Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or the Gamer.
Warning: Antagonist OC, death, possible gore, etc. Further explanation of this will be addressed at the end of this chapter.
Summary: The stories go with a Gamer always trying to do good in the world they're reborn in, but good is a subjective term. Waking up as a young Adam Taurus is bound to make undesired ripples. [RWBY/The Gamer] [Anti-Villain/Antagonistic! OC]
This is an Antagonistic!OC. He won't be someone who will kill and hurt people easily, though there will be buildup towards such a thing. I feel there needs to be buildup towards justifying such a thing and even then, the reason why he's an anti-villain is because he ends up at the wrong side of life due to circumstance and desperately wants to find freedom.
Text Meaning:
Normal Text: Either talking when it's in speech, or accounting details which the character is experiencing in their personal view.
Italics: Thoughts - this shows what these characters think of one another: 'Random thought in my head.' Can be used in a narrative context.
Bold Italics: Interactions with objects through the Gamer's System. Can be used as a serious expression.
I came up from meditation, eyes blinking open to a quiet world of night with too much light on my face, burning my eyes. The energy of the dust were reflecting through the wide windows of the warehouse, enthusiastically too, considering it felt like a beam of light right in the face from here. Small fragments of dust was spread across the room, scattered around the room; the energy giving crackles and jolts.
There was silence.
To be honest, I never really imagined this to be completely real. I denied that feeling over and over. Thinking over how important the lives of others were; how they were always of value; how they were even significant to the world no matter what. I just never considered the ramifications of what I was doing. At some points, talking to people felt like I was talking to NPCs in another game; ironically, RWBY was a show. It wasn't as real as Earth or any of the people on that planet. My friends. My family. They had felt like people.
These people felt like an imitation at times. At other times...
What is keeping me from believing completely in Remnant's true existence, including its people, is simply the Gamer system. The fact it is there; always appearing, never stopping for a moment to let me think on my own is what keeps me from going all in. It keeps me from giving any true value to the people on Remnant other than the fact they have dreams and personalities so beyond a simple show and they thus deserved at least a chance. A small chance. Is it stupid to admit that a part of me doesn't want the Gamer power? All of my work, all of my improvements, and all of my changes were dependent on this. Not me.
But there is that other part of me that knows the Gamer power is here for a reason.
Over the past few weeks from the very beginning: I've been realising something important. The only reason I have a sense of direction to where I am going is because of the quest system, partially because of morals; but it was mainly because I wanted to become powerful for the sake of getting back home. I wanted to do things that people in my old life or in this could only dream of, too. To be beyond what I had been. I always wanted to become strong: powerful, beyond anything. I wanted to see the stars. Space. Even the end of the universe. But it means that whatever or whoever is beyond the Gamer power itself has the means and power to develop a universe-changing monstrosity of a weapon. There is something out there controlling everything. It might even be responsible for everything that's been happening.
The fact that it chose me to wield this power...
I never imagined I could get the chance.
'There was one problem, though...' My fists closed; walking slowly might I add, treading to the boxes of dust I have bought.
My fears represent the one obstacle that can get in my way. The only being that could get in my own way, preventing me from reaching greater power, is me of all people.
A blue-screen flickering with shapes floating from the corners of said screen appeared; flickering, with the shapes fading shortly after.
"I really shouldn't do this," I spoke, noticing a scratchy, heavy voice which was one to wince at. "Fusing with dust itself..."
I can't begin to explain how difficult it has been to mentally prepare to even fuse with dust in the first place. Emotionally paralysing. It was like someone was keeping you strung up on strings; tugging hard, never letting you move on your own. There was something about fusing with dust that felt like I was about to ascend to a power I wasn't supposed to have. A power that was never supposed to be wielded by humanity or faunus-kind. It feels like I'm being swept in that river again; fleeing from the Beowolf, facing Verte Village...retrieving Wilt & Blush.
This warehouse wasn't the best, neither for living in or for doing this. The yellow lights were flickering at times; they were powered by the electricity dust I had bought from time to time. I tried not to acknowledge the dash of fear in my stomach when I swore there had been a pair of red lights representing eyes weaving from outside the warehouse at times. I tried not to acknowledge the slight tremble in my hands that would come when I thought about the river. But most importantly, I tried to not acknowledge that without the Gamer power and Wilt & Blush... I was nothing. Wilt & Blush had made me strong; it had allowed me to face the Grimm without letting my fear conquer me, without letting anything bring me down. But it wasn't a solution, it was a crutch. At times I would be gripping Wilt tightly, hoping the feeling of my heart pounding in my chest every time I fought a Grimm wouldn't take over me. Other times, I needed to fight with Rifle so I could calm down, always going in and out rather than risking it all. I'm afraid of dying again.
As I grab the dust shard, it flickers with red energy.
I'm not going to lie and say I don't care about dying. It might be a surprise, but hear me out. Mana could only do so much: it was merely a diluted form of Magic, resulting from a mix of Aura and Magic that had been unlocked from the moment I woke up in that forest. No clues to explain why it had been unlocked, either. There was nothing. The question would be, then; why on Earth would dying again be so significant? Not when you could just die and go back to the afterlife and see your family again?
But that's the thing. The Game said: "Find a way to beat the Game and you leave this world to return to Earth."
If I die, there's no coming back to Earth. I'm stuck here. I won't ever see the people I love again: not when the Game is still going. Not only that, I actually want to live, not be in the Afterlife in my universe. I would love for a way to get back to Earth without dying, use the Gamer powers to form my old body and then return to my normal life. I would go back from all of this to once again have what I had. I will find a way if it means facing what is possibly an universe-destroying eldritch monstrosity that could annihilate anything in existence. I would do almost anything to get them back.
It was the reason why life was still significant on this planet; why what had happened with Verte Village and the Beowolf made me ashamed. These people had lives and I ruined it for them by causing negativity near the village, making their situation worse. I also didn't even try checking if there was anyone alive. A decision like that would usually be an intelligent one provided negativity wasn't caused but here's what is important: there is a difference between fleeing intelligently and helping more people in the long run than abandoning people because you were too scared to face a single Beowolf.
Could you imagine finding out the reason that you died because someone was too terrified to help anyone?
The dust shard kept crackling. Lifting the dust shard up into the air, I moved it towards my shoulder, like as if someone was giving you a jab. There was this rhythmic sense of breathing, always through the nose, going out of the mouth and creating small amounts of steam on the shard. I pulled it closer to me; its tip was about to go through the skin. I stopped.
My hand started shaking.
'Don't you dare,' I moved the dust crystal closer. 'Don't you give up and let your fear get to you. Don't you dare—''
I have never dropped to the ground so fast in my life and screamed.
It burned, a fire on my arms, burning me alive. Was it possible to have the pain spread all over your body in seconds? Sparks of energy exploded across my skin, with the mana warring with such energy tumultuously. There were intense crackles of energy bursting randomly across my body; to my disbelief, giving off what sounded like the hum of electrical machines. My ears rang louder than I thought they could.
A slow, shaky step was taken with one knee lurching out first, wobbling. I gripped the side of the table. It cracked, with wood splintering in all sorts of directions, almost spiking upwards. I pulled myself up and staggered slowly towards Wilt & Blush.
My heart kept pounding. I...remembered the Beowolf. The river. Forcing myself up from the water, climbing against what felt like chains pulling my feet down into the deep sea's clutches, never stopping or letting me think for even a moment. The roaring tides; eyes flooded with water, with only the vision of what had been a violent red transforming into a murky blue. Scrapes with rocks. Cuts from the sharp bark of broken trees. I could only take in deep breaths, before plunging into a world of blue, never stopping. Never relenting. Towards the end, my vision had started to turn black and oh god, please make it stop, it burns so muchicanteventhink—
The dust shard flew and slowly dropped into the Inventory, disappearing.
My throat burned; every breath burned, too. I just felt so tired. Not even a few seconds after no longer fusing and I'm already ready to faint. I stumble and crawl far enough to reach Wilt & Blush, feebly placing it into the Inventory along with my mask and the Wilt & Blush armour.
"I.." I almost dropped to the ground, my vision blurred with a spread of dark spots in my vision. I couldn't even speak after that. My voice sounded off; almost damaged, if anything. My stomach was whirring around, feeling as if there were snakes coiling in my own stomach, striking randomly. It always came, and I always held Wilt & Blush.
'Come on,' I shook my head, biting the inner layer of my mouth. 'Lie down on your side on the floor, breathing in and out slowly. Take deep breaths...' I stumbled onto the floor, lying on my side, sweating harder than I would have running a marathon in my past life. It was out of this world; not in a good way clearly, but what I was feeling wasn't exactly on my to-do list. When it was said that fusing with dust was painful...I never imagined it would be this bad. I just needed small sips of water: it would help, definitely deal with hydration issues—
'I'm out of water and I can't exactly drink water dust...so that's out of the equation, lovely.' I sighed.
A screen appears, one I can make out; it flickers and it almost glitched out? Probably just me.
[Quest: "Another One Bites The Dust"]
[Fuse with Dust!]
[Rewards: Dust Fusion Guide!]
I stare at the notification.
I sighed, one hand reached out to grasp Wilt & Blush to trigger its Wilt form, before I threw it into the Inventory. I also put my mask and my Wilt & Blush clothes into the Inventory and replaced those slots with normal clothes I had bought from earlier. Decent clothes for where I was going; but, I wasn't going to fight Morada Lirio just yet. It wasn't night. It would be far more likely for collateral damage to happen, causing people to get hurt, maybe even die if I'm not careful. I have to draw her out with the people who would be guarding her (perhaps she has guards like Gelb Gibbs, perhaps not, I'd have to see for myself) into the quieter places in the night and kick her ass. Find out what was going on.
'Just need to...stay like this for a while. Definitely need to cool down,' I looked towards the door, blinking to make sure I would stay conscious.
'How about I just go to Verte Village after this? Get myself a break,' As my vision went dark; my sight unclear, my body only knew pain.
I have never felt so relieved to fall asleep.
Verte Village was still the same broken mess it had been; admittedly better with the lack of corpses and Grimm.
A box of tools dropped in front of the first house.
The first thing about healing over a conflict is to start doing something about it in the first place. I wouldn't say vigilantism is the best thing right now; not when I was going under a headache. At least I was walking about again and not worrying about whether or not I would vomit over the place.
I'm fine now, thankfully.
I got down to work: used the standard tools. The mighty hammer, probably will call it Nora (wasn't that one of the protagonists? My head isn't giving me any favours here right now), along with the standard bolts, screws, the usual. I can't exactly make glass so I will have to leave that for now: doesn't look like I have any cement, either. That would be devastating. It wasn't so bad, actually. It was like this for the first hour: disinfecting the houses, cleaning everything up, dusting the entire place. It's not entertaining but it's just...I might've known these people as my parents if I had saved them. Maybe. I don't know.
It's not like I had a choice in the long run.
Would anyone believe me if I said that if it wasn't for the Gamer powers, I probably would be living my life peacefully and fighting Grimm to become strong? Just exploring the world for fun and then retiring after a life of normal adventures? It would be a lot better than having to take down a kingpin and possibly going all over the world to find them just for the sake of a village of people I feel morally obligated to help. It's just...something you do when there's nothing else in your life. When everything you know is gone and you're stranded on another world; there is a tendency for the odd goals in life, one of them being to go on a global campaign to ascertain equality between all societies and civilisations. I would have spent my life doing normal things and perhaps fighting Grimm if I ever became bored. I don't know what I would have done; probably the same thing due to the Beowolves.
Anyway, I should get out of here—
The howls of Grimm and bullets firing in the distance was something I definitely; seemingly, was it?
'I have to check in case; can't leave it to chance.'
Immediately, I activated Wilt and rushed out of the building, fast enough to immediately show in the middle of the village.
There was this miasma of black smoke: a definitive sign of Grimm. I immediately shifted to Blush, breathing in and out slowly.
Somehow, I ran faster.
Dead Grimm surrounded them, some were finally fading into black smoke, others were just falling onto the ground dead.
She looked familiar, somehow. A teenager, definitely. Black hair, eyes that were amber... Shit.
A black blade was fumbled within a Grimm's chest. It couldn't be her, could it? From the show. She looks exhausted. Her legs were shaking; perhaps from the cold, it was windy. Perhaps it was from fighting so many Grimm which is yet again another mistake I have made.
'Another lesson to learn from Remnant; fascinating how it helps you learn from the most unexpected of times,' Shaking my head and gripping Wilt, I rushed into the fray.
I charged forwards, Wilt in my hand, swinging at the nearest Beowolf which took the hit in stride and in turn had its arm cleaved off. I grabbed the arm and threw it at its eyes, confusing it allowing me enough time to switch to Blush and shoot it in the head.
The fire dust ricocheted from its armour; which I dodge quickly, causing the dust to hit the back of the Ursa that the girl was facing. A trail of bullets from her weapon had hit the Beowolf in the eye as a result, burrowing through the bone plating of its head, exploding out of its head with dark ash falling out.
I decided to go for a Mana Blast and push some of the other Grimm away, giving us time to deal with the Grimm right in front of us.
'Wait, is that an Ursa Major?' I hear a roar and watch as the girl react, just not fast enough. I know it won't work; I've been slow enough to almost lose to an Ursa Major once because of being inexperienced. It kills.
An Ursa Major dashed towards the girl; there was this horrible pain in my body when I ran. I'm not going to pretend it isn't easy to give up; a part of me wants to give up.
I saw the gargantuan claw reach out, the tip about to reach her face—
"BOOM!"
A gargantuan wave of dust gathered: scaffolding the ground with a miasma of soil and air.
'Not this time!' The red sword blocks the massive claw, almost an extension of my arm.
Blush had thankfully shifted back into Wilt fast enough to block the strike. I stood in front of her; I couldn't see her reaction and to be frank, there was a possibility she could take advantage of my blind-spot. I'm fucked if she doesn't.
"Leave the kid alone, Yogi!" I snarl. The bear turns to me, sounding almost confused. A mighty kick to the stomach pushed it back; I switched to Blush, shooting fire dust that scarred its armour, the flames flying upwards. I twisted Blush into Wilt and stabbed the Ursa in the chest, ripping a piece of its armour off of it; it roared, only to be silenced by a sword sticking out of its head.
Suddenly, I see another Grimm dive straight towards me as I'm holding the Ursa Major off.
'I forgot to keep an eye on the other Grimm, shit!'
That Beowolf Grimm was beheaded, its head landing right on my feet.
A glance at Blake was all it took for her to know my gratitude; though...
I shift Wilt into Blush and fire at a Level 13 Ursa Major, the blast of dust piercing its dark arms. A roar answered me. I pierced the Ursa in the eye after transforming Blush into Wilt, causing it to snarl in pain as it was sent far away from us. Releasing dust from my inventory, I stared at the Ursa Major, grinning.
"Catch this, you unbearable prick!" I swung at the shard like I was playing golf in a casual spring. Hard. The shard started cracking, releasing what must've been a small display of fireworks, energy cackling and consuming the Ursa Major. I didn't even hear its roars; the display was quite loud, if not annihilating any hearing in the future.
"Hole in one; I haven't done that in a long time!" Swinging my arms around enthusiastically, a feint for the Beowolf lurching at me, a lesson learned from the fight with Torchwick. I unleashed a Powerful Punch into the stomach of a Beowolf, smashing it into concrete. It hurled and twirled; rolling quickly, before its shattered armor floated in the air. An extra shot of fire dust from Blush made sure it wasn't coming back.
Did I just hear a bird's screech? It's probably the cackling and explosions going on in the sky; Blake hadn't said anything, perhaps the fight...
Blake dodged to the side, evading a claw slashing thin air; only a flicker of red light remained, but not before the Beowolf gave a maddening dash. Its menacing claws spread across: its body lunging out towards us with a howl.
The cross of two blades, one black, the other red, brought silence to the land. The Beowolf fell to the ground, its skull smashed into pieces.
A sudden series of staggering steps made me look at her. Blake. She was about to fall; her face paler than most I've seen, with her eyes so blood-shot I could mistake her for having red eyes.
"Shit," I curse. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to faint."
"I'm fine," Blake stumbles for a moment; staggering, speaking again whilst somehow having a frown on her face in spite of her. "I'm..."
She falls.
I catch her.
[Entity: Blake Belladonna]
[Level: 14]
[Health: Extreme Exhaustion, No Aura, Hunger, Dehydration]
[Observed Information: "The daughter of the Chieftain of Menagerie. She has left the White Fang upon realising Sienna Khan's intent with the organisation; she's been on the run for months, both from police and the White Fang. Although she has left the organisation; her passion for Faunus rights and equality of Humanity and Faunus has never wavered.]
'She ran out of aura? She could've died.' I'm grateful for the fact she didn't have any serious injuries or internal bleeding; I would have had to rush to the hospital straight from here, defenseless. At least the Gamer power was helpful with health checks for other people, too.
'I can't even bring her back to Vale; apparently the White Fang has children being violent enough to be hunted by the police? Horrible group.' As I was carrying the girl, gently so. She looked so tired; black bags, felt warm enough to be ill, not to mention she was struggling to keep up. Apparently the police can hunt a child for doing crimes but they won't even hunt down the criminals on the streets.
A blanket emerges out of my inventory and I put it on her.
I had to carry her from outside the Village to the river for water. It took longer than usual; I'm not going to lie, I was in agony from fusing with the dust. Treading back from the river and into the village was a test of patience and endurance. I'm going to feel burns for a long time. Great.
'Tukson is aware of me; has to be, if he was a friend of Adam Taurus' parents then he would've found it odd how I just disappeared from the village...' I knew this was going to happen, eventually anyways. I just wish this wasn't happening so soon; not like this, when I was only Level 20.
At least there's a small improvement in attitudes towards Faunus.
As I walk back to the village, I find a random house due to the lack of Grimm, but I chose a spot far from the river. It's not easy for Grimm to corner and certainly doesn't bode well for them due to their expertise on rushing into things, other than the Elder Grimm. I set Blake on the bed and keep her warm by extracting red dust from Blush and powering the fireplace with energy. If I ran out of dust for Blush; that was fine, simply because I could depend on Wilt.
I'm glad I cleaned the place; I can't imagine sleeping in the first room as a decaying corpse is fun for anyone.
I'll be surprised these days—
[An Elder Nevermore Has Appeared!]
'What, how?' The lights were turned off; the curtains closed. The windows partially broken but not enough so for a Grimm's claw to go through the holes.
The amount of fear inside of me was insurmountable: almost like an emotional tsunami, crashing over me. Easy to drown in.
[Due to your fear, the Elder Nevermore is moving towards you!]
'Shit, but that means...'
I have to go out there alone. If I stay in here, the Nevermore will come. It'll find us, and it will kill her. I'll fail again.
The door slammed shut behind me.
As the Nevermore flew up ahead; I started running outside of the village, getting it away from Blake. I needed to be as far away as possible, allowing the Grimm to be drawn away from the village along with the Nevermore. It must've been drawn to the village because of the negativity, especially because of my fear of messing up again along with Blake running out of Aura.
[Entity: Elder Nevermore]
[Level: 40]
[HP: 7000/7000]
[MP: 0/0]
I gripped Wilt & Blush tightly, a breath hitching away at the screen.
The weapon was shaking so much that it never stood still for even a moment. I couldn't shoot it. Couldn't do anything. As the Nevermore stared down akin to how someone would stare at an ant it could crush, I didn't move. I couldn't.
As the bird flashed and flapped its wings, it trailed the skies, circling me. It stared like a hunter, no, as a hunter.
The Nevermore descended down from the skies, screeching straight at me, with a furious downfall for its path. Sprinting away from the site and the village, a crash of dust blew me away; I was thrown across the rocky field, pushing me backwards with a stagger.
My heart beat harder than in any moment.
Rapidly firing feathers, it flew into the sky and unleashed a spectacle of sharp attacks which could've killed anyone easily. I barely swerved through most of them; not dodging all of them, which decreased my MP by 50MP alone. Firing multiple dust rounds at the Nevermore, it only seemed to twitch a little, chipping off small parts of the armour. 'Fuck, I need a plan and of all the times to not be able to think-!' The Nevermore lurched at me with its claws; an attack avoided so closely it scratched my arm, taking off another 50MP.
The Nevermore's armour was chipping off when I fired dust rounds at it provided it was close enough; if I can make it unpredictable enough to prevent it from figuring me out, I could survive. Could. But it was impossible. It was level 40, twenty entire levels beyond me. A realm beyond me. It was already perching on the rocky hills, triumphant, like it already knew it had won. Its opponent defeated; giving up, about to die at its own whims. I hated that. Is this how I die again? Killed by an overgrown bird, a monster from what was called a fictional world?
I have the opportunity to live again and this is what I do with my new life? I waste it?
This is what I do?
My grip on Wilt & Blush began to become slack.
I stood up, the fear in me within every part of my being. My hands shook. My teeth chattered.
The Nevermore swung down; its mouth opening, releasing a scream that sounded like it came from hell.
My nails dug into my nails.
Why did I have to be such a coward? I was disgusted. I have a power so far beyond my world, beyond the limits of humanity and I'm too concerned with my own safety and life to even fight?
As soon as I see a Grimm, merely an overgrown bird, vastly stronger than I am and I can't rely on my powers, I do nothing.
Just like I was too scared to save Verte Village and instead condemning the few people left to die, I was condemning myself and Blake to die. A child. All because I was afraid of dying for good and never seeing my family again.
Is this who I am? Who I'm supposed to be?
I grit my teeth, shaking.
'This isn't me,' I opened my eyes and then the Inventory.
"THIS ISN'T ME!"
I grabbed the fire dust shards and—
BOOM!
The Nevermore covered its face with its wings from the billowing dust. It flapped its wings away.
Everything felt like I was on fire. Every step, every moment, it felt like my whole body was going to collapse on itself. Red jolts of energy covered my skin, sparking from my shoulders, revealing cracks of red in the skin. It was like you were dying, but also alive. Wilt was held tightly in my hands.
A loud boom of air passed me as I rushed at the Nevermore, shooting it in the chest and giving a powerful punch. The Nevermore actually gave a sound of pain; small, but it was still there. It immediately flew back and fired feathers at me-to which I dodged with great difficulty-even having one of the feathers graze my leg. I knew my Mana was lower than one hundred at this point.
Wilt was shifted into Blush; swerving the rifle around, I fired bullets. I noticed the bullets were exploding sooner than early, causing the Nevermore to be pelted with explosions. Its wings billowed, and an animal's screech ripped through the skies; never stopping, but not before sending the flames away. It descended down and clawed ferociously, never stopping for a moment to give me time. I was entirely on the defensive: blocking; dodging; getting hit and even beginning to run out of Mana.
I immediately formed Blush and retreated, feinting when the Nevermore lurched for what looked like an obvious mistake, only to be hit back with a series of rifle shots from Blush. There was a gap in the chest armour beginning to form; small, but still there. A grin started forming on my face.
But it wasn't until the Nevermore unleashed more power did I realise it wasn't taking me seriously the entire time. The screens were starting to glitch out; flickering with corrupted squares. They were turning red.
[̵E̸l̴d̵e̵r̴ ̸N̸e̴v̶e̷r̷m̶o̸r̶e̴ ̶(̵1̵0̸0̵%̸)̸]̷
̵[̸H̴P̷:̴ ̷5̴5̷0̶0̶/̵7̵0̶0̴0̴]̴
Somehow, the Nevermore was going faster than before, unrelentingly so. What looked like hundreds of feathers pelted the rocky ground, scarring the rocky hills with ugly marks, destroying trees and shattering rocks into two. I realised I needed more. Even this wasn't enough.
I grabbed a third and fourth shard, placing it into my arms, one per arm.
My body fell down, bending the knees.
'Ì̵͜ ̷̞̇̉c̴̩͉̈́a̶̤͕͝n̴̪͗'̶̻̾ţ̵̋ ̸̖̆ͅë̷͔́͂v̶͕̇e̸̙͗͝n̵̨̳̕.̶͙̬̇̚.̶̨̼̇.̸̲͐̓ẗ̶͍́̈́h̶̬̔̿ï̴͓̯͝ǹ̸̡k̴̦͙͋' I could barely fire a bullet from Blush which had managed to distract it. I crawled my way against the wall; dragging myself up from the ground, before standing with a red hue. Deciding to go for a Mighty Kick, I—!
BOOM!
I rushed into the Elder Nevermore, giving a slash that was augmented not only by the fire dust within me but the weapon itself. A crescent of fire sprung up into the air, covering the entire Elder Nevermore and myself, showing us a sea of fire from above. We clashed through the fire, going up the cliff as the top of it was surrounded by a cloud of fire which formed above, becoming steam which condensed into rain.
Thunder rumbled for a moment, the world stopping as it struck down. The Elder Nevermore looked away, only for a moment, and I dashed towards it to punch it in the chest. As I looked at the cloud of fire that was dissipating, there I realised a problem: I can't use the four dust shards down on the ground otherwise the entire forest will burn down. Not unless I...
'̴S̵t̴a̷t̸s̴!̴'̸
[̴N̷a̷m̴e̷:̴ ̶A̷d̴Am̵ ̸T̵aUru̶s̵]̶
̵[̷L̷e̷v̷e̶l̷:̸ ̵2̸0̷]̶
̷[̴E̸X̶P̴:̸ ̴4̷,̵0̵6̷9̶/̴1̷3̵,̵2̵7̷8̶]̴
̶[̴H̸P̶:̶ ̶2̶031/̷2̷9̷6̵1̵ ̶(̷1̴4̶9̴H̶P̴/̶H̷o̸u̵r̵)̶]̶
̴[̶M̷P̷:̴ ̸60/̸3̶5̵5̶ ̷(̴3̷0̵M̸P̸/̵H̷o̴u̵r̶)̷]̷
I look at the burned armour in the center of its chest, burning to ashes. The text was barely readable, but I understood: there was only one opportunity for me to use a Mana Blast and kill it. But the fall; I can't do anything about that. My health could be large enough to take the collision and injuries, but there was always the possibility that...I could die.
The Nevermore was slowly getting back up.
'̶N̸o̴,̷'̸ ̷ I transformed Wilt & Blush into the Blush form. '̷I̵'̴v̵e̴ ̴a̵l̴r̴e̸a̷d̵y̵ ̷c̸o̴m̷e̶ ̶t̴h̷i̴s̸ ̴f̵a̸r̸,̷ ̷I̷ ̸c̷a̵n̵'̵t̸ ̴s̴t̴o̷p̶ ̵n̷o̵w̴.̸'̷ ̷ Swerving to unleash a Mighty Kick, the Nevermore was launched up in the air, smashing the frail and burned armour from its bleeding chest. My fist was dug into its chest, not entirely so, but the power of the dust shards were barely enough for this.
Blush fired so many times, each time giving a ferociously loud bang which gave me ringing in the ears. We were starting to go up into skies, even to the point of eventually starting to see clouds, the Nevermore giving a pained scream and trying to squirm out of the way. I kept firing no matter what; noticing how I was slowly running out of dust rounds for Blush.
I was going to die.
The Screens were no longer working; if anything, they were flickering and resetting constantly. My powers...they were never meant to be used for this. Definitely not; sometimes I wonder if I was ever supposed to use these powers. I don't think that matters anymore.
A laugh came out of my burned throat, causing me to almost scream.
I looked at the sun, beyond the Grimm.
Is it strange how I feel content considering I'm about to die? It's peaceful. This feels like a respectable way to go out; not to others most likely not, but to myself. I always wanted to help people as a kid. I'm not exactly doing it the conventional way. Then again, my life has never been like that, other than the way my morals work and what I do.
It's been fun, which is ironic; it's weird how I'm going to miss Remnant even after going out of my way to not bother with people.
Somehow, there's evaporation around my eyes which makes it hard to see. I blink it away, staring at the auburn sunset that had settled. It was beautiful. I had never thought to appreciate the little things: the people around me; that it had been okay to have fears; that it was okay to not be able to do it right the first time, and even learn how to protect another person. At least I had learned from Verte Village.
Besides...Blake Belladonna would become one of the four members of RWBY, saving the world anyways. I'm not even needed to do that. At least with all of team RWBY together just like in canon, Remnant would be fine. It would be.
I know that.
"Fuck it," A sigh came out of me, before I turned to the Nevermore. "At least I saved someone."
"As for you..." I hear the fire dust crystals start to crack.
"Burn."
I released a Mana Blast.
I saw white.
The fire within the skies had exploded, scattering across the clouds. The Nevermore faded into nothing: perhaps, you would imagine a meteorite falling down onto the ground. The fire fell; similarly to how a bird whose wings are frayed eventually falls in tumultuous winds.
Black smoke exhumed from what could only be described as a phoenix, falling down from the skies to the humble earth below. It faded.
Eventually, the fire reached the ground, fading to ash, soot, and steam.
Silence.
A man, now broken and brittle, laid in the ground. Covered with burns and scars.
[̶L̵e̶v̶e̵l̶ ̵u̴p̶ ̴t̴o̵ ̴2̵6̵!̴]̷
[̸T̷i̸t̴l̸e̶ ̴U̵n̵l̵o̸c̶k̴e̶d̵:̶ ̴F̴o̵r̴ ̴W̵h̶o̶m̸ ̷T̴h̵e̸ ̶P̷h̸o̸e̴n̶i̵x̶ ̸R̴i̴s̷e̶s̷ ̵(̴I̵)̵]̴
̷[̷B̴u̴f̸f̸s̶:̸ ̴1̵0̶%̷ ̴E̵X̷P̴ ̶G̵a̸i̶n̸ ̵i̴n̵ ̶D̴u̶s̷t̸ ̸S̴k̷i̶l̴l̶s̵/̵D̶u̶s̵t̵ ̴F̴u̴s̷i̴o̷n̸,̷ ̸+̸ ̵1̴0̸S̸T̷R̵/̶V̷I̵T̷/̶D̸E̶X̶]̵
[̸D̸u̵e̶ ̵t̸o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̵ ̴e̸x̷t̴e̵n̸s̴i̵v̸e̶ ̷d̶a̶m̷a̴g̸e̵ ̶y̸o̷u̴ ̶h̷a̵v̶e̵ ̵b̶r̶o̵u̸g̵h̵t̸ ̷t̵o̵ ̵t̴h̶e̶ ̸G̴a̴m̷e̶r̴ ̷S̷y̵s̴t̶e̴m̴,̴ ̸y̸o̵u̸r̶ ̴H̵P̴ ̵i̵s̸ ̶l̸i̸m̴i̶t̸e̶d̵ ̷t̷o̶ ̴1̸0̴,̵0̴0̶0̷!̷]̸
[̸D̸u̵e̶ ̵t̸o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̵ ̴e̸x̷t̴e̵n̸s̴i̵v̸e̶ ̷d̶a̶m̷a̴g̸e̵ ̶y̸o̷u̴ ̶h̷a̵v̶e̵ ̵b̶r̶o̵u̸g̵h̵t̸ ̷t̵o̵ ̵t̴h̶e̶ ̸G̴a̴m̷e̶r̴ ̷S̷y̵s̴t̶e̴m̴,̴ ̸y̸o̵u̸r̶ ̴MP ̵i̵s̸ ̶l̸i̸m̴i̶t̸e̶d̵ ̷t̷o̶ ̴1̸0̴,̵0̴0̶0̷!̷]̸
He weakly put a thumbs up in the air; his hand falling afterwards.
[Vigilante Adam Taurus]
[Name: Adam Taurus]
[Title: For Whom The Phoenix Rises]
[Level: 26]
[EXP: 19,203/21,384]
[HP: 4/5245 (149HP/Hour)]
[MP: 0/629 rounded up. (30MP/Hour)]
[STR: 68 (50 + 8 + 10 = 58]
[VIT: 68 (50 + 8 + 10 = 58]
[DEX: 70 (52 + 8.4 + 10 = 60.4 rounding down to 60.]
[SKILL POINTS: 0]
[MONEY: 4,645]