Welcome back, people. It's good to finally be able to upload a new chapter. I'm sorry it took so long I've been having lots of back and forth discussions with people about specific things to do with this story (how strong Matt should be, what loot should be like, levels), and I'd like to help my friends Dan and Chris for helping me with all sorts of ideas.
In this chapter, I've taken in advice from the two guys I mentioned earlier, reviewers and PMS from all sorts of people. I've made adjustments to how I see fit, but it is still my story in the end so I do have final say (as sad as that may be to some people), but finally it is here. I hope you all enjoy it.
Remember to read, review, fav and follow (hopefully my upload schedule won't be as shit and inconsistent in future) – Corvid19 has given me lots of spare time.
As always, I don't own RWBY, and I claim credit for all original characters.
(P.S I'm still working on the re-write _ The prologue has been updated)
Enjoy! - RoyalMD
[Name: Matthew Apricitas]
[Age: 18]
[Job: Novice Rogue]
[Level: {7}]
[Experience Points: 660/1000]
[Attribute points available: 2]
[Stat points available: 10]
[Active abilities: None]
[Passive abilities: Aura boost, Vital Strike, Vanish, Scholar, Cold as Ice]
[Health Points: 150/150]
「Aura Points: 75/75]
[Strength: 15]
[Constitution: 15]
[Defense: 15]
[Intelligence: 11]
[Wisdom: 10]
[Dexterity: 20]
[Tenacity: 10]
[Items]
[Inventory Backpack – A backpack that transports items into your inventory]
[Traveller's Map – A minimap that uncovers areas as you explore them]
[One handed guns skillbook – skillbook in the art of one-handed gunslinging]
[Armour Blueprints – used to construct one piece of armour provided you own the components]
[House key – Key to apartment 626 in Vale heights]
[Obsidian dagger – A dagger made from some of the darkest metal]
[Green key x3 - ?]
[Pistol components x5 – Parts of a pistol; collect 15 to assemble the weapon]
[5900 Lien – Remnants common currency]
[Clothing]
[Armoured Trench coat]
[Black running shirt]
[Kevlar lined jeans]
[Hiking boots]
The first thing Matt noticed when he left his apartment was how hot it was in a trench coat, despite it being night time as well. He almost decided to turn around right there and put it in his inventory backpack while walking around.
He kept it on; however, in favour of the armour value and safety net that it provided for him. The first thing that Matt needed to do was find a secluded area either in or out of the city, he had no preference, but it would be nice to not worry about Grimm.
Before he decided to do the dungeon, he wanted to take stock of everything he had with him and use that skillbook he had picked up earlier, back when he was at the library.
Even though it was especially late in the night he decided to head back out to the city borders, there he would still be under the protection of the city's safe zone effect, but he was also less likely to be spotted by any unwanted eyes.
Matt eventually reached the edge of the city, and no indicator told him he had left the safe zone yet so he took solace in the fact that he would still be protected from the Grimm in the forest ahead of him. He looked around the area and located a bench and table he could sit at to do his thing.
Matt sat down at the bench with the dim glow of a street light overhead. He unslung his backpack from his shoulder before digging through it and pulling out everything that he wanted to take a look into. The first thing he pulled out to have a closer examination was the Traveller's map, the moment he stuck his hand into the backpack and summoned it, the map in his peripheral vision vanished, and he was now holding a paper version of his minimap.
As he held it up to examine, he noticed that the area he had come from was now filled out with roads and names of places as well as an indicator which showed him where his home was. The map, however, was still blank for the most part, tucking it away again caused the minimap to reappear in his field of view.
The second thing Matt pulled out was the gunslinging skillbook the system had given him. As it materialized, he recalled the first time he had seen it. He didn't have much time to look at it, as he had to put it away from anyone who could have spotted the mass of items that had fallen on the ground. Now, however, he had much more time to examine the book, and as he lay it on the table in front of him, he had a chance to admire the beauty of the cover. At first glance, the book held nothing of immediate interest, but as he looked closer, he could see how much detail there was.
The twin revolvers that which had been etched on to the front contained much more detail than he expected he could see that whoever had carved these had been a master craftsman, furthermore despite the old looking leather front, from what he could tell looking at the side of the book. Matt was excited to open it and see what he could learn, however the moment he turned the page, something completely unexpected happened.
Matt wasn't ready for the flow of knowledge he received, words he couldn't make out, and images that could only be described as blurry flowed into his mind. Matt's eyes clouded over purple, and he began to feel a severe headache coming on from trying to contain all this new information. This process lasted about 10 seconds before he felt the flow of new knowledge stopping.
Matt took a moment and rubbed his forehead, the migraine quickly going away, he looked around for the book that had just been sitting in front of him, he supposed it would disappear on usage, but things like this were always weird to see, even when he was expecting it.
The last thing he pulled out was his Scroll. The clerk had done an outstanding job explaining to him just what exactly it could do. Although he dabbled in its features a little bit earlier when completing his daily Quest, there were still lots of other things he could do with the Scroll. Call features, cameras, video streaming services, online shopping and when he had tried to look at the music app on his Scroll, the system had automatically chosen to add his old song playlist to the Scroll. Matt was more than thrilled with that.
With everything that Matt wanted to get sorted out before heading off to find the dungeon, sorted, he closed his backpack and continued following the marker the minimap had given him, tucking his obsidian dagger into its sheath, he walked towards the forest and promptly got a message
[Warning: You have left a safe zone]
"Always reassuring" Matt grumbled to the system before setting off deeper to go and find this dungeon.
A marker is what greeted Matt as he approached the end of the trail that the system had left for him. He hadn't seen anything on the way here noteworthy, all was quiet, and no Grimm had been sighted. It put him slightly on edge, but he chose not to dwell on it.
Matt approached the marker that had appeared in front of him in the clearing and pulled out one of his three green keys. As soon as he opened his palm, the key turned to ash, and it scattered into the wind around him. Matt turned his head around in confusion, looking for any sign of a disturbance in the local area.
Matt was expecting a situation similar to that of the punishment quest, where the monsters and creatures of Grimm would start appearing around him.
Instead, Matt stood in the forest alone and unmoving. He tensed his shoulders, waiting for something…a sight. A sound. A sign that something was going to happen. Just as Matt relaxed a bit as he realized nothing was coming for him, a glowing green tear appeared in front of him. The crack in the fabric of reality was no bigger than his fist, and Matt was curious as to what it was
'This is probably linked to the dungeon' Matt thought to himself. With a certain degree of trepidation, Matt extended his arm out and touched the glowing green rift.
As soon as his hand made contact with the tear, it expanded to a height of four meters, and it looked much more imposing now it was larger and glowing brighter as well. Matt turned his eyes upwards and at the top of the portal some floating text
[Lost Mines I]
[This dungeon is suited for solo parties]
[The dungeon entrance will disappear in 00:28:20]
Matt regarded the text before sighing, and he resigned himself to the fact he had opened the portal now, and he had to use it. Matt quickly stuck his head around the side of the entrance and noticed it only appeared in two dimensions. From the side he could see that it was so thin it was almost invisible to the naked eye, and he was sure if he didn't know what he was looking at he would have missed it completely.
Not only was it two dimensional, but the portal didn't have a back as well. It seemed the only way that someone could see the entrance was if they were standing in the position which the portal was initially opened from.
As Matt was thinking about how this could have worked an idea formulated itself inside his head.
'If the entrance stays open for half an hour, then that means I can scout out the dungeon and leave if I'm not prepared for it.'
Matt was excited that he might have discovered a loophole that could, in future, help him and decided that later on, he would check another dungeon to see if the timer was always thirty minutes.
Without wasting any more time, Matt steeled his nerves and took his first step into the portal.
As Matt set his first foot into the portal, he felt a coolness wash over his body but only for a couple of seconds before he emerged on the other side.
When Matt got through the portal, he stumbled forwards before straightening himself. He turned around in time to see the green rift shrinking back to its original size. Matt walked back towards the rift and stuck his hand out again before watching it grow to its larger size.
Matt let out a relieved sigh as he realized if he needed to, he could leave the dungeon if things got too heated for him down here. He also received a system notification that brought a smile to his face.
[Alert: While you are in a dungeon, your wounds will regenerate rapidly out of combat]
[Alert: Time will not pass while you are in the dungeon]
Matt saw this message and felt relief well up inside of him. He had an answer to a question he didn't even know he wanted to ask. Mat assumed this message meant he could still die, and wounds would be fatal, but he didn't know how severe injuries would be allowed to be before the healing stopped. If he lost his leg in a fight, could he crawl to safety and it would grow back? He honestly didn't feel like he wanted to know the answer to that question.
The second message about time not passing was also a neat little mechanic that he didn't think about, and this meant that Matt could be down indefinitely without worrying about the time outside of the dungeon. Hence, he realized that he didn't have to worry about coming home to an awake Blake Belladonna.
Now confirming that he had an exit and that he would have a safety net for his health, Matt took some time to look around the place he had found himself in. He was in a large stone cavern, walls coated in layers of dust and old looking wooden support beams held up the cavern roof. There was a rope bridge across a chasm in front of him which contained a raging torrent, and old torches were still burning to provide a warm golden light around the area. Shadows danced on the walls around him, and Matt couldn't help admire the beauty of the scene. Matt felt serene down here, almost like he had just stepped into a scene out of a movie.
He spent a few more minutes admiring the cavern around him before deciding he needed to do what he came down here for in the first place.
Matt approached the wooden bridge that lay before him, up ahead, he could see the faint glow of more torches before they vanished into further darkness. Matt tentatively crossed the bridge, the wooden boards creaking under his weight. That feeling of serenity had left as fast as it had arrived.
Advancing further into the dungeon, Matt grew warier and warier of the silence around him. While initially, he had felt at peace down here in the tunnel now he only felt anxious and worry for what was coming. The main shaft seemed to stretch on for infinity with side tunnels having been blocked off by either wooden boarding or what looked like intentional rockfalls. Someone had knocked those tunnels down to keep something out, and Matt wasn't very excited to find out what they had been trying to block.
As Matt kept on walking a notification popped up without warning.
「Warning: System is updating in 3…」
「Warning: System is updating in 2…」
「Warning: System is updating in 1…」
The world around Matt turned black, and he once again found himself floating in that void that he had visited so many times now. He wondered why the system decided to update himself now but chose not to ponder on that. Matt was only in the void for a couple of seconds before the world around him turned back into the dungeon he had entered.
A list popped up in front of Matt, and he took his time reading it.
「System has been updated. For full notes call "Changelog"」
Matt did as he was instructed, and he got a bulleted list of all the things that had changed for the system that was guiding him.
「Changelog」
「Experience has been reworked to be more streamlined」
「Experience will be based on your performance in combat」
「Stat and attribute points will be rewarded based on your performance in combat」
「Job's have been reset into classes」
「All classes will now have subclasses to encourage diversification」
「Text and font has been updated to be more streamlined」
「Weapon Mastery has been added」
「Special combatants and allies will have nametags applied」
Matt looked with a blank face at the updates, and his brain took a moment to reboot after reading the message he had just seen. His stat page appeared soon after his mind had rebooted
「Name: Matthew Apricitas」
「Class: N/A」
「Level: {7}」
「Experience Points: 660/1000」
「Attribute points available: 2」
「Stat points available: 10」
「Active abilities: None」
「Passive abilities: Aura boost, Vital Strike, Vanish, Scholar, Cold as Ice」
「Health Points: 150/150」
「Aura Points: 75/75」
「Strength: 15」
「Constitution: 15」
「Defense: 15」
「Intelligence: 11」
「Wisdom: 10」
「Dexterity: 20」
「Tenacity: 10」
Matt would have to check the rest of the change's out later, but for now, he opted to keep moving on and finish this dungeon, the faster he got this over with, the quicker he could get home. He also still had all those other side tasks to do that he couldn't forget about; he didn't want to face another punishment quest.
The tunnel eventually ended and opened up into a large cavern that was dimly lit, he couldn't see the ceiling and the walls on his left and right seemed to spread out for an eternity. The vastness of it was awe-inspiring, Matt's thoughts, however, were stopped short when he heard a growl coming from his left
He turned around and saw the familiar red eye glows of a Boarbatusk. Matt quickly whipped out his obsidian dagger and prepared to fight, however as the Grimm creature started to charge, two red lines appeared along the floor coming directly from the Grimm towards him. Matt jumped to the right, and as the beast charged, it missed him completely. Matt knew what this was. They were guidelines. "Maybe the system update did that?". The boarbatusk lined up to charge again, and the same process repeated itself, Matt jumped out of the way, and the Boarbatusk missed its charge on him.
The next time it happened; however, Matt took advantage of the situation, and after the third time it had missed him, he stepped into arms reach with the creature as it was recovering from its charge and stabbed the dagger into its hide then proceeding to rip it down its stomach. Black smoke poured from the wound as the Boarbatusk squealed in pain. It instinctively turned around and headbutted Matt, he got knocked down onto the floor, and he felt his Aura take some damage. He was trying to recover but noticed the red lines had appeared again on the ground around him and rolled out of the way just in time to see a pissed off Boarbatusk charge straight over where he was lying. Matt quickly got back up on his feet and dashed at the Grimm, trying to take advantage of its recovery time. Again, the dagger entered the hide of the Boarbatusk, and yet again, it got even more enraged at Matt.
He knew if he just kept kiting the Boarbatusk out then, he would be rewarded with its defeat and so this process continued four more times before the Boarbatusk eventually fell to all the grievous wounds that it had on its stomach and unarmoured hide.
The boar collapsed to the ground before its body quickly dissipated into smoke. All that was left to show the fight had even taken place was a purple sack made of silk sitting in the middle of the floor. Matt approached the bag, and when he proceeded to open it, he got an item notification for the things the Boarbatusk had dropped.
「You have received item's from the Boarbatusk」
「Pistol parts x 1」
「Lien x 542」
「Experience x 78」
Five hundred lien for a kill was an outstanding amount of money, and Matt was happy. He had also gotten another gun part which meant he only needed to collect six more, and he could create his weapon. Matt also felt his fatigue quickly dissipating as the monster had died, and the dungeons regeneration started to take effect on him.
Matt collected the Lien and the Pistol Part before he ventured further into the dungeon, prepared to take on what was in store.
Matt felt like he had been in the dungeon for hours now, over his time down here, he had killed a significant amount of Boarbatusks, so many in fact that Matt had lost count. However, he had now collected over 55,000 Lien, 36,800 of which had been from level up's alone and had around 32 Pistol parts not to mention Matt was also level 12 now. Although it was a lot of money and skill points he was making, it was beginning to get tiresome for him. Still, the waves of Grimm just seemed to be endless. Matt was proficient now in killing Boarbatusks, although he had a few slip-ups at first and he didn't get as many rewards sometimes as he did others, he was still confident now in his knife skills to fight Boarbatusk's with. No item drops yet, but he hoped the boss would give him something more worthwhile.
Matt held up his obsidian dagger and gave it an annoyed look. It had gotten quite dull now, it no longer held that initial sharpness that it once had and the blade was so scratched and chipped in places that he wondered about its structural integrity. How long until the blade snapped during a fight?
The pistol part's were virtually useless to him as well. When he had tried to put 15 together to make a weapon of some kind the system had given him the message-
「You must be in a safezone to craft weapons or armour」
So, for now, he had to hope that the obsidian dagger would make it until the end of his time in the dungeon.
After fighting through Grimm after Grimm and floor after floor, Matt finally found himself standing before a large iron door that was obviously where the boss resided. Matt didn't even need to think twice about pushing the door open and heading inside. He was sick of these mines and now the feelings of peace he once had from the cold stone walls, and warm oil torches had been replaced with distrust and anxiety towards the shadows they created.
With no small amount of effort, Matt pushed the door to the chamber open. When he stepped in, he found himself in a large quarry like structure with ancient stone pillars propping up the ceiling around him. The door slammed itself shut behind him, and he jumped a little bit, and when his heart calmed down, and he attempted to pull the door open, it remained closed.
Torches around the quarry systematically lit themselves before the entire cavern was bright, and Matt could see what was laid down in front of him. Sleeping in the middle of the quarry pit, was an enormous bear-like creature with towering white spikes protruding from it's back. An Ursa, possibly even an Ursa Major if Matt remembered correctly from the Grimm book he had found in the library. Famous for its incredibly thick-hide and rough bone armour covering its back and face. This would be a tough fight for Matt.
The idea of it being a tough fight was confirmed when a dark red nametag appeared above the Grimm's head.
「Devoratrix the Ursa Major」
A unique name. This made Matt a tiny bit anxious, but it was too late to do anything about it now.
Slowly, the slumbering Grimm pulled itself up onto its paws and glowing red eyes filled with killer intent zeroed in on Matt. With his dagger out, Matt crouched low and began to circle the make-shift arena along with the Grimm, a sweat bead slowly rolled down Matt's forehead as he could almost sense the anger roiling in waves off of the Grimm in front of him. With hardly any prior warning familiar red-guidelines made themselves known to Matt in a giant cone in front of the beast. Matt sidestepped out of the cone just as the Ursa lunged forwards and slashed at where Matt was, had it not been for the system his Aura would have only taken one hell of a blow.
Similarly to the Boarbatusks that he had killed, Matt dashed in to slash at the Ursa, explicitly aiming for its semi-exposed neck and just as the dagger was about to make contact with the flesh, the Grimm quickly cut at Matt with its front left paw and knocked him into the wall, He hit the wall with a grunt, and he could feel his Aura dropping. He let out a cough before getting back to his feet and facing the Grimm again.
"So you wanna play rough do ya? Fine." The Grimm let out a growl as if a response to Matt's taunt and Charged at him again. Matt dodged it once again, the claw barely missing his midriff before he lunged in again for another stab at the Ursa except now Matt expected the counter from the Grimm.
If there was one thing Matt had learned during his time fighting those Boarbatusks was that the Grimm are very predictable, maybe it was because of there beast-like nature, but to Matt, it seemed like a waste not to exploit such an advantage.
He brought the dagger up and parried the beast's claw down into the ground before sliding his blade rapidly up its bone plating and burying it inside of the Grimm's now open neck before ripping it out. Black smoke poured from the wound of the beast and Matt smiled in grim satisfaction. The creature stumbled back before roaring at the human in front of it. Matt just lifted his dagger in return, ready for its next attack. The Ursa ignored Matt and instead chose to stand up on its hind legs, raising its front paws in the air. Matt saw the red circle appear around the Grimm, but the attack was too fast for him to dodge and even though Matt could have guessed what the Ursa was about to do, the shockwave that was sent up his knees when it slammed its paws into the ground, still knocked him clean into the air.
Matt hit the ground hard when he finally came back down. The shock of hitting the rock ground sent a rattling pain up his spine, and he almost collapsed right there, Aura could do a lot, but the pain could still be felt if one's Aura was low enough. Matt laid there on the ground writhing in pain as the Grimm limped its way over towards him, he had only landed one cut on the Grimm, but he knew his Vital strike skill would have ramped that damage up considerably and as such all, he would need one more clean strike to its neck to kill the Ursa.
Matt slowly sat up again, and when he looked up, the Grimm was towering right above him, Matt knew he could probably take two or three more of those attacks before he was killed. His dagger and left arm rose once again to brace for another hit and this time when the Grimm slammed it's paws down onto him he was cratered into the ground rather than knocked away. Matt felt his Aura getting very close to leaving him, but he knew what his next play would be. As Matt lay in a crater created by his own body, the Ursa raised itself one more time intending to crush Matt and finish the job.
As it got ready to bring its paws down, Matt sprang up from his position on the ground and drove the dagger home, directly into the neck of the Ursa. This stopped the Grimm in its tracks as its paws fell down to the Ursas side and its body teetered before collapsing in a heap of black smoke.
Matt sat down against the Grimm's dissolving corpse and took a moment to catch his breath. He could already feel the system pumping him back up to full health, so he wasn't worried about that. On the other side of the room, a green rit opened up which he assumed must have been the exit, and lying at the foot of the dungeon exit was a wooden chest that was glowing blue.
As Matt continued to try and gain back some composure, a system notification popped up, which caused Matt to smile as he read it.
「You have Defeated the Dungeon's boss!」
「For your performance you have earned 2 stat points」
「For your performance you have earned 2 attribute points」
「For your performance you have earned 145 exp」
「The Dungeon will collapse in 00:30:00」
He was done. He had done it and how good he felt. Matt propped himself up and made his way over to the blue chest. It was very well made, and the blue glow that came from all around the chest made it seem like it had an Aura of its own. Above the chest, there was a name tag which had appeared telling Matt what kind of chest it was a rare chest
「Rare chest – Can contain low to medium rarity equipment」
Matt opened the chest, eager to discover what loot awaited him. Lifting the wooden lid of the chest revealed multiple pouches of Lien. Matt wouldn't know how much each pouch had before he put them in his inventory bag.
He pulled all of the liens sacks out of the chest and laid them on the ground beside him. In the chest, he also found a steel knight chest plate that also covered his midriff, and finally, he found a small glowing green crystal that he could hold between his fingertips. When he picked it up to examine it, the system gave him an explanation as to what it was.
「Common enchanting crystal」
「A gem used to imbue a weapon or armour with random properties during its craft phase」
He'd probably end up using that on the gun he was going to create when he went back to the city, or maybe he'd put in on the new steel armour that he got. Soon after Matt had grabbed all the loot and laid it out in front of hi, the chest vanished into thin air as the walls of the cavern started to rumble.
Matt took this as his queue to leave and he dumped everything into his inventory backpack before making his way through the dungeon exit portal.
Matt emerged from the dungeon back in the clearing he had started in. He checked his scroll and it read 23:34. Still around the same time as when he had entered, so that meant the system was lying and time really didn't pass in the dungeon.
Matt looked over his shoulder quickly to make sure he was alone, which he found out he was, before commanding the system to open his inventory. The system responded almost instantly, and Matt took a moment to browse what he now had
[Items」
「Travellers Map – A minimap that uncovers areas as you explore them」
「Armour Blueprints – used to construct one piece of armour provided you own the components」
「House key – Key to apartment 626 in Vale heights」
「Obsidian dagger – A dagger made from some of the darkest metal」
「Steel knight armour x1 – A steel chest piece that will protect you from most blows」
「Green key x2 – Open common tier dungeons」
「Pistol components x32 – Parts of a pistol; collect 15 to assemble the weapon」
「Common enchanting crystal x1 – Small green crystal for improving equipment」
「72,148 Lien – Remnants common currency」
Matt let out a small whistle at the amount of Lien he now had. Seventy thousand was a lot of money. He also noticed how the green key description had updated. He guessed that was because he had already cleared a dungeon. Matt decided right there he would ditch the armoured trenchcoat and move that into his backpack, and as a replacement, he would wear the plate armour now. It provided more protection, and it didn't make him feel like he was at a videogame or anime convention. It was probably better for warm weather as well. With his trenchcoat in his inventory and his new armour on, Matt pulled out the Traveller's map and checked his progress. He was far away, but a lot of the map out here had been revealed now. Matt was also away from any eyes so he could safely use his teleport command to get himself back home.
"Teleport Home 1"
The door to apartment number 626 creaked open slowly as Matt did his best to keep quiet when sneaking back into his flat. Matt entered his apartment, closing and locking the door once he was inside. Matt entered his living room and took off his chest piece before letting it rest at the head of his sofa. After he had made sure everything was on him, Matt moved outside to his balcony and after making sure the sliding doors were sealed, Matt summoned up his quests again. Lots of the goals of the main Quest had been dealt with and finished, furthermore during the teleport back home (Which Matt didn't realize took time. It was more akin to fast travel rather than instant teleportation) His daily Quest reward had roled hin. He had received 25 skill points for it as well as 4 minor healing potions. He would deal with those after he finished the main Quest and made a new weapon.
「1) Pick a job」
「2) Use your skill points: Current 40/50」
「3) Use your attribute points: Current 0/2」
「4) Learn the skill gunslinging」
「5) Clear one dungeon: Current 1/1」
「6) Deal with Blake Belladonna」
「TIME REMAINING 36:40:25」
Matt decided that clearing quests number two and three would be elementary and he would just need to update his stats.
Matt pulled up his stats page and saw he had a generous amount of skill and attribute points sitting there waiting for him. The reason he had a decent amount of Stat and attribute points was due to the face that on the walk home, the clock had struck past midnight and as such that meant that the system gave him his rewards for completing his daily Quest. Not to mention he had also levelled up four times in the dungeon
「Attribute points available: 7」
「Stat points available: 87」
He already had a plan in mind for what he actually wanted to do. The idea was to go all-in on his dexterity and strength and maybe a little in intelligence as well (he would put a few in everything obviously, but those three would be his priority). If he had extremely high dexterity, he wouldn't need to rely on his constitution or his Aura to tank for him as he could just dodge the blows of any opponents. Strength would be useful to keep his stamina and boy up the task of melee fighting and movement. Finally, intelligence would be helpful for his mental state in battles, if he could process data coming in quickly, he could react more quickly.
Matt commanded his stat page to come up and once again, his levels were displayed in front of him.
「Attribute points available: 7」
「Stat points available: 87」
「Health Points: 150/150」
「Aura Points: 75/75」
「Strength: 15」
「Constitution: 15」
「Defense: 15」
「Intelligence: 11」
「Wisdom: 10」
「Dexterity: 20」
「Tenacity: 10」
Matt opted to put 5 into each of his minor stats, these being Tenacity, Wisdom, Defense and Constitution leaving him 67 points left to split up between strength, dexterity and intelligence each of which he would put twenty into.
「Health Points: 200/200」
「Aura Points: 100/100」
^「Strength: 35」^
^「Constitution: 20」^
^「Defense: 20] ^
^「Intelligence: 31」
^「Wisdom: 15」^
^「Dexterity: 40」^^
^「Tenacity: 15」^
Stats were out of the way now, moving to attributes. According to the changelog the system had provided him with, they were called classes now. Matt summoned up his menu before looking at his new choices. It was much more clear and extensive than the previous menu.
「Class tree」
「Warrior] 「Aura Magus」「Rogue」
「Expand」「Expand」「Expand」
Matt brought his hand to his chin as he had a look at the new class tree. Matt wanted to see what the different options he had were. So on his command and a wave of his hand. All the skill trees expanded outwards.
Each tree had three options, and Matt took his time looking over each one to choose the best class for him. The first tree he decided to have a look at was the Togue tree. He figured this was a good starting point as the system had rewarded him with the obsidian dagger he was so familiar with now.
「Rogue」
「Shinobi」「Assassin」「Trickster」
「ROGUE CLASSES CAN WEAR MEDIUM AND LIGHTWEIGHT ARMOUR」
「Shinobi」
(Very high damage katana class fighter – excels in fighting larger or multiple opponents)
– Medium mobility | Low resistances –
「Assassin」
(Damage over time fighter – Very strong against single targets and exceptional stealth)
– High mobility | Very Low resistances –
「Trickster」
(Dual wielder – Unmatched mobility and uses light and shadow to manoeuvre around)
– Very high mobility | No resistances –
Matt liked the look of this tree so far. He didn't fancy the Shinobi very much as he wasn't familiar with how to fight with a single-edged weapon. Still, he could learn, the medium mobility and resistances did look much nicer however than having low or no resistance at all.
The Assassin was also very appealing to him. The thought of using damage over time abilities or weapons to whittle down opponents while he only had to worry about staying safe appealed to him.
Finally, the Trickster. The dual-wielding factor sounded fun, and the very high mobility meant that he wouldn't need resistances anyway as he could just avoid all attacks thrown his way.
Next, Matt commanded the system to show him the Aura Magus tree. The rogue tree disappeared and was replaced with a new one.
「Aura Magus」
「Sorcerer」「Summoner」「Force Mage」
[MAGUS CLASSES CAN WEAR LIGHTWEIGHT ARMOUR」
「Sorcerer」
(High damage elemental spell fighter – Sorcerers rely on dust to cast heavy-hitting spells and magic)
– Low mobility | Low resistances –
「Summoner」
(Aura based fighter – Summoners use their Aura to call forth beasts to fight for them)
– High mobility | Low resistances –
「Force Mage 」
(Single element fighter – Force mages harness their skills to one of the dust types and use that alone)
– Medium mobility | Medium resistances –
Matt had one look over the Mage classes and decided the only one of real interest to him was the Summoner. He imagined himself calling on dragons, demons and other mythical beasts to fight for him, Matt almost drooled at his own imaginations. None of the other classes of Magus could compare to the idea of becoming a summoner, Matt did, however, decide to keep an open mind just in case he thought of something that he could do with the other classes. Still, right now they looked pretty limited in the Magus tree.
The final tree that Matt had a look at was the warrior tree. He figured this was going to be the tree he would like the least as he was never one for great hefty weapons or armour in the games he played, but it was better to understand everything the system had to offer.
So with the final command, for now, he asked the system to pull up the warrior tree.
「Warrior」
「Knight」「Judicator」「Sentinal」
「WARRIOR CLASSES CAN WEAR HEAVY, MEDIUM AND LIGHTWEIGHT ARMOUR」
「Knight」
(Sword and shield fighter – With swords and shields you will often see knights in the thick of the fight)
– Medium mobility | High resistances –
「Judicator」
(Two-handed Tank – Judicators use Warhammers and Greataxes to rain down judgment on their foes)
– Low mobility | Medium resistances –
「Sentinal」
(Tower shield brawler – Sentinals with their proficiency in shields are a force to be reckoned with)
– Very low mobility | Very High resistances –
As expected, most of the warrior tree seemed to be about pure unadulterated strength, everything about the skills in the warrior tree screamed "Hit me! I'm here", and that wasn't something Matt didn't necessarily like. The knight seemed like your standard sword and shield common soldier. That didn't particularly interest Matt that much, he just didn't like frontline fighting.
The Judicator seemed like a force to be reckoned with, Matt had been to museums in his previous life which held two-handed weapons before and their size was not something to be laughed at. Most two-handed weapons he remembered were as tall as him! He shivered at the thought of a sword his size easily cleaving him in two.
Finally, the class that had piqued his interest the most in this tree. The sentinel. How someone could fight only using a shield and nothing else Matt did not know. That was the main reason it interested him. He just couldn't comprehend only using a shield as his weapon.
Matt knew he was going to settle on one of the Rogue classes, that was without question. The problem was what he was going to do with that armour he had just picked up. If Rogues could only wear medium and light armour, he would have to dump off the chest piece. Matt resigned himself to the fact he couldn't have everything he wanted and applied all his attribute points into the Rogue tree. Specifically, the Assassin. Damage over time without having to get close just seemed too good to pass up.
Matt commanded the system to dump all seven points into the Assassin tree. Matt watched as a new notification appeared.
「You have received item's from your Class selection」
「Skillbook – Poisoned weapons」
「Assassin [5/5]」
「Your Assassin skill has hit a milestone you now understand how to create poison bullets」
「Assassin [7/10]」
A Skillbook appeared in front of Matt as the chain of notifications ended. It was similar to the gunslinging skillbook but instead of two guns etched into the front, a conical flask was their instead. Furthermore, this Skillbook's colour was a puke green in colour, rather than the brown of the previous book. Matt put it at his side while he dealt with the last Quest.
This one was the weirdest decision. Choose a job
Matt figured it made sense, he did need some cover here in Remnant and Vale after all. Matt pulled up the list of employment choices again and considered what he wanted to do.
「Sandwich & Coffee bar owner」
「Ramen bar owner」
「Italian Restaurant owner」
As nice as being a Ramen chef would be, Matt didn't know if that was what he actually wanted to do. He enjoyed cooking and was proficient at food, but his noodle skills were par at best. An Italian chef wouldn't be a terrible choice. Pasta was fun to make, so were a variety of different salads and oven based dishes. But that would require too much consistent effort, and if he wanted to level up his skills and hold a job, he would need a much more flexible schedule.
That left him with a coffee shop. Matt shrugged to himself, he enjoyed Coffee, and it was decently easy to make (although he didn't underestimate that to make a good Coffee someone needed lots of skills to get the grinds and blends just right). Sandwiches, well they were really quite basic and easy to whip up, nothing complicated here.
With the decision being made, Matt gave his answer to the system and a dialogue boxed popped up to confirm his choice, Matt told it, yes, and the box disappeared.
「To go to your new job, please use the teleport command」
Matt would do that tomorrow morning, he still had stuff to do now, and he was getting quite tired if he had to be honest with himself.
A new notification popped up, this one telling him of his quest completion now.
「You have completed your Quest: Will of steel, Heart of ice」
「You have received a reward: A basic life on Remnant」
「You have received a reward: 5 x Green key」
「You have received a reward: Removal of "Cold as Ice" skill」
「You can now find Quests in the open world」
Matt gave the messages a once over, five dungeon keys was helpful. As was the removal of cold as ice, he somehow felt lighter now because of it (even though it hadn't affected him much in the first place. He hadn't had interaction with people. Furthermore, the last two rewards were like opened doors to Matt. Those words held so much freedom. He realized the system was right now. He had a life here. He was going to make the best of it.
Matt mentally ticked that Quest off on his list of things to do. The new weapons were the pen-ultimate thing on his agenda.
The same page as he had appeared in the dungeon popped up in front of Matt as he summoned the pistol crafting parts again. 15 slots were now filled in, and the outline of a handgun was there. Matt couldn't tell what it looked like as it was still darkened. Matt reached into his inventory and pulled out the small enchanted crystal, he flicked that into the screen, and it vanished as a neon green outline appeared around the pistol. Matt mentally told the system to confirm he wanted to craft it, and a bright light clouded his vision for a few seconds before a box popped onto the ground.
Matt lifted the boxes lid and found a package wrapped in velvet cloth. He slowly opened it up to reveal a bone-white pistol neatly placed in the centre on top of a chest holster. It was a big gun, matching the long slide handguns of Earth, it looked it could pack quite the punch. The grip was black, and he could see how smooth the slide of the gun had a sideways V carved into it, the open end towards the barrel. Contained with the pistol was a single bullet casing, he assumed the ammo type the gun used. Matt could also swear occasionally the pistol would temporarily glow green. That must have been the work of the enchanting crystal.
Matt picked up the pistol with his right hand, and the moment he did, its weight felt familiar in his hands. He knew every intricate moving part of the gun, what round it fired, its muzzle speed, how to wield it in a variety of ways. It felt perfect for him. Matt knew this was due to the pistol skillbook, and although he had never held a gun in his life, all the skills came to him as if it was quickly ejected the magazine and saw there were no bullets loaded. Matt assumed that was why the system gave him the empty casing.
Matt held it out once again in front of his face before a message popped up.
「You have successfully crafted an item」
「Crescendo」
「Heavy pistol」
「Special effect – Fortissimo: The final shot from the magazine is always an explosive round」
「Common Enchantment effect – Phantom shot: Has a chance to not consume a bullet」
Matt stared in awe at the gun, He was eager to test this out. Matt strapped the chest holster on and put the gun back in its place excitedly as the box disappeared from existence. Matt set his mind aside of it for now as he had one last thing to do. Matt picked up the Poisons and Toxins Skillbook and opened it up. Knowledge once again started to flow into him before he collapsed on the ground in pain. He was too tired to absorb all this information, and he hadn't realized it, as a consequence, he was now passed out on the ground, in perhaps what was his most peaceful sleep in a while…
Blake woke up to the suns warms ray shining on her face as she slowly opened her eyes. Stretching her limbs out and letting out a soft purr, Blake lay content in the sun's warmth for another half-an-hour before her hunger eventually got the best of her. She ventured into the hallway and then into the modest-sized kitchen to pour herself a small bowl of breakfast cereal. Blake would leave today. She would come back and visit Matt, but she had been intruding on his apartment, and he was kind enough to take her in temporarily. It felt wrong and Blake despite how grateful she was, still held some suspicions. No regular person would just let anyone stay with them like this.
Speaking of Matt, Blake looked around to find him nowhere in the apartment she saw an armoured chest piece against the sofa, but that was about it. She only spotted him when she stood up to investigate and saw him lying outside on the balcony. He looked sound asleep, but Blake couldn't help but feel he was probably uncomfortable on the tiled floor. Blake stepped inside and reached for a pillow before returning to Matt's sleeping form and putting it to rest under his head.
Blake sat there, watching him peacefully for a moment before standing back up and gathering her stuff to prepare for her departure.
Blake had everything she had brought with her initially. Her Scroll, Gambol Shroud and her iconic bow. She left a small note on a notepad she had found and left it sitting on the kitchen counter before she stepped out the door. Blake knew that she would run into Matt again, there was just this strange thing about him she couldn't understand. It was like he emitted a warmth that felt so good to just be around. Feeling refreshed and ready, Blake's goal was crystal clear. Set back out to hunt the White Fang, they were up to something, and she desperately needed to find out what. With a hop, step and leap, she was flying across the rooftops of Vale once again.
Matt woke up with a headache. He wasn't surprised, he had tried to absorb much more knowledge than his brain was probably able to contain after such a strenuous previous day. Matt sighed as he stood up, then looked at the pillow that wasn't there last night. He figured it might have been Blake. Matt's eye's shot open as he realized Blake might have seen him last night he quickly moved into the apartment to check how she was doing. When he gently opened the door to his room in case she was still asleep, he noticed the sheets had been folded and the bed made. She must have already left to do something, Matt concluded.
He moved to make himself some breakfast when he saw a post-it stuck to the counter, it read.
Thanks for the help, Matt. I've been still for too long and I need to go do what I came to Vale for. We will meet again in future – Blake
Turn over the paper for my scroll number should you need to contact me.
Matt did as instructed and saw Blake's number written there, he made a note to put it on to his scrolls contacts later. He didn't question why Blake had run off after their pleasant discussion last night but to each their own.
Breakfast was a quiet affair for Matt, he had plans, and he was thinking. He noticed that he held a lot more knowledge and his thoughts came to him much faster than previously, that was probably his boosted intelligence stat going to work.
When Matt finished his breakfast and put his plates away, he asked the system to teleport him to his new café. A familiar white light pulled Matt in, and when he opened his eyes he found himself standing in front of an empty shopfront with a single name across the glass window
"La Rose d'argentee" Matt said to himself, it had a nice ring to it. He had no idea what it meant as he didn't speak French, but it carried a nice ring to it. Matt decided he wouldn't change its name. Looking again at the store he could see that he had a lot of work to do, there was dust all along the inside, the windows were stained, and he could see the rot in some of the old floorboards, this place was old, and he would need to put some Lien and elbow-grease in to get this place up to a functioning working coffee shop again.
Matt opened his scroll to have a look at his map to see where it was located and was pleasantly surprised to find it just one street away from Vale's main street, that meant there would be decent foot-traffic coming through this area. Matt opened the door, and already he started coming up with a plan of what he wanted this place to be in future. Yes, he would take care of this coffee shop, and he would own it with pride.
2 Months and 68,000 Lien later
The young owner stood outside his new coffee shop looking vastly different than he had been three months ago. He stood taller now at six foot and weighed in with 104 kilos of muscle, toned and tight he looked good enough peoples heads occasionally turned when he walked down the street. Normally a person's physique wouldn't change this much from three months of intensive training, but as he put more and more skill points Into strength and dexterity, his body had gotten better and better.
He had been training hard, his daily quest had made sure of that. He had yet to miss a single day since the very first one. He usually had many skill points he had spent, but he still remained at level 11. He hadn't gone to fight anything since the discovery of his new Coffee shop. He had put all his power and effort into fixing it up, and now it was ready.
Matt quickly checked over his stats one last time before entering just to make sure he had done everything he could before progressing with the next part of his life.
「Attribute points available: 0」
「Stat points available: 0」
「Health Points: 1750/1750」
「Aura Points: 850/850」
「Strength: 225」
「Constitution: 175」
「Defense: 175」
「Intelligence: 167」
「Wisdom: 170」
「Dexterity: 220」
「Tenacity: 170」
He tensed his arm, and he could feel the strength in him now. Nothing would take away what he had worked for in this world, he wouldn't let it.
Matt unclenched his fist and stepped towards the renovated La Rose D'argentee. That name was now printed onto a new frosted glass window at the storefront written in golden cursive. It added a sense of formality to the place while still holding a casual style to it.
The bell above the door chimed as he stepped inside. It had taken two months to get it to this stage, but here he was.
New dark wooden floorboards replaced the old rotten ones, Booths lined the far wall, each one lit by a single conical lamp, and the centre of the café was filled with regular tables and chairs. A large bookshelf lined up near the window provided some reading material if anyone just wanted to find something to relax to. As well as the conical table lights, moody overhead lighting provided a dim but relaxed atmosphere, an expensive speaker system played quiet Jazz around the coffees shop. A wooden counter sat near the back where behind it sat coffee machines and fridges waiting, begging to be used. Matt took a deep breath before opening his scroll and sending a text to Blake. She hadn't responded to any of his previous ones, and he was worried about her. This time instead of sending her a specific message, he just sent her the location to his new place. If she needed help, then Blake would come, Matt knew that.
Matt moved back to the door and let out a deep breath, this was uncharted water for him. He had never worked a day in his life correctly. Still, the system had supported him along the way to making this restaurant, he had learnt recipes in his apartment, determined to brew new kinds of coffee and could make the most wicked club sandwiches Vale had ever seen. He was ready.
He turned a sign that was against the door before propping it open along the warm air to pour in and on this day. Le Rose D'argentee declared itself open to Vale.
Meanwhile in Beacon….
"From this day forth, you will be known as Team RWBY, lead by…Ruby Rose"
"I'm so proud of you!"
There it is! I hope you all enjoyed the read, to address some things real quick
Forgive any spotted grammar mistakes (PM to let me know where so I can fix them, if you wish), the beta I had previously found is still helping me with the re-write and we operate in completely different timezones so it makes things difficult (I had to self check this chapter)
I changed the way classes worked as the old system was just garbage and a mess, so that was reworked.
Matt is strong based on pure numbers, but he doesn't have experience so he won't be going around slapping people like Rowan and Cinder all over the place. Besides, you guys don't even know the stats of some of the other characters are. So don't go complaining just yet
Blakes character change, people were kind of split about it. Some people liked her OOCness and some preferred standard Blake. Now we are into Beacon arc Blake should be acting like herself again.
Once again thanks for reading and If you have anything else to say, review or PM. All feedback is constructive even if it's negative.
Matt's updated Stats (For end of chapter)
「Name: Matthew Apricitas」
「Class: Assassin [7/10]」
「Level: {11}」
「Experience Points: 220/2000」
「Attribute points available: 0」
「Stat points available: 0」
「Active abilities: None」
「Passive abilities: Aura boost, Vital Strike, Vanish, Scholar, One-handed gunslinging, Poison and Toxicity」
「Attribute points available: 0」
「Stat points available: 0」
「Health Points: 1750/1750」
「Aura Points: 850/850」
「Strength: 225」
「Constitution: 175」
「Defense: 175」
「Intelligence: 167」
「Wisdom: 170」
「Dexterity: 220」
「Tenacity: 170」
[Items」
「Travellers Map – A minimap that uncovers areas as you explore them」
「Armour Blueprints – used to construct one piece of armour provided you own the components」
「House key – Key to apartment 626 in Vale heights」
「Restaurant key – Key to Le Rose d'argentee 」
「Obsidian dagger – A dagger made from some of the darkest metal」
「Crescendo – A Handgun that packs quite an "explosive" puch」
「Steel knight armour x1 – A steel chest piece that will protect you from most blows」
「Green key x7 – Open common tier dungeons」
「Pistol components x17 – Parts of a pistol; collect 15 to assemble the weapon」
「Minor HP Potions x132 – Restores 10 HP and 20 AP」
「12,438 Lien – Remnants common currency」