The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Downtime

When I finally got back home, the place was empty even though it was getting dark. My parents had left a note on the counter, saying they'd be out late tonight, probably because of what was happening in the Industrial District, and that there was food in the refrigerator.

I ate the food and turned on the news. It was about the chaos I'd been a part of all day, though, so I turned it back off and just…sat in the silence of my empty house, taking a deep breath and then exhaling slowly.

It was…strange, really. All that chaos and rushing to try and save lives—my own and those of others—and then…it was over. Things were calm and silent and just…finished. After I'd gotten what I'd needed from the skill books, healing the injured had been simple. I used Soulforge Restoration to heal them until I ran out of MP, used Soul of the World to restore myself, and then went back to healing.

And then I left. I'd accomplished everything I'd set out to do—and so much more I hadn't—so I took Tukson's car back to him and then went home.

Now I was just marveling at the day I'd had, letting it really sink in. This morning, I'd been level two. Now, I was level thirteen, simply because of a quest gone horribly wrong. Or maybe right. I still wasn't sure.

I felt…not tired, really, but strange. This morning had been so peaceful, then everything had been thrown into chaos, and just as quickly I was back to my normal life. A small part of me worried about the consequences—that someone would find something connecting me to this, about the White Fang in general, and so many other things—but the rest was just wondering 'What next?'

I guess the same things I'd planned to do this morning. Keep training, keep working, keep getting stronger, keep getting better. The Soul of the World was, despite everything that had happened, honestly worth all the trouble. Up 'til now, the thing that had been holding me back the most was…myself. I could only train so long before my body was exhausted and though I could completely recover in thirty minutes, it still took thirty minutes and I only had so much free time once you took out the seven hours from school, six hours of sleep, the time I had to spend at home, and everything else that got in the way. When I'd trained before bed, I'd spent more time trying to recover then I'd spent actually training.

My training in the woods went only a little better. I'd exhaust my MP quickly and it took a hundred minutes to recover it completely, leaving me to work on Sword Mastery until I exhausted my body too and then to rest until that recovered. I could try training harder, but that just meant I'd tire out more quickly and be forced to rest for a long time again.

I supposed I should count my blessings, since I could recover completely in just half-an-hour and I'd known mentally I was improving at a rigorous pace, but…

Well, it didn't matter now. With the Soul of the World, I could restore myself in a fraction of the time, whether it was my body's stamina or my MP. I could train myself to exhaustion and then recover quickly to do it again. Because of that…

I needed to redo my schedule again. I'd given heavy precedence to training INT despite already training it throughout the school day, simply because I couldn't train my physical skills very efficiently in my limited amount of time. I'd intended to improve my INT first, slowly raising my physical abilities as I did until I could switch to training them later. I'd intended to give my mental stats precedence in the beginning anyway, simply so that the decisions I made during my training would be the right ones—and that was still true, in a way—but…

Wisdom was high enough for me to focus on other things, for now. I wanted to get Intelligence above fifty next, but I didn't want to spend any more of my points on it then I had to—especially since I had no idea when I would even be able to get another level. Despite that, I think I was giving Intelligence enough attention by spending most of my school day reading, though I could adjust that if needed. I could devote the early mornings and the time before bed entirely to training my body, instead of trying to split my attention—which, thinking about it, had probably be inefficient itself.

In fact…maybe it was my bloated WIS score or my newfound INT, but I was starting to wonder how efficient any of my exercises had been, studying included. I'd spent all day reading my textbooks, trying to figure things out, but even now I wasn't certain how much had truly sunken in. But with my INT at twenty-five and my Aura boosting it above thirty…I think I could train it a lot more easily too, now. My INT had been just like my other stats in that its low level had made raising it harder.

Now…now I felt like I'd be able to do better. That if I read the same book again, I could soak it up like a sponge. I'd have to try to make sure, but…I think that my INT would actually increase faster now that I could learn things more easily, just as being able to train longer would do for my physical stats. At least, up to a point; I'm sure there was a point where the economies of scale tampered off, but I couldn't be certain where without actual practice.

Then, I'd give the time in the morning and before bed to training my body and the time during school to my mind. But how should I spend the rest? Observe…Observe was an enormously useful ability, but I think it was high enough for the moment, though I'd train it whenever I got the chance. I was thinking that avoiding Tukson's place for a long, long time would probably be a good idea if I didn't want to get wrapped up in any more of the White Fang's business, but I could go back to the library and try to gather more skill books.

On the other hand…before it had really just been Power Strike, Sword Mastery, and Observe, so I'd trained the latter after school and the other two in the evening, but now…now I had a lot of useful skills to train and not much time to do it. But how should I prioritize them?

I frowned down at the table and organized my thoughts.

Aura, I felt, was the most important for several reasons. It was an enormously powerful ability with broad utility and, better yet, I could train it just by keeping it active, meaning I could do it while also doing other things. It would wear down my MP a lot more quickly, but when that happened, I could simply meditate for a few minutes. If I was careful, I should be able to do that even while I was at school, training Aura alongside my other stats. With the partial exception of Observe—which only increased when I learned new things about something and which I'd already used on most of the school—it was the only ability I could train any time. It also wouldn't interfere with the rest of my training, except possibly by exhausting me more quickly—which, really, was just a way of training the Spirits of the World.

Speaking of which…Spirits of the World allowed me to raise my MP independently of my INT, though I image it was similarly difficult and time consuming. The question was, then, how much time should I spend training that? Should I do it when I exhausted myself in-between the rest of my training or set days aside for it—or both?

Let me see. The most efficient way of training at first would be to train with my Aura on, using my sword and shield. I could raise Sword and Shield Mastery, Power Strike, Aura, and Aura Channeling at the same time that way, most likely, though I'd need to check the profiles off all my new abilities, since I'd been busy when I'd gotten them. I imagined I'd exhaust myself quickly if I fought that way in a real fight—which was one of the reasons I should probably focus on them for a while, as the cost of the skills went down as the levels rose. At the very least, I wanted to get Aura—or else my MP regeneration—high enough that I could keep it on constantly even without Soul of the World, since it was hard to deal with when it cost twenty-five MP a minute.

Of my other skills…Drive had proved itself surprisingly useful and was currently the only skill I had that could be used to escape danger—but I couldn't train it legally, yet, even if I could already drive masterfully. I'd need to go through official channels to be allowed to drive, one of my parents would have to accompany me and watch for weeks, questions might get raised about how good I was at this already—it could be problematic to train it further, currently, though I'd luckily already leveled it up quite a bit. Theft was the same in that it was illegal, though I was sadly aware I'd be leveling it up as well sooner or later. I'd need to level up Stealth eventually, but it wasn't a pressing need until after I'd grown strong enough. Dish Washing I figured I could safely set aside.

Then there were the abilities that would just be difficult to train. I'd need to check Aura Crash to figure out precisely what it did; if it required the use of a vehicle, I'd need to put training it on hold, too. Physical Endurance required me to get hurt and however useful the skill was, it would be hard to engineer situations where that was possible without drawing attention, though I might be able to try beating myself up.

The only other skills I needed to worry about then were 'Craft' and 'Nature Affinity' and I'd need to figure out precisely how to train both before whether I would or not. I wasn't sure where to even start with Nature Affinity yet, though, and the main issue with Craft was the matter of materials. Given that I'd originally gotten it from an art book, I might be able to improve it some if I took up drawing and cooking in my free time, but I imagined those could only take me so far. Eventually, I'd need to actually build stuff.

I knew there was potential there. Even if it was mostly in books or on TV, I'd seen some of the weapons Hunters used and I'd seen my Mom and Dad's a few times. I'd also seen some of the things technology could produce—like, oh, super death bots that chased people around—and I could admit there was definite appeal to the whole Craft thing, but it was all dependent on my resources.

Should I steal stuff so I could practice? But if I stole anything really useful and valuable—weapons, Dust, etc.—it'd draw attention, especially since I'd likely have to make a lot of stuff to level it up. I did not need that kind of trouble right now, but without it there was only so much I could do and that rankled.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, calming myself. The thing that annoyed me the most was that I was too smart and wise to not know why I felt that way. Bringing up my Inventory, I withdrew my sword and shield.

Well, 'my' sword and shield. Originally, they belonged to my great-great-grandfather Julius, but my dad had given them to me several years ago, before I first applied to Signal—and before I first failed to gain entry. The idea was that I'd use them until it was time to get my own weapon. That's what my father had done when my grandfather had given it to him, just as my grandfather had done before him. It was a family heirloom, of sorts.

But…to be honest, I'd always thought of it as more of a hand-me-down. Maybe not at first, when I'd been honored to even hold it, but after I failed, after I proved again and again I wasn't good enough…

It wasn't an honor to me anymore. It was just a reminder, a weight, and maybe even a mark of shame. Jaune Arc, who carried his ancestor's blade because he wasn't worth one of his own. There was a part of me, a fairly large part even, that wanted to level up Craft and was honestly considering theft to help do so despite the risks, simply so I could make my own weapon. Just to have my own weapon.

But…if I put that aside and thought about it logically…was that wise? Was it smart? Given the risks of grand theft and the costs of buying the materials legally, it was unlikely that I would be able to afford improving my Craft for quite some time—whereas my Sword Mastery, Shield Mastery, and the various skills I had to improve it could be leveled many times in that period.

If it took, say, a year until I could make my own weapon without drawing attention, then given my rate of growth and my Sword and Shield Masteries, I probably wouldn't benefit a whole lot from a new weapon. No, more than that, I probably wouldn't need one. If I did ten percent more damage with Sword Mastery at level one and thirty percent at level five, then following that trend I should do at least two hundred fifty-five percent more damage before taking into account the bonuses from Power Strike, Aura Channeling, and the bonuses from my Aura. To say nothing of the increases to my stats from training and leaving aside the additional attack speed granted by Sword Mastery and how it would improve. Or the defensive benefits of Shield Mastery.

If I waited too long, I would have no logical reasons to stop using this weapon.

Was that really such a bad thing? It felt like it in my gut, but my brain disagreed. Crocea Mors, the Yellow Death. It was old and outdated technologically speaking, but it had been cutting edge back when it was first made and my great-great-grandfather had used it to great effect in the War to drive back the Grimm. He'd been truly legendary; you could crack open a history book of your choice and odds were you'd find his name in it somewhere. Even now, Crocea Mors was an amazing sword, made by the best smith Julius Arc had been able to find and seemingly untouched by the passage of time, even if it didn't have a lot of additional utility. Beyond the need to have ranged and unarmed options just in case, there wasn't a lot of need to put it aside, beyond my wounded pride. At best, I might want to modify or improve the blade itself, once I was able.

Goddamn Wisdom.

I reverted my shield into its smaller form and sheathed my blade, putting it on the table before crossing my arms on the edge and resting my head. I looked at the blade for a while before sighing deeply.

"What a day," I muttered. "But I guess you've probably seen loads worse, huh?"

It was a rhetorical question. I'd heard all the stories. Julius had fought armies and led them, driven back the Grimm, helped forge Kingdoms, and done things that others had believed impossible until he'd proved them wrong—and Crocea Mors had been beside him through it all.

And I guess it had been beside me through pretty much everything. However much its status rankled me or what it reminded me of, whenever I'd needed a weapon, I'd drawn it. I could have gotten something else or taken one of the White Fangs guns, but I hadn't. And, in fairness, I was still here, despite the mess I'd thrown myself into. And I remembered, though it seemed like a long time ago, how fast my heart had beaten when my father first gave it to me

Sighing again in irritation, I picked it up and leaned back in my chair, drawing the blade just to look at it. I felt my aura wash over it, embracing it like an old friend—and I felt the blade, too, in a way I hadn't felt before, resonating with my Aura, tied to me strongly, but also independent. I could feel it and I, like music just out of synch, and felt my Aura reacting to that, shifting.

"You and me, huh…" I said at last as we became aligned, feeling as if I knew on some level what was happening. "I guess…that's okay."

New Status, "Metal Element Affinity" has been created.

I had the next day off from school, so I went into the woods to train for the day. My parents had returned by the time I'd woken up and though I hadn't really been worried about them because, well, they were terrifyingly powerful, it was good to see them safe. Breakfast had passed without incident, ignoring my dad's storytelling and my mom's sarcastic but smiling commentary. No one asked about my involvement, so I assumed I really had gotten away clean, and I left the house with little more than a promise to be back for lunch.

With two days off—and free to spend grinding however I pleased—I decided to start by experimenting with my new Status, 'Metal Element Affinity.' I was ninety-nine percent sure it was the result of my Nature Affinity skill, which had all sorts implications I'd need to experiment with, but first I needed to see what the effects of such a status were. I was more…aware of Crocea Mors, but I wasn't sure if that was because of my Metal Element Affinity, my Nature Affinity, or both.

Frowning, I sat down, crossed my legs, put my sheathed sword in my lap, and closed my eyes. I had no idea what Metal Element Affinity did. When I checked my Status Screen, it had said 'Gives the user an affinity with the element of Metal' which was both obvious and useless, so I'd need to figure it out some other way.

So I meditated on it. I'd learned how when I obtained Soul of the World, probably because you needed to meditate to use that skill, and I'd gotten some practice in between healing the White Fang members. Because of the way Soul of the World worked, though, it was an interesting experience.

As I relaxed, I could feel—almost see, even, in a way that was hard to describe—the world around me. I could feel power in the air, the ground, the plants, in everything, and glimpse the massive shifting forces throughout the whole of Remnant. Compared to even the small fragment of that immensity I was capable of observing, I was a spark at the edge of a roaring forest fire, only barely separate from it, from being consumed by it. And then I shifted that boundary, touching that power directly and letting it flow up into me, through me, and then away; a tiny, tiny shift in a river's stream, like a child making a hole at the edge of the water with the tip of a finger, that nonetheless filled me to the bursting.

I guided that stream carefully and calmly, letting it in and out, again and again. I didn't lose myself in it and I didn't let it slip from my careful control, but I focused myself on it, on the spinning awareness of the rivers flow through my body and soul. It would have been easy to lose track of myself like this, especially without anyone else around for me to keep track of. When I'd been with the White Fang, it had been easy to keep track of time by the life draining slowly out of the wounded or by the power filling me when I was drained, but here I'd need to do it entirely on my own. I focused on the cycle of energy within me, on the beating of my own heart, counting the moments as they passed me by.

When I was sure I wouldn't lose track of time, I shifted my awareness, focusing it in around me and on my surroundings. I could feel the energy in the air as I breathed and took it into my body and the shifting earth beneath me and there was something there but…instead, I focused further yet, on what I felt most keenly. Crocea Mors sang to me, glowing with my Aura but also with the ancient power of the blade itself. Though my own Aura, I touched that musical power and altered my own tune to match. It was easier then I would have thought—perhaps because there were already traces of the tune within my soul—and after I resounded with the steely song I opened my eyes.

A skill has been created through a special action! Unification of element and soul has created the skill 'Elemental Aura' to shroud yourself with Nature's wrath!

I looked down at my hands, inhaling deeply. I didn't look any different—my skin hadn't turned to steel or anything like that—but I felt different. When I touched my chest, it—or my Aura, more likely—felt more…solid might have been a good way to describe it. When I put a hand on the ground to lift myself to the feet, my fingers left narrow gouges in the dirt. My aura was harder, now—and sharper.

Elemental Aura (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The shifting of Aura in accordance with one's Elemental Affinity, empowering the user by drawing upon the element. Power changes as the caster's INT, skill level, and Elemental Affinity grow. Only possible for those attuned to the forces of nature.

Additional 25 MP used per minute.

Known Elemental Auras: Metal Aura.

Metal Aura: 15% increase in attack damage. 10% decrease in damage taken from physical attacks.

Elemental Aura, huh? Not bad. Maybe a little expensive, but training it wasn't a problem for me and I could probably reduce the cost. Once I did that, the benefit would be more than worth it, especially since that would probably increase, too. However…

When I used one of my skills it wasn't—or, at least, wasn't usually—just me saying the name and the effect happening. I mean, it was about that easy and that quick, but I could feel my MP or Aura or whatever you wanted to call it as it took effect. Like with Soul of the World, the effect happened as written in its profile and I regained however much HP, MP, and stamina per minute, but it wasn't just sitting there as they just came to me, even if it was essentially that easy.

With my Metal Aura, it was the same. I could feel my aura resounding with the song I'd heard before—not with my ears, but with my Aura, my soul. And the source of that song was the sword I held in my hand. But then…

I put Crocea Mors on the ground and stepped away from it, the song fading quickly as I did. As I'd thought, it really did require me to draw upon the element.

I considered that as I picked my sword back up. The profile had pretty much stated that there were other Elemental Auras—the classic Earth, Water, Fire and Air sprang quickly to mind—which would be useful and which I'd have to experiment with. If it required proximity to the element, however, there were limits to it. Or would that change as I leveled the ability up?

I'd need to test if it required a significant amount of the element to be present, if it required contact to initiate, the range, and what other limits there were to the ability. The amount would affect which ones were feasible; I could carry around a few water bottles in my Inventory for Water, if that worked, and stones for Earth. Assuming it didn't, the most reliable elements would be Air, Metal, and Earth—the former was essentially everywhere I was capable of surviving, after all, and I could always carry my sword and armor. Earth could be a bit more variable, depending on how it was affected by going inside, but…

As for Water, it could vary a fair bit, depending on what counted as a source of water. Fire…fire was the most uncertain. Depending on how the skill worked, I could call upon it easily or it would be nearly impossible to use effectively. It would need testing, but for the moment I could train with the Metal Aura on.

What else…?

I'd need to find a chance to test it with Dust. If 'Nature's Wrath' counted, then it would be simple, after all. I'd needed to figure out what each element did and how leveling up changed the limits. And, of course, I needed to figure out what else I could do with Nature Affinity. For now, though, I'd focus on leveling my skills up, including Elemental Aura, and then on my stats later.

"Time to get to work then," I muttered, drawing Crocea Mors and drawing the Metal Aura back around me. A glance at the sky told me I still had four or five hours until lunch, so I started practicing.

XxXXxX

The next week passed quickly in a blur of constant effort. I woke up and worked out, studied during school hours, worked out for a while after school before going into the woods, ate supper, went back to the woods, and then home, day after day. Whenever my body seemed ready to give out or I ran out of MP, I closed my eyes and meditated on the titanic power of the world beneath my feet, something no one else seemed able to feel, and then got back to work.

I never stopped unless I needed to and sometimes not even then. With the Soul of the World to restore my HP, MP, and Stamina on top of the odd way my body already worked, I didn't really need sleep, so when I thought I could get away with it without my parents noticing, I worked out through the night. When I thought that would draw attention, I studied or meditated instead, but either way I kept my Aura activated nearly twenty-four hours a day, only turning it off when I ran out of MP and needed to refuel.

Sleep is for the weak, apparently. I'd thought that eventually it'd start effecting me mental or give me hallucinations or something, but that didn't happen—and though it was weird to never sleep, it got me forty-two extra hours to work with a week instead of wasting on sleep. That was valuable time I could spend training instead and I knew I was making amazing progress. Sure, my rate of advancement was already slowing down as my stats climbed higher and higher, but…even having just had this ability for a little over half a month, I was sure that I could have gotten accepted into Signal if I'd been like this before, even ignoring my skills. And if you included them and how they'd leveled up…

I was going to be a Huntsman. That wasn't a dream anymore, or a foolish, flickering hope, or anything like that. Someday, someday soon, I would become a Huntsmen. When the time came, I'd take Beacon's entry exam and by then I knew I'd pass, I'd be ready for whatever came my way, and—

"Welcome back, Jaune," My mother's voice interrupted my thoughts as I walked through, an odd expression on her face. "There's someone here to see you."

"Hi, mom," I nodded at her, frowning slightly as I jogged in place. "Here to see me?"

My mind quickly came up with a number of possibilities, none of them good. I didn't have a lot of friends, even before my power turned me into a workaholic. I mean, I was on fairly good terms with everyone in my class, but I wasn't best friends with anyone anymore. If something happened, I was usually invited, but I didn't hang out with a lot of people after school, because at school, there were three types of people: Hunter kids, Hunter fans, and everyone else.

Hunter kids were, well, kids like me, who had Hunter parents. My Mom and Dad had a lot of friends and when I was younger I'd hung out with them a lot and they'd been, I guess, my friends. But, the thing is, because they were Hunter kids, pretty much all of them went off to one combat school or another and we'd sort of fallen out of touch after I…hadn't. Hunter fans were the ones who thought Hunters were awesome, which was pretty much everyone, including me, but…there's just…there's just something uncomfortable when the hottest girl in school agrees to go out with you, but only because she wants to go to your house and see your parents.

And I got that. My parents were cool. Hell, my life goal was to become a Huntsman—I understood how they all felt. And I also got that underneath that desire to ogle my awesome, celebrity parents, there were probably a lot of nice people who could be really good friends. But…

Also, bringing people to my house was always an experience. There was a hallway covered in pictures of all the different types of monsters my parents had killed one-on-one; they'd been competing since pretty much forever, before they'd gotten together—apparently that was how they'd gotten together, actually. But the whole thing could substitute as an encyclopedia of the Grimm. Literally. Mom said that she and Dad had once gotten an actual encyclopedia and then gone on a trip around the world to make sure they'd gotten one of each, including the ones that lived underwater.

Did I mention I'm not afraid of people threatening my parents?

And as for the final category…it was my teachers, pretty much. Who I hadn't given any reason to make a house call, unless this was about my grades suddenly improving and they were suspecting me of cheating or something—which, surprisingly, was the best possibility I could think of. If they thought I was cheating, it'd be relatively easy to prove I was just smart.

But if it wasn't anyone from school…

It could be the police or someone like them, finally connecting me to my thefts or the White Fang thing, or…

I walked passed my mom and into the dining room, a dread filling my stomach as if I already knew what I would find.

"Oh," I said as I saw him, letting out an already exhausted sigh. "Hey Tukson."

"Hello Jaune," The bookkeeper replied, nodding at me from where he sat, drinking coffee with my dad.

"Tukson here was telling us about how you did some work for him?" My dad said with a smile. "Why didn't you tell us you got a part-time job?"

"It was only a one-time thing, really…" I said, dragging my eyes away from the Faunus to look at him. Now that I was here, facing him, I was kind of surprised at how calmly I was taking this. It had gotten to be something of a trend.

"There was a book he said he wanted to buy," Tukson explained. "I said I'd give it to him if he ran a delivery for me. Well, it's more like he talked me into it; you have a very convincing son, Mr. Arc."

"Jacques, please," My dad replied immediately before turning to my mother, teeth gleaming. "First time he does real work and he asks to be paid in books. His mother's son, eh?"

Mom rolled her eyes.

"What do you need, Tukson?" I asked politely.

Tukson scratched the back of his head, smiling at me apologetically. I wondered if it was fake and used Observe on him; he was actually sorry. Or, at least, sorry about something, it might not have anything to do with me.

"Blake asked me to invite you to the shop, if you wanted," He said. "She didn't know your number, so I guess now I'm running deliveries."

"Blake?" Mom wondered.

"My niece," Tukson answered, though I was pretty sure that part was a lie. "She's about Jaune's age; he helped her out while he was working for me."

"A part-time job and a girl—" Dad began before falling silent at a glance from mom.

"What's Blake need?"

"She wanted to ask if you'd be interested in helping her again."

Of course.

I was trying to think of how to reply when my dad was at my shoulder, rising from his chair and coming beside me so quickly I hadn't even been able to see him move. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Son, when a girl asks you if you want to come over and help her with something, the answer is yes," He told me seriously, before suddenly letting me go as mom placed a hand on his shoulder.

I looked at him and then back at Tukson, unsure. A part of me didn't want to get wrapped up in anything involving the White Fang, remembering what had happened last time—but the other was thinking of last time too, of how I'd gone from level two to thirteen in a few hours. I hadn't leveled up once since then, though I'd improved my stats a great deal; even though the quest to heal the White Fang had gotten me nearly seventy percent of the way to the next level, the experience I got on a day to day basis wasn't getting me anywhere fast. The difference between getting to level two and to level fourteen, I suppose. And whatever she was, I guess I…kind of trusted Blake? At the very least, I didn't think she would be here for no reason.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to stop by after school and see what she needs, right?" I wondered out loud as much as to Tukson.

The smart part of me told me to stop trying to lie to myself.