Author's Note:

I am incredibly sorry this came out as late as it did, I had serious trouble writing Raven's character in this chapter, and I think it shows. All I can really say about it is I don't think I did her character justice, but that's up to the readers to decide.

On another note, I need to know the readers' opinions on trying me aiming for 5k words+ per chapter instead of the current 2k+. If anyone thinks it would improve the overall quality of the story, please say so. Thank you for your time.

Chapter 6
Revelations and Strain

Raven looked down at the screen in front of her, silently contemplating just what it meant to both her and the tribe. It was known to the tribe that magic was part of their reality, yet this child came into the equation and immediately threw all of their preconceptions out the window. He was strong, fast, smart, and mature for a 9-year-old child, and yet he was still getting stronger faster than anyone else in the tribe. It honestly had more than a few of them on edge, including Raven herself.

More recently, when she had begun training him, his growth only seemed to increase, proving he had the potential to be both a great asset, and a horrifying danger. Raven had taken notice of that the second she had first found him in that crevice underneath the bar in that town, screaming like a banshee for no discernible reason. That was, until he was pulled out from said crevice, into the light. What they had found was as concerning as it was intriguing.

The child, toddler really, was covered in so many scars it looked like he had taken a grenade point-blank. They would only find out how accurate that was hours later, long after any normal person would have lost their voice from shredding their vocal cords. As he had laid there, spasming from pain, shrapnel that could have only came from a grenade had forced its way out of his body. It was yet one more hour later that he finally stopped screaming, though he was still sporadically twitching from whatever pain was working its way out of his system.

This was apparently his secret to both how he managed to grow so quickly, and how he became seemingly invincible, given the show he had put on for them.

[Welcome to The Gamer: Better Armory Edition Version 1.4.2]
[You are an NPC, and therefore will only gain 20% of the EXP of any given kill/quest. Fret not, as this is simply a precaution set in place to ensure the Player's safety. Would you like to run through the Tutorial?]

[Y]
[N]

She pushed yes, of course, as a tutorial would be essential for a system like this. She had paid attention when Taiyang and Summer had explained video games to her and Qrow all those years ago, however much it may have seemed otherwise, and so she had a vague idea as to where this was going. She took several minutes to herself to read over everything that was on the blue screen in front of her.

It was all explained adequately, but she had a few questions regarding the leveling system. How would one gain levels if they didn't want to wait?

[Killing a human/faunus character results in all those who participated in the battle receiving an appropriate fraction of the entirety of the EXP the character had. Merely beating a human/faunus character will only result in the party receiving 10% of the character's accumulated EXP. Killing a monster/grimm will result in the party receiving 30% of the monster's/grimm's total EXP. Merely beating a monster/grimm will result in no EXP being awarded unless it is part of a quest.]

Ah, so killing the so-called 'red sun' must've helped in gaining strength, then. At least now she was absolutely certain that Nolen indeed had killed the man.

This system would also explain why he's never been particularly challenged by anything that the tribe threw at him as far as endurance was concerned.

She only really had a single question, now.

Vernal seemed to be getting rather fidgety as time went on, shifting from foot to foot as Raven continued her steady pace of reading and pausing to think. After a long moment, Raven looked up from the screen, facing me.

"I believe I understand the situation to an extent, Nolen. However you have yet to answer my second question." Raven said, eyeing me.

I rubbed the back of my neck, unsure of how to respond for a long moment. "I'm… not entirely sure myself, to be honest. I remember… dying in a train wreck." I responded, involuntarily shuddering at the memory. "After that, I woke up in what I can only really describe as a… void. A lack of… well… anything. Then a screen popped up in front of me, and I assume you can infer the rest."

"I see." She said, letting herself think for a long moment. "I believe, at present, that the best course of action would be to allow you to… increase your level until such a time as you are roughly equal to me in terms of overall strength." Vernal looked totally lost as she glanced at Raven, blinking in surprise.

"That… may be a problem." I responded.

"How so?"

"The average civilian is about level twenty-five, and the average of the tribe is about level fifty-three. You are level one-hundred-sixty-nine." Was my response, in an effort to make her understand just how tall of an order that was. Raven blinked once in mild surprise, but didn't react much more than that.

"That certainly puts things into perspective. What level are you at the moment?"

"Currently, I'm at thirty-one."

Raven nodded absently, thinking over the information that was laid out before her.

I sighed, getting my own thoughts in order before continuing. "That being said, I seem to have a leg up on most people as far as leveling is concerned. The system seems to be something of an enhancing force, if that makes any sense."

Raven nodded, likely having come to a similar conclusion herself. "For the moment at least, you need to focus on getting stronger, whether by increasing your stats or leveling."

"I've been doing what I can, but in order to do that, I either need a quest to pop up, or I need to start killing things; and in my experience, quests only give like fifty-ish e-x-p. Then again, I've never received a quest that was particularly dangerous."

Vernal just stared on as if we were both insane, and to be fair, we probably sounded like we had totally lost all sense of reality.

"That is a valid concern." Raven noted, shifting her posture slightly. "However, it would be best for everyone you become involved with if you were at least about level eighty."

I thought it over for a moment, and I had to agree. If nothing else, it would be best for the simple fact that I couldn't reasonably expect to be in an active combat situation and win against trained opponents. I would need to level up an inordinate amount if I wanted to survive the coming years and remain comfortable with my position.

Personal Quest: Grinding
[You have acknowledged that you are weak, and are in desperate need of strength if you wish to survive.]

Objectives:
Reach level 80 by this time next year.
Acquire a personal weapon by this time next year.

Bonus Objectives:
1:Reach level 200 by this time next year.
2:Reach level 80 in 6 months.
3:Craft a personal weapon by this time next year.
4:Acquire armor by this time next year.
5:Craft armor by this time next year.

Rewards:
10,000 Experience, 5,000 Lien, and 1 skill book.

Bonus Rewards:
1:100,000 Experience, 50,000 Lien, 3 skill books, Class Rank-up.
2:20,000 Experience, 10,000 Lien, 1 random support item.
3:1-time use {Indestructible} modifier for weapon.
4:1,000 Experience, 2,000 Lien.
5:5,000 Experience, 10,000 Lien, {Indestructible} modifier applied to all armor pieces.

Failure:
Permanent -50% Aura debuff, permanent 3* multiplier for damage taken, Weakling title, Civilian Class override.

[Would you like to accept?]

[Y]
-[N]-

…

…

…

Well fuck.

I couldn't decline the quest. That means I absolutely must accept it, which means if I fail, I'm utterly fucked. If I fail, not only will the game mock me, but I'll be nothing but cannon fodder against literally anyone who might be even moderately strong.

Raven must have noticed my sour expression and twitching eye, because she raised an eyebrow at me, more than likely wanting me to explain why I looked like I wanted to kill something. I quickly accepted the quest, and shared the details with raven over the party chat, typing in the details word-for-word. This quest was either going to be an enormous boon, or the death of me.

Vernal gave me an odd look that I couldn't quite place, but she refocused on Raven before I could say anything, so I let it be.

"Those stakes are quite high." Raven muttered to herself, thinking things over. "I'll crank up your training regimen, you need to have proportional stats for your level a-s-a-p. After you've gotten into a comfortable position, I'll have you attend some of our raids on the weaker rival tribes. During that, you'll be free to cut down any grimm you come across. We'll see where to go from there."

"Understood, mam."

"You're both free to go."

I simply nodded, as did Vernal, and we left her tent, heading back to our own.

"So, how old are you?" Vernal asked, quietly.

I glanced to her, wondering why she was asking, before settling on responding. "I was twenty when I died, so… twenty-nine, mentally." She gave me a small smile as I glanced at her curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Puberty." Was her simple reply, and my head slowly fell as I sighed in annoyance.

"Please don't remind me."

She giggled and sped away towards her tent as I frowned and headed back to mine.

The fact that she giggled scares me. Vernal never giggles.

It took a grand total of 3 months to get to a point where I was comfortable enough with my growth to start genuinely fighting people. Beginner's luck aside, I was a fucking idiot in my fight against the red sun. I should have died, but my unpredictability probably threw him off, forcing him into a situation he wasn't familiar or comfortable with.

'Character Stats.'

Name: Nolentem Marmor/Nolen Branwen
Title(s): Pale Eclipse
Class: Champion

Level: 33
EXP: 947/33,000
HP: 2,598/2,598
AP: 2,512/2,512
MP: 1,992/1,992

ATK: 73
VIT:52
STR:45
DEX:50
DEF:26
INT:40
AGI:49

Let it be known that I despise stat grinding with a passion; it's painful, time consuming, and overall difficult to deal with in a calm manner. I would've just dropped the game if it weren't my life right about now, as I've never really had enough patience to deal with normal grinding, nevermind the hell I was being put through here. I just wish I could use summoning right about now, as there are a few creatures that I could think of that would be useful about now.

I shook my head to dispel my wandering thoughts, refocusing on the camp before me. It wasn't large, merely a few tents scattered around a smallish campfire; it was barely large enough to be called a camp, really, but it was where we were headed regardless. At this point, all I could realistically do is hope that my training held, and I was good enough to deal with what was coming.

I was nervous, but I had a backup plan for if and when everything went to shit.

[Stealth has leveled up!]
Stealth: Level 46

Oh, right, that was something I forgot to comment on earlier; Stealth was the one thing I was able to consistently level during my time with the tribe, making it by far my best skill. I didn't know whether I'd be of any use or not, so I was utilizing its active effect, and keeping myself hidden from all but the best trackers. I held no allusions that I was fooling Raven, for example, but I couldn't help but wonder how long it was going to take before I managed to level it to a point where I could.

Once more, I had to shake away my wandering thoughts, forcing myself to focus on the upcoming battle, and what would come of it.

I held my naginata close to my chest, nervous.

This would be my first proper battle, and I didn't want to fuck it up if I could help it.

End Chapter 6

Author's Note:

Once more, I'm terribly sorry for taking as long as I did to update the story, I was struggling with inspiration for a while, and thus, I ended up starting like four different projects that may or may not end up on this site at a later date. If you have any interest in seeing any of them, let me know. Otherwise, as stated at the top, I struggled with Raven's character, which leads me to wonder if I should move on from the tribe soon, or wait until I have given Nolen a reason to remain loyal. Hmmm.

Review reviewing corner:

darkvampirekisses:

Ooh, boy, and so Raven gets to discover the truth of our little gamer... I wonder how she will react.

Reply:

I hope this chapter provides insight, but as I've stated twice already, I don't think I did her character justice. I could've done worse, I suppose.

Entomoid:

I was thinking along the lines of a passive skill, as opposed to a stat raise.
Just so that he gained something for enduring for so long; aside from the scars.
Is the semblance set in stone yet?
As an ancient bear faunus, would he grow tall and muscular, or tall and athletic despite his actual strength.
do you think the reason Krow and Raven can morph is because of being apart of the Branwen Tribe?

Reply:

Ah, okay. Yeah, what I wanted to do, is make the game rather unfair when it doesn't want him to do something; for example, if he were to reach level 1,000 anytime soon, the game would likely severely punish him with monsters and grimm alike being outrageously overleveled, making him feel like he was back at level 1. Basically, the game didn't want him to have an overpowered ability just yet, so it didn't give him one.

His semblance, as of this moment, is not set in stone, as I haven't thought of anything that would fit his character just yet. I am open to suggestions, if that is what you're implying.

I think he would likely grow tall and muscular, but that's just my opinion, as with his current training regime, and his tendencies, growing to be more on the lean side is possible.

I will comment on your last question, but keep in mind it contains spoilers, so if you don't want any spoilers for RWBY official, skip the underlined words.

No, Qrow and Raven do not possess the ability to transform simply because they are Branwens, but because they received the ability from Ozma. I can only guess how Oz gave them the power, as magic is never properly explored in the series official, but safe to say that they are the only ones in the world who can.

Sam, I pm'd you, but you didn't reply, so take from that what you will.

doomqwer:

i am sir and i am sure you will i do like that you are using the party mechanic as it should be interesting to see how raven reacts to the whole situation

Reply:

I hope you are at least happy with what came out from it, but I don't think I did any good. Ah, well.

Azrael Zero:

Now this is interesting. Not many people would start the party system so soon. Let alone with someone so much stronger. However you not only did that, but also with someone who practically worships strength. If you're trying to endear her to him, this just might do it.

I'm glad you're giving him some comrades, maybe not friends quite yet, but its much better then what he had before. Stops him from being entirely antisocial. Now the real question starts, are you going to allow him to recreate abilities from other franchises? That's a staple of the Gamer ability. Since you can mostly create any skill provided you know how it works and have the stats.

Curious on your answer. Keep up the good work.

Reply:

I'm not entirely sure if I am trying to endear her to him, but that scene in particular was definitely a fun to write.

Indeed, he now has a reason to become strong; keep the tribe strong, and you keep yourself strong, and now he has at least a few close comrades. I'm not sure if I'm going to recreate abilities, but I do think I'm going to give him equipment from other franchises, at the very least; as it could be interesting to work in if I can do so properly.

Xarthos:

And that was the moment Nolen realized he fucked up

Reply:

DUN DUN DUUNNNNN!

;)

To piggyslayer, I'm glad your enjoying the story.

Thank you for reading. Please leave any and all criticism you may have in a review, and I can guarantee you that I will read it at the very least.