. Yang just heard Blake was White Fang on the down-low and after I confirmed it she used it as joke material.
"And our uncle got hitched!" Yang grinned from ear to ear and Pyrrha just stood there in stunned silence.
"Um, really?" she squeaked out. The three of us glanced between each other for a moment before coming to a collective answer.
"Well yes," I admitted. "Allegedly I mean."
"But Yang's leaving out some serious details there. There were a lot of events leading up to my frustrations with Mister Ferric, the weaponsmith," Ruby said.
"So pretty much true on all accounts but at face value it seems a lot more impressive." Yang summarized. "The White Fang thing was a stupid rumor that was kind of funny so it spread around, for example."
"Oh." Pyrrha seemed a little taken aback still. "I killed a leviathan. Want to hear about it?"
We were all silent. "You mean one of those super huge ocean grimm?" Yang said questioningly. Pyrrha nodded. I refrained from saying how many of those I had killed. They were really quite easy to kill even without purity affinity or my silver eyes/essence.
"I wanna hear about it!" Ruby said excitedly. I recalled that she had actually killed one herself. She just removed rose eclipse's limiters and shot it to hell and back. I think she might be able to handle one with just her magic by now though. Her purity affinity was up to par at least.
Pyrrha smiled a little relievedly. I think she was getting self-conscious and blanking on her stories.
Just as she opened her mouth the doors to the outside opened and she had to close them. She smiled at us reassuringly. "I'll tell you guys later. I think we share a communal bedroom."
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Are those runes?!"
"WHAT?! Uh, no-wait, what?! Uhhhh!"
"Ohmygosh! They're totally runes! Hold on that's… Oooh that's really cool. It kind of looks like… oh, um…"
"Ruby what are runes?"
"Who are you people?! Oh, are you with the wizard?"
"What the…"
"It's, um, it's a game thing, Yang! A, uh, nerdy game thing! Like a secret call-sign that people do on… weapons."
"Oh. Weird."
"She's not… um, yeah. Did you get to the part where you meet the wizard?"
"Uhm, yeah. But I play as a maiden."
"WHAT?!"
"What's so… you know what you two can talk about your nerdy game stuff. I'm gonna go talk with Adrian. He waved to me back there and I need to catch up with him anyways."
"I don't know who Adrian is but okay! Bye Yang!"
"I'll meet you back with little bro!"
"Okay!"
"…"
"…"
"So-"
Should-"
"…"
"Right. I'm just going to speak then. My name's Ruby. I'm, um… you know about magic?"
"Um, yeah. My family works for Ozpin. We have a sort of ancestry thing and… well I'm not really supposed to talk about it. You said you're a maiden, right?"
"Yup! I'm the winter maiden and I can totally say that to whomever I feel like saying it to."
"So you work for Ozpin?"
"N-no. Not really."
"Oh are you like Amber then?"
"Who?"
"Nevermind…"
"Right, anyways, no I don't work for Ozpin. I'm sort of like… well it's complicated."
"All the magic stuff is. Wait! You said you know about runes?"
"Not as much as my brother but yeah I'm pretty good with them. I know the basics at least. I couldn't make any good matrices but I could at least read the basics of what one does."
"Cool! Here."
"Ooooh… this is a pretty good-holy cookies this is a good sword!"
"It was a… a gift. It's called-"
"Blanc Lumiere, yeah, it's stenciled right there."
"Oh, uh, yeah."
"Huh. It seems kind of basic. Just sharpening, durability, some kind of tricky weight stuff, and an elemental sheathe."
"Elemental sheathe?"
"Like it gets sheathed in fire or-"
"Oh! Yeah, it does that."
"Uh huh. Anyways, it's pretty simple. The weight thing makes the metal weigh more when striking downwards and lighter striking from the sides. When locked with another piece of metal it gets heavier. So it should be helpful when you really want to break somebody's guard."
"Huh. Cool. I mean I kinda already knew all that but… thanks. I was always worried that it could self destruct or shoot lasers or mind control people or something."
"Pfft! Lasers are hard to make. Just use a railgun. They're WAY easier."
"A railgun? What's that?"
"…"
"Oh… oh no. I know that look. What did I say? Wait! Don't walk away! No! Ruby! What did I do?!"
[|||| =+= ||||]
Ozpin's speech was boring. A bit about comradery and the loyalty of teammates. Not exactly surprising. I'm pretty sure he had me in mind when writing it and wanted to impress upon me to trust my team.
I can try at least. I'd rather my team be my team than Ozpin's spies on me. I want a team. Not prison guards.
Finding the communal sleeping room was surprisingly easy. It was only about seven o'clock by the time we all got there. We had the day to tour Beacon's campus and meet the faculty first. School really only starts the day after tomorrow, although tomorrow older students start turning up to watch us puny freshmen attempt to survive in the Emerald Forest where they take casual walks.
Looking around you can see that most Beacon freshmen are pretty puny. Only a few were over a hundred fifty and not too many at all were over two hundred. Ruby and Pyrrha were both around the mid two hundreds I'm proud to say. Observe on Pyrrha didn't tell me all her tricks besides the physical ones, all of which I already knew from looking at her. I'm eager to see what she can do with her semblance when she gets serious.
I spotted some familiar faces. Cardin Winchester was the first one I recognized. He was a big fellow that turned away in disgust and perhaps some small amount of fear when we met eyes. I noticed his potential future posse around him too. Dove, Russel, and nobody number four all in a cluster. I wonder how Beacon will play out this time? I highly doubt team RWBY and so on are going to be a thing.
I'm pretty certain Weiss is around somewhere. Probably touring the campus. I noticed her aura as well as Blake's poking around Beacon. They seemed to meet and stick together. Fine by me.
Pyrrha and I have all been chatting and playing some board games Beacon left around the lunch hall. We could have toured, but I just used mage sight and Pyrrha wasn't all that interested and figured she'd explore later.
Yang had stuck with Ruby a little and went out to see their new school. She didn't know Pyrrha all that well and our catching up left her a little out of the loop.
It took a while until something interesting happened around nine o'clock.
"I'm just saying, it's totally a normal thing to not know what a bullet's caliber means!" I recognize that voice.
"It's not!" A higher, more petulant voice sounded. Ruby.
"Is too!"
"Please, you two, get a room," Yang's voice said. She sounded amused.
"Fine," Ruby said, a pout in her voice. I could hear where they were coming from but I couldn't see them around. Then Ruby said two words that spelled doom.
"Bye Jaune!"
I winced and Pyrrha glanced at me curiously. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Jaune. I know the guy. He's… well it's complicated. I'd rather not talk about it." Pyrrha nodded and let the subject be.
Ruby walked over looking somewhat happy, Yang being not far behind her approaching at a more leisurely pace. "Hey Abyss! There's another magical guy in the school!" Some heads turned our way at the words 'magical guy' but turned away after I swept my eyes over them. Nobody likes to be caught eavesdropping.
"Jaune, you mean?" Ruby nodded. "Right. We can talk about him after initiation. He and I sort of… know each other."
Ruby smiled brilliantly. "Great! That just means more friends!" I actually hid my wince this time. I don't think friends is quite the right word for it. Well, for me at least. He'll be a great friend for Ruby hopefully. I guess I'll have to meet him eventually. I don't care about being Jaune's friend myself but for him to be close enough to Ruby to keep her safer than I could is important. I can't spend time protecting Ruby from people like Cinder. Ruby's far safer with a guardian of sorts. Not that she doesn't completely kick ass herself.
"So what have you guys done?" Yang asked.
"Mostly talked," Pyrrha said with a shrug and a smile. "Neither of us want to give away what we can do for now. It should be a surprise for right now so we can fight seriously."
"You could at least demonstrate your railgun," I sniffed.
"Nope," she denied.
"You have a railgun? Where?" Yang seemed confused. Ruby held back a giggle.
"Yang, Pyrrha is the railgun." Yang took a moment to think about that.
"Semblance?" We all nodded at that and Yang growled.
"I completely got the short end of the stick with my semblance," she growled out.
"True," I acknowledged, "the semblance to throw a temper tantrum is hardly impressive." Yang punched my arm as we all snickered. Well, everyone except her.
"Yeah sure. And manipulating space is so great? Why not time? Too lazy to go the full mile?" Yang shot back. I smirked.
"Speak for yourself. No pyrokinesis?"
"I kind of got the short end too, Yang," Ruby added.
"Not even!" Yang protested, "Just go poof and nobody can touch you! Not to mention that you're faster than I am with Bumblebee!"
"Not invulnerable," Ruby muttered. True. Destroying the flower petals when she was using her semblance made her aura drop. Not by too much but it was still just shy of invulnerability. Not that I could talk. I could literally not exist in space and hurl spells at people.
"How would you make a railgun anyways?" Pyrrha questioned me.
"Secret," I said amusedly. It was just motion mana on an object. Apply a ton of force throughout the whole thing and boom. Railgun. Runes also work and I have the Inequalizers should all else fail. Actually, I could make a railgun out of just my affinity for motion easily if I used the Inequalizers. It wasn't like it was particularly mana intensive to make a basic railgun on my own though.
If I wanted to just use space affinity I could make a railgun in function if not principle. I could use warp in the same way I did to make my shockwaves. Pull back the coin through space, let loose, and watch it fly. That's hard to aim and inefficient though. I could also move the position of the space the projectile occupies, moving the object at the same time. I could move the space super fast and the projectile goes flying.
"Fine," Pyrrha sighed, "I'll figure it out during our next fight." I smiled in response. I wonder how long she's waited for our next big fight?
We could wait a few days this time though, unlike our time in Mistral. We had been apart almost four years. Three or four more days weren't a big deal. Besides, we could fight anytime. We could only gain entry to Beacon now.
[|||| =+= ||||]
"…"
"…"
"Hey Pyrrha?"
"Hm?"
"Do you still have a crush on my brother?"
"… Yes."
"Oh. Okay."
"Why do you ask?"
"I can't go to sleep and I'm curious. I'd have thought you got over that and… I dunno… became rivals or something."
"Why would we do that?"
"It just seems like it would be more… I don't think my brother likes you that way, Pyrrha. Sorry."
"I know."
"Huh? But… shouldn't you try to show him how you feel or… I dunno, something other than sit there and be friendly? I'm pretty sure Abyss doesn't even know you like him that way."
"I could. I just… your brother is everything you said he is. He draws people into his life. I don't know if I should get involved in that. I like having my own life. Before it was just shyness. I was thirteen and we were splitting up. Now I've been around a lot. I like having my own life. Doing things I like. Going where I want. Dating Abyss feels… it feels like a commitment. Something that'll be a lot more permanent than just teenage dates. Not that that's bad, but I have that feeling and if I'm still going where I want then maybe Abyss is where I want my final destination to be? I could just be nervous but I don't know."
"Yeah… Abyss hasn't exactly been inactive with dates and stuff, you know?"
"Really?"
"Well sort of. He likes to experiment with dust and… stuff. It's like a hobby but more serious. He and his lab assistant, Vera, did some adult stuff. Still do adult stuff but they don't date. He mentioned another girl he met this summer that he did adult stuff with too."
"I wouldn't just want to do adult stuff. I'd want to date."
"Then you might want to listen to those feelings you have. Dating Abyss isn't permanent but being close to him is."
"Goodnight Ruby. Thank you for talking with me."
"Oh. Okay. Goodnight."
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Is that your armor?" Pyrrha asked curiously. I clicked the strap of my body armor shut and nodded.
"It hasn't changed much," Pyrrha observed.
"Not really," I admitted. I held up the two Inequalizers on my hands. "I got my weapons though. I had the prototypes at the tournament years ago but I only finalized them last year around January. It took a lot of work."
"What do they do?" she asked. I just looked at her. She glanced away. "Right. Secrets and…" She looked back up to me, right into my eyes. "We need to fight."
I cracked a small smile. It was nice to have her back. We do need to do something other than just think about fighting though. I kept adjusting the various straps holding the armor to my body. "And how much has your armor changed? Besides the metal sand." Pyrrha fumbled with the utility belt she had, dropping it and hitting the metal buckle against the locker.
"Um, I, uh, how do you know about that?!" she rushed out. I snickered.
"Remember that I can sense through space? I sensed the grains of iron."
"An alloy of aluminum and manganese," she muttered a little sullenly.
"Right," I continued. "So I sensed them but I'd bet that your skill with your semblance has advanced a lot more than your equipment." Pyrrha nodded in confirmation. Her eyes went misty as she imagined something and she got back to putting on her outfit with more energy.
I was almost done getting suited in my armor, not really rushing, when I heard something horrifying.
"Hey there… Snow goddess."
Oh… oh no.
I couldn't help but slow down a little and pretend to check
"Who are… you know what? Nevermind."
"So you heard about this partner business?"
"It was in the pamphlet."
"I-yeah. Yeah. Right. The pamphlet."
"Ugh."
"So anyways, what are you thinking?"
"No."
"You'll warm up to me."
I turned my attention away from Weiss getting more and more irritated and walked away towards the launching pads we were supposed to meet up at. I briefly heard something crash behind me but decided I was better off knowing what happened. I should probably say hi to Weiss and Blake soon but it's no pressing matter. I'll get to it in my own time.
Pyrrha was after me in just a moment. I don't think she heard the crash. It was probably my faunus hearing that let me hear so well.
"What do you think about initiation?" Pyrrha said absently. I think she said that just to fill the silence we had between us, though it wasn't an uncomfortable one before. Well, not uncomfortable to me anyways.
I almost said 'Ozpin is going to try some stunt to annoy me and further his plans' but I rethought that. I trust Pyrrha, but I don't want to complain to her about things I haven't even broken the ice on with her yet.
"He has a lot of premium students this year," I said thoughtfully. "You, me, Ruby, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao-Long, Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, and I believe there are others. All of them and ourselves are stronger than average by a considerable margin. Didn't he get the last champion of the Mistral tournaments too?" I recall hearing something about that.
"He almost did. Arslan something. There was a large news story over it and some scandal of Arslan playing both sides in exchange for favors. It was a bad show all in all." Pyrrha looked briefly up to the sky, likely considering what her life would have been like if she had been the champion.
"Ah. Nevermind. Well there's a lot of prominent students anyways. Initiation will likely be harder than usual." Pyrrha seemed a little concerned.
"What about the more normal students?"
"He'll have thought of something," I dismissed easily. Ozpin wasn't stupid. Just a bit heavy handed and short sighted sometimes, as well as a moralist.
"Hopefully." Pyrrha still seemed a little concerned. I wonder if she'll try to help other students. I kind of hope not. I've always liked smaller classes of students. Larger crowds get rowdier and less inclined to learn, preferring to talk with their friends. It was that way at Signal.
I looked over the students as we approached the launch pads, marked by small squares of metal engraved with Vale's symbol laid on the ground as well as little paper labels that had everyone's names on them. Presumably they indicate where we are supposed to stand. If it wasn't for observe I'd have thought that they were just markers to stand on rather than launch devices.
The people on the pads were numerous. Seventy two to be precise. Most weren't there yet but a few people were already standing in place, most of which were checking their weapons religiously, talking, or looking over the forest.
A few people I recognized were Cardin's crew and the man himself, Ren and Nora (who looked unchanged from the show), and of course Glynda and Ozpin who were standing near the edge of the cliffs along with a collection of teachers, only some of which I recognized.
I vacantly observed the teachers and just scrolled through their profiles, which didn't take long. Port and Oobleck both knew about Ozpin and Salem, being considered allies of Ozpin's cause. First and foremost, however, they were educators. Especially Oobleck. They were huntsmen, of course, and dedicated to the cause against grimm but their jobs took priority.
Then I observed Glynda Goodwitch. Curiously enough her title had changed. She was 'the real headmaster' now. Heh. I guess that means she's the person who really runs Beacon, huh? But then…
Oh. Oh shit.
Crimson Arc
Title: Forged in blood
Level – 295
HP – 1684.8
AP – 12,288
MP - Locked
STR - 259 (+480%)= 1243.2
VIT - 351 (+480%)= 1684.8
DEX - 283 (+480%)= 1358.4
INT - 221 (+0%)= 221
WIS - 265 (+0%)= 265
LUK - 46 (+0%)= 46
Semblance: Vampiric soul - Upon contact with your aura or body any concentration of life such as blood or essence is absorbed to restore your aura. This primarily applies to aura, grimm essence, or blood of any species. Souls are not applicable to destruction using this semblance.
Perks:
Arc lineage (female) - As a female of the Arc clan you have no inherent abilities other than a slightly larger aura pool than most. However, should a male soul of direct genetic relation to you be a male they will inherit the full brunt of the power of the Arc clan.
-20% increased aura capacity
Bio: [Blocked]
Yeah… I might have made some butterfly effects here. Just me guessing here but something tells me she's the new combat instructor. This stinks of Ozpin's meddling.
I hadn't expected this Crimson to be an Arc from her red hair. How interesting. I recall that she's the eldest of the Arc siblings from my use of observe years ago. She'll be interesting to watch.
Although I'm really starting to wonder how the bios keep getting blocked. I'm pretty sure it's an easy trick that Ozpin and Salem can do. Ophis mentioned that my use of Observe was trying to read her origin and fate when I first used it on her. I guess all you have to do is shroud your origin and fate to block the skill.
I ignored the divergence from canon and looked over the city with the others absently. Nobody talked to me, seemingly content to wait the last few minutes until the rest of the students arrived. It shouldn't take long, really.
I was proven right a few minutes later. Ruby and Jaune arrived first. I hadn't really paid much attention to Jaune before but he looked almost like a huntsman.
If you ignored the hoodie under the white and gold plate and chain mail that is.
Dust dammit Jaune…
All in all he looked decent. Over what was honestly just a hoodie and blue jeans he had a layer of chainmail made of a white metal that conducted aura pretty well, though not as well as moribus, called kellis. An interesting metal that I have a stockpile of in my soul space. I never used it since I had better options for forging, though kellis was apparently far more economically viable compared to the better metals.
Over the chainmail was plate mail much like what he wore in the show. This time, however, he had the full set minus a helmet. Greaves, vambraces, pauldrons, and rerebrace. He had on some unorthodox knee and elbow guards more like what you'd see on a skater. An interesting addition to his armor set.
Rather than just Blanc Lumiere (which I felt some happiness that he kept and apparently used) he also had a shotgun at his side that had basic mechashift to fold for maneuverability.
All in all it was an efficient setup. He clearly was going to have to rely on his allies for long range attacks. I couldn't see him fighting nevermores anytime soon. Hopefully he has the ability to tank hits like a brick wall. I might have high expectations but I gave him some serious power. My tattoos weren't for people who would squander them.
With my aura sense I could accurately sense his own massive aura. It was almost as large as mine and twice as potent. Not to mention his bullshit semblance and the 50% decrease to semblance use that his bloodline granted him. I observed him to check in. It had been two years, after all.
Jaune Arc
Title: Forced hero
Level – 239
HP – 23,512.5
AP – 184,800
MP - Innate
STR - 261 (x2)(+375%)= 2479.5
VIT - 298 (x1.5)(x2)(+390%)= 4380.6
DEX - 186 (x2)(+370%)= 1748.4
INT - 135 = 135
WIS - (x2)231 = 462
LUK - 64 = 64
Semblance: Amplification - Aura, mana, and all targeted supernatural abilities are enhanced by a factor based on your willpower, emotional closeness, and the strength of your soul. Abilities enhanced are always increased by minimum of a factor of two. Transfers of aura between you and another are efficient with no loss of aura whatsoever.
Affinities: [LOCKED]
Perks:
Arc lineage (Male)- As a male of the Arc clan you have awoken abilities inherent to you due to your magical lineage through the awakening of your soul. The mana in your bloodline has manifested into a guardian of your soul, as has been true of all Arcs. Should one consume your soul they will gain your powers. Guard thyself well kinsman.
-10x maximum aura capacity and regen
-2x potency of your aura
-x2 WIS
-1.5x effectiveness of vitality (calculated as a x1.5 bonus)
-30% resistance to magical effects of all sorts. Some magical effects may be completely negated
- Aura based semblance
-50% cheaper semblance to use
-Innate mana
Bodily runic matrix (3 layered) - A master of runes has inscribed upon your body a matrix of three parts. The effects are:
-+40% VIT from enhanced bones and organs
-+25% enhanced STR from enhanced muscles and bones
-+20% DEX from enhanced eyesight and sensory organs
-+1% HP per every 3 seconds
-Within your runic matrix you may store (3,947,274/4,000,000) units of aura
-With a strong mental image and focus you may project an illusion upon yourself changing your appearance and hiding your full tattoo. However, the marking on your right hand may never be under an illusion.
-The runic matrix and stored aura can be shut off by the command of the creator of this mark, Abyss Mavros.
-Empathetic link to the creator of this tattoo, Abyss Mavros, that alerts the creator of extreme danger to the possessor of this tattoo based on the possessor's judgement.
-Acts as a teleport marker for the creator of this tattoo, Abyss Mavros.
Well… shit. He's about what I remember. Pure distilled hero bullshit. His aura is way bigger than mine now. Easily a hundred times a Signal student's aura, although I recall that Ozpin's aura is equally ridiculous in size.
Warily I watched Jaune move several plates away from me as he chatted with Ruby about combat clothing.
He's caught up with me in a way. My magic utterly trumps him in its versatility and use. The thirty percent magic negation of his won't stop the space around him from freezing, for example. I can beat him but it's more due to skill than overwhelming power - wait.
His two times aura potency boost acts on aura amplification.
Nevermind. He's just plain stupidly powerful. I can beat him or at least hold him back but I think he and I are the two strongest freshmen now. We rival each other now.
The three things I can count on are skill, magic, and checkpoint skills now. I've had more time to advance than Jaune and my parallels are unfairly good. Jaune's advanced tremendously in power, sure, but he's quite possibly lacking in skill with all the physical training he's done. I'm likely more skilled than him by a wide margin although he's definitely faster, stronger, and far more durable than me due to his aura's potency.
Not that I can't just use void to negate that.
That brings me to magic. It's a massive leg up - wait. Jaune can't fly.
I can fly.
So that's an insta-kill right there. Yeah. He can't really win when I'm sort of cheating like that. There's also my ability for large scale attacks that alter the battlefield. Jaune can't do that. I can change the battlefield to my advantage over him. Uneven landscape and icy ground being two examples.
Then finally there's checkpoint skills. The instinctual skill, which I gained at two hundred fifty points in DEX, gives me near precognition, for example, and prediction, the INT checkpoint skill lets me easily read Jaune and avoid him in advance, though that skill is less reflexive to use than instinctual. Still, those two alone would let me avoid Jaune's superior physical statistics pretty easily.
Yeah. I can beat Jaune.
Just on time the last students arrived and Ozpin stepped forwards, raising a hand to silence us, which we all did quickly.
"I hope you all had a restful night's sleep, as you will certainly be needing it today," he began. "Today, as I'm sure you all know, is initiation. This event and it's happenings will determine your future at Beacon, or it's lack thereof."
Ozpin's eyes drew over us all, making eye contact where possible. It was supposed to be intimidating, I think. I noticed that a few of the others did seem slightly unnerved by it.
"I'm sure you have all heard rumors of partners being assigned," Ozpin said. I glanced between him and Glynda. Hadn't she said this portion of the introduction in the show? Hm. Butterflies. "Let me put these concerns to rest. Partners will be assigned. Today."
A slight whimper made my eyes flicker to my right, where Ruby was looking nervous. She was quiet enough that nobody else besides one faunus a few plates next to her noticed.
"These partners will be with you for the entirety of your time at Beacon, as will your teammates, who will be assigned after initiation. The process of acquiring your partner is determined by the first person you make eye contact with once initiation begins." There was some weak protests and cries but in just a moment they were stopped. Ozpin continued. "Now, as for the initiation itself I'm sure you are curious as to what exactly you will be doing."
A very slight twitch of Ozpin's lips had me on edge. Without any nervousness the Arc, Crimson, stepped forwards.
"The initiation will take place in the Emerald Forest, the forest located directly behind us," she began cooly. "Five miles east of here are ruins of an old civilization. A pedestal and a former cliffside structure. Ten miles east are what you will be heading to. An old temple and tomb. Within the tomb are numerous grimm and close quarters combat opportunities. Do not disrupt the ruin's foundations or you may find it collapsing on you."
A temple? How interesting. So the initiation has changed.
Crimson continued on. "Also in the temple are what we have designated as relics. You will know them when you see them. Collect them and return to Beacon's cliffs to finish initiation, where teams will be assigned." Crimson stepped back, allowing Ozpin the front and center of attention.
"You will be launched into the forest now," he said plainly. "Good luck." He glanced in my direction. "Oh, and Mister Mavros." Everybody looked towards me. "I left a specific item for you. You will know what it is when you enter the temple. Enjoy the far more difficult initiation. You are barred, by the way, from acquiring the normal relics."
Some people looked at me with envy or anger, assuming I was the headmaster's favorite or something. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a pain in my ass rather than a fun freebie gift.
At least nobody I knew seemed too annoyed by me getting different treatment. Weiss and Blake seemed surprised to see me. Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha seemed nonplussed. Well, they all looked excited and a little nervous in Ruby's case but not particularly affected by my treatment.
Jaune seemed curious about me, which was something I did not want to deal with.
I'd prefer that some of the angry and envious looks went away. Since Ozpin got me into this he'll have to deal with the fallout. I'd like a small social life at least. Making another sort of spy network to do all my work for me seems like a pain.
"Ass," I said to Ozpin. He shrugged while people looked at me incredulously. Minus Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha once more. Had I really just called the headmaster an ass? Yes. Yes I did.
Hopefully that stops people from assuming I got some sort of sweet deal. My assumption of Ozpin's actions being bad towards me will likely make people lean towards assuming the same as they don't really know the specifics of our relationship.
With a sharp twang of the launch pad activating the first person at the end of the row on my left went flying. I watched in some amusement as people tried various strategies for flight. Some people went flying through the air in a superman pose, some in a cannonball pose, and some more flailing randomly.
When the plate got to me I just kept my body tense as I flew through the air. The ground was firmly in my sights all the time. Just to speed some things up I used motion and air affinity to push me along faster than I would normally go. If people question it I can just use an excuse of weakening space. I mean, I can technically fly through space manipulation in the same way I lift objects, just moving the space I occupy.
Or teleport. I could actually just teleport to the temple, which I'm pretty sure I see far in the distance over a clearing with a small semicircular structure in it. But teleporting would ruin my chances of getting a partner.
As I was looking closely at the temple I glanced downwards when I heard a loud crash. There was a large hole in the treeline close to where I was landing.
I didn't get to look any longer as the treeline got closer and closer. I used some nature affinity to part the treetops and slowed myself with motion affinity. I smoothly fell into a run, keeping my momentum.
Wait, is that-
A sharp pain in my forehead and a clang was a clear indicator that I ran into somebody. Who the hell hid their aura that well?! For a moment I recalled the memory of the last few moments and noticed that the person wasn't actually hiding their aura. I was just too focused on not causing a crater and didn't notice their aura, which was suppressed but not completely.
Opening my eyes my vision was mostly clear. Perks of my high vitality.
A deep blue met my own eyes. Suddenly they filled with immense rage.
I know that blue.
He clearly recognized the silvery color of my own eyes as well. I should have realized that my eyes would leave a mark. They were one of the only things he could see last time, after all.
"VILLAAIIIINNN!" Jaune, because of course my partner would be Jaune of all people, unsheathed his sword and charged at me.
Somehow this is Ozpin's fault.
----------------------------------------------------------
If like it please drop some POWER STONES