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.

Reflections

It took me a few seconds to recover enough MP to start reactivating my skills and move again, at which point I rose with a sensation like—well. Like I was tearing my way out of my skin. The Gamer's Body being what it was, there were no actual signs of this, but it still hurt like a bitch and the damage took a big chunk out of my health, if one that was easily healed. Despite that, I didn't relax until all of my usual defenses were in place, feeling terrifyingly exposed without it.

Yeah, I could admit it. I had been terrified, even I'd been able to calmly put that fear aside thanks to the Gamer's Mind. I wasn't used to being…vulnerable anymore, because I made a point to be prepared for pretty much everything that could be thrown my way. I scanned my surroundings with a multitude of senses and across the breadth of a spectrum most people could only imagine. I hardened my skin and strengthened my body until I could shrug off bombs and tear apart an army as needed. I enhanced my speed until I could dodge between bullets and even if I had only a moment to react, I warped time around me enough to make moments drag on and on. And behind all those persistent effects, I had a well of power I was prepared to draw upon at a moment's notice, ready to drive my power to even greater heights of even level cities.

Did I consider myself invincible? Of course not—I was smart enough to know my limits and Remnant had a long, long history that showed, in great detail, that people can die, no matter how much they believed otherwise. But I had options; I could notice a threat and react to it, even if only by escaping. It had been quite a while since I'd found myself in a position where I couldn't do anything.

If I'd done that in the middle of a fight…if I'd tried to do that somewhere else and someone noticed and took advantage of it…

I closed my eyes and was relieved to find that it did absolutely nothing to hinder my vision.

"Sorry, Adam," I said aloud, reaching up to grasp his hands. "An experiment of mine went awry."

Adam frowned at me but let go of my shirt and I caught myself in midair before I could fall back.

"A warning would have been nice," He replied after a moment.

Yeah, I thought, it would have been.

"Sorry," I said again. "I honestly had no idea that would happen."

And didn't that sting. I was used to my skills leaving out details about how they worked in practice, but that had been…well, something else. Similar, in a way, to when I contracted an Elemental, though thankfully it hadn't knocked me out. Being forced to sleep for six hours would have been a colossal waste of time, a much longer-lived danger, and just generally inconvenient. Granted, I wouldn't have been aware of the dangers or drawbacks while I slept, but I wasn't sure if that made sleeping better or worse.

"Speaking of which," I continued slowly. "What did happen?"

Adam twitched at that, searching my face.

"You…" He sounded shocked and disbelieving as he spoke and had to stop for a minute to get it under control. When he spoke again, his voice was tightly controlled, which just emphasized how worried he must have been. "You don't know?"

I hesitated for a moment before shaking my head.

"What just happened drained all my power," I admitted. "My senses turned off and everything."

"Was that why you didn't…" Adam gestured at me.

"Move?" I asked. "No, that was one of my skills. I told you about it, didn't I? How the Adamant Serpent's Skin worked? When I ran out of power to fuel it with, it basically turned me into a statue. I couldn't even open my eyes."

"Ah," Adam said, nodding in understanding. "Might be a good idea to turn that one off if you do this again."

"Mhm," I agreed. I'd still be tremendously weakened but at least I'd still be able to move. It was better than nothing. "So what happened?"

"Well," Adam considered. "It took me a few seconds to notice anything was wrong, due to how weird you normally are, but I it was a little bit odd when you started glowing."

I winced.

"Yeah, I thought I saw that, before I went blind," I said. "Through my eyes, right?"

"At first, yeah. But then the rest of you began glowing, too," He replied. "And not like the usual Aura glow—you were glowing inside, bright enough that I could see it through your skin."

"Damn," I groaned. "How bright? Could someone have seen?"

"Possibly," He answered after a moment of thought. "I was more worried about how you didn't answer when I asked you what was happening. I thought you were ignoring me at first, but when I realized you'd turned into a spotlight out in the open, I thought I should check to make sure you were okay. You usually do stuff like this in Naraka."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Although…maybe it was a good thing I didn't this time. If I'd done it in Naraka, the barrier would have broken when I ran out of power and dropped me back here. Depending on where I was when that happened…shit, I'm gonna need to find a safe place to do stuff like this. Maybe I'll have Ereb bury me underground next time. Assuming Crom Cruach or some other subterrainian Grimm doesn't appear and fuck up my shit—a possibility which my life is too fucked up for me to completely dismiss—that should be fairly secure. Otherwise, well, I might need you to play guard duty again."

Adam shrugged.

"What did you do, anyway?" He asked.

"Not here," I said, looking around. I didn't see anyone approaching us yet, but it was too soon to tell whether that meant my little lightshow had gone unnoticed or not—either way, I had no intention of sticking around to find out. Scanning my surroundings, I carefully swept away any evidence of our presence with a mixture of Psychokinesis and my Elementals and then nodded too myself. "There, it's clean enough. Let's get out of here."

Snapping my fingers I threw to both of us back into Naraka and took a deep breath. Pointless, maybe, but kind of comforting, too—especially since my own Adamant skin had kept my lungs from expanding while Tiferet did its work.

Speaking of which, I brought up the profile again and was somewhat pleased by what I'd found. Tiferet had leveled up after a single use and the skill level requirement had dropped from ninety-nine to ninety-eight in the process, which was simultaneously a slight and massive improvement. Generally speaking, skills became increasingly difficult to improve as their level approached ninety-nine, but in this case, that actually worked in my favor. While it was unlikely that I'd be able to raise Tiferet itself to ninety-nine, given that it would only improve as I combined skills and it would take an increasing number of skills as its level rose, each level would lower the requirements further. And as the level requirement had started at ninety-nine and was counting down, that worked out pretty well.

If I could get Tiferet to even just level ten, it would drop the limit to ninety, and at that point, that meant a lot. The first fifty levels of a skill, for example, could be obtained in less time then it took to get from ninety to ninety-one. And, hell, if I could get Tiferet to fifty, I'd be able to synthesize skills fairly easily, relatively speaking. The early levels of the skill were the most valuable, in this case.

Assuming, of course, that the results had been worth the effort.

"Okay," I said. "You might want to stand back for this."

"How far back?" Adam asked.

"Uh…I don't know," I admitted.

"Really, really far back," Adam decided, nodding to himself before jumping off the building and quickly putting some distance between us.

It was probably a wise move, I admitted as I drew up the profile of my newest skill, gathering power as I did.

Agneyastra (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00% MP: 2000

One of the legendary techniques wielded by the Astradhari, it was said to invoke the power of the God of Fire. Used as a skill, it can either empower an existing weapon or create one entirely from Aura—in either case, the effect is the same, releasing an inferno of supernatural flames. Fueled by the user's Aura, the flames of the Agneyastra are inextinguishable through normal means as they will burn without air or even underwater until they run out of power, feeding solely on the light of souls. Power increases with WIS and Fire Affinity.

50% defense penetration.

10000% damage increase.

Automatically inflicts 'Burning' status effect on anyone who receives damage.

Targets lose MP at a rate of 20 MP per second, in addition to HP damage, so long as they possess the 'Burning' status effect.

'Burning' status effect may not be removed through mundane means.

The weapon that appeared in my hand as I shaped my power looked like one of my Magic Missiles, except in coloration. Instead of the usual white lance, it was incandescent, like heated steel, and almost painfully warm to the touch. Waiting for a moment for Adam to finish running and take his place on the roof of another tall building nearly a kilometer away, I leapt high into the air and threw my weapon at the roof of the skyscraper.

It pierced straight through it without even slowing down, and though it had only felt a little hot to me, the entire roof began to melt and was quickly pulled down by gravity as it liquefied. The Agneyastra tore through all the floors beneath it in the exact same way until it hit the bottom floor, not even slowing down as it went.

And then it exploded.

A massive wave of flames rushed out in all directions, blowing out the first floor and then rushing back up the way it came. It shattered every window on the way up, shattering anything that tried to contain it, and the flames rushed out through the openings steam from a kettle, igniting nearby buildings and cars with a fire that clung to anything it touched and devoured as it went. The skyscraper began to crumble and fall, burning from every opening as it toppled and crashed into the ground, shaking the surrounding area.

"Okay," I admitted as I settled on a building that wasn't on fire, having been forced to dodge the onrush of flames. "That's pretty cool."

For several seconds, I simply watched the flames consume everything they touched, melting steel, burning wood, and destroying everything in its path. The flames seemed to crawl over everything they touched, even moving in directions normal flames wouldn't—burning down as well as up, and crossing the streets with ease. In perhaps half a minute, the unnatural flames had ignited much of the surrounding neighborhood, moving as if it had a mind of its own.

It wouldn't last, though. I could see the Aura—my Aura—sustaining the flames unnatural behavior, but it was devouring that fuel like everything else. If it got access to more Aura, whether mine or that of a target, it could likely sustain its behavior for a longer period of time, but as it was right now, I'd say it would last about a minute and a half longer before reverting to normal fire.

Of course, by that point, most of the surrounding city would be up in flames and once it was that big, stopping even a normal fire would be fairly difficult for most people. And while it was like this, it would be exceedingly difficult to even contain it. Given the speed at which it was growing now, a few properly placed strikes would probably burn down most of Mistral if it wasn't stopped and the only ways to do that would be…

What?

I paused for a moment to contemplate it. A Fire Elemental like Suryasta probably could—the nature of the flames might make it more expensive as they tried to consume the Aura he used to maintain a body and exert his power, but Elementals definitely weren't 'mundane'. They also weren't something many people had access to, though, so the more likely alternatives were the usage of Semblances or Dust. The former were too varied to make any real generalities, but the later…Red Dust might be able to control the flames until they burnt out, perhaps, and various others could theoretically hinder it. Would summoned or created water snuff out the flames?

Pondering that for a moment, I raised hand and waved it in an absent circle. As I did, streamers of water began to follow the path of fingers, droplets running down the steel of my gauntlets as it poured from the openings. As I dropped my hand, the water fell with it and began to pool at my feet, the strength of the flow strengthening by the second until a small waterfall began to spill over the edge of the building I was upon. Xihai flowed into it as it went, guiding and shaping the flow as it swept over the flames and tried to coral them.

Manju (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The flowing tide jewel—an ancient art passed down from one of the ancient Desert Kings to gather water even while lost among the sands. This skill allows the user to gather water by changing the nature of their Aura to attract it. With this ability, it's possible to draw up underground streams, pull moisture from the air, or even draw rivers towards the user. With greater effort, it is even possible to create water by pulling the moisture from one's own flesh and restoring it with Aura.

1 MP per liter of water summoned.

10 MP and 100 HP per liter of water created.

I held up the pressure for several seconds, feeling my hand dry until it seemed like it was crumbling to sand. In that time, I summoned several thousand liters of water from my skin, healing all the while as I fueled it. And yet, even as it washed over the flames and surrounded them completely, they didn't so much as flicker. Instead, the surrounding water began to boil as the flames blazes higher and feed from the traces of Aura within them, flowing through them until they seemed like rivers of fire. Even Xihai, no more than a spiritual presence within the water, became a target as the flames feed from her power.

After a moment, I recalled my Elemental and let the water fall to the streets were it continued to boil and steam. It seemed safe to say that even water created unnaturally wouldn't suffice, because the fact remained that the flames wouldn't be put out simply by being doused. Rather than be pleased by that, however, I was a bit concerned by it. Granted, I didn't have any real intention of using something this indiscriminant on human targets—and if I did, I'd certainly stay nearby to handle the cleanup—but the knowledge that the flames could go out of control so easily was still a bit worrying. Unlikely as it was, if something happened…

Worse still, a number of Grimm could likely resist it. Many of them were durable enough to simply endure burning alive until the flames returned to normal. A direct hit from the spear form of the attack would kill most things, but the resulting flames were more of a threat to other humans, whose Aura could be turned against them and consumed. Even if the rate of consumption wasn't very large yet, an attack like this could very easily strike hundreds of people at a time and without someone capable of resisting the effects, most would be doomed to slowly burn to death. Against the soulless monsters that filled the world…

I sighed slightly and extended a hand towards them, preparing myself to put them out. But just before I called Suryasta to make the attempt, a thought struck me and I paused before checking on Adam. He was behind my now and far from the line of fire, so I contemplated it for a moment longer before smiling.

Why not, I thought a moment before I gather light into my hand. The night darkened as Lux Aeterna sprang to life, every source of illumination drawn into the mighty stream of power, from the stars above to the flames below. For a moment, the world was pitch-black but for the attack itself, but when the light returned, the flames of Agneyastra were gone.

As was, uh, pretty much everything else in front of me. There was a path of destruction through the city that ended in a melted mountainside that had been cratered and slagged by the blast. Admittedly, I was fairly close to the edge of the city anyway, but…wow.

I frowned down at my hand, flexing my fingers absently. It hadn't taken anywhere near as much energy this time, thanks to the cost reduction from Totality and the damage increase I'd gotten from that same skill partially explained the increase in power, but not entirely. My eyes were good enough that just by looking at the after math I could say that it was more than four times as powerful as any of the ones I'd hit the Leviathan with, and even the power it had drawn from Agneyastra didn't explain that difference. Which must mean…

Ah.

Gevurah (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The Severity that brings judgment; the throne of strength and the seat of fire. Though it is brother to Love and Mercy, Gevurah is the power that gives one the strength to enforce their will on the world. In the end, it is the will to act and overcome ones enemies that allows for the existence of Mercy, instead of mere surrender. This ability represents the heightened presence of Gevurah within the soul of the user and through its strength, gives them the power to both protect and destroy.

100% increase to the effectiveness of all skills that assist or create attacks, as well as all skills that directly reduce the power of an opponent.

100% increase to experience gained by all such skills.

I whistled slightly under my breath. That would do it, I suppose—and between this and Totality, the strength of all my Elemental attacks had just gone way, way up. I suppose it wasn't really all that surprising, remembering how much my power grew every time I hit the benchmark of one of my skills, but still. With an increase like that…

Gevurah had pretty much doubled the power of every attack skill I had. Yesod had done the same to many of my passive skills, including pretty much all the 'normal' skills I had like Sword Mastery and the stuff I'd nabbed with Psychometry. Tiferet gave me the power to create new and powerful abilities, or would once I improved a few more of my skills. And now that I was looking for it, I could feel the other changes in the skills I'd recently reactivated. I was vastly stronger now then I'd been even just this morning and I was starting to learn how much. I'd need to go over the rest of my new skills now that I wasn't worried about freaking out but I'd grown a great deal. I'd come a long, long way from where I'd been.

So how much longer until I was ready? It was hard to say when I didn't even really know what I was trying to get ready for. I was preparing as best I could for a threat I couldn't even risk identifying directly. I knew I was making progress, but towards what?

I'd have to find out eventually, I knew. I'd decided already that I'd return to Vale eventually, probably at the end of the semester. But before I did that, returning to face the threats I couldn't confirm, there was something I could do.

Jericho Falls might have the answers I sought. It was a place that had chewed up and spat out the better part of a hundred Hunters.

But I was special. And I had friends in some pretty damn high places that'd have my back if I tried. If I scoped it out before hand, made plans, and prepared, I might be able to manage. If not now, then soon; I'd thought to myself beforehand that the hundreds were something else. When my level was a hundred…when I could face down the beasts across the Sea of Monsters and win…perhaps I'd be ready.

In the end, I guess there was no way to know except to find out. The world was fucked up, it apparently had something to do with me, and I needed to know why before I figured I whose ass I was going to have to kick to fix things. I'd be ready by then, because I'd make sure I was.

And I knew a good place to start.

Taking a deep breath, I began to summon my Light Elemental.