The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Fulfillment

Your level has increased by one!

You have obtained the item 'Anansi.'

You have obtained the item 'Jorogumo.'

You have obtained the skill book 'Gossamer.'

You have obtained the skill book 'Venenum.'

By raising Flare to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Karna.'

By raising White Tiger's Tread to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Bai Hu's Tread.'

By raising Claws of the White Tiger to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Claws of Bai Hu.'

By raising White Tiger's Hide to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Bai Hu's Hide.'

By raising White Tiger's Lunge to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Bai Hu's Lunge.'

By raising Jaws of the White Tiger to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Jaws of Bai Hu.'

"Took you long enough," I said, sitting comfortably on a rock as I mulled over the screens arrayed before me. I'd finished played exterminator with the City of Webs, depopulating the area with a steady stream of Flares and White Tiger techniques. Afterwards, I'd directed the assault upwards, sending a pillar of fire into the sky that was visible for miles in every direction. Adam had promptly changed his course to compensate, cutting down Grimm that got in his way, and if a horde of monsters had been drawn my way in the process, well…

They'd just been fuel for the fires I'd been building.

"Dick," Adam said, regulating his breathing. "Whose fault do you think that is? I've been running all over this godforsaken valley trying to catch up to you."

"I'm aware," I replied, giving his a smile. I'd withdrawn the infection after I'd finished my work, simply because it was harder to put people at ease without a face. Adam was used to my occasionally unnerving behavior, but still. "I've been keeping an eye on you. If anything had gone wrong, I'd have been there in a second or less. But I knew it wouldn't—you handled yourself well."

"That's now what I meant and you know it," He snorted, rolling his eyes.

I chuckled.

"The exercise is good for you," I told him. "Sorry if you got lonely without me—I know I'm the sun that gives meaning to your worthless existence, but I sometimes get distracted by more important things."

Adam shook his head slowly.

"You know, a few students sent me messages asking what it was like to be your friend," He informed me.

"No need to explain," I assured him, holding up a hand to forestall his thanks. "I know how much joy it brings to ever moment of your existence. I got the letter."

Adam paused and looked at me.

"The letter?" He asked. "What letter?"

"The letter thanking me for being such a great friend and all around extraordinary human being," I said, drawing it from my inventory and presenting it to him. "I know you have a hard time putting stuff like that into words, so I wrote it for you."

He was silent for a moment, skimming the contents of the letter quickly.

"I would never say any of this to another human being," He stated firmly, looking up at me with a flat look. "Especially not you."

I shrugged at him.

"You say that, but it's in your handwriting," I answered, tone and demeanor helpless.

He rolled his eyes again and joined me on the stone, tilting his head back to look up at the stars.

"So like I was saying, a few people asked what it was like being your friend," He continued. "I was very tempted to tell them the truth."

"Oh?" I wondered, raising an eyebrow. "And what truth would that be?"

"'Have you ever had a friend you fucking hate?'" He recited, frowning.

I smiled a bit at that, leaning back on my arms to follow his gaze up to the sky. I doubted we were looking at the same thing, though; to me, the heavens were filled with explosions of light and burning spheres, patterns of energy on literally astronomical scales. Even so, it was a beautiful sight.

"Not all the time, I admit," Adam said after a slight pause, tone annoyed. "But when you do a bunch of shit without explanation? Yeah, it kind of makes me want to kick you in the dick."

I chuckled again and tilted my head.

"If it'll make you feel better," I said with a shrug.

"Please," He snorted. "I know I'd probably just break my foot. You going to tell me why you bailed on me?"

"I'm pretty sure you already know," I stated. "But I'll spell it out if you want, sure."

He huffed.

"I know how to fight alone," He told me. "I've been that way for most of my life. I know the value of back up and teamwork—especially from a freak of nature like you—but I'm not going to keel over without it."

"Yeah, I know," I agreed with a half-smile. "But…well, we're in the big leagues now."

Adam was silent at that. For all the friendly insults between us, I respected him, as a fighter and a friend. He was smart enough to read between the lines.

"Maybe I'm feeling melancholic," I mused. "A lot of my White Tiger skills just ranked up."

"Yeah?"

"Mm," I hummed, smile widening for a moment as I remembered. "And wow, it feels like forever ago that I first got those. These were the old, old, old ones, too; the things I picked up before the White Whale. Hell, before you and I ever really talked. Remember that?"

"Hard to forget," He said. "The days before I met the crazy son of a bitch that'd get himself eaten to win a fight."

I laughed at that memory before biting it down and glancing at him.

"It was an effective tactic," I defended, mirth still in my voice. "It worked, didn't it?"

He gave an exhausted sigh that was mostly fake.

"Any landing you can walk away from, I suppose," He allowed with a shrug. "I remember when I thought that was the craziest thing you'd ever do. Poor, foolish younger me."

I laughed again.

"We've both come a long way," I said before frowning. "And yet, at the same time…there's still a long way to go. I guess it hit me a bit more than I thought it would."

"What?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow. "Cinder?"

"No," I answered slowly, pursing my lips as I sounded it out. It felt like the truth and that more than anything made me continue. "At least, not completely. Actually, more than anything, I think it was Albus and Finn. You know, they really were strong—some of the strongest students in the world. Half a year ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of fighting them."

"And now you can beat both while holding back," He noted, nodding in understanding. "Quite a change."

"Yeah."

"So what's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing. It just…reminded me that I've fulfilled my dream," I said. "My old dream, I mean, from back…before. Back then, I'd never have imagined I'd get this far. Being a Hunter was my dream. Getting into an Academy and passing was all I ever wanted."

"And now?" Adam asked carefully.

"Now I know my old dream just wasn't enough," I stated, tilting my head down. "The world's a lot bigger than I thought. A lot…"

"Shittier?" He suggested, making me smile.

"Shittier," I agreed. "There's a lot that need to be done. A lot of messes that got left behind by others. Some of those messes are mine, some aren't, but either way, it looks like I'm the only one around who can clean them up. This whole mess with Babel and the Grimm, the Dust shortages, the Riders, and everything else I've seen…I can fix it. Maybe not today, but eventually."

Adam was silent for a long minute at that, frowning quietly.

"I want to say it's not your job to fix the world," He whispered. "Because it's not. But…I can't say you're wrong. If you don't, I honestly don't know who else could."

I nodded without looking at him.

"I'm lucky," I continued. "I have a lot of friends and allies. You and Raven, my family, everyone…really, I'm lucky to have all of you. But I still wonder…maybe even worry…"

"That it's not enough?" Adam asked. He paused to look at me, thinking for a long minute, and then nodded. "Maybe you're right."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he sighed.

"I worry, too," He said. "We…I'm not like you. Your power is something else, really. What seems like every other day, you improve by leaps and bounds. And I like to think I get stronger, too, but not like you do. I don't learn and master skills in a day or develop ancient arts as easily as breathing. I can't keep going forever no matter what happens. Even if I keep leveling up—even if I get to the same level as you and stay that way…I know that I'll never be as powerful as you. The gap between us is huge and it's getting bigger all the time. And if even with all that, you lost to this guy in another life…well, damn. What am I supposed to do against a monster like that?"

I didn't say anything.

"That's what you're worried about, isn't it?" Adam asked again. "When we were with Cinder…you told me to kill Emerald and Mercury if anything happened, but you'd have fought Cinder so she couldn't kill me. She's dangerous; even I get that. And even she's little league compared to what you're aiming for, right? As it is now, things are going to get more and more dangerous for you—and thus, for everyone around you, too. You're worried that you'll end up going places we won't be able to follow."

Or that you won't survive when you do anyway, I thought but didn't say. We were both thinking it, so there wasn't much choice.

"I'll just have to keep training, then," Adam snorted, smirking when I blinked at him in surprise. "I'm not the type to let people decide where I can and cannot go. I said I had you back whatever happens and I do, so I'll follow this fucked up path of yours through to the end. If you're worried about taking care of me, don't—I'll figure something out so I'm not too much of a burden. You wanted to see what I could do when you left me behind like an asshole, right? Then you should have seen me take down some Nemeans. I'm stronger than anything on these plains, now. I don't grow as fast as you, but I manage somehow. I made it here, didn't I?"

"Yeah," I answered, shelving my concerns for the moment and smiling at him. "I suppose you did…even if you took your sweet as time about it."

"Sorry to keep you waiting," He answered, giving me the finger again. "I'm burning this letter, by the way."

"Go ahead," I replied, smiling kindly at him. "I have twenty copies."

His other finger rose to join the first, but he still went out of his way to tear apart the letter. As he did that, I consumed the skill books I'd gotten from Neith and stored Anansi and Jorogumo. The mask would probably go unused, but I might wear the silken yukata if I was ever in Vacuo during a festival.

"So now what?" Adam asked. "We heading back or training some more."

"Well, now that you're done talking about your feelings—" I began.

"Bitch, what?" He interrupted, outraged. "I'm pretty sure any in their right mind would agree that we were talking about your feelings—"

"Yes, well, you'd be wrong," I informed him. "And even if you weren't, I'd like to remind you that, one, there are no witnesses to support your absurd claim, and two, I have a bunch of letters in which you wax poetically about your feelings, so…yeah."

"No one would believe that," He stated confidently.

"Oh?" I challenged. "Because I could whip up some photographic evidence that says otherwise."

"You and your fucking illusions," He scowled. "Fine, I won't tell anyone about how you almost cried."

I gave him an arch look.

"Now that is flat-out absurd," I stated. "And if you're quite done, we've work to do."

Pushing myself off the rock, I caught myself absently with a flicker of Psychokinesis and landed softly on the ground. Cracking my neck once, I watched as the space ripped to either side of me as my sword and shield were drawn from my Inventory. At once, they began to melt, strands and rivulets of flowing steel reaching for the flesh of my arms and coating them up to the elbow in my gauntlets. I'd largely fallen out of the habit of using them, simply because there usually wasn't much point; though I could channel Crocea Mors through them to make them diamond hard, my bare hands were, if anything, even harder. With my Armored Shell, though, perhaps…

I felt a brief flash of sensation, not so much through my flesh as through my connection to Crocea Mors. I channeled my Aura through my weapons whenever I wielded them, but this was different and it brought with it something new. Between my Metal Elemental and my already rather esoteric senses, my gauntlets felt like nothing more than another layer of skin.

Flexing my fingers once, I pondered them. I was glad it had worked—I could tell my Aura was strengthening the steel into Adamant just by looking at it—but it was still rather odd. The gauntlets were…locked, for lack of a better term, and though I could strengthen them with Crocea Mors, I couldn't change their shape.

Not with my Metal Elemental, at least; I already knew my Metamorphosis would warp them just fine. Still, this wasn't bad—it was like I'd bought a new defensive technique and had gotten some badass new weapons for free. I couldn't complain about that, even if the sensation would take some getting used to.

"You said you got some new skills?" Adam said as he hopped off the rock the normal way. "Anything interesting?"

"Of course," I answered, smirking slightly. "Just give me a second, okay?"

Taking a deep breath, I focused on the patterns of Aura that coated my body—the array of techniques that had become more natural to me than breathing at some point—I picked out a familiar strand that had served me well for a long, long time, feeling it shift as I did.

Bai Hu's Tread (Active & Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The footsteps of the White Tiger; a version of the technique 'White Tiger's Tread' perfected over a lifetime of battle and training by the Beast King Bai Hu.

Passively increases movement speed by 50%.

Increases movement speed by 250% when active.

Additional 100 MP used per minute.

Looking down at my feet, I nodded slightly to myself. Now that I felt it, I was certain—what the profile said about it being perfected over a lifetime wasn't just flavor text. Maybe it was because I'd spent so much time using the skill myself, maybe it was part of the passive knowledge I'd gained alongside the skill, but…

Bai Hu's Tread wasn't just the name of this skill. This was the skill the real Bai Hu had mastered and used. It was, in many ways, like White Tiger's Tread—because it had been White Tiger's Tread, before years and years of practice had taken it to the next level. From the way the Aura flowed through my leg muscles to the patterns of walking I knew I could slip into with a thought…this was the real thing.

A part of me wondered how that was possible, but only a small part. I was pretty sure I knew the answer, even if there was a bit of guess work involved. Between this, Gungnir, Naraka, and countless other bits and pieces, it was obvious that my power somehow had access to knowledge that no one else did. Skills from thousands of years ago, items that I wondered if had ever been real, and everything else—somehow, my Semblance or soul or whatever could produce them as needed. It knew stuff I didn't, stuff nobody could know anymore. I'd have wondered how, but for one thing.

Bianca had described my soul as carrying a large book and having countless eyes. Perhaps that was partially metaphorical, but even so, I was pretty sure it was the reason. Somehow, my power saw and recorded…everything.

It was a little hard to believe and at the same time it really wasn't. Almost all the skills I knew were things that others could, in theory, learn; most of them were even things that people had learned. There were other things, like the stuff I got for improving my stats—things people were just born with or the products of enlightenment or other weird things. Even then, however, it was all stuff that someone, somewhere, could have had.

And somehow, I had access to all of it.

Maybe that was the idea, I thought. I'd already pretty much accepted that my Semblance—my past life, really—had probably been designed. If so, it probably had a purpose and a function. One I didn't understand, perhaps, but still. Maybe I was some kind of cosmic record-keeper or scribe, remembering everything that happened. I could think of plenty of uses for such a thing.

I waited for a moment to…I don't know. Maybe see if the idea stirred something within me? To see if whatever part of my soul knew what the fuck was going on would be willing to throw me a bone? Whatever I was waiting for, it didn't happen.

It didn't feel quite right, anyway—like I was on the right track, but that this wasn't the answer. That wasn't my soul telling me anything, at not as far as I was aware, it's just that the pieces didn't fit. I didn't just learn things, after all—I mastered them beyond what anyone else could in ludicrously small amounts of time. I combined them, made new skills, pushed everything I could to its limit and more. Observing and recording might have been part of what I did, but it wasn't all.

Sighing, I shook my head and took notes. I wouldn't be cracking this particular puzzle today, it seemed, but at least I'd found another piece.

Focusing again, I altered another pattern and felt energy play around my hands and feet. Curious, I lifted a hand and shifted it slightly back and forth, seeing the results. Too my eyes, the claws were always visible, but now I could almost see them in visible light. Not clearly, but as I twitched my fingers, there was a shimmer in space that outlined the edges.

Claws of Bai Hu (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00% MP: 100

The claws of the White Tiger. The most basic technique of Bai Hu's ancient martial arts style, honed to its utmost limit. Over a lifetime spent baring these claws, the Beast King Bai Hu sharpened them on the hides of man and Grimm alike, refining them until they could cut down all that stood in his path.

300% increase to martial arts attack damage.

Additional 200 MP used per minute.

Holding my fingers rigid for a moment, I quickly flicked a finger in the direction of a nearby stone, a Far Strike carving a crescent shape into the surface of the rock. That was offense and mobility, what about defense?

This time energy played across the whole of my body, consolidating just above my skin. I began to glow, the light of my Aura taking the shape of a beast around me, but then it settled down and receded.

Bai Hu's Hide (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00% MP: 300

The skin of the White Tiger. The primary defensive technique of Bai Hu's ancient martial arts style, raised to the point that both teeth and blades brake upon it. Originally a later addition to the style to give initiates some measure of defense, it nonetheless became a vital part of the style, and through a life of use it was perfected by the Beast King Bai Hu. After being shattered and remade countless times, this is the result—and it was said the White Tiger had fur as hard as steel.

Armor's strength, density, and duration increase with level.

Armor's strength, density, and duration increase with INT.

Additional 500 MP used per minute.

"Okay," I said after a moment. "Let's go kill something, then."

Behind me, Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Not going to leave me behind again?" He asked.

"Not today, I guess," I answered blithely, smiling even though he couldn't see it. "I guess I'm stuck with you for a while longer, so I better make sure you don't hurt yourself."

"Hmph," Adam huffed, but took several steps to stand at my side. "Whatever. Which way?"

Smile widening, I bobbed my head to the side.

"West," I answered.

"Towards the sea?" He asked. "Why?"

"Just feel like it, I guess," I answered as I started walking. "Besides, it's the fastest way."

"The fastest way?" Adam repeated skeptically. "The fastest way to get where?"

"What kind of question is that?" I asked, rolling my eyes playfully. "To the other side of the sea. Where else? Everything on this side is too weak to bother playing with anymore."