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Lautrec POV
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He wasn't sure why he was surprised about this, but Lautrec actually found Taiyang to be a relatively chill and cool dude. The retired hunter made for some fun banter as he guided him and Ruby back to their house, which wasn't a far walk. After only a minute or so of walking through the wooded area and greenery, the older man had revealed to Lautrec his home. A lovely, quaint, log cabin in the woods.
For about thirty feet in any given direction from the house, it remained a clear and empty area before it began devolving back into nothing by trees. Lautrec winced, the sound of Ruby's ridiculously high-pitched voice berating and scolding her father was almost painful. Not from anything hurtful she could be saying, no not that at all, but because of how screech-y it was.
"-it makes me look like a total weirdo, when my DAD comes out of the top of a random tree and just WHAMS directly onto my best friends weapon and BREAKS it! Come on, daaad, what if he wasn't able to-"
Seriously, if he didn't already like Ruby for what she did in the show and how cool he thought she was, he'd have totally never became friends with her. Her voice at fifteen was already several octaves higher than usual, but this was ridiculous. His eyes looked over to the father-daughter duo and simply observed. Despite how Ruby was ranting and looking at Taiyang with the stink eye, the man in question only smiled widely and held his hands up playfully as he let his daughter go off on him.
"But he was able to block, Rubes! No harm no foul, isn't that right, Lautrec?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, for sure."
He wasn't sure what he had agreed with, having lost track of the conversation about a minute and a half ago when Ruby had started groaning in annoyance at her father's antics for the fifth time.
"Lautrec!? Agree with me! He almost beat you up and he broke your sword, the least you could do to get revenge is to agree with me so he has to accept I'm right!"
She crossed her arms, looking towards him almost pleading it seemed with those dang puppy eyes while pouting.
"I-I mean... yeah, Ruby! I agree, completely."
"I wouldn't, Lautrec, she was basically saying you stood no chance in a fight against me."
Lautrec looked towards Taiyang, a singular raised eyebrow. "She did?"
"Yep. Said that you blocking my punch with that sword of yours was a fluke."
"What!? It totally wasn't, you telegraphed the attack so much!"
"That's what I was saying, but Rubes disagrees." The man shrugged and let out a dramatic sigh. "I was just confident in your abilities. But I guess my little rubaby wasn't."
"What!? I'm SUPER confident in Lautrec's skill! He beat you up, dad!"
"Yeah!" Lautrec added.
"Woah woah woah, I wouldn't say he beat me. I was taking it easy, didn't you see that last hit I landed? I could've ended that fight any time I felt like." He shook his arms from side to side, denying the claims instantly.
"Sure thing, old man. We'll have to see next time we spar." There was a smug look on Lautrec's face, as he leaned slightly forward in response to Tai.
Taiyang simply sighed dramatically once more and shook his head with a small smile of his own. "Sure, Lautrec, we'll have to see."
A pleasant silence overtook the three as they continued to make their way towards the cabin. They were already close in proximity, so it lasted only a few more moments before Taiyang was opening the door and inviting Lautrec inside with him and his family.
"Woah... this is such a nice home.."
Entering the house, there was a scent of crisp wood or like an old book. The walls held many pictures, most of which were of family, some were of Summer and Taiyangs wedding, and a few were of Team STRQ. And as we passed the entrance hallway, we entered the living room, where a large and nice couch rested, a sleek dark brown wood coffee table was in front of it and sat upon a rug. Further in front of that, a fireplace with a TV over it.
"Thanks, kiddo, me and the girls fight a lot about how to decorate. I'm glad you like the decor, this was my room to decorate."
Tai hid no small amount of pride in his voice, the old man seemingly happy to be complimented on his very comfortable looking living room.
"Ugh, I can't stand those 'modern' homes. I'm not sure how beige, ew, could ever match pure personality." He walked around the couch, and took a seat with a light groan.
"It looks good, sir, seriously. I've always wanted to be more into interior design and all that, I really like how you did up the place."
"Ugh, don't get him talking about it! He'll never stop!" Ruby whined, flopping over the couch and covering Taiyangs eyes with her hands. "It doesn't matter, anyway! Let me show you my room, it's way cooler!"
"Nope, Ruby, we're waiting on Yang, remember? We're heading out soon." Taiyang shut down that idea, his gaze locking onto Ruby instantly.
"Lautrec can join us, can't he?"
The veteran hunter looked slightly unconfident, unsure if he should invite the younger man on the hunt.
"Um, Rubes, I don't think..." He hesitated, his eyes flicking back and forth between Ruby and Lautrec.
"He's been outside the walls before, he was just talking about it! And he beat you, so he can fight! Pleaseee!" The puppy dog eyes sprung out again, and Ruby pleaded once more. A common tactic from her, clearly.
Taiyang looked toward Lautrec, as if hoping the teen in question would back him up. "We'll have to ask Yang, Rubes. If she's not okay with that then he can't co-"
On que, the front door slammed open, a disheveled looking Qrow waltzing in with an even worse for wear Yang in tow, his sword drawn and Yangs Ember Celica deployed.
[[Bad Luck Aura] Inflicted!]
"Tai! What happened!?" It wasn't a moment later that Qrows red eyes zeroed in on Lautrec, Taiyang, and Ruby relaxing on or near the couch.
"Oh, Qrow, hey. You two can put your weapons away, I was just sparring with Ruby's new friend. I'm sure Yang told you about the kiddo, right?" Taiyang stood up and hopped over the couch, looping an arm around the taller teens' neck. "This kid is as tough as nails, Qrow. I hit tagged him with some good shots and he tagged me back with hits just as good. He even broke my aura!"
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Ten minutes ago- Qrow POV
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"I'm just saying, kid, that just because you think that he's your friend or he's Ruby's friend doesn't mean he's obligated to talk to you. If anything, he might be brushing you off, good riddance in my opinion." For the last hour it seemed, Yang kept drifting back to the one topic I didn't really want to talk about.
One Lautrec Griscern. The Magic Boy.
And it was always the same thing. 'But he said we were friends!' 'Uncle Qrow, do all men lie?' 'Why didn't he message Ruby yet?'
Yang, bless his little firecracker, was entirely too worked up over some kid. But, who was he to judge? He'd fallen head over heels for Summer after she beat Raven in a spar way back. So there were definitely dumber reasons to obsess over someone than them not following through on a promise.
"Uncle Qrooooow! You're not helping! I need advice, not you trying to make me push away Ruby's only friend!" She groaned out, shaking his shoulder with her one free hand. He looked down at her, a small smile on his face at her childish antics.
"Kid, I'm giving you the best advice I have. And that advice is to help Ruby find a different friend, one that isn't so old and ugly and not worth my innocent nieces time."
"Hey! He's not ugly." Yang said, lightly slapping his arm once more. "And he's the only person on Patch apparently who also works out, has an interest in comics, and is a Huntsman-in-training! That makes Lautrec the only person worth Ruby's and my time."
"But you don't refute him being old, so you concede that, right?"
Yang looked offended, her free hand moved to rest over her heart. "Uncle Qrow, he is a year older than me, are you calling me old?"
Oof. Landmine there, step carefully, you dumb crow. "No, Yang, I just think that someone with a year age gap on you is a bit old for-"
"GASP! Are you saying I'm really really old!? I'm older than Ruby by two years!"
"Yang."
"Is there wrinkles on my face!?"
"Yang."
"Is my skin saggy!?"
"Yang. You know what I meant."
She smirked, the classic Xiao-Long smirk. Do something unfunny, but be charismatic enough to smirk and suddenly it seems a lot more humorous. It was stupid that it almost worked on him, the beginnings of a smile were quickly shaken away. "Of course I do. But don't worry, do you seriously think I'd let some creep near Ruby?"
He sighed a bit. Ah, right, Yang was the smart one of the two sisters. Despite Ruby being very obviously super smart in terms of smithing, engineering, and weapons in general, Yang was the smart one. She could pick a bad apple from a barrel full of a thousand.
"He's not weird, not like those guys who'd try to butter up Ruby to get close to me. I approached him, and he only matched my energy. You know? We talked for like, an hour and a half! So I'm just worried what we did for him to not message us back."
Fuck, he was too old for this. He was thirty nine, for crying out loud. Tai should be the one dealing with this. But Yang was his niece, and by the Gods he'd give it his best if it meant helping her.
So even if he didn't approve of some magic using boy who, by all accounts according to Oz, didn't exist inside of Vale, this dusty crow would help her with her boy troubles.
"Look, Yang, it's only eleven a.m. he's probably asleep or something. I know when I was his age I was barely waking up at any time near this. That kid is probably the same." My hand rested on her shoulder as I attempted my best shot at being a caring uncle.
"Yeah... yeah, you're right. No way he'd brush me off. Psh. As if, am I right, Uncle Qrow?" She tried her best at looking confident, even if he could tell it was a fragile attempt at mimicking her own confidence.
"Absolutely, he'd be the biggest... idiot..."
My eyes widened as we approached the small forest outside Tai's house. There was mana... EVERYWHERE. Like how on Yang and Ruby there were dregs, and in the hotel there was small flares of it that quickly became ambient mana. This was different. This was similar to Oz's use of combat magic. It was riddled throughout this forest, closing in on... Tai's House..
Yang stopped too, though it was likely because of how many trees were broken around the area. In one part of the very obvious fight area, there was a small pool of blood seeping into the dirt.
"Fuck! Yang, we have to check on Tai and Ruby, now!"
The entire mood flipped, he drew his sword and began running towards the house. Yang barely kept up, often having to use the recoil on her shotgun gauntlets to speed up some.
Once I had reached the house, I took in the situation, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No sign of anything broken into here, but it was better safe than sorry. By the time I had swung open the door, Yang had finally caught up, and I stepped in with my sword drawn.
To my surprise, Tai and Ruby were sitting in couch. My eyes flicked over to the only other person in the room, Lautrec motherfucking Griscern. The magic boy that Yang was just complaining about.
"Tai! What happened!?"
The man in question looked at him, likeyl confused about why Qrow had barged in so abruptly. But once the cogs turned in the blonde mans' head, he began to speak.
"Oh, Qrow, hey. You two can put your weapons away, I was just sparring with Ruby's new friend. I'm sure Yang told you about the kiddo, right?" Tai stood up and hopped over the couch, looping an arm around the kids' neck "This kid is as tough as nails, Qrow. I hit tagged him with some good shots and he tagged me back with hits just as good. He even broke my aura!"
My eyes narrowed, how in the world would he be able to do that? The kids threat level just skyrocketed, no ordinary huntsman-in-training or even average Hunter would be able to best Tai on even his worst day.
"You were holding back, though, weren't you? Considering there was only a puddle of blood and not a pancaked version of him in the dirt."
Despite not wanting to, I holstered my sword. Yang did the same, shifting her Ember Celica back into the inconspicuous golden bracelets.
"Oh, yeah, big time. This kid wouldn't have put up a fight if I wasn't holding back. But don't let this guys' stocky frame fool you, he's less about strength and more about speed, he's fast fast."
The boy in question was attempting to shrug off Tai's arm, though he was very much unsuccessful at that. Even without aura, Tai was so imbued and trained with aura that his muscles were naturally aura enhanced.
"Wait, you beat Dad?"
Yang finally spoke up, looking at the boy with a new look in her eye, one that was less friendly than when she spoke of him before. Lautrec seemed to pick up on that, his own eyes locking onto Yang's.
"Nah... He floored me, wasn't even close."
"Aw, don't lie to Yang! He totally beat him up, he used his super cool sword and some super cool tricks with his aura to cause this MASSIVE aura-sword thing to shoot at Dad and it was like an explosion of light! It was so awesome, Yang!"
Unfortunately for the poor kid, Ruby seemed to love whatever magic Lautrec threw at Tai. A giant magical sword that shot out at Tai, hm? I'll have to ask Oz about that.
In a streak of badluck for the kid, Yang's eyes narrowed further, flicking between Lautrec and Ruby.
"Huh, I didn't realize you two were so chummy already. When did this happen?"
Uh oh. Tough break, kid.
"Yeah yeah, you three go upstairs, I need to talk to Tai for a little bit. Adult stuff." With a hand, I ushered them towards the stairs, silencing whatever argument may come from them. Once they were in Yang's room, I looked over at Tai, and sighed.
"What's up, Qrow? Did something actually happen?"
I couldn't help but sigh, Tai really had lost his touch. "Tai, come on. How did that kid beat you, give me the run down."
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The Present - Lautrec POV
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When Yang and I first met, she was a nervous mess. Hardly capable of looking me in the eye. However, now that we were in her house, in her room, with us having already been friends, she was much more willing to ask hard questions. Or not hard questions, but questions with a heavy warning behind them if I answered in whatever way she deemed wrong.
"So, let me get this straight. You, Lautrec Griscern, are a blacksmiths' apprentice and just so happened to run into Ruby as she went to talk to the new blacksmith on Patch?"
Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes were narrowed at the story. What's worse, is that she didn't look like she fully bought it, even though it was completely true! That negative one-hundred luck was REALLY screwing me over, I needed a way to nullify that so bad, because Qrow was unironically screwing with my life so hard right now just by being close!
"Yep! Brigid Sprein, she even sold me these bracers and this sword while I was there. Seventeen thousand lien, for both."
Despite knowing I was being nothing but honest, a singular bead of sweat grew on my eyebrow.
"Hm."
She made another noise of contemplation, eyeing me up and down, focusing her gaze on the sword holstered on my back and the [Lone Wanderer's Steel Bracers]
[Charisma Check - Succeeded!]
Yang let out a breath, finally accepting my words as truth.
"Okay. Good, I was worried. Ruby was upset when you didn't call or message her earlier. Imagine my surprise when I come home and Ruby is instantly singing your praises."
"Yaang! It wasn't that bad, I didn't even mention anything about him!"
Ruby protested her sisters words.
"Sure, Rubes, I'd notice your depressed face anywhere. Especially when you were constantly checking your scroll at breakfast."
"Was not!"
"Were too!"
"Was not!"
"Were too!"
A small, tiny, miniscule even, chuckle escaped my lips, which caused the two of them to quickly spin their heads towards my way
"What are you laughing for!?"
"Huh!? Why are you laughing?
"W-what? How did you both turn on me so fast!?" His eyes widened slightly.
"Because. I'm still upset you stiffed Ruby the whole morning." She poked him in the chest, looking up at him through her golden locks.
Ruby's eyes focused on the interaction, and then inserted herself between the two. "It seriously wasn't that bad, Yang. Besides, he's here now and is joining us on our hunt! How cool is that?" Ever the mediator, Ruby found a way to take both of their attentions off of the litter squabble with just that.
"He is? I thought dad wanted it to just be us?" Yang looked about as confused as she should be, given the bombshell that was him joining their family trip outside the walls.
"Ahem.. that's because Ruby demanded I come with... for whatever reason. But, you actually have ultimate say, Mr Taiyang is cool with me tagging along if you were okay with it." And if Lautrec was a betting man, he was sure she'd be okay with it. Why was he so confident, you may be asking? Well, because his [Quest] had updated.
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[Quest updated: The Tyro Trio!]
Objective: Slay 25 Grimm along side your fellow Tyro hunters, Yang and Ruby
Bonus Objective: Defeat Ursa Major, The Dumpling
Rewards: 15,000 EXP, 20 Stat Points, L1500, ?, ?
Bonus Rewards: continuation of [Names in the Obituary]
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'The Dumpling, eh? Probably a rotund fella.'
"I.... I guess? It's not the first time I've been out, and if Ruby thinks having a friend tag along will make it a better time out there, then why not?" Yang said, more content with it happening than actually wanting him to come with, but that was fine by him. "But you better make up all the time she was waiting for a message while you're out there, buster brown."
He waved his hands in the air, a small smile gracing his features as he looked at Yang. "I'll be sure to do that. Ruby and I are gonna take the Grimm by storm, ain't that right Red Reaper?" Lautrec looked over to Ruby, the girl in question looking excited.
"One hundred percent! We're gonna show them how great we are." Ruby struck a little pose, her stance wide and her hand in front of her body. The look of determination on her face was so... precious? Lautrec could see why Yang was protective over her, she kinda reminded him of the little sister he always wanted.
Yang leaned over, lightly smacking the back of her hand against Lautrec as she did. She stood up on her tippy toes, before whispering loudly into his ear. "See? That's the person you bummed out for a whole day and a half by not messaging her."
"Okay, you don't have to guilt trip me into being Ruby's friend. As far as I'm concerned, she's cooler than you in my book." He whispered back, gently shoving her away from him with his elbow.
"Oh, wait! I still have to get my weapon, but right back!" Ruby pretty much ran out of the room, running to, presumably, her room to grab Crescent Rose.
"Alright, let's go, Lautrec. Gotta tell Dad you're coming with." Yang grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the stairs once more.
"Shouldn't we wait for Ruby to get back, first?"
Yang chuckled, shaking her head as she lead him forward. "Nah, It'll be fine. Our house is hardly a maze, her room is only two doors down from mine, and the stairs are right by my door. She'll see that were downstairs."
He nodded along, seeing the sense in her words. The Xiao-Long household was, indeed, pretty open. Maybe that was a preference choice by Taiyang?
"Dad, Uncle Qrow! The council has decided, Lautrec is coming with!" The girl who was currently dragging him along said, the two men looked over, smiling at whatever they were talking about.
Taiyang sighed. "Alrighty, then. Where's the munchkin?"
Yang looked over her shoulder, past Lautrec, up towards the upstairs hallway. "Uh, she said she was grabbing her weapon..I didn't know she finished it. Do you know what it is?"
"Hah! He doesn't, only me and Ruby know." The oldest man in the room put a hand on his chest, seemingly prideful over the small win over Taiyang.
The blonde brawler huffed at that, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Yeah, she didn't tell me. But I like to think it's because she wanted to surprise me with her perfect weapon." He put a hand to his chin, losing his pout and instead taking on a more thinking posture "Though, if I had to guess... it's probably something like a sword. Maybe a sword-gun? Like Harbringer."
Qrow let nothing else slip, only smiling as he looked up to Ruby's door, waiting for her to pop out. Yang nudged Lautrec, leaning over to whisper to him.
"You said you worked at The Weapon Rosary, right?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"That means you worked on it, right?"
"Worked on... what?"
Her elbow bumped against his arm once more, her eyes looking up at him through her golden bangs. "Ruby's weapon, dumbo! So you know what it is, right?"
"Nope. Not a clue what it is. But if I had to shoot a shot here... I'd say it's a-" unfortunately lautrev didn't get to finish his sentence, as Ruby slammed open the front door, the giant Sniper-Scythe in her hands as she did so. And with a huff of exertion, she looked at the four people standing in the living room and offered them a big toothy grin.
"Ruby Rose, huntress extraordinaire, at your service!" With one hand, she saluted and the other hugged Cresent Rose to her body so it didn't stab into the wooden floors of the Xiao-long household. At her grand entry, the four standing in the living room spun around, and admired the work out art she held. And, let me be the first to say, the animated show does it NO justice. The sleek design and glossy colors along with a matte finish make it look so much more intimidating and yet appropriate for a task as grisly as fighting the creatures of darkness for a living.
I could tell I wasn't the only one awestruck by Crescent Rose, Yang and Taiyang seemed just as dazed by just how crazy a weapon Crescent Rose is. Though, maybe it was a bit weird, I'd love to have a weapon like it. Maybe I should invest in a scythe as well... it'd be cool to have one. And, maybe it was habit at this point, but I couldn't resist using [Observe] in it.
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[Crescent Rose]
[Type Damage: Slashing, Piercing (Melee), Piercing (projectile)]
[Transformations: Sniper (Long barrel), Sniper (Snub-nosed), Sword-spear, Scythe
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Huh, not as much as I thought there would be. No debuffs, special moves, or buffs at all. But, then again, there was no magic involved in the making of Crescent Rose, so I can understand it. "Woah! Your weapon is so awesome, Ruby!"
I walked towards her, my eyes flickering between her and the giant scythe. "You made this? She's a work of art, Rubes!" She looked almost embarrassed, her eyes locked to the floor as a rosy red hue glowed from her cheeks.
"Ah... thank you, my baby took forever to make... but she's perfect! And you've only seen the first form!" Her apprehension quickly faded, being replaced with barely contained excitement as she began to explain the many quirks of Crescent Rose.
"Her main properties is the scythe and-!" Her finger wrapped around a secondary trigger, pulling it against the handle of Crescent Rose, causing the scythe to collapse into its smaller, snub-nosed Sniper form. "A high impact, highly customizable, Sniper Rifle!"
"And what is this lovely lass' name?"
The smile on Ruby's face got wider, if that was even possible, and she took in a deep breath. "Her name is!" She pressed the weapon abov her head, raising it toward the sky "Crescent Rose!"
I swear, I could almost hear the Legend of Zelda sound of opening a chest as she did so.
"That's so cool, Rubes! I can't believe you made this!" Yang finally shook herself out of her trance and ran up, wrapping her arms around her sisters torso and sqeezing. Most would call it a hug, but Lautrec didn't. Because he was certain that if Ruby didn't have aura, she'd have been crushed. Hell, even with aura, Yang was still hugging the life out of the poor girl.
"You modeled it after Qrow's scythe, Ruby? Are you sure you know how to use it?" Taiyang asked. Though he didn't get a reply, on account of Yang still suffocating Ruby. Though when she eventually did get out of her sisters' arms, she nodded.
"Yeah! And of course I know how to use a scythe! It's just... swing and slash and stuff. How difficult can that be?" Her words caused the blonde man to sigh and for Qrow to laugh.
"Close enough. Just make sure you swing through a few grimm for me, alright, munchkin?" Qrow said, dropping his hand onto Ruby's head, ruffling her hair.
"I will, Uncle Qrow!"
Qrow then looked over to Yang, lightly jabbing her shoulder. "And you, try not to kill steal too much, let your sister have her moment in the sun."
"Yeah yeah, Uncle Qrow." She rolled her eyes, smiling lightly.
"And you." To his surprise, Qrow actually looked at Lautrec. "Make sure they don't bite off more than they can chew. You broke Tai's aura, so you're going to have to be the main hunter on board."
"Ah, what?"
"You will have to be responsible for watching over them. No fucking around, kid." Qrow's eyes burned a hole through his.
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[Quest updated: The Tyro Trio!]
Objective: Slay 25 Grimm along side your fellow Tyro hunters, Yang and Ruby
Bonus Objective: Defeat Ursa Major, The Dumpling
Bonus Objective 2: Don't let Ruby or Yang dip below 30% Aura
Rewards: 15,000 EXP, 20 Stat Points, L1500, ?, ?
Bonus Rewards: continuation of [Names in the Obituary], Massive REP increase with Ruby and Yang, REP increase with Qrow, REP increase with Taiyang, REP increase with ?, REP increase with ?, Title: [Trainer of Heros]
Failure for Bonus Ob. 2: REP decrease with Qrow, REP decrease with Taiyang, Large REP decrease with ?, Potential loss of Friendship with Ruby and/or Yang
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'Well, fuck. Now I actually HAVE to keep them above 30%.' With not only Qrow's expectations on him, but Taiyangs and two other people who he didn't even know!? Not to mention their was actual stakes in losing both Ruby AND Yang. That was a genuinely steep price, both of them were destined to be powerhouses in the future, and, call him selfish, he'd want those two at his side when they were at their best.
"Understood, Mr. Qrow." I nodded my head, his will would be done.
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"Alright! Enough waiting, Ruby has her weapon, Lautrec agreed to take lead, and I'm bored! Let's go already!" Yang said, her foot tapping away at the ground speedily.
Taiyang laughed, and began walking to the door. "Okay, okay. If you are so antsy, then let's get a move on!"
Naturally, Yang and Ruby said their farewells to Qrow, and so did I with a simple 'bye, Mr Qrow.' And the four of us were off to the races. Despite my initial beliefs, we didn't walk to wherever it was we were going to be hunting. Instead, Taiyang made us get into his Jeep like vehicle, so we could instead drive outside the walls and get to the location where we were supposed to clear the grimm. Taiyang, while driving, briefed us three noobs on what we were supposed to do. Apparently, local wildlife was acting rather unusual in the eastern border of the walls, a similar area to where I had killed Rudy. That meant that there was likely an increase of grimm activity.
Also, word of warning. Going on a trip with Ruby constantly shifting her weapon inside the damn Jeep was more scary than I'd like to admit, especially since the three of us were crammed in the back. All in all, though, it was a relatively short ride. Maybe a twenty minute drive from Taiyangs house to outside the Eastern Patch Gate.
Finally, we were out and ready. Taiyang had parked his Jeep near the gate, and we began trekking out further on foot. We passed what felt like a million trees, even after several minutes we hadn't found neither hide or hair of a Grimm or larger wild animal. Though, Lautrec could freely admit he had not a single clue what he was looking for. Maybe they did? He couldn't be sure unless he asked.
"Mr. Taiyang... I wanted to ask. Um, how do we track the Grimm?" The man in question looked at him, a raised eyebrow at his words.
"What? You said you've been hunting before."
"Ah.. I probably should've been more clear. I've been out on an excursion outside the Patch walls and fought Grimm. But I've never been on a formal hunt before. I should've clarified that." Lautrec cringed lightly as he explained, ignoring the deadpan expression of Taiyang.
"Okay, that's fine. Ruby needs to learn as well, best to get this out of the way for you both." He looked toward the two of them, and offered a light smile. "We can't accurately track them in these environments. They don't leave any signs of grazing, marking territory, or dung like their animal counterparts. What we have to do, is bring them to us. Grimm are naturally attracted to Aura and negative emotions."
Taiyang looked forward once more, his eyes shutting as he honed in on his aura, an ethereal golden hue emitting from his hands. "We can lure them to us by pushing out your aura. Though, it doesn't tend to work on older, more intelligent Grimm. We won't have to worry about that on Patch, thankfully. All Grimm here are hunted regularly by the dozen sum hunters that live here." He opened his eyes, looking toward the two of them. "How about you two try? Push some aura into your hands, think about like fishing, we are the bait."
Ruby nodded closing her eyes and breathing deeply, focusing on her aura intently. Lautrec, on the other hand, held his hand in front of him and pictured his aura manifesting over it.
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[Aura Manifestation!]
Level: 1/100
Current bonus: +1% more effective with Aura Manifestation
Current Skill: Absolute Beginner
_____________________________________________
Despite the screen coming up, Lautrec furrowed his brow as he willed his Aura to move. It faded in and out, flicking to life sporadically as he tried to manifest it. His aura shone brightly, an exotic burning purple. The patches where his aura manifested cracked as he tried to force them to grow over his whole hand. Every time they formed, they shattered like glass.
"Woah woah! Don't do it like that, Lautrec, you're burning aura like that. We're you not taught how to efficiently use your aura?" His own words were becoming slightly worried, grabbing onto Lautrec's wrist to catch his attention. Lautrec looked up from his hand, meeting Taiyangs' gaze.
"Ah, no. I never did learn. I'm kind of free balling it, learning as I go, really. Manifesting aura isn't something I know much about, if I'm honest with you, sir." No point in lying, he assumed. Though that honesty did make Taiyang sigh.
"It's okay. This is a more advanced technique anyway. Though, it seems Rubes gots it." That got him to look to the side, seeing Ruby's own hands emitting a dim dark red light. "That's pretty good, Ruby!"
"Thanks, dad!" She exclaimed, causing the glow to burn away, the small speckles of red light vanishing. "Aww."
"Here, come up here with me and I can teach you some more, okay Rubes?" He walked over to her, leaving Lautrec's side as he began to fiddle with his aura some more.
"So, you beat Dad without even being able to manifest your aura? That makes no sense." Yang took her father's place at his side, looking at him incredulously.
"Yeah, I guess. I broke his aura, but right before that he hit me hard enough to send me through what felt like a million trees. There definitely wasn't a clear winner of that." His words came out quick as he continued to hone in on his aura, causing it to flicker in and out.
"But you managed to break his Aura? Something I've never done before, and you didn't without even knowing how to use aura."
"Hm. What can I say, I'm a man of talent. I have more than a few tricks up my sleeve." Looking away from his hand for once, he looked at Yang. "I'm pretty good with a sword, if I don't say so myself."
_____________________________________________
[Sword Mastery]
Level: 17/80
Current bonus: +19% more effective with swords (this includes Greatswords, Short swords, Bastard Swords, twin blades, Sabers, and winged swords)
Skill level: Below Average
_____________________________________________
"Hah, what, you think you're some prodigy?" She leaned forward with a smile.
"Duh. You'll see, whenever we wipe these grimm you're gonna be like 'woah, this Lautrec guy is really, really good. And I want to be his friend.'" Lautrec pushed his luck, and threw his arm over her shoulder as he spoke, offering a smile of his own.
[Yang liked that]
Yang rolled her eyes, before shoving him off of her, causing him to stumble back. "Psh, are we not already friends? Pretty sure that bridge is crossed, Lautrec."
He shrugged in response. "Best friends, then."
"Hmph, we'll have to see." Her eyes flickered away, before focusing back on him. "Hey, how about after this, we spar? Just to see where we're both at, you know, relative to each other?"
"Is this another bet like at the gym? Do I get a smooch if I win?" Yang barked a small laugh, pushing his face away from her.
"Nope! At best, a pat on the shoulder if you lose."
Their small talk slowly came to a close when the tale tell sign of grimm became known, a beowulfs low growling sounding out from a nearby clearing. The two of them quickly looked over to the sound, though their vision was obscured by the thick bush ahead.
"Mr Tai! Grimm, just past this flora." Lautrec was the first to alert the father-daughter duo, the two of them looking over. Taiyang pat Ruby on the back, smiling down at his daughter.
"Alright, Ruby, it's your time to show us how good you are with a scythe. Me and Lautrec will be watching close by, Yang will go ahead and fight with you."
Ruby gulped down some of her nerves, a stark contrast from the confident smirk on Yangs face. But, Lautrec had to admit, she had courage. Ruby stepped forward, not even hesitating a little bit even as she combatted her anxiety.
"Good luck, you two! Break a leg!" Lautrec yelled to them. Giving a glance to the group of beowulves, none were above level fifteen and they all had no bone plate other than their small face masks. 'Huff. This is probably gonna be boring.'
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Time skip - thirty minutes
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And boring it was. But he supposed that that was a good thing. Better to be boring than force him to have to step in so quickly and help them. But, that didn't mean he wasn't still keeping an eye on the two. He had a quest to complete after all, and as far as he could see, they were doing fine. Both in aura and in conditioning.
Ruby especially, she wasn't even panting! I mean, seriously, she was ridiculously good. And that's not even getting into seeing her with a scythe. Admittedly, when she made her first clumsy steps in front of the beowulves, Ruby didn't look like the stone-cold Reaper from the Red Trailer, nor did she even look like the carefree and yet calculated huntress-in-training during the Emerald Forest, it was instead Ruby Rose. The thirteen year-old prodigy made to fight a small pack of beowulves on her first hunt outside the safety of the walls of Patch.
And, despite how much I believed she might have struggled with the aggression of a beowulf like I did, her speed was key to keeping her just ahead of all the beowulves' attacks. It did no justice to simply say that Petal Burst was crazy to look at, but seeing Ruby about to be bisected by a Beowulf one second and then seeing a few dozen petals slowly descending on the already fading body of a dead beowulf was an absolute mind fuck.
'Especially considering how I almost died to Rudy.' Was I a bit salty about that still? Yes. Yes I was. But I'll get over it, I'm sure. [Gamer's Mind] hadn't failed me yet.
Yang, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. She didn't care to dodge, she was too aggressive for her batch of Beowulves to handle. 'Mostly because they were bumbling around and hitting each other while attempting to claw at Yang, but that's neither here nor there'.
She was a brick wall, using Ember Celica to deal massive damage with her aura-enchanced punches along with a shotgun blast and also catch hits on the very thick metal of the bracers. Though, surprisingly, she hadn't burned much Aura.
Yang Xiao-Long
The Young Dragon
Age: 15
Level 32
Aura: 82%
The same could be said for Ruby, the only reason she had lost aura to begin with was because of just how much she was spamming [Petal Burst].
Ruby Rose
The Lone Flower
Age: 13
Level 30
Aura: 91%
Hey! And would you look at that, Ruby and Yang both went up levels! I couldn't help but clap, feeling pretty proud of my friends handling themselves so well. Slaying four beowulves each was pretty damn good!
"Good job, guys! That was incredible!"
The two of them looked over and smiled. "Thanks, Lautrec!"
Taiyang rolled his eyes at the display, before clearing his throat and speaking. "It was pretty impressive, but! I do have a few notes for the both of you."
The two girls listened attentively, paying their respect towards the more skilled and much more adept fighter in front of them.
"I'll start with you, Yang, because the issue is much more glaring. Don't take hits you don't need to take. I know you're fast enough to dodge most of the swipes that came your way, firecracker." The girl in question nodded, accepting his words easily. "And Ruby, you did amazing, a very good first encounter with Grimm. But, again, there is a problem I noticed. You seem very hesitant to fight them outside of using your semblance. You might not be as quick as Yang is with dodging just yet, but you don't need to rely on Petal Burst to keep you in the fight, Rubes."
That was... a really good way of saying she was a one-trick pony. Lautrec could see his teaching experience being put to use here, with how easily he was able to deduce their weaknesses and point them out to his daughters. That kind of wisdom probably just came with practice and age, and skill most likely.
But, more pressingly, that was eight of the mentioned twenty-five we needed to kill
_____________________________________________
[Quest: The Tyro Trio!]
Objective: Slay 8/25 Grimm alongside your fellow Tyro Hunters
Bonus Objective: Defeat Ursa Major, The Dumpling
Bonus Objective 2: Don't let Ruby or Yang dip below 30% Aura
Rewards: 15,000 EXP, 20 Stat Points, L1500, ?, ?
Bonus Rewards: continuation of [Names in the Obituary], Massive REP increase with Ruby and Yang, REP increase with Qrow, REP increase with Taiyang, REP increase with ?, REP increase with ?, Title: [Trainer of Heros]
Failure for Bonus Ob. 2: REP decrease with Qrow, REP decrease with Taiyang, Large REP decrease with ?, Potential loss of Friendship with Ruby and/or Yang
_____________________________________________
"So, onto the next area, right, Mr. Taiyang? We still have plenty of sunlight to burn." With it only being noon, and all. The sun beamed from the sky, and Taiyang nodded.
"Yeah, let's keep on-a moving." His hands lit up once more, and we began our trek anew. Once more, he took the side of Ruby, continuing to teach her about the intricacies of [Aura Manifestation], while Yang walked and talked with me while I mindlessly tried to use [Aura Manifestation].
"So. How'd I do?" Yang wore a blinding smile, looking at the boy smugly, her hands held behind her back. Lautrec could hardly stop himself from rolling his eyes in response, having to compromise with an exhale of his nose and a small smile.
"You did fine, good enough, I suppose." He remarked teasingly, before continuing. "Nah, I'm kidding, you did amazing. The way you went tit for tat with four beowulves was so fucking cool, Yang!"
He couldn't resist putting up his fist and jabbing her shoulder. Yang seemed to appreciate the gesture, her smile widening as she closed her eyes and flipped her hair. "Yeah, well, I'm me." She took a few quick steps forward, turning around to face the boy, and opened her eyes. "What else do you expect?"
"Maybe for you to not block with your face?" He felt himself naturally leaning forward while smiling wider himself. "I thought a proficient boxer would know that's bad."
"Hey! I did NOT block with my face! I used Ember Celica, and caught the hits with the armored part!" She transformed her bracelets back into the shotgun gauntlets I was used to and quickly shoved her arm in my face.
"See! There's even scratch marks from the claws!" She looked almost... dare he say... embarrassed as she eagerly presented her case. He could only laugh at her antics, this world was so unserious.
"Sure, Yang, whatever floats your boat." This time, he didn't hesitate to roll his eyes, looking away from the frantic blonde in front of him as he focused on the fracturing aura over his hands. It flowed like a low-polygon river, bending and cracking with every turn made.
"Are you even paying attention to me? You got the coolest, bestest, and coolest Huntress-in-training talking to you and you're not even looking at me, I'm super hurt." He turned his eyes upward, looking her in the eyes once more.
"It's cause my damnable Aura doesn't what to do Aura things, like manifest into a physical shield. Instead, It's doing whatever this is." He presented her his hand, showing the blocky bending of the glass-like aura.
"That's because you're a beginner, Lautrec." She smirked, looking at him with a smug glint in her eyes. "But, you're in luck. I'm one of the best when it comes to Aura in Signal, I can help you. If you want, that is!" Yang was quick to add on that last sentence, but Lautrec just nodded along, feeling content with her offer.
"I'm more than fine with that, Yang. I probably need it more than anyone, if I want to get into Beacon, at least." He offered her a fist, which she happily bumped with her own.
"Beacon, huh?"
"Yeah, maybe a few more hunts before I go to Vale to take the entrance exam into Beacon. I'm thinking, maybe a month or two before then, though?" He put a hand to his chin, tapping it lightly while trying to plan out his future, ignorant to Yang's eyes widening at the information. "I'm not sure though, definitely no longer than two months, that's unchangeable."
He had to save Amber Autumn after all. But at the rate he's growing, he should be able to put up a fight with Mercury, even as he is now. Yang's level 32, and if the Vytal Festival was anything to go by, they were around equally skilled then. And with another three months and about a week, heh, he'd wipe them.
"What!? Only two months?" She finally asked, completely taken aback by his words. "You're leaving that soon?"
He could only nod, feeling a little embarrassed that she had questioned him so loudly that Ruby and Taiyang had looked over towards them. "Ah... yeah? Patch was more of a 'collect my breath and figure out what to do next' move, more than a 'stay here' move. But if it bothers you so much, I can surely come visit. This place is pretty nice." She calmed somewhat at the though of him visiting, looking much less distressed.
"Ah.. okay, that works out then. Can't have Ruby's only friend leaving her so soon, after all." Yangs' trademark confident smile was back in full swing as she bumped his side with her elbow.
Lautrec smiled back, and moved to respond, but was interrupted by Taiyang and Ruby walking closer. "Hey, you two, were about to hit a clearing, so keep your eyes up. Young Grimm love open spaces, so we might run into more than we did last time."
"Understood, sir." "Gotcha, Dad." The two responded in sync. And with the way previous encounters were, this was likely going to be The Dumpling and some other goons.
Lautrec put a hand on his the pommel of True Night's Edge, looking forward to where the four of them were now creeping up towards. "Do you think I'll need to be on stand by, Taiyang?"
"Psh, no, I got this, right, Dad?" Ruby said, brimming with confidence after her last encounter with beowulves.
"Yeah! We can handle it!" Yang nodded along while smiling, flexing her arms and bringing up a fist. With Ember Celica, it was undoubtedly a dangerous weapon.
Taiyang looked passed his two daughters, looking directly at Lautrec. "You should always be ready to step in, Lautrec. But I don't think you'll need to be super worried here. Patch isn't very dangerous, not like we're going to run into a Titan here." Taiyang chuckled as he gradually came to a stop behind a tree, looking past allowed him to observe the terrain just up ahead.
"Looks pretty standard, a pretty decent size pack of Beowulves up ahead. A beowulf alpha as well... huh... that's weird." That didn't brew confidence in Lautrec, so he also stepped forward to see what Taiyang was looking at.
Fourteen Beowulves were there, but they weren't trekking through or around the clearing like a normal beowulf would, nor were they resting or laying on the ground. They were crowded next to a small hill, the alpha beowulf prodding it with its nose.
"Hm. That is weird." Giving them a quick scan, most were, still, under level fifteen. Except for the Alpha, who was nearly the same level as Rudy, being level 21. "Well, if you two need us, Taiyang and I will be right behind you both. Have fun!" Lautrec turned to the two girls, and nodded for them to continue up.
"Okay!" Both Yang and Ruby nodded, swiftly pushing forward into the clearing. Ruby, instead of instantly rushing forward, transformed her scythe into its small Sniper form and kneeled down to aim in better. "Yang, go in ahead of me, I want moving targets!"
Yang laughed in response, rolling her shoulders and nodded. "Gotcha, Rubes!" The older of the two rushed forward, using Ember Celica to boost her speed. Lautrec kept his eye on Yang, given how she was the one in immediate danger, both due to the huge number discrepancy on the enemies side and her own reckless style of fighting. There'd be a whole lot of chances to screw up, and he'd have to make sure none of them got bad.
Yang Xiao-Long
The Young Dragon
Age: 15
Level 32
Aura: 86%
"Goodluck!" He called out, hoping she could hear him as she was already half way across the clearing to the beowulves, passing some small stones in her path.
[BGM: "I Burn!" By Jeff Williams [Feat: Casey Lee Williams]
Whether she heard him or not, it didn't matter, for in that moment, Ruby shot her sniper for the first time. The loud clap of her bullet echoed in the expanse of the forest, a small explosion of flame over took the head of one of the minor beowulves, it's body instantly collapsing.
It had Ruby's desired effect, the remaining thirteen turning toward the noise, only to see a blazing yellow blur on top of them, another loud shotgun blast resounding out as Yang had slammed a brutal overhand right on the top of one of the beowulves heads. With their numbers reduced to twelve, they charged at Yang, hoping to kill her before they themselves lost anymore.
A paw soared over her shoulder as she ducked low, throwing two power hooks into the abdomen of the offending beowulf before having to dodge out of the way of another swipe. The jaws of another lunged directly at her, her smirk growing as she hopped backwards and shot both of her gauntlets, sending her upwards. Another Sniper shot rang out, killing the one who had attempted to bite Yang.
"Wow... she's good." Lautrec couldn't help but be awestruck, seeing how seemingly effortless it was for her to weave in and out of the, admittedly clumsy but very numerable, strikes of the beowulves and still find openings. None seem to hear him, as both Ruby and Taiyang were also busy with watching the fight.
Yang landed a few yards away from the closest beowulf, though that hardly mattered as she quickly closed the distance, bringing her hands against her cheeks as she charged. The beowulf, having seen every other means of attack failed, lowered its head attempted to headbutt the blonde warrior in front of it. Ruby took the shot easily, turning the head of the foolish beast into a thick black and red mist, allowing Yang to get deeper in the formation of the beowulves.
With only ten remaining, the Alpha howled loudly, and brought its boney claws down, moving past its pack to head the charge against Yang. Lautrec felt his muscles tense, watching a very similar situation with Yang facing such a bone-plated beowulf, his grip on his sword tightening as she carelessly engaged the Alpha.
Yang slipped the side, dodging a quick upwards slash, her eyes widened and she brought her gauntlets up just in time to block a clumsy spinning back claw from the beowulf. The impact sent her back with a grimace, the metal on covering her arms slightly deformed by the force of the attack. But nevertheless, she rushed forward once more, keeping her gaurd much higher. One of the minor beowulves tried their hand at approaching Yang, getting quickly sniped by Ruby, who then made to reload as she had shot her fifth and final bullet.
Just as she had done before, Yang slipped to the left of the upwards slash, and this time anticipated the spinning back claw and ducked under. The clumsy strike gave her enough time to rocket her fist into the side of the Alpha, before having to instantly withdraw as it slammed its paws down. The Alpha roared again, and it's subordinates listened to their orders. The remaining eight minor beowulves rushed towards Yang with reckless abandon, hoping to suffocate her resistance under a torrent of flailing claws and razor sharp teeth.
As the first got near, Yang threw out a simple three hit combo. A jab hit its nose, measuring and keeping distance, a right hook nailed its mark on the side of its top-jaw, forcing the beowulf to snap its head down and to the left which left it completely open and vulnerable to Yang's brutal left uppercut, her gauntlet firing off against the underside of its jaw. The seventh had already closed the distance, Yang having to backpeddle to escape a close swipe of the beowulfs claws.
Her first punch had been a retreating left hook, the crude punch hitting the beowulf and dragging across its head as Ember Celica activated again, shooting the top part of its ear off, but doing little damage. The beowulf left her no time to recover, rushing forward swiping it's paws at her in an attempt to land any type of hits. Yang clenched her jaw as she felt one of the paws scrape against her shoulder, her aura flaring to life as she tanked the hit. Her fists came up, a cross landing against the side of its face, though it lacked any power due to her still moving backwards. A second beowulf had cleared the distance, and was now engaging Yang along side its comrade, it's teeth coming awfully close to clamping down on Yangs long hair.
Without seeing much other option, she jumped backwards, firing her gauntlets for the sixth time. The recoil allowed her to retreat farther than if she were to simply run backwards. With a remaining two shots in her left hand and three in her right, Yang set her feet, and ran forward at the two, now three, beowulves in front of her. Ruby, finally having finished reloading, took another shot at a fourth Beowulf who was closing in.
'That made six left, not including the Alpha who is... nowhere to be seen?' Lautrec's eyes snapped to the side, looking towards Ruby. When he saw nothing, he got closer and started to frantically look through the trees just in time to see a prowling Alpha beowulf. It wasn't even growling, just silently approaching the unaware Ruby.
"What? Lautrec?" Taiyang called out, looking to the running boy weirdly, having also not noticed the stalking beowulf. He didn't have time to respond, instead he charged his blade with his Mana, rushing the monster.
_____________________________________________
[Godly True Nights' Edge!]
[Charged attack: Corrupted Hurricane!]
_____________________________________________
The beowulf seemed to sense the charging of Mana, it's eyes snapping toward Lautrec, swiftly deducting that he was the source of it. The monster seemed to lose its nerve to be stealthy, it's paws digging down into the ground and propelling itself directly at Ruby with a roar.
Lautrec slashed his sword, shooting a much smaller version of what he did to Taiyang, a spinning green and glowing spinning blade flew toward the beowulf. The Alpha, dodged by jumping over where the magical blade would've caught it, Ruby turned in that moment, seeing the jaws of the Beowulf closing in. Her eyes widened, her body froze up, and Lautrec saw himself in her place.
in that moment, Lautrec had activated [Flash Step], and was already stabbing his sword into the Alpha's side. It howled in pain as he ripped the blade from its fur, and hopped backwards as Lautrec slashed at it again. The beowulf hobbled out of the way of the physical blade's reach, but it wasn't fast enough to escape [Shadow Bite], the two jaw-like shadows protruded from the True Night's Edge and bit down on the neck of the Alpha. It's body went limp with a muffled whine, the Alpha succumbing to the power of the True Night's Edge.
Ruby let out a breath, her arms going limp for a second. Lautrec, to his credit, kneeled down and put a hand on Ruby's back and gently patted her. "You okay?" Ruby looked at him and nodded hesitantly, a hand going to her chest.
"Y-yes. I'm fine. That beowulf was just really, really close." His hand lightly patted her back a few more times before he stood back up, and looked towards Yang.
Yang Xiao-Long
The Young Dragon
Age: 15
Level 32
Aura: 52%
That wasn't terrible. But it was a little concerning, as she had only been hit a handful of times, once or twice when he was watching. To see her having dropped to fifty-two percent when she was resting at eighty-six just before this fight? Perhaps it was because of her using aura to boost her physical stats? Probably.
Though, currently five v one-ing the remaining Beowulves, Yang was starting to lose her tempo. Her arms felt entirely too heavy to swing properly, the tough and heavy metal gauntlets that were her Ember Celic had been weighing on her for the last few hours. Uncle Qrow was making her wear her weapons every where, so she could 'get used to the weight'.
And this was a true endurance test for the blonde girl. It didn't help that Ruby wanted to practice her sniper, leaving Yang to dive head first into the pack of grimm. Her jaw clenched once more, as she had dodged one paw straight into another one. As much as she wanted to look back and see WHY Ruby wasn't shooting the beowulves in front of her, but she knew that lapse in attention would likely spell her getting destroyed by the beowulves that were hellbent on killing her.
Side-stepping a headbutt, her fist naturally came up to punish the blunder made by the beowulf, only to have to duck under a second beowulf who had decided to try and jump tackle her. Yang swiftly attempted to uppercut the still out-of-place beowulf, but to her frustration, she was interrupted again and was made to roll out of the way of a swipe.
She could almost scream at how agitating this was! This was her strength, being able to bulldoze through her opposition, to muscle forward and tank hits! But she just couldn't against this many enemies, she needed more power, more speed, more strength.
Unaware of what was happening to her, the once lilac eyes flashed red, and the blonde bombshell began to burn up. Or rather, her hair did.
Ruby, Lautrec, and Taiyang watched in awe, as the girl who was undoubtedly on the back foot only a second ago, literally exploded and suddenly began blurring towards the remaining five beowulves. Every punch she landed caused small explosions, making thunder claps echoing in the clearing. Each punch tore through the beowulves, and even if they had died in only a single hit with her newly awakened semblance, she landed several combos on each.
The first to meet her wrath, the one foolish enough to believe her standing still and exploding into flame was an opening, had its paw grabbed in a bone crushing grip, Yang used the arm to pull the monster closer. Once it was in rang, an absolutely devastating overhand left crushed the bone plating on the beowulfs head. Even as it's body went limp, Yang spun and caught the beowulves head with a spinning back fist before it could even hit the forest floor.
The other four were much more aware how out of their depth they were, almost looking hesitant before charging her, perhaps expecting the more defensively cautious Yang to try and duck and dodge their attacks. But this wasn't a meagre huntress-in-training anymore, this was the Young Dragon, and the beast in front of the four beowulves roared at their defiance in the face of her power.
She met them in the middle, her semblance-boosted speed allowing her to clear the distance much quicker than they had expected, which allowed her to brutalized the first of the group. Similar to a certain featherweight Spainiard, Yang began to throw hooks in droves. Her rage burned holes into the torso of the offending beowulf in front of her, every hook causing disturbing crunches to sound out from the beowulfs chest.
And as the other three all attacked at once, her aura flared and kept Yang on her feet as two of the three hits landed. Though, it seemed to fuel the fire that continued to burn within Young Dragon. Her first were the gavel that decided the beowulves fate, and all that stood against her in that moment were guilty.
And as she kicked off the ground, a right uppercut snapped the third beowulfs head up, causing the beast to wobble, but her follow up left overhand landed square in its chest and her shotgun gauntlets activated in response and tore a hole through its chest.
The last two, tried to respond, attempting to land a shot in any respect, however they were both instantly cut off as a strong magical vortex bisected one, and a sniper bullet reduced the second to dead in a moment.
[BGM: "I Burn" by Jeff Williams [Feat: Casey Lee Williams] - END]
Lautrec, having closed the distance and killing one of the remaining two, walked up to Yang, cautious of her burning hair. "Hey, Yang, what was that!?" That wasn't like anything he had ever seen her do, not the semblance (he saw plenty of that in the show), but how she fought. Completely and absolutely defenseless and didn't even attempt to evade anything!
It almost cost him his bonus rewards!
Yang Xiao-Long
The Young Dragon
Age: 15
Level 32
Aura: 31%
She huffed, still coming down from her high of anger. Though, once Yang saw Lautrec, Ruby, and her father getting close to her, her eyes returned back to their usual dull lilac, and her hair stopped burning.
"I think... I think that was my semblance." Her vision became spotty, and standing became difficult as Yangs legs became jelly under her. Lautrec and Ruby ran to her sides, as they were the closest to her, and grabbed hold of her arms.
"Woah woah, stay with me sis! We can't have you passing out on us!" Ruby cried out, as Yang somewhat collapsed onto her.
The blonde girl groaned in response, her eyes fluttering. "I... I just need a.. hah... minute. It took a lot out of me." Her breath gradually became more and more mellowed out, and at some point she felt at ease.
"That was something, huh?" Yangs eyes flickered over to her father, smiling lightly. Who nodded.
"Something is a weird way to describe you literally exploding, but it's close enough, I guess." Taiyang spoke, his arms crossed and a smile on his face. Yangs legs regained their strength after a few more moments, and she stood up proper and without assistance.
"So! How'd a do? Was that good enough for you, Lautrec?" She clapped her hands together, breathing in and looking at the boy in question.
"You did great, seriously. I don't think I've ever seen such a crazy performance like that! The flaming hair was just the cherry on top." And it was true, he hadn't. As a former earthling, seeing just how insane a battle on Remnant between someone who isn't even an official beginner hunter and some of the weakest Grimm on Remnant was absolutely ridiculous.
"But, you took a lot of damage and burned a lot of Aura, so I think you'll have to sit this next one out. I think Ruby needs a solo performance too, given it's her hunter anyhow." Taiyang nodded along to Lautrecs words, and voiced his agreement with an approving hum. Though Ruby was slightly less ecstatic than Yang was, she too nodded.
_____________________________________________
[Quest: The Tyro Trio!]
Objective: Slay 22/25 Grimm alongside your fellow Tyro Hunters
Bonus Objective: Defeat Ursa Major, The Dumpling
Bonus Objective 2: Don't let Ruby or Yang dip below 30% Aura
Rewards: 15,000 EXP, 20 Stat Points, L1500, ?, ?
Bonus Rewards: continuation of [Names in the Obituary], Massive REP increase with Ruby and Yang, REP increase with Qrow, REP increase with Taiyang, REP increase with ?, REP increase with ?, Title: [Trainer of Heros]
Failure for Bonus Ob. 2: REP decrease with Qrow, REP decrease with Taiyang, Large REP decrease with ?, Potential loss of Friendship with Ruby and/or Yang
_____________________________________________
Lautrec eyed the quest, knowing that there were at least three more Grimm in the area made him feel more at ease than on edge. Three grimm should be easy, even if one was a minor named Grimm.
Though, his Mana was a bit low.
Two [Flash Step's] and two, albeit small, [Corrupted Hurricane's] left him more than slightly below half. Little more than a third of his Mana remained. If things got dicey, he'd have to rely on Tiayang or Ruby for clean up on The Dumpling, because using two more [Flash Step's] was all he really had.
"Well, rightio, then. Let's go, we shouldn't waste too much time, then. I'm a little surprised, honestly." Now that he was thinking about it, with his luck and with how much noise they made, how hadn't they attracted the monster in question?
"Yeah, I get you, I would've assumed all the noise would attract more. Not to mention the amount of aura that was expelled." The older man scratched at his chin, thinking silently.
"There's gotta be more, though, right?"
A bellowing growl answered his call. The four of them looked around, their eyes locking on to where the noise came from. The small hill, the one that the beowulves were poking at, began to crumble. The grassy meadow that had grown atop the hill, stayed put as a gargantuan rotund beast dug its way from the dirt.
"Get back, let me handle this."
Name: Ursa Major
Titles: The Dumpling
LVL: 42
MP: 45/45
Notable Features:
[Bear's Hide]
A decently long life and reaching adulthood has led this Ursa to growing a thicker hide, making it 25% harder to pierce with thrusting or Slashing attacks.
"Though, some sniper assistance would be nice." Without another word, Lautrec stalked forward, stepping toward the beast calmly.
Moss clung to its black fur, clumps of dirt and grass stuck to the small spikes that littered its back and shoulders. Bone-plate covered much of its body, but with just how rotund the bear was, plenty of its body was still exposed.
[Godly True Night's Edge!]
[Charged Attack: Corrupted Hurricane!]
Mana rippled through the blade, electrifying it's purple metal with a haunting neon green light. The small skull embedded in the cross gaurd of the sword whistled as the Mana continued to charge, and one-thousand points of mana shot out toward the still beast in the form of a swirling vortex of blades.
Unsurprisingly, the Ursa couldn't dodge as it remained stuck in the ground, but it hadn't even tried to. The Ursa bowed it's head down, and tanked the attack on the top of its bone-plated helmet. A clean slice cracked across the helm, cutting deeply, but otherwise, it did no damage other than superficial cuts on the side of its shoulders as the magical blade evaporated against it.
Lautrecs eyes widened, a little shocked that the the Grimm was even able to tank such a hit. Sure, it was about a fourth as strong as the one he had hit Taiyang with, but even that one had done twenty-three thousand damage! "Okay... Ruby, try to shoot the top of his head, that broken bone won't put up any resistance against a sniper like yours."
Ruby nodded. "Got it!" She dashed back, using her sembkance to make space between her and the rest of the group. "Yang, why don't to go stay with Ruby, make sure no Grimm sneaks up on her, alright?" The older girl nodded, groaning lightly as she made to jog over to her sister.
"And Taiyang, sir. Can you make sure it doesn't kill me? I'm pretty low on aura, I won't be able to do all my flashy attacks anymore." The man nodded.
"Go ahead, I won't crack on your style, or whatever." The earth crumbled once more, finally giving way for the large Ursa to stand on its paws without the ground slipping under it. The hulking, perhaps bulking would be a better adjective due to how round it was, figure eyed the boy in front of it, sizing up the threat that the swordsman could potentially pose.
At first, that's all they did, size each other up, assessing possible strengths or weaknesses the other would have, but when the beast saw that the other hunter had been to leave the swordsmans' side? That was its invitation.
And with a mighty roar, and a stomp of its hefty legs, it began running toward the young swordsman. Lautrec, for his part, did not rush to meet the large ball of magical lard in front of him, but started to sidestep, seeing the bounds of how mobile the beast was. He, once again, was slightly surprised, as it didn't stumble to try and catch him, but instead managed to shift its direction just enough to keep itself from tumbling.
That should've been expected, though, no Grimm that gets to this age is going to be stupid enough to grow beyond what it's muscles could handle. His eyes narrowed, trying to figure out a strategy.
'It's large size, while helpful in being able to absorb attacks, if we look closer... it's a double-edged sword.'
An idea clicked into place in his mind. Much like how many body builders who didn't train their flexibility, a monster this size and with this many large muscles to hold it up, wouldn't be able to clench whatever the equivalent of obliques were to bears. It would need to try and get away or turn its whole body.
'In short, treat him like Vordt of the Boreal Valley. Stick to the sides and butt, and just stab and slash. Or turn him to face Ruby, who will execute the guy with a clean headshot. Choices choices.' He didn't have much time to ponder, as now the Ursa was on top of him, and stood on its hind legs to attempt to slam its lead paws onto Lautrec's body.
The boy quickly moved out from under the slam, just avoiding the crushing blow. However, his footing became unstable as the ground beneath him shattered under the weight of the Ursa's attack. Lautrec planted a hand into the ground and pushed up, sending him rolling backwards onto his feet once more. His sword slashed outward, clashing against the tough hide of the Ursa, but managing to cleave through its fur and cut into the rippling muscle hidden underneath.
Lautrec readied another strike, before his eyes widened and being made to dodge quickly to the side once more as the beast lunged forward. The place were Lautrec once was was bitten into, a thunderclap of its jaws echoed in the forest. The boy managed to find another two slashes, one at its right lead leg and a second carving up from the underbelly to its obliques. He dodged once more, keeping close the the side of the Ursa, Lautrec chuckled.
"You know, for such a big and threatening Grimm, I actually expected a lot more! But this is easy! Pathetically easy!" Though it certainly helped that the True Night's Edge was just such an amazing sword and that Lautrec had much experience (from video games) on how to defeat enemies similar to the Ursa Major in front of him. Hell, Bloodborne had been the first game he played in the soulsborne series, and the fat pigs were a pretty common enemy in late game, though they did make a rare few appearances in early game. And they moved very similar to this monster.
"I... you know what? I want to try something!" With his last remaining eight-hundred mana, Lautrec began to power it into his sword. But instead of just shooting it out in the way the sword intended, a [Shadow Bite] or [Corrupted Hurricane]. Lautrec wanted to see if he could use a [Corrupted Hurricane] as an added damage buff to his sword, similar to a chainsaw. Spinning blades on the edges of his sword rather than just a giant spinning saw blade.
The Ursa attempted to dodge away, but against Lautrec's superior agility and dexterity, it's attempt was futile. With a thrust, Lautrec stabbed the True Night's Edge deep into the belly of the Ursa and began to slowly try and release his Mana like a field of glass spinning around his blade.
Two things happened in that instant, the first was that he failed. The second was that the Ursa exploded.
[Unrestrained Power!]
The eight-hundred Mana that he had hoped to control into spinning like an epic chainsaw around his sword, exploded like dynamite. Though, fortunately for him, he did get a skill from the action.
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[Mana Manifestation!]
[Level: 1/100
Description: Mana is the source of all life, from the tiniest of insects to the largest of Grimm. All things inherently use Mana, even if they have no control over it. But you do. Bend the world to your whims with the ways of wizardry!
Skill Level: Absolute Beginner.
+1% more effective in using and controlling mana!]
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Huh.... he hadn't even thought of that. Another Skill the grind, he supposed.
"Lautrec! Are you okay?!" The two sisters yelled out, probably running to help him up from the flat of his back. Though, Taiyang already had that covered, as Lautrec grabbed his hand and pulled himself up.
[+2 more items added to your inventory!]
"I'm okay!" He unclaimed Taiyangs hand, and began patting off the dirt from his pants and shirt.
"I think we have one more little hunt left in us, right? This big guy ruined Ruby's solo hunt, after all." Lautrec spoke, a smile growing. This damn world was gonna be awesome.
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Time skip - 2 hours.
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Ruby got her hunt, a tough three beowulves and one or two creeps solo. As if she hadn't handled four beowulves perfectly in her first fight of the day, she got to run literal circles around three. Taiyang drove us back to their home, where I was allowed to stay and eat with the three of them. A sign of a good hunt completed, I suppose.
I bid my farewells to Yang and Ruby, who were both a little bummed to see me go, but waved me out anyhow. I had also said goodbye to Taiyang, or just Tai now.
Though, once I got back to my dingy little hotel? I instantly opened up my quests.
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[Quest Completed: The Tyro Trio!]
Objective: Slay 28/25 Grimm alongside your fellow Tyro Hunters
Bonus Objective [Completed]: Defeat Ursa Major, The Dumpling
Bonus Objective 2 [Completed] : Don't let Ruby or Yang dip below 30% Aura
Rewards: 15,000 EXP, 20 Stat Points, L1500, ?, ?
Bonus Rewards: continuation of [Names in the Obituary], Massive REP increase with Ruby and Yang, REP increase with Qrow, Large REP increase with Taiyang, Large REP increase with ?, REP increase with ?, Title: [Trainer of Heros]
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[You leveled up!]
Only one level? And.. I didn't recieve any wild points from it. Fuck, that's something that [The Game] changed, wasn't it?
I had to fight not to groan in annoyance. Guess that the whole [Wild Points] thing was going to be quest locked from here on out.
But, that's fine, I guess. I can make do.
For now, I was decently strong, and had some pretty tools at my disposal. But, as any kickboxer worth their stuff knows, Skills matter not if you don't train them. And, well, between [Aura Manifestation] and [Mana Manifestation], he had his work cut out for him.
"It's gonna be a long, LONG night."