Discimer: I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but just in case; This story’s MC is definitely Jaune Arc. Please bear that in mind when Jaune gets all the “interesting” shit happening to him instead of poor lil Rubes. Or team RWBY for that matter. Oh, and the OC tag? That’s for all kinds of OCs I will be adding to the story. Some of them are from different media. Some of them are of my own design.
Finished Volume 2. It was good, though I feel like they are trying too hard with the comedy. Oobleck is awesome and Weiss is my favorite characters. Pyrrha is not bad either though her VA is mediocre at best. Also, why the heck does Ruby run so much when she has a super speed Sembnce? Does it have a cooldown or limitations? Serious question as the wiki doesn’t expin and I need to know before I get to her character.
I think I need to point this out:
“Regur Speech”
“Aura Empowered or announcements Speech”
“Low tone/Whispers speech”
‘Regur thoughts’
‘Determined thoughts (or something like that)’
‘Jaune speaking to Crystal’
Edited by: Gdiusx. Check out his awesome works on Harry Potter and ASOIAF.
Jaune knew he could not afford to dawdle, especially with his weakened stats. He already noticed how much slower he was and how all his muscles were protesting any movement. It’s why he didn’t even think of fighting that behemoth head-on. He turned straight to the left from the tunnel, keeping the gigantic moon rock on his shield arm, and charged towards the nearest Grimm.
He was about to use his Aura to reinforce himself when something within him grabbed his attention. Time seemed to stop as he felt that elusive thread he found yesterday within him, connected to his Aura. His Sembnce, the one that saved his life yesterday. One that sought redemption for hesitating to help him. Now, it demanded to be used.
Instinctively, Jaune knew exactly what he needed to do. He activated his Sembnce, consuming 20% of his Aura reserves, bringing it down to 7%, but in return, it increased his stats exponentially. A lot more than his primitive way of Aura reinforcing could ever be capable of doing. Simple Aura reinforcement could, at the very most, increase his stats by half due to his less than stelr Aura control. What he felt from his Sembnce, on the other hand, was absolutely insane. He instinctively knew he had 600% of stat allocations to distribute between his six main stats.
INT is unneeded so it will remain the same. Knowing that speed will be of the essence, Jaune directed his sembnce to boost his AGL above all other stats. It might not be the wisest decision, but Jaune needed to be decisive and work with it regardless. With a quick thought, he observed his increased stats.
Aura Points: 700/10,000 (200/hr) (DEBUFF to 100/hr)
Strength (STR): 60—>120/81 (+100%)
Vitality (VIT): 73—>146/98 (+100%)
Dexterity (DEX): 63—>95/85 (+50%)
Agility (AGL): 47—>165/62 (+250%)
Perception (PER): 31—>62/42 (+100%)
It didn’t take more than a second for Jaune to process the stat increases, and he felt all his exhaustion evaporate. His muscles felt rejuvenated and bulged up considerably. His breathing settled and his nerve endings and synapses felt like they were on fire. He instinctively knew that this power-up would only st him for twenty minutes. Hopefully, enough to decimate the Grimm forces. He only needed to be careful and not lose focus because he was positive that afterward, his body would pay a heavy price.
Jaune took the first step after the power-up and completely overshot his destination, bowling over a dozen Creeps with how fast and powerful his leap was. Thankfully, he had his shield in front of him which absorbed most of the damage. Immediately, Jaune began hacking through the downed Creeps, his increased strength combined with Crocea Mors more than enough to slice through their armor like paper. It didn’t take him long to gain better control over his speed and strength. Currently, his stats were a bit higher than his maximum from before Crystal drained him except for his AGL. He’s confident he never broke the 100 stat limit for his AGL before.
After clearing the way, Jaune gnced behind him to see Ugur the Drake had charged right behind him, getting in the way of the other Grimm. Jaune turned back forward, confident that he could outrun the Drake if it caught up with him and navigated his way around the moon rock. Jaune was tempted to grab some of the Dust Crystals lying on the ground, but his low Aura reserves dissuaded him from it. He might need that Aura ter on, and as he harshly learned, unrefined Dust is incredibly votile. Not to mention, his experience in channeling Dust is limited to household items. He trusted in Crocea Mors being deadly enough to slice cleanly through his foes, though he will have to avoid using any of his Crescent Waves. Still, he kept a close eye for a specific Dust Crystal that would be vital for his pn.
‘Ugur the Drake was livid. How dare that puny human ignore his august presence!’ Is what Jaune imagined the big ugly Grimm thought as it continued charging at his location, crushing the smaller Grimm that blocked its way underfoot. Jaune gave it a cheeky grin as he ran circles around the other Grimm, Crocea Mors living up to its name. A yellow arc of death wherever it went, every slice or cut or stab was fatal, the bde seemingly screaming in a blood fury. Though that could have been Jaune himself. The sheer speed of his movements did not allow Jaune any fancy sword strokes, just simple slices and sshes that reaped a heavy toll on the Grimm. His shield was smashing Creep skulls while his sword cut off Snake heads.
Slice. Bash. Dice. Ssh. Crush. Dodge. Jump. Decapitate. Duck. Disembowel. Kick.
Jaune danced from Creep to Snake, leaving a path of carnage behind him. A rge Creep attempted to headbutt him but Jaune directly kicked its head into its spine. Jaune had never felt so much power before, not even when his grandfather first unlocked his Aura. He continued circling the moon rock, making sure to keep it on his left side to better attack with his sword.
Meanwhile, Ugur the Drake continued chasing after him, creating as much damage or even more than Jaune himself. This game of cat and mouse continued on for a few minutes as Jaune continuously led the Drake in circles around the Moon Rock and through the Grimm hoard. Eventually, Jaune had to abandon the Rock when he found the Drake in front of him instead of behind. He must have run so fast that he caught up to it from behind. There was no option of turning around with hundreds of Grimm chasing him. Jaune noticed that the base of its tail was cking in any armor and was about to attack the Ancient Grimm, when the Drake noticed him and immediately sent its tail careening at him.
Jaune jumped as far as possible to his right; which turned out to be much further than he pnned as he shattered the ground under his feet and flew a dozen meters towards a cluster of Creeps and a few King Taijitus. A quick gnce behind him showed the Drake had fttened at least fifty Creeps that were in his previous position. Jaune had noticed that most of the Creeps were on the younger side given their short stature and soft armor. He suspected the Drake culled any Grimm that reached a certain age. How very… human of it to treat them like cattle. Nevertheless, he shelved those thoughts and focused on his current situation as he continued his Knight’s work against the Grimm.
Until another roar sounded from one of the tunnels, distracting Jaune for a second. That second of distraction was enough for a rge King Taijitu to lunge at Jaune with a bite. It was only his currently insane AGL that allowed Jaune to block the snake’s bite with his shield, only for its other head to lunge at his sword arm. A quick slice split its skull in half, but that allowed the first head to crush the shield under its fangs. It probably would have been capable of at least breaking his arm if not for the combination of his STR and VIT greatly increasing his muscle mass and bone density.
Nevertheless, Jaune had to abandon the shield and couldn’t even finish the bck snake head as more Grimm swarmed him and attempted to pile on him. At the same time, a massive figure burst out of one of the tunnels in the distance, but Jaune couldn’t identify it from so far away and was a bit too busy fighting for his life. He pulled out his sheath yet failed to expand it to shield form. Still, it was tough enough to act as a bludgeoning weapon.
Jaune’s nerves were starting to fray, but instead of fear or anxiety, Jaune felt two dominant emotions as the Grimm relentlessly attacked him. Anger and Hatred. The Drake was fast approaching, and there were too many Grimm around him. Easily over a hundred had begun to swarm and pile on him. Jaune felt a small King Taijitu try to constrict its body around his legs while a dozen Creeps lunged at him at the same time as he twisted his waist to slice as many of them as possible. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Jaune was forced to use an over-powered Crescent Wave to clear a way through the encirclement, dropping his Aura to near nothing due to his awkward control.
All the Grimm that were piling on him nearly disintegrated from the power of the Wave, and Jaune forced his way out to a retively empty spot, surprised by the power of his attack. It seems his increased STR stat also helped amplify his Crescent Wave. Something to take a look at ter on.
Jaune noticed the Drake had stopped chasing him then, presumably pnning a better method of cornering its prey. Only for it to rear its ugly head and vomit a veritable deluge of Acid at him. It was like a gigantic green cloud of liquid death heading towards him fast. Jaune’s eyes widened and looked at the hundreds of Grimm charging towards his position as well. He didn’t think twice. He waited for the very st second as the Grimm approached his position before he jumped as far away as possible as the Acid cloud fell on the Grimm. The screams of the Grimm were horrifying yet oh so satisfying to hear. Jaune rolled on the ground and crashed into a protruding Earth Dust Crystal the size of his torso, dislodging it from the ground. He thanked the moon and the Creator that it didn’t explode in his face as he noted its position.
As Jaune stood up, he could feel his anger and hatred rising again. It was the anger at his weakness that was driving him forward. Anger at not being better prepared. Anger at his recklessness in taking Crystal. Even mispced anger at his parents for some reason that his tired mind couldn’t expin. The hatred, though, was all solely reserved for the monstrosities before him. The more Crocea Mors vanquished his Grimm adversaries, the more hatred Jaune seemed to feel for these wretched creatures. The enemy of mankind. They who attack humanity unprovoked and for no reason. It is because Jaune had been fighting old and more intelligent Grimm for a while that his hatred had reached new heights. For those creatures could clearly understand him, especially that Drake. So, why? Why the hell do they keep attacking him?! Jaune felt Crocea Mors sing in his mind in agreement, how dare these filthy wretches think him prey?
Jaune’s unstable emotional state gave him more strength and resolve to annihite his adversaries. Yet, in the back of his mind, he could vaguely acknowledge that he was attracting more Grimm towards him this way. He just simply didn’t care. The remaining Grimm had continued their mindless advance towards him, even as the Drake sat by in the rear watching. He crushed an advancing Creep with his shielth at the same time he cut a King Taijitu in half, then he flew to the next Grimm. Jaune had turned into a killing machine, created solely to sy the Grimm. His body was starting to feel the ache of his Sembnce, forcing it to fight on and use a power that it was not accustomed to, yet he did not care.
After killing another young Creep, Jaune had to dodge out of the way of a rge charging figure. An Alpha Creep. Before it could recover, Jaune jumped on its back and stabbed it in its brain. Before he could fall to the ground, he used the disintegrating corpse to do a backwards somersault to dodge another Alpha Creep that lunged head first into its dead kin. It turned its head stupidly looking for the human it was trying to kill, only for Jaune to nd on its head and kill it the same way he killed the previous Creep. This confirmed Jaune’s theory of Ugur the Drake culling the older Grimm as these two were the only real Alphas he had to face in the cave so far. Even the King Taijitus were strangely small for the most part, except for the first one he met in the tunnel.
Another stamping sound caught Jaune’s attention. The Drake had begun to move. Jaune looked around and found that he was running out of regur Grimm to kill. It astounded him how he survived nearly a thousand Grimm, let alone defeated a good number of them. It was now time to take out the big baddie himself.
Jaune was about to charge the Drake when a bck slithering figure lunged from within the disintegrating corpse of the many dead Grimm lying around. He agilely dodged the King Taijitu’s bite, the same one from earlier that destroyed his shield, before cutting its remaining head off. He then continued his aborted charge towards the Drake, noticing that there were no more Grimm as far as he could see. The Drake let loose a roar that shook the ground before it charged right at him, extendable tongue hidden for the moment. Jaune had no doubt that it would be unched at him any second. He had a spot in mind for when they will both csh, a spot he had passed by several times now. A spot he literally crashed into earlier. He hoped the Drake would be too focused on him to notice it.
They were 10 meters away when the Drake fired its tongue at him. Jaune’s eyes widened at the insane speed of the attack. Even expecting it, he was still mid-stride and knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it. Jaune blocked the attack with his Shielth, the tongue biting through the metal and getting stuck there, but he could smell its acid drenching it. Rage encompassed him at the potential loss of his faithful Shielth, and Jaune savagely cut off the tongue, which sprayed more acid on his melted Shielth and seeped into his bracers and left arm, but Jaune didn’t care anymore.
He smirked viciously at the Drake’s howl of pain and noticed it was right above where he wanted it. The very same Earth Dust Crystal he crashed into early on. With it dislodged from the main Dust veins, Jaune believed that whatever happened to it would not cause a chain reaction… he hoped. Otherwise, he would probably cause the rgest explosion Remnant had ever witnessed.
“One way or another, this will end with a bang!”
Jaune sprinted like the wind towards the crystal, channeling what remained of his Aura through Crocea Mors and aimed at the crystal. The Drake quickly realized its predicament and attempted to move away, but it was too slow, so it spat its torn tongue at Jaune in desperation. This time though, Jaune saw the attack coming and simply jumped over it. Then he aimed his sword at the distant crystal, the tip of the sword shining gold. The telltale sign of an Aura attack.
Something bright caught Jaune’s attention in his peripheral vision, and he nearly cricked his neck as he turned toward it.
Time seemed to completely stop for Jaune as he finally realized whatever had caused that earlier roar. A yellow stinger was on a direct course to his unprotected right side. A Deathstalker the size of a dump truck had It's very venomous stinger already on its way to him with its owner closer than he thought possible. How did he miss it? His Shielth was no better than iron sludge in his left hand with how deformed it was, so Jaune couldn’t use it to block the attack coming from his right.
Jaune had a choice, his heightened adrenaline and stats seemingly allowing him to completely focus on his current precarious situation. He could abort his attack at the Drake and deflect the stinger instead, but he would never get a simir chance to kill the ancient Grimm. It’s too smart to fall for the same trick twice, and then Jaune would have to fight two dangerous Grimm instead of one.
Or, he could carry on with the attack, thus most assuredly either neutralizing the Drake or at least incapacitating it. He could only hope he was fast enough to bring his sword back to block the stinger.
Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.
.
.
.
‘Was there ever a doubt? When in a shitty position, Arcs FIGHT ON!’
Jaune grinned savagely at the Drake and stabbed Crocea Mors forward, sending a thin but votile line of Aura at the Earth Dust Crystal from distance. Ugur the Drake had barely started to move away when the crystal exploded, releasing a powerful shockwave that obliterated the left hind leg of the Drake along with its tail. It was still alive, as evidenced by its consequent roars of pain, but the Earth Dust had also created a boulder around its bst radius that blocked the Drake’s movement, imprisoning its front left leg and half of its body in solid rock.
None of this mattered to Jaune, though, as he turned as fast as he could toward the stinger. He tried to deflect it, Crocea Mors still shining with Aura residue, but he was too te. By sheer instinct, Jaune focused the dregs of his Aura to where the stinger would strike. It wasn't enough. The stinger had pierced into his stomach, shattering his Aura and injecting its votile venom into his system.
Jaune opened his mouth to let out an anguished cry, but only a choked grunt came out. He instinctively sliced at the stinger, cutting it off, but the damage was already done. The venom was already in his system, coursing through his blood. He barely managed to nd before he ripped the stinger out of his stomach and threw it away. Immediately, blood started flowing freely.
Jaune fought through the pain of the venom to remain standing on his feet. The Drake was still roaring in pain, but it was trapped and not going anywhere. The Deathstalker had retreated and was staring at him warily from distance. Waiting for him to drop before it would attack again. Jaune thanked his lucky stars that it was an old Grimm and thus was more cautious. If it had attacked him right now, he would have been a goner.
Jaune recalled from his studies on Grimm on what he knew about Deathstalkers. Unlike regur scorpions, the bigger they were, the more powerful their venom. Jaune had less than a minute to treat himself before the venom would do irreparable damage. Especially without Aura.
Jaune’s Aura was already broken, but his buffs from his Sembnce were still active for maybe ten more minutes. ‘All that carnage had only sted ten minutes?’ He stabbed his sword and shielth on the ground and fumbled with his bag to get his Medkit. He never had to use it as his earlier injuries were mostly internal as well as simple exhaustion. Now though, he would gdly kiss his past self for listening to his gramps about preparing in case his Aura ever broke, no matter how unlikely such a situation seemed to his arrogant younger self.
Jaune ripped half of his shirt off and examined the puncture wound. It was rge, it was deep, and it was bad. Yet, it could have been much worse if not for his increased stats that blunted the worst of the attack. Thankfully, it didn’t pierce any vital organs nor reach the bones. He opened his kit and quickly brought out alcohol wipes to clean the wound. Then applied a packet of Dust Healing Gel that the salesman swore would seal any wound and stop bleeding in seconds. That same salesman tried to sell him a mix of Morphine and Methamphetamine that probably would have been useful here, but Jaune was no expert, nor did he have the funds for that poison/cure. Instead, Jaune munched on a handful of painkillers, as he noticed the gel completely sealed his wound, which was good else he would have haunted that salesman after he died. Finally, he whipped out an auto-injector of Vitranam’s all-purpose antivenom and quickly used it directly over his heart. Jaune nearly facepalmed at his foolishness, he should have done that first thing, not st!
He’s gonna bme the venom for that pse of concentration. He knew the antivenom wouldn’t completely nullify the powerful venom of the Deathstalker, but it will at least keep him functioning long enough to maybe, hopefully, get out of here and get proper medical attention. Deathstalker venom, despite being near fatal, was retively common enough that it could be treated if he was brought to a hospital fast enough. Jaune closed his Medkit and hooked it back on the carabiner. All of this didn’t take him more than thirty seconds of time before he was ready for combat. Grandpa would be proud.
Even as Jaune treated his wounds, he kept a watchful eye on his two opponents. There were no more Grimm aside from those two, as the Drake had done a good job killing its allies during the battle. Jaune could not afford to let his guard down, though, and continued to gre vicious murder at the Deathstalker, which had started to inch forward. Daring it to attack him. This stalemate could not go on forever as, he was the one on a time limit here. With no Aura, and the venom wreaking havoc on his body, he needed to kill those bastards quickly before his Sembnce ran out in nine minutes.
With that in mind, Jaune grabbed his weapons again and charged at the Deathstalker. He could feel his movements were sluggish, and his vision blurred as blood loss and fatigue started to catch up with him. If that’s how he felt with his Sembnce’s power-up, he shuddered to think how he would feel once he colpsed. Jaune could also feel his stats gradually dropping. It looked like the boost’s time limit wasn’t static. With half the time gone, he guessed that the boosts would start to drop gradually. Something to note for the future… if he survived that is.
Even without its stinger, the Deathstalker was still a dangerous opponent. Very thick armor, a rge body and powerful pincers. He didn’t need “Observe” to know how to defeat it, even if he had the Aura to spare, since it was such a common Grimm compared to the mutant that is the Drake.
The Deathstalker charged Jaune as well, and they met in a csh of sword against pincer. In a test of pure strength, Jaune would lose every time against the giant scorpion, even if he was fresh. Jaune didn’t try for that, and instead aimed for fast yet weaker attacks at the tiny gaps between the chitin armor. But it didn’t do much since he couldn’t channel Aura through Crocea Mors, and the Scorpion had a tough exoskeleton in addition to its armor.
Jaune was getting angry and frustrated at the stalemate he found himself in. Against all the previous Grimm, Crocea Mors alone was enough to kill them due to the weakness of their armor as well as its sharp and unbreakable nature. The Deathstalker was proving to be an asshole to deal with, the more the minutes ticked by. Jaune remained unable to get close to its only visible weak point, the eyes. Whenever he got close, the Grimm would attack him with a pincer or quickly retreat. The damn thing was quicker than its size would suggest.
Jaune was already beginning to feel the strain of his Sembnce, forcing his body to keep going. His muscles ached, and he could barely lift his sword, let alone move. The venom was also causing his breathing to become harder and more erratic. Every second that passed, Jaune could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. Boosting his stats more than their natural limit would naturally strain his body heavily, he realized with a grimace.
“This isn’t working.” Jaune disengaged from the giant scorpion, trying to rethink his strategy, when a triumphant roar sounded out in the distance and grabbed both his and the Deathstalker’s attention. It looked like Ugur the Drake had finally managed to break free of its confines, though it looked heavily wounded. Much of its armor was shattered, and its left front leg looked bent at an odd angle.
Jaune moved to keep both the Drake and the Deathstalker in his line of sight. He hated to admit it, but he was beginning to feel despair settling in. He could feel that he still had five minutes of his Sembnce boosting him. But the exhaustion, both mental and physical, as well as the ck of Aura, was getting to him. The venom complicated things even further. It’s why he did such a risky thing such as injecting himself in the heart instead of a muscle as recommended, yet even that wasn’t enough. Still, Jaune felt confident that he could kill the Drake despite his initial assessment of its danger level. Who would have thought that the greater enemy would be a simple Deathstalker? Even if it was on the rger side and those Grimm are considered to be the most dangerous around.
The Deathstalker in question seemed to understand that it had the advantage in time as it looked at Jaune with its beady little eyes. Ugur was free but unable to move quickly with three legs. Jaune was out of options. He gripped his deformed shielth tightly in frustration.
‘Well, Crystal. It was short, but it was fun while it sted. You never did mention what would happen to you if I die.’
I simply go dormant once again in this world until I reawaken to another worthy user. I would have failed the Creator in my purpose, but that is a punishment I will have to exist with.
But I did not believe that you were the type to give up so easily, Jaune.
Jaune frowned at that. ‘Easily? You call what I’ve endured being easy? I’ve done all I can, there’s nothing more for me to do against my foes. I’m out of Aura, out of strength, out of time. What would you have me do?!’
Have you truly done everything that you could? Have you explored all of your avaible avenues of attack? Your surroundings? The environment and terrain? It is true that you are running out of time, but never did I think that you would be a quitter, Jaune Arc.
Jaune was now scowling angrily. How dare it judge him so harshly when it had witnessed all he had done? Jaune took a deep shuddering breath. Anger won’t serve him here. He thought about Crystal’s words and looked at his surroundings, he was close to one of the tunnels. Very close. He could see the telltale sign of Lightning Dust Crystals on the wall, very simir to that same crystal that gave him so much trouble earlier. There was no way he was going to channel it through his body again, even with his new Lightning Affinity. Still, that gave him an idea.
Jaune checked his status, his Aura was sitting at a measly 9, not even 0.1% of his max, having recovered a bit in the past few minutes. It was nowhere near enough for it to even form the passive shielding that Aura does, let alone charge it for a single attack with his atrocious control. His stats were slowly dwindling, as his Sembnce was still–hang on.
Jaune checked on his Sembnce and sent it a mental inquiry. After receiving a hesitant confirmation, Jaune grinned. ‘You are right, Crystal. It’s not like me to give up so easily.’ Jaune noticed the Grimm twitch at his sudden shift in emotions. He was going to have to be quick before they decided to attack.
Indeed, I have judged you well, Jaune. Are you sure about that avenue of attack, though? There is a significant chance that you will die even if you succeed.
‘I’m gonna die either way if I do nothing. Might as well do everything in my power and beyond to bring my enemies down with me!’
Jaune sprinted towards the Lightning Dust Crystal, and at the same time, both Grimm chased after him, probably thinking he was escaping and their inherent hatred of humanity abhorred them of the idea of letting prey escape. The Deathstalker was in the lead, with the Drake crawling behind. Once Jaune ripped the crystal from the wall, he turned back to the Grimm and charged at them, screaming to his Sembnce one single word that would encompass what he was about to do…
“OVERDRIVE!”
For the second time in twenty-four hours, golden light exploded out of Jaune as he activated the main feature of his Sembnce. He felt his Aura rising exponentially, but at the same time, the sense of vertigo that came was much worse than he had imagined. Jaune could also feel his body starting to shake, a searing migraine in his head, and his muscles spasmed, despite his buffs still working if barely. A quick gnce at his status told him what was wrong.
Aura Points: 2500/10,000 (200/hr) (DEBUFF to 0/hr)
Status Effects:
Sembnce Overused II: Aura recovery disabled. Body overloaded.
Nevertheless, Jaune soldiered through and charged at the highest priority, the Deathstalker. He ripped the bindings holding Crocea Mors with his teeth and pced it in his mouth. Then, he shoved the Lighting Dust into the hole the Drake made in his shielth and then primed it. It was unrefined so he had to time this right, or it might explode in his face. Jaune only hoped that his newly found Lightning Affinity would cover for this brutish method.
Once he was a few meters from the Deathstalker, he held Crocea Mors in his right hand and sent a Crescent Wave at the scorpion. The Deathstalker was too tough for the hasty attack to harm it, but that wasn’t the purpose of it. Just as the Deathstalker had blocked the attack with its pincers, Jaune slid under them and shoved his Shielth into one of its mandibles. He then jumped away as with a thought, the Dust ignited.
A sound of thunder, a shriek of pain, then an explosion of yellow arcing light utterly annihited the Deathstalker and everything within two meters around it. Jaune had barely been able to get away from the bst zone, all the hairs on his body standing up. His hair looked comically spiky like he had drenched it in hair gel.
Jaune had no time to celebrate, though. Only two minutes of his buff remained, and he needed to destroy that Drake. He could just ignore it and leave, but he had to destroy it If for no reason other than pure spite at the creature. He shakily ran towards the crippled Grimm, which snarled in impotent rage at him. Despite being free, the Grimm didn’t try to retreat. Its pride had been questioned, it never once nded a single blow on Jaune. It must feel like it could still win if it nds just one blow.
Jaune would agree, but he was out of fucks to give.
Ugur tried to crush Jaune with its massive right hand, but Jaune simply vaulted over it and ran up its arm. With it basically grounded and with no means of attack, the Drake could only shake its body and head upwards, attempting to either shake off or skewer Jaune with one of its horns, but to no avail. Jaune dodged them easily enough using his heightened AGL, before making an acrobatic jump off the Grimm’s shoulder to the top of its head, all the while channeling Aura into Crocea Mors…
And stabbed the Drake through one of its eyes and into its brain. The attack continued on to its neck and punctured the armor there as the beam blew apart the back of the Drake’s head. The Grimm didn’t even have time to give a death throe before it colpsed on the ground, its corpse disintegrating.
Jaune breathed heavily. He could feel his buff ending, and his stats crashing. He still needed to decide which tunnel to take to get out of this pce. Jaune slowly and tiredly walked away from the disintegrating corpse of the Drake and headed toward the nearest tunnel, which was the one he got the Lightning Dust from. It was only through his newly found Aura that he was capable of moving at all.
This might not seem like a good time, but would you like to try using your magic points, Jaune? You might have succeeded in defeating the Grimm, but you are still on your st legs and need to find a way out of this pce. You might receive something useful for your situation?
Jaune nodded as he felt another wave of exhaustion hit him from the movement. ‘Spin the roulette for me. I can barely think straight right now. I would need a miracle to get out of this pce alive.’
Understood. Currently, you have two avaible Magic Points. You will only receive your challenge’s reward once you escape to safety. I’m sorry if I seem callous, but those are the rules set by the Creator.
‘Yeah, yeah. Just hit me.’ He was dragging his feet now, Crocea Mors pointing at the ground, its tip forming a line as he dragged it with him. Jaune started channeling his Aura to relieve him of the pain, exhaustion, and venom’s effects. He was honestly surprised that he’s still cognizant of himself. Deathstalker venom caused extreme fatigue that would eventually slow his heartbeat until it stopped. A side effect of that is not enough blood heading to his brain, thus lowering his thought process. Right now, Jaune was using his hard-earned Aura to keep his adrenaline high and forcibly pump his heart and keep his blood circuting. He wasn’t even sure how he was doing it, and he was scared that any conscious thought into it would backfire.
The same holographic roulette from earlier appeared in front of Jaune, but he easily ignored it. It didn’t obstruct his vision if he didn’t concentrate on it, which he was thankful for as he had to navigate his way around Dust Crystals lying around and the dark miasma of over a thousand-dead Grimm. He heard the ping signifying the wheel had stopped.
Congratutions, Jaune. You have gained a new ability
“Storage Space” (D-rank)
The most basic ability of the “Pocket Dimension” ability tree. Provides you with one cubic meter of space where you can store non-living things inside it. Must be touching the item to store it. Does not require Aura to use but could have additional features through the application of Aura. Can be supplemented by a simir ability of the same nature to form a new and better ability.
‘Sounds remarkable. Too bad, I don’t think I can make much use of it.’ Jaune reached out to his scroll and turned off the recorder, hoping to save its battery to send out a distress signal once he was out of these caves. He thought of storing his bag, but he had gotten so used to its weight that he feared he would lose his bance in his tired state. He was unsure if he would be able to stand if he fell. Instead, he absentmindedly started collecting the Dust Crystals lying around. He didn’t care what kind he grabbed, he just took whatever caught his eye and didn’t require him to kneel too much.
I see you are already making use of the ability. As a bonus for not giving up when all hope seemed lost, one of the features of Storage Space is time dition and stasis. You could disable time inside the space in case you store food items or other things that may rot. Additionally, you could expand the size of the Storage Space at the cost of Aura.
‘Why thank you, Crystal. Are you perhaps going soft on me?’
Would you like to spend your st magic point?
Jaune snorted at how Crystal ignored him, ‘By all means, spin the wheel, Crystal.’ He continued walking towards the tunnel, was it always that far away? He heard the ping of the wheel and focused on Crystal.
Congratutions, Jaune. You have gained a new ability
“Search” (C-Rank)
Allows you to track and monitor a target through their energy. Current energies that can be tracked are Aura and Magic. The base range limit is one mile, but can be expanded through Aura. Can use more Aura to track more than one target at the same time. Can use Aura to visualize the most direct route to your target. Can be supplemented by a simir ability of the same nature to form a new and better ability.
‘Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!’ Jaune smiled as he finally hit the jackpot. Not only a C-rank ability but also one that is well suited to his current predicament. He would have thought the Creator was watching over him, but if so, then he would have given him an instant recovery ability or something. Hell, Teleportation sounded like it would be handy right about now.
But what the hell could he even track? The ability doesn’t allow him to actually search for any aura within the one-mile range. It only worked if he was familiar with the feeling of a target’s Aura. The only people he was familiar with their Aura were his family, but they were thousands of miles away.
‘Hang on, the target doesn’t have to be human. Right, Crystal?’
Correct. As long as it has an energy you are intimately familiar with, such as Aura or Magic, then you could attempt to Search for them.
Well, well, well. Looks like he’s gonna get that reunion after all.
“Search; Arthur.”
Immediately, Jaune could see miles away. He could feel his Aura slightly dropping, but it was a necessary sacrifice. He couldn’t actually see the surrounding terrain, but he could see his old horse zily grazing in a field. There appeared to be other shadowy figures around him, but Jaune couldn’t Search them. Suddenly, the horse turned right towards him and neighed happily. Jaune smiled and turned on what he called Pathfinder mode, and a thin line of light drifted off towards another tunnel than the one he was aiming for.
Jaune shouldered his bag and changed directions. He sure was gd that he did unlock that keffel’s Aura after all. He checked his status one st time before he headed out.
Profile:
Name: Jaune Arc
Age: 17
Height: 6’1”—6’3”
Build: Lean-Muscur
Stats:
Aura Points: 1200/10,000 (200/hr) (DEBUFF to 0/hr)
Strength (STR): 32/81
Vitality (VIT): 29/98
Dexterity (DEX): 24/85
Agility (AGL): 20/62
Perception (PER): 15/42
Intelligence (INT): 57/93
Special Stats:
Magic (MAG): 0/3
Gained one point from awakening the System early.Gained one point from merging with the System.Gained one point from the Arc Moon Bloodline perk.Special Abilities/Perks (Stacks):
Arc Moon Bloodline (inherent): The god of the moon has blessed your bloodline in ancient times. Grants bonuses to Vitality and Aura. May the light of the Moon watch over you.
Savant (inherent): Increased battle instincts and tactical awareness. Allows the user an easier time in learning skills and understanding concepts.
Lightning affinity: Your reckless absorption of a raw and unrefined high-quality Lightning Dust gave you a high affinity for Lightning. Makes Lightning Dust/Abilities easier to use.
Aura Battery: You have survived forcibly expanding your Aura reserves. Increased Aura regeneration.
Sembnce (UNLOCKED): Your sembnce allows you to instantly refill your Aura to the maximum once a day. Side effects include reducing your Aura recovery. Forcibly refilling your Aura reserves within the cooldown period provides diminishing returns and disables Aura recovery. It might have more abilities that are waiting to be discovered.
Observe (D-rank): The most basic ability of the “Extrasensory Perception” ability tree. Allows you to view information on a target within your sight. Must have visual confirmation on the target. Range depends on Aura usage. Information depends on Aura usage. Can be supplemented by a simir ability of the same nature to form a new and better ability.
Storage Space (D-rank): The most basic ability of the “Pocket Dimension” ability tree. Provides you with one cubic meter of space where you can store non-living things inside it. Must be touching the item to store it. Does not require Aura to use but could have additional features through the application of Aura. Can be supplemented by a simir ability of the same nature to form a new and better ability.
Search (C-Rank): Allows you to track and monitor a target through their energy. Current energies that can be tracked are Aura and Magic. The base range limit is one mile, but can be expanded through Aura. Can use more Aura to track more than one target at the same time. Can use Aura to visualize the most direct route to your target (Pathfinder). Can be supplemented by a simir ability of the same nature to form a new and better ability.
Status Effects:
Sembnce Overused II: Aura recovery disabled. Body overloaded. All Stats are reduced. Sembnce Disabled.
Severely Weakened: All Stats are reduced.
Poisoned: Deathstalker venom. Antivenom applied. VIT and INT reduced. High risk of death If not treated within three days.
“Is that old horse at it again?”
Two figures sat by a campfire at the base of the Vale Mountains. The camp was off the road, yet the figures could see anyone coming from either direction. They stared as the horse in question tried to remove its leash from where it was tied to a log, stamping its hooves on the ground while snorting irritatedly. There were two other horses tied nearby, and they looked at the first horse in apparent bemusement.
“Seems like it. It’s been running off the road every once in a while since we found it earlier today.” The smaller and younger figure said in a monotone voice. Her eyes stared at the stubborn horse, “Strangely, it doesn’t go too far and always heads near the mountains and looks back at us expectantly.”
The older figure untied her cerise hair from its messy bun, letting it fall to her waist. She then turned her head as she took a better look at the horse, “Do you think he wants us to follow him? It's not every day we see an animal with an unlocked Aura. Whoever unlocked it must have had too much Aura than they knew what to do with, or they colpsed upon doing it, and now the horse ran off.” She chuckled good-naturedly at the thought.
“That’s not nice, Sara. It’s more likely, there could have been a Grimm attack. The horse was saddled, its bags were full of supplies, but a sharp object cut its leash. Probably a knife or a sword. For all we know, the horse could be desperately searching for its master.”
The now-named Sara sighed sadly at the thought, her amber eyes turning toward the night sky in contemption. “I know what you mean, Fie. Animals that have their Aura unlocked instinctively bind themselves to the one who unlocked it for them. Nevertheless, don’t think I know what you’re thinking. We are on an urgent mission. If you let loose that horse in the hopes of an adventure…”
“I will not,” Fie replied with a narrowing of her lime green eyes, “I just don’t like the idea of someone out there in need of help. Not when we could possibly do something about it.”
Sara smiled at her protégé, “Atta girl. So, what do you–”
A sudden explosion, followed by a pained screech, echoed out close by. Sara and Fie were instantly up with their weapons at the ready, staring above them and a bit beyond. They could see the after-effects of golden light bsting what appeared to be a giant Nevermore out of the sky. The broken moon seemed to shine brighter for a second as the clearly Aura-based attack matched colors to the moon for an instant before dissipating. The entire mountainside started dropping rocks and debris everywhere.
The horse used that distraction to unconsciously channel his Aura and with a mighty tug, released himself from the log before he galloped towards the site of the explosion.
Sara and Fie immediately chased after it, “Fie, what do you see?”
Fie’s eyes glowed in the dark, her irises sharper than a human’s. Almost like a cat’s, “I saw a figure drop from that hole following the Nevermore. The Grimm lost one of its wings and crashed into the forest below. I think we found whoever unlocked that horse’s Aura.”
They both sprinted faster than any human could, nearly overtaking the horse, who only outpaced them thanks to his newly unlocked Aura. They could hear the thrashing sound of the rge Grimm along with its pained screeches. Eventually, they reached the point of impact to find a tall young man with long messy blonde hair and wild blue eyes leaning heavily on a sword that was buried in the Nevermore’s head.
The Grimm slowly disintegrated, and the man colpsed face-down on the ground, dragging the sword with him. The horse rushed towards him and bopped his head with its own as it snorted. Sara and Fie quickly approached, Sara retrieving the sword, her eyes widening at its unexpected weight, while Fie checked the man’s wounds.
The man looked like a complete train wreck, with his torn clothes, burned left arm, spasming muscles, uncontrolble shaking, multiple cerations, unhealed scars, and bruises throughout his body. And that's just the obvious injuries. The girl could also smell the familiar scent of venom reeking out of him. He appeared to be trying to say something, so she moved her head closer to his face as her eyes met his.
“...n-need a better nding strategy.” Before he passed out.
I took a lot of liberty with Jaune’s Sembnce. It is certainly OP already in the show, but I felt like the writers were too on the nose about him being a support character and never allowing him a moment to truly shine. Here it will be a little different as Jaune discovers his Sembnce in a life and death situation and has to channel it inwards instead of outwards. It will emphasize more on personal strength before he discovers its other uses.
If one thinks about gamer abilities, then Inventory and a mini-map are the absolute essentials. Notice that they are quite limited.
Arthur the horse makes a comeback! Guess he wasn’t a scaredy horse after all.
Our first two OCs (not really, I just ripped them off from a JRPG). Shout out to anyone who recognizes what game they are from.
The system had been very kind to Jaune so far with its abilities. Almost as if someone is watching over him. Well, this is technically the tutorial for our budding huntsman, after all. I wouldn’t want to make his life too difficult.
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