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.

Awakening

As space warped and twisted, the cracks in the sphere were torn wider due to a combination of the strain on its structure and the simple adjustment of its dimensions. What should have been a hair thin crack that was too minor to matter became an opening large enough to stick my hand through.

Which I did. Along with a fully charged Lux Aeterna, just for good measure, because seriously, fuck this thing. My Dimensional kept it's healing in check by 'locking' it in place, but if I hadn't gone all out from the very beginning and pulled out all the stops…if I hadn't had upwards of two hundred Dust crystals to sacrifice for what had probably only lasted a second our two, after all the removed time…if it had actually been allowed to finish its growth…

Well, it would have been cataclysmically bad. And it served as a brutal reminder of how far I had to go. While it was possible that this specific Hydra had been unique and no other type would have been capable of such a feat, I really fucking doubted it. In all likelihood, any Hydra, once properly triggered whether externally or at Malkuth's command, could make the same transformation. They could even do it far in the wilderness where they couldn't be so easily stopped. Hell, for all I knew, Malkuth had a horde of such creatures lying in wait for a special occasion. And if a Hydra was like this, what would Jericho Falls be like?

I sighed and looked towards my companions.

If nothing else, this had been a learning experience. I'd had my ability to protect my comrades in battle tested and had been able to use my Dimensional in a serious battle, however disorienting it might have been. And, better yet, we'd walk away from this alive—given quickly everything had gone to hell, I'd take what I could get.

So with a blast of light that slipped into the no longer protected portal and shined brightly through the cracks, I put an end to this and released a sigh.

Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one!

Well, I thought, cheering up slightly. At least this day wasn't a complete disaster.

"So…" Adam began, coming up behind me. "That was awful. And I didn't even get a chance to do anything. Or maybe I did? What the fuck just happened?"

I sighed again as he brought me back to the moment.

"When I started this fight, only God and I knew what I was doing," I admitted tiredly. "Now only God knows."

"Damn," Adam said, squinting at me. "You're clueless? Seriously?"

I shrugged at him.

"There's a reason I don't do that very often," I said before inclining my head towards my Dimensional. "Though, as always, I appreciate the help. If you hadn't been there, things would have been a lot worse."

The Dimension Elemental nodded at me, probably for courtesy's sake.

"Goodbye," He retroactively said. "I will be waiting for you at our next meeting."

"Thanks," I replied, giving up and deciding to just roll with it. "Until then, I guess. Say hello to me."

He nodded again and unraveled into his component Elementals. A moment later, I actually dismissed him.

"God, what a day," Adam muttered, shaking his head. "It's still today, right? Linear time sort of went off to fuck itself there for a while."

"I'm pretty sure very little time passed for the rest of the world," I said, double checking the position of the stars and the moon's position in its orbit. "Yeah, we're fine on that front. Not that much time would have passed anyway; if that fight had gone on longer than a few seconds, we would not have enjoyed it. Today's little experiment didn't go so well on that front, but…well, at least we got some levels out of this."

"Yeah?" Adam asked, muttering a word to draw up his status screen and seeing what I'd already noticed. "Um."

The Blood Prince

LV 101

Adam Taurus

"In case you aren't already aware, I'm going to give you so much shit about that later," I informed him helpfully. "I just can't be fucked right now, so enjoy the reprieve."

Adam let out an irritated sound, but I ignored it, instead shifting my attention towards the items that had appeared on the ground before the shattered Ananta's core and picking them up with a thought. There was approximately a fuckton of Lien which, alas, was becoming less useful to me as time went on. I'd need to fill the hole I'd eaten in my Dust reserves, but even then, I had ways of accomplishing it without spending money. In fact, I was tempted to ask Raven to open a portal for me back to Vale and steal some from Cinder's stash. Sure, she'd probably never notice and it would be petty, but sometimes being petty helps get you through the day.

Still, money was money and I took it happily.

The items that remained were more interesting.

You have obtained the item 'Vishnu.'

You have obtained the item 'Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi.'

You have obtained the skill book 'Etz Hayim.'

The first item, of course, was a mask. It's surface was plain white and reminiscent of the one I'd gotten from Conquest, but as I picked it up and looked at it from different angles, different shapes began to appear, as if reflected onto its surface. Looking at it, I was sure that it was a powerful item and from the simply knowing what I did about the creature I'd received it from made me very, very tempted to put it on. I'd done my best to lay off the masks given my suspicions concerning them and Vishnu was one of the few so high level that I still couldn't see it's true nature, but even so, there was a part of me that wanted to put it on and see what happened. If this was the mask of the Anantas and the Hydras, it must have been pretty damn incredible.

And probably inflicted something like five million status effects. Given the Hydra's nature, it might not be limited to harmless effects that only touched my mind, either. I resisted the urge with a not to maybe test it when I could be sure it was safe.

The second item was a beautiful long sword. It was reminiscent of the Vacuo style that Adam and Raven seemed to favor, with the length of the blade somewhere in-between, but was otherwise a fairly plain weapon—unless you looked closely at the gleaming blade and saw that, instead of a clear sky, it reflected dark gathering clouds. It was the first time I'd gotten a weapon from defeating a Grimm and Observing it closely, I could tell it was top notch.

"Here," I said, tossing it to Adam. "Magic sword, have fun, try not to do anything stupid and kill yourself."

Adam caught the blade and swung it idly, accidently releasing a blade of air that could have cut cleaning through a bunch of trees had we not thoroughly laid waste to the entire area. Instead, it hit me and I looked at him in annoyance.

"Sorry," He said with dubious sincerity, but held it carefully steady. "Magic sword. Right. Is this my new weapon?"

"If you want to use it for your public face, go right ahead," I answered. "It's not as though you've had to do any fighting lately."

Then I turned my attention back to the final item. It wasn't a book, despite what my power had said—it was a metal plate like the one I'd learned Psychokinesis from. Engraved upon its surface was the outline of a man, within which had been carved thousands of tiny symbols, which filled the outline and even extended beyond it in places. Taken together, the symbols roughly formed the shape of a tree.

I considered it for a moment, memorizing all the markings as a matter of course, and then absorbed it with a touch and a confirmation. I felt the knowledge flow into me and begin to take root, before taking a breath and turning.

"Okay," I said at last. "Let's get out of here before anything comes looking for the source of all those explosions and we have to fight another godless abomination."

"Sounds like a plan," Adam said, gazing at his new sword with open interest and only sounding a bit annoyed when I nodded my head towards the sea and began to jog towards it without another word. Without a Dimensional devouring my reserves, my MP had already returned and I began to relax as the shoreline got further away. Adam was distracted enough that he didn't even speak as we ran back across the water, only speaking once our feet were sinking into rough black sand again. "Why did my title change, anyway?"

I glanced at him, having kind of expected the question. Even as a member of my party, Adam only received access to a few features of my Semblance and viewing the titles and such of others wasn't among them. The Party System only gave effects directly related to parties, such as the ability to observe the HP of other members and gain experience. As such, he hadn't seen Autumn and Gou's changes or made the connections I had.

"Probably because of that thing you did with your Semblance," I answered, nodding towards Wilt and Blush.

"I don't even know how I did that," He muttered. "One moment I was running towards you, the next I had it in my hands."

I shrugged, figuring as much.

"You must have had a breakthrough," I told him. "Go have it again or something. It should be easier now that you know it's possible, after all."

Adam grunted.

"It'd be useful," He admitted. "It felt like I was at full charge but was keeping it contained. If I could learn to fight like that…"

"Then learn," I said. "We'll figure it out—and you have a few points to spend again. Maybe Wisdom helped some after all? Or maybe something else could be of use?"

"Maybe," Adam mused. "What about you? Are you going to do the usual?"

I chuckled.

"Of course," I replied, bringing up my status screen. "Now…let's try this again."

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'High Mana Capacity.'

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'Improved Mana Regeneration.'

By greatly heightening the abilities of your mind, you have learned to grasp the perpetual flow of energy through your body and soul and opened the 'Chakras.'

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'Sahasrara.'

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'Ajna.'

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'Vishuddha.'

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'Anahata.'

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'Manipura.'

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'Svadhishthana.'

By raising INT above 250, you have gained the passive skill 'Muladhara.'

The moment the windows appeared before me, I felt myself arch back, stiffening as what felt like a bolt of lightning raced down my spine. I felt a rush of power course through my brain before spiraling throughout my body in a web of almost painful energy. My nerves felt as if they'd been set alight and charged like live wires even as my heartbeat picked up and sent surges of power through my veins. I felt my Aura erupt around me in a mantle of blinding glory before turning inward and forcing itself into my skin, pooling and gathering at points I thought must have been glowing.

I felt something snap, as if a lock had been broken open and then I felt something new. Energy gathered at the base of my spine and cleared something away as it cycled again and again—and then something began to shift. For a moment, I thought something was growing, like a new organ appearing within my body, but at the same time it felt like I was simply opening an eye that I had never noticed before. It felt bizarrely like a flower opening, with four concealing petals opening wide to conceal what lay within.

At once, I felt as if I'd been rooted to the spot—literally, as if I'd begun to put down roots, like a plant. I felt trails of my Aura flow down through my feet and spread out around through the ground around me, drawing in energy like a plant does water. That energy flowed upwards, gathering in a place just above the first, and there was another snap as something else opened. It was more thoroughly concealed than the one before it, with six petal-like gates needing to be opened before it was revealed. Above that was a point with ten layers of obstruction at my solar plexus, then twelve in my heart. Then something shattered in my throat, breaking into sixteen pieces.

With each point that opened, I felt power flow, rising into my body and cycling around the strange but growing organs. They filled with energy and began to glow with greater and greater power, the course of energy running up my spine again and again but stopping as if hitting a wall—and then I felt something sharp, as if someone had stabbed me right between the eyes. At the tip of the imaginary blade gathered even greater power, which at last opened. Whereas each point between it had possessed a growing number of seals, this one seemed to possess only two and they spread to either side, as if covering my lens with lenses.

The world around me exploded into color in a way even my senses had never seen. I saw myself, but in a way I never had before, my skin seeming to burn under my gaze and fall away. As it did, it revealed what had lain beneath it—light, pure and mercilessly bright. It glowed until everything was gone, until I didn't seem to had fingers or hands, but merely shaped and focused radiance. One by one, I saw eyes open on my skin by the thousands and scattered power roared from my back in a pinnate wave.

I looked down at my hands and saw beyond my mortal flesh to the spirit within. I knew that nothing had changed physically, but that I was looking at myself. I looked like Keter, of course, but only to my own eyes.

Shifting my attention to Adam, I saw him as well, skin falling away to reveal a monstrous armored form in his place. Red lightning had gathered in a physical shape around him, glowing in his armor, his writhing sword, at the tips of his claws, and even within his burning eye sockets. Clouds of smoke and sparks drifted up from the corner of his eyes, at once hiding and revealing the outline of a crown upon his head. Behind him, Gou stood as a black silhouette, a three dimensional shadow with the approximate shape of a dog. It was featureless, even so, like the event horizon of a black hole that didn't allow any light to touch it and leave.

I was seeing them, not as they appeared on the surface, but as they were.

I was looking at their souls. I was sealing souls not in the vast and formless field that Bianca had described, but as they existed in this world, shaping the flesh which they'd briefly attached themselves to. At the same time, I saw power racing through the air and ground, clearly illuminating the sprawling trails of energy that coursed through the world like invisible rivers. In the distance, I could see Mistral, shining with the lights of so many souls. From this distance, I could make out their forms, but I could see the intensity and color that rested within each like a Beacon of luminescence.

It was as if an eye had opened on my forehead and allowed me to clearly see the world. I felt my heart pound as I considered the possibilities, the glowing point within it pulsating with every beat. If I could look at Cinder this way or Ozpin…admittedly, the shapes were hard to understand without any context, but it should reveal something, right? This power alone was a goldmine—and my energy continued to gather, swirling at the top of my head.

Gates began to open, as they had before, but the process didn't stop at a mere ten or twenty this time—it didn't even stop at a full hundred. One by one, a thousand gates opened wide and my power races with each and every one. It took several minutes for the process to finish and the last of the obstructions to fall away, but when it did, something flashed through my mind and then beyond it.

For a moment, I felt like I would come apart at the seams and explode from my own flesh—that the power gathering within me would be enough to make me spontaneously combust. But when the power reached its limit and couldn't be contained any more, I felt something break, but it wasn't my body. All of a sudden, I could see myself again, as if from a great distance, even as I was looking down at my hands with my own eyes. I felt like I was a world away from myself, that I was watching from above or through a screen, but I didn't approach. I couldn't approach rather or else knew I shouldn't. But looking down at myself, I felt something gather and grow, connecting two points.

Abruptly, I was back within my own body and I could feel steam rising from my skin. I had a hand on the ground, pushing me up, but I didn't remember falling. What had just…?

"Jaune," Adam shouted and I knew from the fact that he only then reached my side that I hadn't been out long. A second, perhaps, if that. He grabbed me by the shoulder and then swore, drawing his hand away from my skin before looking at me with a grimace. "If this going to happen every time? You try playing with your new toys and something goes to hell? Because if so, made we should start doing this somewhere else."

"Sorry," I replied, shaking myself as I rose. Thankfully, none of the things I'd activated had failed this time around and it had only been a momentary thing; much as I'd have preferred it if nothing strange had happened, I had to admit this had been far better than my first use of Tiferet.

Everything seemed back to normal now, though, at least for the most part. I could still feel the points within my own body, still coursing with a steady rush of power, but my vision was back to normally and I seemed fully within myself. The gates I had felt open hadn't closed and never would again, of that I was sure—but most of the effects were being held back. Instead, I mainly felt a new cycle of energy within myself as power flowed into me from what seemed like every angle. Energy flowed up through me from the ground and filled my lungs with every breath, but that wasn't it. There was something else, a source I could see or even feel, but simply knew was there.

And as that energy flowed into me, I felt it pass through those points again and again, carried along the river of my own power. It passed from the bottom to the top and the top to the bottom, repeating the cycle again and again as if it was being refined. Maybe it was.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked, staring at me worriedly when I didn't say anything else.

I didn't reply immediately, unsure how to answer the question. Mostly, I felt different. Good, perhaps, but not in a way I'd ever thought possible before, as if something I hadn't even known was bothering me had been removed. I felt powerful as well—I could tell without looking that my MP had swelled greatly in size. My MP regen seemed to have greatly improved too, coursing into me like a violent and powerful river. The feeling that I had a lightning bolt for a spine hadn't entirely faded either, nor had the rampaging energy within my body, but…

"Yeah," I answered, lifting a hand. Peering through the veil of my own flesh was as simple as opening an eye now and just as easy to close, and if I pushed a little harder, I thought I could do more. My power was closer to the surface than ever and my new organs seemed hard at work doing…whatever they were doing, without any need for my input. After the recent humbling I'd gone through, however, it felt nice, just to know that I'd grown and made progress. "Never better."

I looked around just in case, noting the cameras still facing the sea and then shaking myself.

"Don't worry about it right now," I said. "Let's get back to our room—there's something I need to check on."