The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Sleepless

Once I finished memorizing all my textbooks, most of which had covered stuff I already knew anyway, Adam, Autumn, and I retreated to Naraka to train and went back up to the surface. I checked Cinder over again before I left, unable to completely suppress the concern I felt regarding what she might do while I was gone—but I'd meant what I'd told Adam before; we couldn't put aside our own efforts to prepare just for fear of her preparations, because if all we did was watch…well, what good was that?

As for Emerald and Mercury, well…we left a note saying we got bored and wandered off. They'd likely report our absences to Cinder, especially if it became a regular thing, but there wasn't anything they could actually do about it, so I didn't really care all that much. Besides, whatever they told Cinder, I doubted they'd be able to hit upon the truth, which was that we were working out in another dimension. Coming up with that idea would probably take some doing, even for Hunters that may have been raised by a Rider.

With Naraka established, I tapped Autumn once and she returned to the form of a mutated rose—a blossom colored white on the inside with a dozen thorny tentacles in place of a stem. The tentacles wrapped firmly around my arm, putting the blossom over my left wrist like a flowery watch, but just to be on the safe side I withdrew Crocea Mors from my Inventory and quickly converted it into its metal form. I hadn't used the altered weapons as much lately, primarily because my body had long since reached the point where it was a weapon, but I didn't feel like taking risks where my daughter was concerned. Liquid steel flowed over her vines before solidifying, leaving metallic thorns to rise from my gauntlet.

For her part, Autumn's blossom twitched open and closed several times, as if blinking. On the fourth time, patterns began to appear on both sides of her petals in an array of colors—countless rows of photoreceptors in place of an eye. She was still experimenting, which was always good. It was good to see she wasn't afraid to think outside the constraints of conventional biology.

"Shall we get started, then?" I asked with a smile and a crack of my neck, even as I reached into my Inventory again before tossing him Wilt and Blush. "We'll start work on your new weapons shortly, but for the time being…well, let's do this the easy way. If you don't mind, I could use your help testing out a few things, too."

"Whatever," Adam said as he caught his precious weapons, somehow making the dismissive word carry agreement.

"First off," I began, spreading my arms wide. "Hit me."

Adam silently strapped his sword to his side before resting a hand on it.

"Before I do, I should probably make sure of what you mean," He answered flatly. "Because every time you talk, that's what I hear, so something might have gotten lost in translation."

I snorted at his words but didn't bother to hide my smile.

"Hit me," I repeated. "With your Semblance, please. I have something to try that requires an Aura-based attack."

"Got it," He said, grasping his sword. As he began charging his attack, I reached out with a tendril of my own Aura and supplemented his power with Caritas. Adam's Semblance was a pretty interesting one, simple as it might seem at first glance—it revolved around drawing upon external sources of energy to supplement his own. Everything from ambient heat to the laser of a giant robot, he could absorb to increase the power of his own attack—and if he was hooked up to a well of power like mine, well…

The results could get fairly impressive.

After only a second of charging, Adam began to glow, the light Caritas sent coursing through him spilling into the visible spectrum. His eyes, parts of his hair, his heart; seemingly random parts of him began to glow with a bright red-white light as power gathered and flowed. I put my left arm behind my back, giving Autumn an extra layer of protection even as I curled my Aura around her protectively—and then Adam struck.

For a moment, the world was painted over in reds, blacks, and whites, painting over the already dismal shades of Naraka. A flash of destructive power collided with me, trying to tear me apart—but just as quickly as his power had painted the world over, it shattered by a fountain of light. It rose around me, slipping through my illusion even as I tried to react and hide it, and then it blazed around me and rose towards the sky. It collided with the attack and destroyed it, but not in a violent clashing of two forces.

No, it simply…washed it away.

I took a pair of deep breaths, realizing I was sweating. As expected, that had taken a lot of power, but…it was hard to deny that the results were impressive.

Adam raised an eyebrow slowly, still glowing. In contrast to me, he seemed fine, although he was still glowing. The benefits of using someone else's power, I supposed.

"What was that?" He asked, more curious than surprised.

"Something I've been meaning to try out," I answered, gesturing towards myself and pulling the sweat from my skin with a thought towards Xihai. "One of the skills I got for increasing my Intelligence."

Castitas (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The rejection of the impure that shields one from corruption—the eternal love that remains when ephemeral Lusts are washed away. The Aura of living beings naturally shields them from many threats and passively prevents malicious effects from being formed within the body, washing away the Aura of others as it tries to take shape. Against attacks that completed outside of the body, however, it may only serve as a protective shield against harm. Not so to the user of this skill; to them, even the solid structure of completed attacks may be washed away, like building of mud swept away by a river.

For twice the MP cost of the targeted ability, an MP-based attack that affects the user may be completely dispersed in a flare of Aura. All harmful effects, even those which take place independent of damage, are completely negated—it is as if the attack never made contact at all.

Against attacks with a material component, only MP-based abilities are negated, leaving the physical attack to be defended against normally. Further, against attacks which target an area, only the user is protected.

Abilities which do not have targets or which do not target the user may not be negated.

Another of my Psychomachia skills, it enhanced the natural defensive abilities of my Aura, allowing me to use it in a new way. It was an interesting skill and I'd wanted to see its effects first hand, but…it needed work. As it was now, it was a bit impractical to use, costing more to defend me from an attack than the attack itself. It could still be useful, but currently it was circumstantial—best for attacks that were more dangerous than their costs implied, such that other defensive measures would be insufficient. Even so, between my layered defenses and my healing abilities, I was better off without it in most situations, especially with the lightshow—especially since creatures like the Grimm didn't have Aura.

But I'd be interested in testing just how far its power went. I'd need to test it out when I had the chance and I'd work on improving it regardless—it would probably come in handy at some point.

"Thanks," I said, flexing my fingers before casting a smile at my friend. "I wanted to see how it would work in practice."

He nodded once, sheathing his sword.

"No problem," He replied. "That all you needed?"

"There are a few others I wanted to test, if you don't mind," I answered with a shake of my head.

"I'm always up to smacking you around," He returned, running a hand through his still glowing hair. "Especially when you're footing the bill."

I chuckled a bit at that before shaking my head.

"Actually, I need a target to test something on," I stated.

"Ugh," He groaned. "That's way less fun."

"You up for it?" I asked him. "It won't hurt you, as far as I can tell."

"Whatever," He replied, the word containing boundless enthusiasm.

I chuckled again, closing my eyes for a moment before snapping them open.

Almost immediately, Adam tensed, releasing a low grunt before planting his feet and letting his hand fall reflexively back to his blade. He took a step to the side, but pinned beneath my gaze it didn't help. His movements were a touch slower than before until he consciously made himself move faster—but if it had been anyone but me watching, I doubted they'd have noticed the difference.

I guess that was to be expected of a high-level target—and a low-level ability.

Gorgon (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The eyes are the windows to the soul—and the doors. Like mice beneath the serpent's predatory gaze, targets of this ability find themselves frozen in fear. By channeling and modulating the Aura around one's eyes, the user can exert a paralyzing effect on opponents. The effectiveness of this ability increases with the power and INT of the user; at higher levels, greater effects may be shown and even the target's ability to breathe might be inhibited.

Low-level targets are paralyzed while under the gaze of the user.

Higher-level targets decrease DEX by 10 points so long as the user focuses on them.

I blinked again and deactivated Gorgon, making Adam release another grunt and roll his shoulders.

"Weird," He said after a moment. "What was that?"

"Gorgon," I answered. "A skill I picked up off the Basilisks. Well, off a Meretseger, technically, but you get the idea. It's not that effective on powerful enemies at the moment, so I'll need to train it, but it's definitely useful. I don't have a lot of debuffs, after all."

"That's good, I guess," Adam said, looking himself over carefully. "You done using me as a test dummy or is there anything else?"

"More or less," I chuckled. "I've got one more, but it's not really designed with the target's safety in mind. You're at a high enough level to walk it off, especially with me supplementing your Aura, but…"

"I'm all for you not practicing dangerous techniques on me," Adam replied. "Even if I am pretty damn amazing."

I laughed a bit at that, lacing my fingers behind my head, waiting for the question I knew was coming.

"So…" Adam asked. "What's it do?"

"Let's find some Grimm and I'll show you." I answered with a smile. "I wanted to show you a few things anyway, because it's come to my attention that you need to learn some humility, Adam."

"That's rich coming from you, you arrogant jackass," He retorted immediately. "And don't even bother lying—I know you just want to show off your new toys."

I smiled a bit at that.

"Yeah," I admitted cheerfully. "I do. It's not as fun when there's no one around to see how awesome I am."

Naraka being what it was, it didn't take us very long to find signs of the Grimm—they were already busying themselves with the destruction of Mistral, toppling buildings. I saw Adam's lips purse slightly at the sight and knew that the sight struck a chord in him, much as it had with Raven. Together, we swiftly climbed the rest of the Ziggurat and looked around at the teeming hordes of monsters that were already encroaching upon it from all sides.

"Okay," Adam said after a moment. "Are we going to start killing these things yet or what?"

"See that one?" I asked, pointing at a random monster in the horde. I had the barrier set to mixed and so it produced all the monsters it was capable of making—Beowolves, Boarbatusks, Nevermore, Ursa, etc. Gathered in a steadily growing army, however, they seemed like little more than a dark horde, with only the most powerful creatures standing out. As such, I was unsurprised when Adam just shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Just watch."

Even as I spoke, Aura began to spill from my skin. In moments, it formed a rotating circular structure in the air before me in a ghostly white outline that was far clearer outside the bounds of the visible light. I crouched slightly, eyes focused on my target even as my Aura reached out to touch it. The moment I felt contact, I lunged forward at my full speed, passing through the circular gateway with a sensation like shattering glass, and felt myself accelerate abruptly. I closed the distance in an instant, a hand reaching out to grasp the Grimm by the shoulder even as streamers of both Aura and heat clung to my arms and legs, ropes of fire and power leading back to the circle far behind me. Even as I touched the monster, however, I could feel the pull of those chains, as if my passage through the gateway had created some enormous vacuum, and the circle collapsed into a tiny point as its structure was sucked towards the center. An instant later, I felt myself moving backwards as if time were running in reverse, my direction reversing without any loss in speed.

And then I was back where I'd stood in the beginning, almost as if I'd never left at all—except I'd brought along a souvenir. I'd dragged the Grimm back with me, though it collapsed limply even as the sound of things snapping reached us moments later. Unprotected by Aura or the skill, the whiplash had killed it outright.

"Holy," Adam swore, drawing away from me at once and dropping a hand to his waist. He let go of it a moment later, seeing the state the Grimm was in, but glanced back at the crowd far below, spotting the crater the sheer speed of my attack had left in their ranks. "What the fuck was that?"

"One of the skills I picked up off the Aethon," I answered, tossing the corpse aside. "It's like…I can't think of a great analogy, but think of it as sort of like a bird swooping down to snatch something up. It boosts my speed towards a target and then returns me to my original position with whatever I happen to be carrying."

"Like people," He guessed.

"Or parts of them, at least," I answered, nodding towards the corpse. "From what I gather, it wasn't really built with the safety of the subject in mind. Even if I don't try, well, it'd be pretty easy to snap someone's neck with the whiplash. I'd thought about using it as an extraction technique, but…"

Bane of the Prometheans (Active) LV1 EXP: 43.71% MP: 1000

A technique developed in Ancient Mantle by the Kaukasios tribe for use against their sworn enemies, the Promethians. At its most basic level, a technique to quickly attack and withdraw from an enemy, the skill distinguished itself for both its effectiveness and brutality. After marking the target, the user creates an expanding pathway between their opponent and their starting position while they approach with tremendous speed. After reaching the end point of the pathway, an interaction between the structure of the technique and the user's Aura causes it to retract back towards its point of origin, carrying the user—and anything they happen to be holding—back with it in the process. The removal of the opponent's liver is not required for the successful completion of the technique, but is customary to the maneuver.

Increase DEX by INT for the sake of determining attack and movement speed for one attack.

50% defense penetration.

Range: 100m

"We'll save that for emergencies," Adam snorted, walking over to the falled Grimm to look it over. "Can't say it seems like the nicest way to travel. But you do love your movement techniques, don't you?"

"What's not to love?" I asked, suddenly standing on both sides of him. I saw him jump at the twin images of me, but it only lasted a moment before one of them—the one that had stood in my original position—faded. At his look, I smiled and shrugged. "Just an afterimage. One of the other skills I picked up off that snake I killed; it's sort of like Blake's Semblance, but they aren't solid or able to move or anything like that. They're just, well, afterimages."

"God, don't scare me like that," Adam said, closing his eyes. "For a moment I thought there were two of you."

"Two of me?" I repeated. "The world wouldn't be able to take it. Still, it's a cool skill, isn't it?"

Shedding of the Serpent's Skin (Active) LV1 EXP: 52.20% MP: 200

An ancient skill developed in the area now known as Vacuo. By precisely channeling Aura through the body, the user is able to increase their speed enough to cover a short distance almost instantly, leaving behind an afterimage by the Aura they shed. The name of the technique refers to an old legend; just as the snake was considered to live forever by shedding its skin, this technique was used to ward off death, either escaping or circling behind threats.

Range: 2m

Number of Afterimages: 1

"Eh," Adam answered dully. "It's okay, I guess—but like you said, Blake's was better."

"Jealousy is an ugly, ugly thing, Adam," I informed him solemnly, making him roll his eyes.

"Whatever," He said again. "Are we going to train now or what?"

I chuckled at him and nodded.

"Go ahead," I answered, connecting us with Caritas again and making him glow like a spotlight. "You're hooked up. Any idea where you're going to begin?"

He shrugged.

"I'll figure something out," He answered, leaping off the top of the Ziggurat to fall into the ranks of the Grimm. Almost immediately, a flash of energy slew nearly a hundred of the creatures. Chuckling again, I sent Ereb and Levant to watch over him, just in case something happened.

And then I closed my eyes, power rising around me once again. It flowed into the force field my Aura naturally created around my body, turning it into a constant, glowing shell. Taking another pointless breath and concentrating, I began to lift the force field around me, rising into the air as a result. I rose twenty meters straight up and then stopped, a star above Haven. Opening my eyes, I looked at myself for a moment and then hid the glow with an adjustment of the illusion I constantly maintained. Adjusting my vision several times, I gazed at the Aura cloaking my body, thick enough now to constantly support my own weight. It was odd to the touch, solid but unlike anything I'd ever felt before. It felt like it was barely there, yet I could feel it holding me in the sky, both through the touch of my skin against it and it against my skin.

After giving myself a moment to acclimate to the new sensation, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and began to move. Since it was my Aura carrying me, it was a mental exercise rather than a physical one and that took getting used to in its own right. It wasn't hard to hover left or right, as my Aura reacted to my thoughts—but for that same reason, it was hard to move just left or right, as my mind raced. I had to go through the motions carefully to make sure I didn't slam into something. It'd get easier over time, I knew, but for the moment…

Flight of the Vimana (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00% MP: 2000

The chariot of the soul—an ancient technique once used by the lords of the West to take flight on nothing but their own wills. By hardening one's own Aura into a skintight force field and controlling it carefully, it is possible to move one's own body using nothing but thought and free it from the constraints that bind it to the earth.

Use INT in place of DEX to determine flight speed.

Flight speed increases with INT and skill level.

Additional 2000 MP used per minute of flight.

I pondered myself for a moment as I began to fly towards a nearby building. The Flight of the Vimana was my third mode of flight, counting the Grimm wings I could create with metamorphosis and flying using Levant's aid—and while it was certainly more subtle then the former and faster than the latter, it had its own issues. I was all for using INT in place of DEX, given that my Intelligence was significantly higher than my Dexterity, but it came with sacrifices. While my higher INT made my base speed far faster, since I was using my mind to move instead of my body, techniques that multiplied my body's speed didn't necessarily apply—and unfortunately, stacking multipliers was how I achieved my greatest speeds. Acceleration would still apply, as that changed how I moved through time rather than simply making my body faster, but something like the White Tiger's Tread or Haste would not. The Grimm wings I grew with Metamorphosis didn't have that problem—my flight speed could be increased by any of my movement techniques, which meant it was still the best choice even if my Intelligence was over twice as high as my Dexterity.

Still, most of the time, growing Grimm armor and black wings would make things more complicated than it was worth, so the skill was still useful—and it was still at level one, after all, and it had said that it's flight speed would increase. It was worth exploring, even if in an emergency I'd likely fall back to other options, such as my tried and true air platforms; if nothing else, it might be worth having just to separate Jaune Arc and Jian Bing. Regardless, I had hopes for it and it would be easy enough to train once I got the hang of it. After I had enough control, I'd just hover a millimeter off the ground during the day or something; the cost wouldn't be an issue thanks to the Psychomachia skills, which cut it down to a fairly reasonable five hundred a minute, which would go down quickly after some training.

Reaching my target, I halted my motion with a thought and hovered in front of the glass of a nearby skyscraper. This should be far enough to keep from interfering with Adam's training, but also close enough to react quickly if something happened. I could sense thousands of Grimm swarming all around us, tearing apart houses and stores alike, and I noted their locations absently—but, in truth, I was just going to demolish everything around me and kill everything unlucky enough to be in the way. As the largest building nearby, this was as good a place to start as any.

Before I could start the first attack, however, something caught my eye and on a whim, I adjusted my senses to better perceive it.

"—Huh," I said, blinking at the sight before hovering closer

I could see my reflection in the glass.

It struck me then that I didn't actually spend much time looking at myself these days—not on the level that most people did, at least. I watched myself constantly, but what I saw were cells and molecules and sometimes, when I looked especially close, atoms. I saw countless colors and shades of energy, patterns that came together to create a greater whole, a biological machine in the midst of countless processes. Sometimes I looked at my brain to monitor the activity, curious how my strange senses affected it, while other times I'd view only my Aura and blot out the sight of my flesh entirely. I knew every change that occurred in my body on a startling number of levels and notes on how they changed over time.

As such, I'd been completely aware of how it had changed. I'd just never bothered viewing those changes in the tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which most people considered light visible. Jokes aside, it didn't really make much difference how I looked.

Until now, at least.

It wasn't surprising, I told myself even as I lifted a hand to my face. I meant it too, because, again, I'd been completely aware of it. Lately, I'd spent an enormous amount of time in an Accelerated state, with weeks or months passing over the course of days. Although my seventeenth birthday was coming up, I already looked at least a year older and I'd grown some. I'd put on muscle from my training, too, of course, and that went a long way to changing how I looked, but there were subtle sign in my face that made me think I looked a bit older.

I didn't really care about that. Other people might have been worried that they'd aged a year in maybe two weeks, but I couldn't muster much concern for it. I'd figured that would happen, after all, and had accepted it. I wasn't sure if my power would keep me from aging entirely after I reached my prime or if I'd need to figure something out to make sure it didn't impede my effectiveness, but either way, it wouldn't be a concern for a while—thanks to Aura, Hunters tended to look young for a long time after their bodies finished growing, especially the most powerful ones. My mother was in her sixties and looked to be in her late-twenties. Though his Semblance, or possibly the Riders, might have something to do with it, I'd done the math and Ozpin had to be at least a hundred years old and maybe looked like he was in his thirties. With the power I had, it would be awhile before I showed signs of wear, even if my power didn't just make that a nonissue.

And even if there was absolutely nothing I could do to keep myself from aging…it didn't matter. The extra time Acceleration gave me to train was more than worth the cost; getting old wasn't something I was afraid of, so long as it didn't keep me from achieving my goals.

So it wasn't the fact that I looked older that made me pause, but more how age had made me look. The changes were small still, the similarities minor, and…maybe they'd been there all along and I'd just never bothered seeing them. But in my face…around my eyes, my jaw…I saw my father.

I shouldn't be surprised, I thought, even though I totally was. After all, I was my father's son.

But it was amazing how hard the smallest things can hit you sometimes.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes for a second and swallowed. The truth was, even now I'd still been holding back. Using Psychometry on my father's hammer, facing and reliving his final moments, had been a large step—but that had been more about facing the past and proving I could. The skills I gained from it…well, I'd never say no to free skills, but the hammer wasn't my weapon of choice and he wouldn't have wanted me to cast aside my own style to pick up his weapon anyway.

Especially not when he'd already left me something far greater.

I smiled sadly as I reached out towards the reflection.

"Thanks for the good looks, Dad," I said. "I'll be sure to put them to good use. And…this, too, I guess."

For the first time, I reached out with my Psychokinesis, touching the surface of the glass with my mind. With my senses, I quickly picked out an imperfection in the glass and seized hold, pressing my power forward. It started with a tiny chip that broke off and fell away, but I picked up speed quickly. The small indent became a hole and then widened rapidly as dozens and then hundreds of pieces began to break away. Over the course of seconds, the window almost seemed to dissolve outwards from the center, and the same began to happen to the walls around it, the destruction growing as it went.

Soon, there was nothing left of the building except clouds of falling dust.