Word Count: 18506 words.

I haven't proof-read, or revised the chapter yet. I will get on that soon. Please review.

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Lautrec POV

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A clinking of at least ten glasses sounded out, the group yelling out cheers before downing their drinks in unison. Lautrec, of course, was among them as was their leader, Jakob. Much time hadn’t passed since the rally, as Jakob actually had a car and invited Lautrec to ride with him, a convenience that he appreciated greatly.

‘Last night with Miltia really turned me into an alcoholic…’ the young man having just downed half of his third cup of Honey Mead. And it was stronger than he imagined it would be, even [Gamers Body] and his own high tolerance for alcohol was struggling to keep up. Though with all the men and women around him, it was obvious that many were in the same boat.

“To our success!” Jakob called out, a splitting grin on his face

”To our success!” The rest of the attendees echoes.

”To The White Fang!”

”To The White Fang!”

Jakob took a slow and careful few steps around raising his arm and draping himself onto Lautrec’s shoulders. “To our friend, to the huntsman of The White Fang!”

”To our friend!”

Lautrec stayed quiet for that specific cheer, but smiled widely when they repeated it. Despite most beliefs, hell even his own beliefs, that The White Fang hated humans, the members that sat in front of him and the leader of their group hanging off of his shoulder all wore large smiles. Though, the six men and four women that surrounded him were obviously waiting on something from him, so Lautrec stood to his fullest height, his head high and his chest puffed out.

”To the future we will create!” His mug was thrust in the air, and the others around him followed suit.

”To the future we will create!”

Lautrec put the glass mug to his lips, and began to chug the rest of the sweet sweet alcohol. Loud chants of ‘Chug Chug Chug’ were echoing around him from those at his table and he allowed the sounds to carry him to consume more of the drink. And when he was done, Lautrec slammed his cup down, crashing it against the sturdy and worn wood of the table.

”Round of drinks on me, let’s keep on enjoying our night, ladies and gentlemen!” Perhaps it was the incredibly strong alcohol in his system or perhaps his teen hormones acting up again, but Lautrec kept finding his eyes drifting over across the bar, towards a woman he swore he had seen before. Large freckles dotted her cheeks, her hair was done in a small bun and short bangs, her skin was a very light tan and a pair of striking sky blue eyes.

The young man shook his head, looking away and meeting Jakob’s gaze before pulling out four hundred lien and handing it to the man. “This enough for the all of us, Jakob?”

”Eh..” he waved his hand in a so-so motion. “Should be, I’ll be able to sweet talk the bar maid to get the prices lower as well.”

”Ha! Go get me some extra change, then, brother.” Lautrec slapped him on the back, and the man nodded and laughed as he walked back to the bar.

‘Ha… I need to use the restroom.’ All that alcohol was catching his heels, he could tell his body was swaying slightly, his blood felt chilled and light in a way only extreme inebriation could make him feel. “Hey, anyone know where the restrooms are? I’m not sure if my body agrees with me downing the last bit of alcohol.”

”yeah, me either, brother. I’ll help you.” One of the shorter men stood up, his tail held just above the ground as he reached an arm around Lautrec to hold him straight. “I’m Ribovic, I don’t think I introduced myself throughout the whole night.”

”If you did, I must’ve forgot it somewhere in my second mug!” His drunken state forced him to grin widely, the mead in his system making him stumble over his own feet. “I’m sure you know by now, but I’m Lautrec, a new member as of today.”

“So I’ve heard. You’re making a splash, eh? Jakob already respects you, and everyone else seems to either be around you or be with you.”

Lautrec barked a laugh, his head falling forward before bouncing up again. “Nah! You lot are just really friendly”

”Sure, bro. I saw like two girls eyeing you, you might have to break a heart tonight and one in the morning.” It became quickly apparent to Lautrec the man helping him must’ve also been a little drunk himself, with all these comments he was making. He might’ve looked good, but he wasn’t THAT good looking to catch eyes.

”whatever, dude! You can take them off my hands, I don’t have the coordination to walk myself to the restroom, I doubt I’ll have the coordination to take any one of them to bed.”

The man holding him laughed and shook him slightly. “So? You get to lay back and enjoy, wouldn’t that be even better?”

the young mans head shook. “Nah… I want my first to be me working hard.”

“HA! Working hard!” The two stumbled into the restroom, Ribovic walked into the stall while Lautrec shuffled his way to a sink washing his hands and splashing himself with water. He pushed his hair up, getting the longer hairs out of his eyes. The cold water helped sober him up a bit, awakening his mind and clearing the fog that was draped over him.

The young man sighed, feeling like he could think straight. For a minute there, it felt like the alcohol had pulled the wool over his eyes, messing with his thoughts. The young man stared into his reflection a moment longer, taking in a breath and shaking his head slightly. “Hey, Ribovic, I’m feeling better. I think I’m gonna head back.”

”got it!” His voice came from behind the door.

He took a step back from the mirror, messing with his hair to put it back down before stepping out of the restroom and taking a breath. ‘Speaking of Miltia, I should probably message her soon, that was a good coat I wrapped her up in.’ Lautrec paused turning slightly and leaning against a wall. Reaching into his pocket, Lautrec produced his scroll and shot a message to Miltia.

‘Gonna need my coat back soon btw, it’s my favorite.’

“And speaking of messages in general, I have… oof I have quite a few missed ones.” He cringed, and admittedly he had gone radio silent for almost the whole day.

’Lautreeeec I’m boreeeeeed! it feels so empty in the forge without you’ - From Ruby, 5 hours ago

'How is Vale? It has been foreveer since we went.' - From "Ruby [Rose Emoji]", 4 hours and 48 minutes ago

'You are probably busy, message me when you can pleaseeee [smiling emoji] [smiling emoji]!' -From "Ruby [Rose emoji]", 4 hours and 25 minutes ago.

‘heyy wanna call later tonight? Ruby misses you a lot more than I thought’ - From "Yang", 3 hours ago

’Okay…. Leaving me on delivered, that’s cool. [Eyeroll] You move to Vale for less than a day and suddenly you’re Hollywood.’ - from "Yang", 1 hour and 38 minutes ago

’Just say you hate me at this point.’ - From "Yang", 1 hour ago

’Did you lose your scroll or something?’ - From "Yang", 13 minutes ago

Lautrec had to cringe again, Yang was probably a little peeved it took him this long. So he quickly typed up a response. ‘Sorry! I had a crazy night last night at a club, met a friend there and then had to find a hotel and it was just such a chore to wake up. And when I did, I went to a book store and then went to a protest and now I’m at the after party and it’s just a lot, bro bro, sorry it took so long to message back. I gotta go message Ruby really fast tho! Brb.’

’Sorry Ruby! I was getting some books at that time, stuff on Vale and all, nothing crazy. I’ll see if I can’t get you some gifts from Vale, like comics and stuff.’ And sent. That should at least hold them for an hour or two, just so that they know I’m not purposefully ignoring them. I really was just busy!

"Oof.. it's already a little late." Or at least, late for what he had wanted to do. Junior had asked the information on Cinder and his coat was due for a pick-up anyway.

As Lautrec continued to walk back to the main tavern area, there was a shimmer of light in his peripheral vision, but when he turned to look at it, there was nothing but the light brown wooden wall. “Gods, that mead really was strong, sheesh.” he shook his head and continued walking.

”Lautrec! We were beginning to think you had fallen into the toilet, welcome back! You feeling better, brother?” Jakob greeted him with another mug of Mead, which he did grab hold of.

“Ah, I had to freshen up a bit. This here mead made me feel sick and shake-y. But the water was cold enough to mellow me out, thankfully.”

”Well we’re glad to hear it, I doubt anyone would’ve liked to pull you out of the restroom passed out.”

Lautrec could feel a vibration from his scroll, obviously signaling someone had messaged him. Lautrec grabbed his scroll, the notification appeared on the front of it, Yang having messaged him back through the group chat. He had to send a quick text saying he’d be available in an hour or two.

”Yeah, but I swear this alcohol is strong. I could’ve sworn I was seeing things.” Speaking of the alcohol in his hand, he suddenly felt less willing to drink it. “Like, in the corner of my eyes I swear I saw someone, but when I looked over it was nothing. It’s weird.”

”Hm, that is weird, but you’re fine now, no?” Jakobs’ hand gently grabbed his shoulder, offering a comforting look. “You seriously gonna make me take the drink off your hands?”

The group they were with spoke their agreement, asking Lautrec to stay, goading him to drink just the one more mug, and the young man held back his scoff, feeling more willing to stay just a bit longer. He stood up, Jakob's hand falling off his shoulder at the sudden movement “As if! I’m gonna…” he blinked, and just as soon as the bravado invaded his senses, it fled. “Actually, I probably should. I owe someone a favor today, and I probably shouldn’t be any more drunk than I already am.”

The time was passed nine in the night, and he didn’t like the idea of staying in the club until three in the morning again. He’d go home, write up a paper or two on everything he knew about Cinder Fall, take a photo copy of it, and then deliver the paper to Junior before taking his coat back from Miltia. “If anything, I should probably start heading out now, sorry to cut the party short.”

“Ah..” The man's eyes widened a fraction, before nodding in understanding. “Well, you go have a goodnight, Lautrec. Would you like me to drive you home? It’s no issue if you need the lift.”

“That’d be nice, Jakob, seriously. I don’t want to walk the two hours.”

The man laughed, and said his goodbyes to the others at the table, Lautrec himself waved before exiting with their leader. He felt slightly guilty for leaving early, but he did have things to do, things that he’d prefer not to put off.

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Time skip -- 1 hour

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An hour later, a lot more sober and a two page essay over the information he had on Cinder. It wasn’t much, if he was honest. The first page was mostly just a sketch and description of her while also pointing to some parts of her dress that had dust woven into it, the second page was just going over her abilities, like being proficient in dual-wielding, bows, glass weaponry. All in all, not much, but it was better than nothing.

Lautrec wore two shirts, one a tight white long sleeve and the second was a simple black short sleeve over the first, along with some slacks that were highlighted with white, and some vans. Not his most well put together outfit for the cold and windy weather in nearly midnight Vale, but it was enough to hold him until he received his coat back. As he entered the club, he greeted the two doormen once more, chatting to the two for a moment before continuing. The inside of the club was just as insufferable as the first time, but this time he was able to adjust to the music quicker.

Smoothly, he approached the bar and took a seat while waving over Junior. The large man lumbered over grabbing a scotch brand whiskey from under the table. “I assume you have what I asked for, right?”

”I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t.” Lautrec stuck out his hand, holding out the two papers for Junior to grab. “This is all recorded data that has ever been made on Cinder Fall. Her known techniques, her semblance, her usual outfit, her tricks, and a somewhat sloppy dissection of her motives and personality”

”I’ll check it later, what do you want to drink?” The man took the pages, slipping them under his vest. “Gin and Tonic?

”No, no. I just got done drinking, went and had a party with some White Fang activists after a rally.” Juniors face scrunched up, a barely hidden sneer on his face before he quickly wiped it off. “You have a problem with Faunus, Junior?”

Junior shook his head. “No, but those ones aren’t a good group, not with how many skeletons they have in their closet. Word of advice, kid, get out of that organization while you can. Call in sick, lose their number, get lost in Bloodworth Cavern. If you were a civilian, you’d be fine, but you’re a hunter, they’re gonna sink their claws into you as far as they can.”

”Woah woah woah, Junior, they aren’t that bad, believe me. They were cool, great drinking buddies as well.” Lautrec reassured the man, though it seemed to have an opposite effect than what he was looking for, as Junior simply grunted and looked away.

“Just stay on your toes, kid. Don’t be fooled by their innocent exterior. They have actual killers pulling the strings in there.” At that, Lautrec nodded and agreed whole heartedly.

“Yeah, I figured as much. Taurus?”

The man looked at him, slightly confused. “Someone you know?”

”No, not really. Just rumors I had heard. Who were you talking about?”

”Jian Phiura, The Rage of Menagerie. He’s a monster. Whatever you do, do not deal with anything in regards to him, and that should include The White Fang.”

Lautrec hummed, but didn’t believe that for a moment. It just didn’t make sense. If people like Jakob were in charge of The White Fang then how could someone the exact opposite exist in the same entity? The peace keeping group was still just that, a peace keeping group that protested openly.

Junior sighed, shaking his head. “The official claims are that Phiura is an independent serial killer, but if you look at the targets that are struck, you can note a pattern in that they are usually all the White Fang’s enemies in Mistral. Don’t believe me if you don’t want to, but this is my warning."

"It's not that I don't believe you, trust me a little. I more than understand how desperate they are for some form of protection by hunters even here in Vale. That's the only reason I was even allowed to participate. I can imagine that if the situation really was desperate enough that they could ask him as well, but I doubt it. There’s just no way it’s that bad there that they’d resort to hiring a murderer.” But, couldn’t they? The terrorist organization version of The White Fang was only a year or two away, couldn’t they maybe hire a huntsman level fighter on the side while claiming that he was simply a rogue entity?

”Again, it’s just a warning. Heed it or don’t.” Junior, despite not having served him a drink, stayed for a moment longer. “There was something else. Miltia had wanted to talk to you, but didn’t have the guts. She went right up to her room the second you walked in.”

”You suggesting me go up to her?”

”Isn’t it obvious? Hurry it up before she feels like I’m stealing all your time.”

The young man nodded, standing from the stool and waving to Junior one last time before actually leaving towards the VIP section, weaving between the many dancers that laid before him. He met the guard at the entrance with a nod, who opened the door without much hesitation. And in only a few moments, he was back in front of the door that led into Miltia’s room. Lautrec’s knuckles gently rapped against the wooden surface.

The door opened, though it wasn’t the sister he had expected, Melanie being the one to answer it. “Oh, hey, you. You here for your jacket?”

”Yes and no, I guess. Junior told me to hurry up and talk to the two of you.”

”Miltia more like, but I won’t say no to company.” She opened the door wider, gesturing him to enter. “She left for air not a minute ago. I guess that was because of you?”

Lautrec scratched the back of his head lamely. “I guess so?”

The woman jumped backward, landing on the beanbag chair in a crisscross position. “What’d you two even get up to? It didn’t stink of sex in here when I got back, so it’s not like you two had a bad one night stand.”

”Really nothing, we just spent some time talking before I spoke with Junior, and then some time dancing and talking afterwards, and at the end of the night I carried her to bed because and tucked her in my coat so she wouldn’t shiver through the night. Nothing worth a note, or worry, in my opinion.” as he recalled the previous night, Lautrec sat on the floor, leaning his back against a wall.

Melanie shrugged. “Hm… You aren’t ugly either, so I, like, don’t think it’s that she regrets spending her time with you.”

”Thanks? I mean, we didn’t even do anything other than hang out, so what would there be to regret anyway?”

”If you were ugly? The whole night. Be grateful you don’t have to deal with that.” Melanie smirked. “You’re lucky she scooped you up before I did, she told me how easy you were to tease.”

”She did?”

”Yep! Told me all the juicy details until she just clammed up and stopped. That's what doesn’t make sense, it’s not like we haven’t shared fling stories before. How much worse could what you two have done?”

“Again, not a clue.” Lautrec closed his eyes and leaned his head back, suddenly being hit with [Exhaustion 1] and yawning. “I’m mostly here for the coat anyway, Junior can’t hold it against me if I missed her, could he?”

”Woah woah woah, you’re here to keep me company now, Lautrec. I want to know what made my sis so embarrassed.”

Lautrec cracked an eye open and looked toward her. “I literally told you that I don’t know. Can you pass me the coat, it’s freezing in this room and I don’t want to use aura to keep myself warm.”

”Fine, Gods, take it then.” Melanie reached over, placing a hand on the one bed that the two presumably shared, and pulled the large coat off of its surface, tossing it at Lautrec.

”Thanks, Mel, tell Mil to text me in the morning or something, cause she had said she'd like to train together, and she didn’t message me once.” Lautrec slowly put on his coat, the thick wool on the inside working pretty much instantly to warm him up through his two thin shirts. “I hope she knows that I can’t stay awake late all the time. It’s bad for my growth.”

“Ha! I’m sure you’ll live.” She shook her head “Don’t be such a baby, you’re a few years past your growth spurts, Lautrec.”

At that, the boy laughed to himself. They must've assumed he was older. “Yeah, for sure. Not like I need any more height anyhow." He grabbed the collar of his coat "You know how much this thing costs already? not cheap, I’ll tell you.”

”Psh, I’d imagine. Wait, let me guess… three-fifty lien?”

”Try four-fifty. And that was a price I bartered down to. It was originally five hundred. I won’t lie and say that it was outside my price range, but my salary wasn’t very high at the time, especially since there were so little Grimm to be paid to hunt on Patch." Lautrec rolled his shoulders

"Sounds rough. Thankfully, I don't usually have that issue. Junior pays well, especially to his hunter-level talent."

[Quest Recieved: Lucky Lautrec]

[Objective: Join the Kuroi Kuma Clan and work your way to the top of the criminal enterprise food chain]

[Rewards: +REP with Kuroi Kuma Clan, +REP with Malachites, +REP with Hei Xiong, +REP with The Family.]

"If this is your pitch for me joining the Kuroi Kuma, I'm sorry to tell you that I'm financially stable enough to not resort to pickpocketing grandma's and stealing purses."

Melanie rolled her eyes, barely hiding a smile. “I didn’t offer.”

”You insinuated.”

”Hmph.. For someone so perceptive, you're certain you didn’t catch anything Miltia said?” The woman crossed her arms under her chest.

“If I couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation five seconds ago, I’m not sure how you expect me to have it all figured it all out now.” But if he did think of the last night, he could remember the feelings so clearly, her hands in his and her eyes glistening like gemstones under the flashing lights. How the longer they danced, the closer they became, when his hands went to her waist and her own came up to wrap around the back of his head. How he felt like he was being dragged further and further into her being, and-

“Ah…” Perhaps he did understand now.

Melanie caught his moment of clarity, and jumped on it. “What? Make 'heads or tails of it' in the one second you decided to actually think on it?”

“Ugh… yes, I did.” Lautrec palmed his face, hiding the beginnings of a blush. “Maybe it could be seen as pretty romantic?”

”Romance?” she repeated, a raised eyebrow and unbelieving tone. “Lautrec, me and her have shared a bed with more men than can be counted on all our hands. Romance isn't exactly something we aren't used to.”

“‘Her and I’-” Melanie rolled her eyes. “And I'll have you know that sleeping with someone for a night is a little less about romance and more about lust. How many have you actually dated?"

Melanie scoffed, rolling her eyes and turned her nose up at him. "Whatever. More than you have."

"Is it a competition now?"

"Y-yes."

"Well, then maybe, I've only had two partners before, both only lasted for a year or so."

"Psh... that's nothing."

Lautrec waited a moment, and then waited another. When she didn't respond with hers, a small smile began to take its place over his lips. "Zero?"

"Shut up. Night clubs aren't exactly where you meet the love of your life. And it wouldn't make sense anyway." She waved her hand, looking away. "My job is dangerous, having a boyfriend would get in the way."

"Aw~, how cute. Scared of having someone to hold your hand and rub your back when your sad?"

Melanie looked towards him, a mixture of annoyance and frustration in her eyes. "No! It just... it isn't worth it."

'Touched a nerve there.' He noted. "I’ll drop it. But seriously, I have to go, so you can tell Miltia that the stalling tactic didn’t work. I promised a friend I’d be able to talk to them tonight.”

Melanie's eyes widened a fraction. "You noticed?"

"I did. It's a talent I picked up." Mostly from Yang and Ruby. Whether it was Ruby stalling him after work to buy Yang time to clean, or if it was Yang teasing the hell out of him so Ruby had time to get find a movie for the three of them to watch. 'Honestly, the amount they taught me is surprisingly vast for all the simple stuff we did.'

"Okay, don't get cocky. She is just getting some air, but she did ask me to hold you up till she got back." She leaned forward, putting on her best attempt of puppy eyes and a small frown. "You don't want to make me look like a bad sister for failing, do you?"

'Speaking of Ruby...' It was a good attempt, it really was. But Ruby was better at pulling his heart strings.

Nevertheless, he conceded. "Fifteen minutes max. I really have to go soon."

She winced. "Is fifteen minutes all you have?"

"Yeah, that's non-negotiable. I haven't called my friends back in Patch since I left, you'll have to understand. They're like a second family."

"And if I said the goal by the end of the night was a threesome with Me, my sis, and you?"

"I'd laugh, pat you on the back, and tell you it was a good joke before leaving." Lautrec said with an unimpressed look. "You'll have to try a different lie to convince me, sorry."

He stood, and stretched his arms up. "And, if thats all."

Melanie grumbled, but nodded. "Wasn't joking."

Lautrec laughed, and did pat her on the shoulder, before exiting the room. His feet carried him out of the club, and all the way home. His work with Junior was just about done, all he had to do now was to wait for the information on Amber to come his way.

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Time skip - 12 hours

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It was noon of the next day, and Lautrec was sat in a comfy chair in Tuksons’ book trade, reading up on the Grimm Anatomy. It was a simple text book, mostly over the smaller Grimm and those that posed little risk to researchers, which made sense. Can't exactly keep a Deathstalker or King Taiju in captivity to study, can you?

But it was helpful to know anyhow. There were some Grimm that did have much smaller forms, Beowulves, Nevermore, Ursai to name a few.

Ursa were large, tanky, and usually very resistant to bladed weaponry, which is why most hunters tended to keep guns on them and target things like the joints and eyes. However, that became difficult once the Ursa grows to a Major, where it will develop spikes around its back and fight more defensively, like a porcupine. Even worse is when they develop more and more, and become Elder. Elder is the third phase of Grimm, three of five.

Elder Ursa were more armored, even developing a type of cartilage around their joints, thin plates of armor that can bend while also protecting the joints. So on and so forth.

Beowulves were a little different. With their preference for speed and dexterity, they didn’t buy into the same robustness that Ursa did. Minor beowulves had no plate armor, being completely covered in pitch black fur. The Major’s held the iconic plated masks and armor around their chest and arms. The largest changes were in the Elder stage, where their hind legs would extend, and they would become completely bipedal and would seem more akin to Werewolves. And from there, they would grow into that, becoming larger, having more powerful limbs, and denser and sharper teeth and claws.

Nevermore were the most interesting to him because of how weak they started out. Minor Nevermore would often be smaller than a pigeon or a raven. And nothing happened other than just growth in size. No armor, no discernible weapons, just growth in height and wingspan. In fact, there is so little change that a minor Nevermore is considered minor until it grows its first bone mask, which by that point it can be five times as large as when it was spawned. The change that signifies Major into Elder is detachable feathers, in the way that they can start shooting them out and regenerating them without risk of becoming flightless.

That was of interest, because Lautrec knew something about it more than even the grimmologists likely didn’t. Their ability to regenerate their feathers and shoot them out HAS to be indicative of a large mana pool, or some form of elemental manipulation. Which would also explain how they could fly while also becoming so massive. They must be able to manipulate the wind in some way.

And soon, he’d be able to do that as well. Saving Amber gave him a Tier one Air Affinity. The skies would be his.

”Hey, psst, you. I dropped my pen, can you get it for me?” Lautrec looked up and saw the very same woman from the bar, but now that his vision wasn’t so hazy, he could make out more of her features. The freckles he had seen weren’t normal, no, they looked more like scales. Three on each cheek.

”Yeah, I got it.” He reached down, grabbing the pen and handing it to her. “That all, miss?”

[Ilia Amitola]

[Titles: Patriot of the White Fang, Daughter of the Midnight Sun, The Assassin]

[Level 52]

[Aura: 3850/3850]

“No, not really, I just needed something to break the ice.” She took a seat next to him, and Lautrec could note that there was neither hide or hair of a book in her hands. “My name’s Ilia, sorry to bother. Just wanted to talk a little, maybe get some recommendations or something?”

”Lautrec, I’m charmed.”

“So I see. What’re you doing here?”

He held up his book. “Just needed a spot to read, I guess? Seemed like a quiet enough corner.” The answer caused the teen to roll her eyes.

“I meant this shop, I can see that you mean to read.”

”Tukson’s pretty cool, gave me a great deal on these books.” The two he had already read on the left, the one in his hand, and the two he hadn’t yet opened. “Not much to it, really.”

Ilia didn’t believe him, that much was made obvious by her snort and slight pulling back. “You came to a bookstore on the fringes of Vale because an owner you didn’t meet yet was ‘cool’ and gave you a deal on books you had yet to even pick up?”

To be fair, she did have reason not to believe him, in all honesty him coming to Tuksons’ Book trade was a conscious decision, not one made for convenience of the walk. And maybe she knew that, not like it would be hard to know where he came from. Especially considering how easily Junior could. What’s to say someone else hadn’t already had tabs on him, as egotistical as it sounded.

“What other option was there? Emerald Library? They’d have robbed my pockets of lien and asked my coat stay on their hanger if I tried to leave with even three of the books Tukson sold to me. “

”Please, spare me. I’ve heard enough grievances about books and prices from… From Tukson already.” Ilia rolled her eyes, leaning into her chair. “I just find it weird, not many people like you come around here just for books.”

She said it with a clear insinuation, and Lautrec more than caught it. She must’ve suspected he knew of Tuksons affiliation with the White Fang. And Ilia was, again, one hundred percent correct. ‘Man, I must really look suspicious if she was able to piece it together that easily.’

Still, he couldn’t let her know that he knew. So he rolled his eyes and kept talking smoothly. “What else is there? I certainly didn’t ask if he could make a brew of coffee for me, but if he’s selling than I would love some right now.”

”Hm.” Ilia looked away, “He doesn’t sell it, but he does make a great Atlesian.”

[Charisma Check; Failed!]

‘Fuck… I’ve never failed one of these checks.’

“Say, if you really could go for a coffee, I could too. Want to grab some?" A nice smile graced her lips, and as far as he could tell, it looked sincere. It couldn't be, though, not when she didn't believe him.

"Sure, is there a shop nearby?"

She nodded, and stood. "You can leave your books here, we won't be long."

Reluctantly, he stood as well, sliding a bookmark into the Grimmology study and closed it. "Hope you don't mind leading the way, I'm still new to Vale."

"It's fine, I'm happy to lead."

'Good. Gives me time to properly observe you.' And observe he did. Lautrec's eyes bore into her, scrutinizing her outfit to find any sign of a weapon, whether in her short jacket or in her slightly baggy jeans.

Though he saw nothing, he did get her stat sheet.

_____________________________________________

[Name: Ilia Amitola]

[Titles: Patriot of the White Fang, Daughter of the Midnight Sun, The Assassin]

[Level: 52

Aura: 3450/3450

Mana: 0/0

Race: Chameleon Faunus

Semblance: ?

VIT: 42

STR: 49

DEX: 81

AGI: 78

CHA: 37

INT: 71

WIS: 33

LCK: 0]

_____________________________________________

Comparing her to himself, she was much more dexterous as well as a good bit faster. But he had a tiny bit more vitality and much more strength. She was also a lot more intelligent than he, by a handful more than thirty points, but he was wiser. Whatever that meant.

'I could bridge the gap between us if I used my wild points.' And now that he was back to getting some for every level, it's not like it would kill him to do so. Twenty five more Agility, thirty-four dexterity, and thirty-seven Intelligence. All in all, ninety-six wild points to match her. Which was seventeen less than what he had.

The boy shook his head, there was no reason to. He didn't need to bridge that gap yet, not unless she was leading him to the coffee shop of doom and was planning some ambush, which was literally not going to happen, not even a possibility.

The coffee shop in question, Plainsberry Blends, was at first glance a Mistrali coffee spot. But after reading the history of Anima and Mistral, Lautrec knew just how much bad blood was between Faunuskind and all things Mistral, so there was not a shot that all these faunus would be eating here and drinking here if it was.

"Plainsberry Blends?"

"Heard of it?" She turned to walk backwards looking up to him.

Lautrec shook his head, offering an apologetic smile. "Can't say that I have. Should I have known about it?"

"No, the fact you hadn't is good. Come in, I wanted to talk to you for a reason." Ilia grabbed hold of the door handle, and opened it. Lautrec nodded and said his thanks, walking ahead of her.

"Jimmy!" She called out from behind him. "Give me an Atlesian!"

The short and rotund man at the front nodded, his thick beard hiding the upturning of lips. "Aye! Com'n up, what's for the lumbering one?"

"Can I get Hot-"

"I didn't ask ye! I asked Ilia." The man pointed a ladle at him with a squinted gaze.

The girl in question rolled her eyes, smiling. "Hot chocolate, with marshmallows. You mind if we steal a table far off?"

"Take two if ya need, sweetie." The man moved away from the front. "One Atlesian one Mug of Coco!"

When the two sat down, Lautrec could tell it was more than a little awkward on his part. It didn't take a genius to tell this was a spot made for Faunus. The man at the front didn't even try to hide his disdain for him, nor did Ilia try to pretend to not be satisfied by how Lautrec looked a little dumbfounded at the treatment. Even looking around, there were a few men and women side-eyeing him.

"So.... nice weather, eh?"

"You don't need to make bad small talk, I know what I want to talk to you about."

"Then start, Ilia, I'm feeling all types of out of place. Unwelcome might be a better way to put it."

The girl blinked innocently across the table, a coy look on her face. "Are you? What a shame. I just thought to bring you to my favorite coffee shop. This place is amazing, I thought you'd love it."

”It smells great, and the decorations are amazing, it’s not the atmosphere that’s bad. The drinks will be great, I’m sure.” He said. “I love it, it’s just I’m not sure they love that I’m loving it, if that makes sense.”

“It does, kinda. But I didn't invite you here to take in the sights. I wanted to talk to you, about you, rather.”

”What about me?”

”Well, for clarity's sake, I'll start from the beginning. You know Tukson, he's a big softie, believes in the best of people, always hoping and believing that they have the best intentions, I’m sure you know the type.” Ilia spoke with a slightly amused tone and dragging out certain words to emphasize what she was saying.

“I do, have the cutest friend who always wants to see the good in everything. Watching a bad movie? Laugh at the dumb cliches, or make fun of how silly the writing and plot are.” Lautrec himself began to wander mentally, thinking back on last night when he, Yang, and Ruby had been talking. The only reason they had stopped at all was because Tai said so. “She’s great, makes everything better.”

”exactly. That’s Tukson. Ever happy-go-lucky. And you were someone he was preening about recently, how he convinced a human huntsman of all things to go support the local protests.” She paused, the rotund man coming up to them. He handed Ilia her own porcelain mug, and practically shoved a cardboard cup in front of Lautrec. “Thanks, Jimmy.”

”Ish no problem, just keep an eye on this here miscreant and u’ll repay me in full.”

Lautrec hid his frown behind a drink of the scalding beverage, the heat made him have to use aura to protect his throat, tongue, and mouth in general.

“As I was saying, you became kind of a symbol of pride for Tukson. As for why this matters to me, you can probably guess, but I’m also security for Fang Rallies, so when a human with a sword approaches my good friend who is also the leader of the Fang, you can see why that’s a issue, right? And when I ask around and hear you were recommended to go by another good friend of mine, you became an interesting topic to learn about.” She rambled on while Lautrec lightly blew on his drink. “Nothing malicious, but there were a few things I wanted to ask about, maybe fill in some gaps in my knowledge. Is that fine?”

He shrugged. “So long as you don’t expect lengthy anecdotes on my history, I don’t really have the best memory when it comes to very mundane things.”

”Who does?” Ilia said with a shrug, pulling out a small notepad. “Okay, I have a few questions written down. I really really wanted to ask, why live in Little Mistral?”

”Uh… well, it was cheap? I’m not dying to save money, but I didn’t really see any reason to get a more expensive hotel, especially when my current spot is pretty nice.” Lautrec moved the cup in circles, letting the light brown liquid begin to whirlpool. “And besides, it’s near The Club.”

“You like to go out, then?” She perked up, biting on that.

”No, but I have friends that do.” Miltia and Melanie, and soon Yang as well.

Ilia must’ve found that interesting, having written that one in particular. “Okay, where are you from? This is mainly to know where the Fang would have supporters and all that.”

”Hm. Patch, little island off the coast of this here city. I worked under some huntsmen there, that’s why I’m so damn good.” At his cocky proclamation, she chuckled and rolled her eyes, though she did write it down.

”Do you know your hunter rank?”

“My what?”

“Your hunter rank, like how strong you're rated so you can have certain missions and hunts assigned to you and all.”

“Um..” he took another long sip from the cup, thinking for the moment he had. “I never got evaluated. Left Patch before I could.”

Lautrec had to prevent himself from smacking his face, that was probably something that Tai was going to have him do next month. “Is there anyway I could get that verified soon?”

”Well, technically, no. You won’t be able to get a huntsman license unless you take the proper channels, and that would take a few weeks at best.” She put the note pad down, looking across to him with a small smile. “You can get verified in other ways, though. If you take a hunt with the Hunters Commission you can get a ranking without a Kingdom issued license.”

The boy set his cup down, furrowing his brow and leaning in slightly. “What’s the difference from the Kingdom license and the commission license?”

”See, a commission license is issued to anyone with aura and capable of fighting competently enough to not be a risk to others in the field.” She paused to take in some of her drink. “Which essentially means you haven’t become a hunter in the eyes of the Kingdom. And that means you won’t have access to things like bullhead extractions, hunter reinforcements, or benefits like being able to make use to Beacon’s surplus materials and forge.”

”So it’s like a fighting commission? I’d be an independent contractor.” Ilia nodded, and Lautrec found himself more than a little awed. Suddenly, coming to Vale become even better. Experience, Lien, and Magical abilities would be rolling in! “How do I get a contract?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

At that, she winced a bit. “You’ll need to find a hunter that’s willing to take you out on a hunt and vouch for you.”

”Ah… Well.” Qrow or Tai? That was the question.

"Do you know any? Maybe your teachers?"

Lautrec thought for a moment. "No. They wouldn't." He sunk into his chair. "Qrow is off-"

"Qrow?! Like Branwen?"

"Hey! Interrupting. He's off on a mission so I won't be able to get him, and Tai-"

"Taiyang? Like the-"

"Yes, yes, Qrow's teammate. They were the hunters I trained under, keep up, yeah?” He spoke hurriedly, waving a hand. “I can’t ask Tai either because he’s busy training his daughters and teaching at Signal. Maybe… Maybe on the weekend?”

At that, Ilia sighed, falling back into her chair as well. “That’s a bit too long, are you sure there's no one else you know?"

"If there was, then I'd be asking them already. But I only know Tai and Qrow, and they're busy for the foreseeable future." In turn, he leaned forward. "Why does it matter, anyway? Not like the Fang is issuing out hunter quests, are they?"

'Though if they are, tell me, Ilia. Please tell me. Experience calls to me.'

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know what, it doesn't. Matter that is, it doesn't matter. Uh, next question?"

Definitely does matter. You need an Assassin in the night? Under the table deal that they want from him? LCK stat offering another questline for him to start? "Sure. I'll see about getting that hunter rank soon, kay?"

"Thanks, it'd be good to know where you stand. Jakob has been looking for a reliable bodyguard for awhile now. But, yeah, next question." Ilia flipped a page on her note pad. "What does it mean to be a huntsman to you?"

And suddenly, Lautrec felt like he was under a microscope. Those innocent sky-blue eyes bore into his with a penetrative stare. "Um... it's hard to say. But, I'd say that, it's to protect others to fight off that which would harm people. Be it your friends and family you're protecting or a stranger on the street getting harassed."

Like he had done with Ruby, protecting her against that Alpha Beowulf. Or like he had done for those Faunus in the alley, fending off those humans.

"Or, better yet, to prevent a collision in the first place. To help steer people away from a crash course the best we can. Like the White Fang." Lautrec said, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. "Prevent harm by bringing prosperity and protecting the spread of culture and ideas in new areas of the world. That's what a Huntsman should be."

[Charisma Check: Passed!]

Ilia nodded along, smiling faintly before taking a long drink from her mug, finishing the coffee. "Well, maybe Tukson had the right to be so proud. Here, let's trade numbers. I'll see if I can work something out for your Rank issue."

She slid her scroll over, already on the phone app for him. Lautrec took pride that this was the first time on Remnant someone else let him put his number in their phone unlike Ruby, Yang, Taiyang, and the Malachites.

"There, call me whenever. If you really do have a solution, I'd love to hear it."

"I'm sure." She rolled her eyes with a small quirk of her lips. "But if I find something, you'd be willing to use it to help the Fang, right?" It seemed innocent enough.

So he shrugged and nodded. "Sure. What's a huntsman for, if not for helping people in need?"

And at that, Ilia smiled truly, and stood from her seat, Lautrec followed. "Well, then, I have my work cut out for me. I'll see you soon, Lautrec." Thankfully, she threw forty lien on the table before she left. Which let him leave without having to pay.

[Secret Encounter: The White Fang's Call]

[Description: Ilia Amitola has been watching you for a while and is suspicious. A human being good to faunus? Preposterous. However, you answered her well and she is willing to offer you a bone. Wait on her call.]

He took the cup of coco with a smile, and drank it all the way back to Tuksons.

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Time skip -- 4 hours

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The sun was high in the air, only a little bit in the afternoon it was. The fresh autumn air was moving about the sky faster than the birds themselves, and Lautrec loved it. On his neck, a thin gold chain, and hanging off of it was the Blessed Dew Talisman. The chain cost him a solid five hundred lien, but that was fine, he needed the regeneration of the Blessed Dew, or at least to test how much healing he could get out of it.

And, in the same vein, [Oakflesh]!

[Oakflesh]

[Cost: 300MP/minute]

[Description: Oakflesh is an Activation based spell, creating a thin subdermal armor with a light amount of Mana.]

Nothing! Nothing on how strong the armor would be, just that it would be there. And with his Mana Ring, he'd be able to keep it up for a little more than sixteen minutes, not taking into account how much he'd regenerate during that time nor if [Vampirism] would be giving him mana stolen from the Grimm or not.

"But that's neither here nor there." He spoke to himself, waving a hand in the open, crunching a stick underneath him.

Those two reasons were why he, Lautrec Griscern, was currently walking through the Valean Woods. Not exactly the Emerald Forest, as that was the land owned by Beacon, but basically bordering it, separated only by a large river.

It had been almost three days since he had last gotten to fight Grimm, which was also a reason he was so willing to sneak out of the comfort of Vale's walls and enter the dangerous wilds of Vale.

Lautrec could feel his heart beating hard in his chest, elevated by the great contrast of the serene quiet provided by the healthy ecosystem that surrounded him. Only him, his thoughts, and the forestry.

With aura coating his hands, he could only hope he had mastered the skill enough for Grimm to detect him, even with his meagre aura reserves.

The longer he walked further from the walls, the more impatient he felt, that in itself was a sin in combat, but he couldn't help it! After a near half hour of walking, not a single Grimm? Not even a small one?!

'I am only a few kilometers from the walls, maybe it'd be more concerning if there WAS loads of Grimm right outside.' He thought with a sigh.

A few more frustrating minutes passed, before a distant huff echoed through the trees, Lautrec's gaze instantly snapping to the source. A pair of large, curved tusks peered out from a far off bush.

[Quest Recieved; Vale's Forest (1/389)]

[Objective; Defeat the Albino Boarbatusk]

[Bonus Objective; Defeat its underlings 0/12]

[Rewards: +Exp, +1.5k Lien, +300 Lien for every underling killed.]

"Finally! Hit me!" Lautrec shouted, dropping his aura and channeling his mana into [Oakflesh]. The lead Grimm stared for but a moment longer, before letting out a triumphet snort and spinning itself into a ball, charging full speed at the young hunter.

In the few moments he had to acknowledge the beasts' charge, Lautrec raised his guard over his upper chest while lowering his head in a sort of shelled up stance. 'This is such a bad idea!'

The Boarbatusk, another smaller Grimm that could be studied, one that was deceptively powerful. It's smaller form looked like it would be weaker than a Minor or Alpha beowulf, but when they were studied it was found that the small Grimm were built like balls of muscle. So while they'd almost never get bigger than a meter or meter and a half, they could overpower an Alpha beowulf at the peak of their own Alpha stage.

This, of course, flashed through Lautrec's mind, right when the whole ninety kilogram ball slammed into his unprotected arms. He grit his teeth for a moment before screaming in pain as the tusks they were famous for carved into his arms.

Grimm bone met skin and pushed passed it easily, but then crashed into the mana wall underneath that was [Oakflesh], and screeched to a halt.

The Albino Boarbatusk fell to the ground with a tilt of its head, confused as to why the defenseless human was not a red paste. And, as for Lautrec, he was sent tumbling away.

"Fuck!" He cursed, crashing into a pile of leaves and skidding across the cold dirt. With his eyes opening in a squint, Lautrec examined his arms hastily, seeing the bloody mess that was his skin, how the top layer was almost completely flayed off of his forearm. If he were squimish, the young hunter might've thrown up at the sight, and with a grimace he looked for a moment longer. The skin that was dead from the charge became white and fell off in only a second, while his arms healed over the lacerations. Even his forearm bones, which felt like they were fractured, were popping and mending themselves.

"Huff... not bad." Lautrec smirked, the biting pain dimmed quickly in the face of the Blessed Dew Talisman. [Oakflesh] also held up staggeringly well, transferring the force throughout his body and causing him to be sent flying and only let his arms crack a bit, and not break. "But now, it's my turn!"

[Quest Updated!]

[Bonus Objective 2: Defeat all enemies without using aura.]

[Rewards: +Exp, +2k Lien]

His bloodthirsty smirk grew, and in one quick motion he unsheathed the Night's Edge. The familiar feeling of its cold handle brought a comforting feeling to him.

It wasn't a second later he dodged out of the charge of two other Boarbatusks charges, the two balls of muscle and speed crossing over each other to hit him.

"Hah! You gotta be faster than tha-GRK!" He moved to taunt the mindless beasts, only to get caught by the charge of a Creep, the sharp horn cutting through clothes and skin clashed roughly with the [Oakflesh] barrier.

Lautrec turned quickly, and wrapped an arm under the monsters neck, straining his muscles to hold it in place, before skewering its head onto the powerful, purple blade that was the Nights Edge.

'One down.' The boy thought, quickly pulling away from the dead Creep to avoid a swipe from a minor Boarbatusk, a Terror Boar. A quick counter slash and an activation of [Shadow's Bite] bisected the creature. 'And that's two!'

The rush was getting to him, Lautrec's blood was soaring as he weaved out of the way of the crushing blow of the Albino, Flash stepping forwards to avoid a swipe of a creeps horn, and crashing into one of the smaller boarbatusks snout with a knee. "Man! It feels so good to finally come back to slaying Grimm!"

Of course, without his aura boosting him, he wouldn't be able to toss around the boarbatusk at another Grimm, which was a shame. "But I can do this!"

Lautrec grunted in exertion, before dragging the Grimm and lifting it up just in time to catch the tusks of a Terror Boar on its fat belly. He dropped the heavy beast, letting both Grimm struggle to detach from the other.

The remaining nine, made up of the Albino Boarbatusk, two smaller Boarbatusks, and two Creeps, and four Terror Boars, charged him at once.

And while he liked a good showing of heart like anyone else, Lautrec wasn't stupid. If he tried to fight them off and stand his ground here, he'd get stampeded and stomped on without much effort on the small packs part.

The hunter laughed loudly as he charged a [Corrupted Hurricane] in his sword, pushing large quantities of his mana into the blade while retreating. It was almost too easy, but such was an age old tactic when it came to dealing with greater amounts of Grimm, just make a train of them. Make them follow you in a straight line and deal with them whenever you turn around again. It worked in black ops zombies, why wouldn't it work here?

The light seemingly dimmed around his sword, like a stormy cloud suddenly appeared overhead as he swung it out and toward the nine in front of him, releasing the bright green disc of Mana. Though, it was more like a saw blade as it spun impossibly fast ripping apart the Grimm that attempted to close the distance.

First it was the Albino that fell, with its glorious white fur leading the pack, then the two Boarbatusks that trailed slight behind, then the Creeps, and finally the four Terror Boars.

All fell victim to the Night's Edge, and the blade greedily ate whatever mana they dropped to mend its fractured blade slightly more.

The last two remaining, the boarbatusk he used as a shield and the Terror Boar which was too weak to lift the larger Grimm off of its tusks.

"It's almost sad, watching you two struggle so much. It would be sad, at least, if you weren't trying to kill me." The Grimm didn't respond with anything more than growls and huffs, but that was okay. "Thank you, though, without your guys' pack I wouldn't have been able to tell how good the Talisman or [Oakflesh] was."

Lautrec took a few more steps, autumn leaves crunching under him as he approached the doomed pair. "You were truly invaluable."

He pressed the Night's Edge against the injured boarbustusks thick neck, before lifting up the blade high and chopping down. The beast began to turn to mist, letting the Terror Boar finally rip its tusks free from its body.

"Oh? You think you have a chance?" The Boar seemed to think so, causing Lautrec to laugh silently. Though he allowed the Boar to stand up and charge. It's tusks stabbed into the hunter, but even under the weight of its short charge, Lautrec's legs didn't buckle even as blood slowly poured from the shallow cut in his calves. "Good hit. But my Vitality is much too high for you to damage me much."

Not that it mattered to the monster, who desperately tried to dig its tusks farther, trying in vain to break through the [Oakflesh] barrier.

It never had a chance, the Night's Edge stabbed down, breaking through its spine and piercing all the way down through its body and exiting through the underside of its stomach.

[Quest Completed!]

[Vale's Forest: Southern Gate Front]

[Objectives: Slay the Albino Boarbatusk (+), Slay all of its underlings (+), Slay all Grimm without use of Aura (+).]

[Rewards: +Exp, +7.1k Lien]

[You leveled up!]

[+3 Wild Points]

"Nice! A level. What's that, level fifty-seven now?" Lautrec cheered. "Hm... Level sixty isn't so far away. And I wouldn't say no to nine more Wild Points, world. Mind steering me in the direction of some more Grimm?"

He spoke to the open wind, hoping that his busted luck would show him a path. Though, unfortunately, Lautrec wasn't so lucky as to be able to change the reality of there being very little Grimm so close to the walls. Instead, he was left to continue outwards, moving further from the safety of Vale. The perfect time to begin thinking, or rather reflecting, on [Oakflesh] and the Blessed Dew Talisman.

’Oakflesh was enough to tank a charge that would’ve probably otherwise erased my aura.’ He thought, before shaking his head. ‘Not tank, no, it was enough to hold me together. But my arms also had to take some of the force.’ The small fractures still ached in a way, like a dull throbbing, despite having already healed.

”It’s probably more for weaker foes, like a minor Beowulf, minor Nevermore, and Minor Boarbatusk. But it would definitely strain or only partially block hits from anything bigger.” The boy made his mental note just in time to hear a crushing noise, like the sharp and sudden sound of a water bottle being crumpled in a quiet room. “And definitely not something like that guy.”

The source of the sound, only a few dozen paces in front of him, a large Ursa by its lonesome made a tree into its personal scratching post. The sound of crushing continued to sound out, the Ursa ripped out more and more of the trees inside, tearing bark and wood indiscriminately before pushing its snout inside and lapping up the sap inside.

“Huh, thanks, Game.” Lautrec reapplied [Oakflesh], the thin barrier of mana serving less as a means of protection but more as another test, to see if it would crumble under the strength of a proper Grimm.

The Grimm paused, as if sensing him use his mana, and turned. Its red eyes seemed to glow brighter as it turned to him. “No, no, please, take your time. I can wait.” The beast didn’t take the offering, instead roaring and shoving itself off the disemboweled tree and facing Lautrec fully.

[Ursa Minor]

[Level: 31]

[MP: 35/35]

"You know, you're pretty weak. I'd almost expect you to have a group with those stats. You don't have the thick plates of the Ursa I've seen before nor are you as round as the Grimm in the show. You just look like a bigger brown bear." And for something like that, neither aura or mana were needed.

Lautrec took initiative, rushing forward with his sword pulled back and his aura dropped. The Ursa jumped forward, tearing up dirt, and rearing its boney head down. And while Lautrec could have dodged the clumsy charge normally, it wasn't so easy now that he was already full sprinting himself towards the beast.

It was with a grimace the boy braced himself, bringing his aura back up just in time to catch the headbutt. The smack echoed across the forest, very nearly knocking the wind from him. Though he had no time to recover, being forced to slip under the arm of the Ursa as it tried to grab hold of him.

Lautrec's movements weren't graceful nor very well-thought out, but they were snappy enough to escape the long and telegraphed swipes of the Ursa minor.

It's large paws cut across the floor and the air with each attempted attack, each one slow and yet carrying devastating power.

"Ah... this is why I love fighting you big old bears! You're so easy and are basically big balls of exp for me." The boy spoke with a sigh, a cocky grin on his face as he ducked another swing and countered by slicing the underside of its furry arm.

The dance continued, Lautrec moving almost robotically as he dodged back, ducked under, and countered the bear.

'Grimm are creatures of habit, especially those limited in movement like Deathstalkers, Ursai, Boarbatusks, Creeps, things that have small limbs or lots of heavy bone plate and fat or even just gargantuan in size. That's why, usually, they stay in groups with more mobile Grimm like Beowulfs, King Taiju, smaller Nevermore, Vampire Bats, and Great Wolves.' The boy grimaced as he dodged poorly, getting himself caught by a swing that sent him tumbling back. "Which is why it's so weird that you're by yourself!"

He rolled backwards, avoiding a potentially fatal slam before kicking himself forward, over its paws, and practically slamming the biting edge of his sword against its snout. The Nights Edge struck true, powered by mana a shadow bit upwards from the hilt and stabbed through the underside of its jaw, while the actual blade buried itself far into its snout.

Lautrec tugged on the handle, ripping the blade away from the fading Grimm. "Okay... done." He fell backwards against the grass, and looked down at his sliced shoulder. It was hard to look at it and feel worried, though, given it was already healing with Aura and Blessed Dew. "Damn, I can't believe I let myself get hit. Should I increase my agility? Or maybe my dexterity?"

Those would only be quick fixes, he knew that. But it wouldn't solve the main issue of him not having the experience of dodging Grimm attacks. He got so used to fighting Grimm like Creeps and minor beowulfs that something as slow as a Ursa minor made him jittery. "Nah, I'll save the points for now. I just need practice."

And practice he shall get. He had the next six hours to himself, after all. And if he ever wanted to be on the level of Cinder, he'd need to fight a lot more Grimm than just the few he fought now.

"Today must be my lucky day."

A pack of beowulfs were stopping by, likely investigating the aura he was using to heal himself. And Lautrec supposed that made sense, given that aura coating the surface of your hands was simply expending aura but as light.

Lautrec stood up just as the leader of the pack saw him, howling at what they must've perceived as prey.

"My lucky day indeed."

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Time skip -- 4 hours

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It was unfortunate, but also something he should've foreseen. His Mana and Aura ran out before the sun had even begun to set. And while Lautrec felt like he could've killed some weaker Grimm without either of those buffs, it just wouldn't have been worth it. Not when he was already so used to fighting with them.

Though, by the time he got back home, it was late enough that he could call Yang and Ruby as the day at Signal ended.

"So, there I was, right, in the Valean forest." He held his scroll in front of him, his camera on. "Not a reinforcement in sight, just me and my glorious sword. Having just fought a duo of Ursa minors not a few moments before, I was taking a second to make sure I didn't ruin my clothes too badly, and that's when I heard it, the shifting of leaves and sniffling of a curious creature."

"Oh? What was it?" Yang spoke up, her camera in Landscape mode to fit her and Ruby's faces.

"I'll tell you what I thought it was, I thought it was a boarbatusk or maybe a Creep or something like that. So with my sword drawn I moved forward, only to see the cutest baby deer just grazing a bush. It didn't even move away when I approached! Look, look, I have a picture." Lautrec sent the photo to the groupchat, causing Yang and Ruby to awe at the picture. "Isn't it just the cutest?"

"She so is!"

"It's so adorable! Yang we need to find one ourselves, Patch has to have a million cute little animals right?" The younger sister spoke, her words were followed by an indignant bark "Sorry, Zwei! You're cute, too!" This time, the dog in question let out a huff, it's small paws pitter-pattering away.

"Zwei, I'm sorry~!" Ruby dashed off. Yang rolled her eyes and propped her head on her hand.

"Sorry about Rubes, she's been obsessing with Zwei recently, trying to convince dad that he should have his aura unlocked. She wants a sidekick." There was a hint of amusement in her eyes, a small smile forming.

"Oh, man, I can imagine the conversations! Is Tai still holding strong?"

"Dad's certainly trying. Mostly by telling her it will be a lot of work to teach Zwei stuff about aura. But Rubes is persistent if anything."

Lautrev laughed. "He's cracking, isn't he?"

"Yep," She popped her 'p' "I don't think dad will last the week without finally giving in."

"Really? Tai seems pretty resilient, I'd say at least two, he'll stall her out a bit with distractions."

"Heh, he's already tried that! Ice cream, the beach you took us to, the arcade. Trust me, me and Rubes have been living good recently." She smirked, and grabbed hold of the scroll. "Ruby! I'm headed to my room!"

Yang called out, and Lautrec could very faintly hear Ruby yell her acknowledgment. Yang walked to her room and collapsed in her bed.

"Rough day at Signal?" He guessed as she let her eyes shut and sank into the comforter.

"Like you wouldn't know! It's my third year, and for some reason it's the hardest year ever. "She groaned. "I guess cause this is the year that's supposed to cram all that theory stuff into your mind. But all it's doing is turning my brain into mush."

"Heh, must suck. Though, you're easily the most hardworking people I know. if anyone can do it, you would be the one."

Yang tried to ignore the compliment, even if Lautrec could tell her lips twitched upward slightly. "You hardly know anyone, that puts me in, what? Number one of five people?"

"Eight." He corrected. "And still, that's seven whole people I think you're better than, isn't that great?"

"Ugh... whatever. I didn't answer your call to be flirted with. I wanted to hear about Vale."

"And me, right?" He couldn't help but ask with a grin.

"Hmph, no." She answered. “Tell me about what’s up in Vale. You mentioned a club, what’s going on over there?”

“Well, there’s not a great story there,” he paused. “But since you’re just dying to hear about it, I guess. I could indulge you a little bit. It was the night I had actually left Patch.”

“Really? The first thing you did when you got to Vale was party? Come on, don’t tell me we were that boring.”

“I did not go to ‘party’, Yang, I was there to meet with someone, a guy named Junior. He’s an acquaintance. We caught up and had a drink or two. It just so happened that I did manage to get a dance-“

“'A dance?'" Her tone made him cringe. Lautrec didn't need a high charisma stat to tell him he fucked up there. "A dance with who, Lautrec?"

"A dance with someone else, just some huntress I bumped into, no biggie." He said, shrugging away his nerves. "No one, really, hardly even remember her."

Yang looked far from impressed. "Right. Guess we really didn't do you a whole lot of good if the second you get to Vale you start partying and dancing with a bunch of club trash."

"H-hey... Seriously, it wasn't like that. It was just for the night."

"And the partying the next day with a group of protesters?"

"Okay, that was a party, but it was more like a get together and celebration of how successful the rally was. Nothing uncouth there, either, promise." He wasn't sure why it mattered, but if it meant not having to deal with Yang giving him the cold shoulder, it didn't matter what he thought.

"Hmph. Whatever. Tell me about that book place you went to." Yang grumbled, before letting her face fall against her bed.

"Well, it's called Tuksons Book Trade and it's a really small spot near the edges of Vale, let me tell you. It's so nice to not have to deal with all the people, like the obnoxious amount of cars and stuff like that. And the guy that runs it, Tukson,"

"Oh, the shop called Tukson is ran by a guy named Tukson? I couldn't figure that one out." She groaned out.

"Hey, are you good, Yang? You seem upset."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. Maybe it's just the exhaustion kicking your ass, but you seem just done, if that makes sense."

"No, no. I get it." Yang said with a huff, blowing air upward into her bangs. "Sorry. it's just... just semblance blues."

"Want to talk about it? I'm here for as long as you want."

"It's just... I blow up. My semblance is hard to control. It was easier when you were around, cause I could always look forward to hanging out and working out with you, but now it's just... ugh." She let her head drop back onto the mattress. "It's like every little thing that used to only be the smallest inconvenience is suddenly this big problem for me."

"Like just now?"

"No, I'd be mad at that anyway. You're first clubbing dance should've been with me."

He laughed, but nodded for her to continue.

"But yeah, that's why today was so crummy. School stuff already got on my nerves, I was so close to just decking a guy for talking about my ass, a few weeks ago I would've laughed it off like it was nothing. It's like I'm walking on eggshells with myself!"

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

She looked to the camera and smiled. "Unless you're willing to board a boat and come back right now so we can bruise each other up, I don't think so."

Lautrec sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, that's probably not happening. That boat ride is not for the weak, I'll say."

"Aw, poor little Lautrec can't handle himself in the water?"

"Oh, shut up!" He laughed. "The waters are rough, or at least they were for that trip. And I was so sleepy, that had to play a part in it."

"Heh. I can't believe the insurmountable Lautrec Griscern was brought low by a boat and some waves."

"Ugh, I'm hardly insurmountable. Your dad and Uncle ingrained the taste of dirt with how much they beat me."

"Yeah, but they're Uncle Qrow and Dad. No one's stronger than them!"

And that was true, with how much he and Tai had been training together, Tai lost his [inactive] debuff and thus thanked him for the help by giving Lautrec extensive and very long training sessions, which was why he got so good and jujitsu so fast. Hell, it was getting to the point where Tai was actually back to sparring with Qrow as well. Not that Tai ever won those.

"You're uncle is brutal, you know? Qrow is a monster."

"Yep! He's not the strongest huntsman in all of Vale for nothing. Hey, you might bump into him, right? He's in the city as well."

He shrugged. "I wouldn't bet on it, Yang. Vale is huge! I walk for hours daily to just get around, and I've only been on the outer edge of the city, not even the inner part."

"Sounds miserable. I prefer the small size of Patch, the walkability is nicer." Her eyes trailed away from the scroll, before they lit up once more and snapped back. "Actually! That reminds me, we're going to Vale for winter break, we can hang out again then!"

"Really? Should I start finding fun places to go so we can hang out?"

"Nah, we got that covered, we all go to Vale at least once a year. I'll take the lead this time, Lautrec."

"Yang! Dad's calling to spar!" Ruby's voice cut in, her voice faint in the background.

"Ugh... damn you, Lautrec." She whispered into the scroll.

"What'd I do?"

"You made Dad a workout freak again. I'll call you later tonight, or maybe tomorrow. Depending on how drained I am after getting my face shoved in."

"Bye, Yang." He smiled fondly to the camera.

She did the same, accompanied with a small scoff. "See you later, Lautrec."

The call ended with a click, Lautrec tossed his scroll to his bed. Another day down.

"Things are going so fast, and so slow at the same time." He'd been in Vale for nearly three days. And what did he have to show for it? Two more levels? Stagnation in his skills?

'The fight against madness is a continuous one, or so says Gehrman.' Lautrec raised a hand, moving mana through it, feeling the knowledge of [Oakflesh] seep through and reinforce his digits with a thin layer of Mana.

It was a shame that this knowledge was exclusive to projecting barriers on a target and not around a target. If that were the case, he could bind people up with a wave of his hand, and with a higher [Mana Manifestation] he might be able to bind people as strong as Qrow.

"Why am I acting like I can't level my mana? I can still do that." More mana poured through his fingers forming small pads on them, glowing and humming with his energy. Even after all his time practicing this, Lautrec was always in awe at how natural it felt to him, even if it had lost some of that otherworldly charm.

"But small things like this won't be enough to level me, not anymore." With level twenty-five [Mana Manifestation], growth hadn't just plateaued it grinded to a halt with small creations of Mana.

[Aura: 1181/1181

Mana: 5000/5003]

Lautrec eyed his mana bar, before closing his eyes and grimacing as his trickling amount of Mana turned into an ocean, metaphorical buckets poured from his skin, forming around him in the crude shape of a sphere.

It was like lifting weights in a way. Back when he was barely starting, the way he exercised his mana usage was with the smallest of disks, a tiny cylinder to train himself. But now that he was twenty five levels greater than when he started, Lautrec was becoming more and more capable of greater amounts of Mana control.

A small platform was created under his criss-crossed legs, carrying him up and off of his bed. It was an entirely different creation to the slowly shifting sphere around him. His first ever dual-cast.

A small smile graced his lips, even as his eyes remained shut tight and sweat pooled on his brow. His smile faltered when he felt his concentration slipping, the platform holding him up fluctuating in the flow of Mana. Lautrec let out the tiniest of grunts.

[Meditation: Activated]

Meditation had another buff other than just increasing his mana regeneration, it allowed him to focus better, with the downside it forced his mind clean of any other thoughts that weren't related to what he was doing at that current moment.

For the next three hours, his mana continued to fuel his creations, before he finally gave out and fell from his disintegrated platform. Lautrec collapsed on the bed, panting heavily from the exertion.

"F-fuck..."

[Debuff: Mana Exhaustion!]

The Blessed Dew Charm worked to quell the negative effects of it, but the burning sensation frayed his nerves.

"G-guess that's what happens when you forced your body to produce more mana than it can while using more than you're producing." It was like a short-circuited battery. A thin line of copper being made to transport double the electricity it could into a hole that was sucking out more than was being produced. It hurt.

There he laid, for several more minutes, panting quietly to himself. It was hardly eight in the afternoon, and yet Lautrec felt so tired that he was liable to rest now.

And yet, he couldn't. Not when his scroll went off. With a sluggish movement, he answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lautrec, you mind accompanying a girl to the club? Junior wants to talk to you." The light and wistful voice of Miltia rang through his scroll.

'Fuck me, dude...' He really didn't, not when he was like this.

"Sure. Give me like half an hour and I'll be there."

"Ah bububububup! I want to meet up first, I'll be at Café Supreme."

Had he been in his right mind, he would've declined, or at least requested they meet somewhere else out of respect of Jakob and the White Fang. But he wasn't, he was beyond exhausted from the amount of Mana he was controlling and circulating through his body only minutes before.

"Kay... I'll be there in half an hour or so."

"Good. Don't leave me waiting, Lautrec~."

The call ended there, with him stashing his scroll into his inventory and groaning. "Today's a long day."

He stood up from the bed, and hobbled over to his restroom, moving into the shower.

_____________________________________________

Miltia Malachite wasn't an easily impressed woman. Not in the slightest. Nor would she ever consider herself so. However, she'd be lying if she said she didn't say she liked the attention she got from men and women alike. It was to be expected, really. She was hot, and club goers were desperate enough to kiss her heels should she even bare them a smile.

But not him. Lautrec had bent once or twice to her teases, but as soon as he had, he had also bit back and that was what surprised her.

No one resisted her that easily. And then it clicked, he wasn't an idiot who was just bumbling around. Not another street rat being desperate and demanding to see Junior.

Sure, he entertained her advances when it was only the two of them, but when Junior stepped in, it was like a switch had flipped. He ignored her, her touches and her presence entirely.

Or, no, that's wrong, he had been acknowledging her, but only as a passing thought. Lautrec had acknowledged she was still there and that she could pose a threat.

Junior had that ploy for every single one of those same street rats who tried to demand his time. But when Lautrec instantly called out the bullshit deal, that was what separated him from the rest. Someone with either the sense to be worthy of her time or with experience that she would want to measure. Even when he had agreed to the deal of fifteen thousand and information for whatever he wanted, he made sure that they knew that he knew the deal favored them.

That was what made him worth her day off, dancing through the night and drinking on her dime.

And then the bastard had the audacity to take her to her bed, bundle her up in his coat, and let her sleep instead of waking her up for what he wanted?! Just the thought made her blush in anger! Anger, she said!

She took a small sip of her coffee, a special mistrali brew that only Café Supreme sold. She'd have to thank Junior for cutting a deal with the Capo's for the authentic Mistrali leaves.

The bells over the door jingled, and Miltia put her cup down instantly, letting it rest on a plate. The man she was hoping for walked in, dressed well enough in a darker pallette. She waved him over, taking in his appearance fully.

"You look like you're just full of energy tonight." She said sarcastically.

"Funny." He sat down, blinking as she pushed her mug to him. "You got me a cup?"

"Duh. I invited you out, didn't I?" He looked appreciative, smiling at her. Miltia felt like she deserved to feel slightly proud of how easy it was to get that out of him. "Just tell me if you want another, it's a great blend."

"Thank you, Miltia, you have no idea how much I needed this right now." Lautrec bent his head forward in her direction, bowing slightly before taking a sip and humming contently. "It IS good. Again, thanks."

"It's no problem, better you have some energy in your system than none when you meet with Junior." Her smile grew a little more nervous as she continued. "But I was thinking we could relax here for a bit, maybe talk some more? Not like we got the chance yesterday with you leaving so damn early."

He had enough sense in his mind to look slightly bashful at her scalding words. "My bad. Some of my friends wanted to talk and I hadn't wanted to keep them waiting." Lautrec smiled slightly. "I'm sure you know how it is."

"Yeah? Well, in so doing, you kept me waiting! You know how silly I felt when I walked back into my room only to see my sister and no one else?" Oh how she could rage at him now. "Huff... but it's fine, because now you won't get away this time."

"We'll have to see about that. I'm a pretty slippery guy to keep on hold."

"Hmph! You'd be surprised. I'm a very convincing woman." Yes, now she was back into her groove. Despite that, she didn't want to talk herself into a hole, so Miltia shifted the conversation. "So, who's you're mysterious friend you ditched me for?"

"Psh, I didn't ditch you, you'd have to actually been there for me to have ditched you." Before she could respond with a scathing remark, he continued. "But, if you have to know, she and her sister are close friends I had back on Patch. They wanted to talk and I couldn't say no."

Gah! Childhood best friends?!

"O-oh? How long have you known then? They must be, like, lifelong friends for you to drop everything for them, right?"

He smiled slyly... 'this bastard knows what he's doing.' She thought, squinting her eyes in accusation.

"Would you believe me if I said only a little more than a month? I don't know how, but I've become fast friends with just about everyone I've met. And that month was jam packed with them. We became like family in that time."

Only a month, she could deal with that. He'd be in Vale for... Oh shit. Only, like, two months if his asking for information was any indication. And she was already so far behind, it had already been two days since they met and not a word between the two of them!

"That's nice. But a month isn't so great a time, like, I bet we could be much closer if you gave me a shot."

"I'm more than willing. Um, forgive me if my reason is shallow, but you seem strong. And I'd love to be your friend, if only to train with you." He flustered at that, seeming slightly ashamed at his weak reasoning.

"No, it's fine. I've hung around men for worse. At least you aren't trying to slip your eyes under my skirt every few seconds." It was her turn to smile, her leg moving under the table to bump his knee. "Though, I wouldn't complain if you did."

She got her intended reaction, his tired eyes widening slightly and the coffee he was drinking very nearly sputtering past his lips. 'Heh... still got it.'

Lautrec looked away, attempting to frown away his blush. "Whatever. I'm done with the cup, should we head out?"

"We could, but I wanted to just sit and chat for a bit. I mean, I know you're a hunter and all, but we didn't really get father than that last time we talked. You're a hunter, I'm a security gaurd for The Club who's huntress trained. Let's trade stories, sound fun?"

"Let's get some more coffee and then we can get right on that. Because I have more than a few to share."

Miltia waved over a barista, ordering more drinks. Of course, she wasn't blind to how Lautrec studied her appearance now that he was more alert, and she took pride in the small grin and nod Lautrec provided subconsciously. Not five minutes had passed, and the two were deep into conversation, talking and drinking coffee at the same time.

"Oh! Oh! And there was this one time, that Junior had me on bar duty, right?" It was a story she remembered like it was yesterday. Though, maybe she'd embellish a few details. Make it more interesting. "It was late and he was busy, someone had to do it, and Mel was out sick with a case of lazy bitchitus. So it was all up to me, and it was going fine for the whole night, even if I know jack shit about mixing drinks all fancy like Junior. And it stayed an easy day, if a little bit annoying because all the fucking weirdos who kept trying to hit on me."

Her free hand went up and she rolled her eyes. "Did they think I was going to drop what I was doing, leave my job area for a weak dance and then half-veiled attempt at getting in my pants?" She scoffed at the idea.

"That's a club for you. A bunch of desperate losers."

"Yeah, yeah, what can you do? But back to me, there was this one guy who just wouldn't take a hint, y'know? Just kept on pushing. Got so annoying that I issued a small challenge to the guy just to get him off my tail. Said if he could drink twenty shots of aged cachaça in five minutes I'd take him out back." And wasn't that something! Cachaça was a pretty strong Vacuan liquor, and definitely not suited toward the average Valean pallette. "Poor bastard lit up and took me up on the deal."

Lautrec didn't look like he understood, but nodded along behind a sip of his drink. "It's a really hard liquor in comparison to what Valeans drink. But props where props are due, he drank fifteen before coughing up a lung and puking on the floor! I had security carry him out for that!" A laugh escaped her, and her hand flew up to hide her mouth as she laughed.

"Serves him right, creeping on such defenseless girls like that."

"Defenseless? Hm, I ought to put you in your place for saying that." She swirled her mug in front of her, letting the still steamy coffee aerate a slightly away from her face

"Hey, hey, hey, I don't like that smug look you have on."

That only made her smugness intensify. "It's a face you'll get to see it a lot more if we ever actually roll on a mat."

"Without any broken bones or torn joints on my part, right?"

"Hmm," She smirked and stared at him. "I'll think on it. No promises, though." She couldn't help winking at the end.

Honestly, it was so easy to fall in place with him now that she got over the jitters of her expectations and assumptions. So much so, she had lost track of time, and what was supposed to be a quick thirty minute chat by themselves with a drink or two became an hour, and then an hour and a half, and then two. The only reason they had stopped talking was because the manager had told them that the store was closing! Imagine that, her out with a man she met at the club just to... talk? Just to hang out? No other reasons?

How... nice.

After they had been kicked out, the duo began walking toward The Club, chatting and reminiscing on past experiences. He told her about his first hunt, told her of what he had been up to today, and she did the same. Just idle chatter that managed to fill their night.

And as they both quieted down, walking side-by-side. Miltia held a smile the whole way, even if it wasn't wide or full of her teeth, it remained. Listening to the man next to her talk about his interest in Grimm, in Mountain Glenn, in Aura and the nature of semblances.

'I think I made the right choice, offering a dance to you.' She whispered in her mind. Even in the cold of the dark and empty streets of Vale, her heart felt warm.

_____________________________________________

After an hour of walking, they reached The Club. And another ten minutes was spent slowly walking to the back, where Junior already was.

Unfortunately, that was where the two parted, Miltia supposedly going back to her room as Junior requested it only be him to talk.

"Sir? You wanted to talk?" Lautrec walked into a VIP room, and inside Junior sat next to another man. Lautrec didn't waste a second using [Observe]

[Lyoto Machado]

[Titles: The Smuggler, Dust Devil, Associate of The Kuroi Kuma.]

[Level: 88]

[AP: 8560/8560]

[Notable Features: [Veteran], [Never Say Die], [Small Blades Proficiency], [Handguns Proficiency].]

The man was dressed in an extravagant outfit, a black vest over a glossy red long-sleeve button up. His outfit was similar to the standard grunt Junior employed, only just... MORE in every catagory. Bright red glasses, with black rim, a fancy black boater hat with a red ribbon.

"I did. This is my associate, Machado." Junior paused, giving Lautrec a second to realize he needed to bow in respect. "And he's recently had an issue with a string of robberies gone wrong."

"Hey! Don't say it like that, they didn't 'go wrong'. They were sabotaged, insided. " the man seemed to not care to respect Junior. The man stood up, and for all he looked tall, he wasn't. Compared to Lautrec and Junior, the man was short. Standing at around five feet and ten inches tall or around there, the man was skinny. Even knowing he was thirty levels above him, Lautrec couldn't bring himself to feel intimidated.

Lyoto walked up, his thin goatee becoming visible as his face contourted into a playful expression. His arm came up and wrapped itself around Junior's neck. "This Junior here tells me you're looking for work."

Junior grunted and shoved the man off of him. "You wanted a job, right?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then you're hired!" The man's smoker like voice cut in. "Junior, let me talk to my new worker for a bit. Give him all the deets."

Junior nodded, before leaving. "Ah, man, you have no idea how good it is to finally have someone that Junior thinks is good enough for the job. He hasn't been willing to lend any of his men recently. Ridiculous shit."

"You wouldn't get much quality out of them, no offense to Junior. Mil and Mel are pretty strong, but everyone else is practically only good for soaking a bullet or two."

"Hah! Believe me, I know. You seem like a good catch though, hunter, tall, strong looking. All we need to do is get you fitted out and you'll look like a real enforcer." the man let his glasses fall down on his nose, giving Lautrec a quick examination. "Yeah, you'll do nicely. So long as you're actually decent. No point in looking scary if you're too weak to do anything. How do you feel about a quick showing? Just to show me what you're worth."

"Like what?"

"You versus Melanie. If you can compete with her, I'll say you're more than worth what I'll pay."

Lautrec huffed. [Mana Exhaustion] lowered his mana cap from five-thousand and three to four thousand and one. A flat twenty percent mana reduction. Of course, The Blessed Dew was still working to correct it, but he still had several minutes on that timer. "Fine enough." Right as he said that, [Exhaustion 1] kicked in, a yawn leaving him. Lyoto led him out of the room, walking further to the back, presumably to a room prepared for a fight.

"Good. So, now that I know you're on board, I'll tell you what's really been going on. Some hotshot punk has been muscling in on my robberies, huntsman trained. And he's good, too. My men aren't complete slouches, and they work in teams of six. Every time, all six of whoever the hell is out on a job is left unconscious and to the badges." Lyoto sneered, his lips pulled in a tight frown. "You're gonna be my deterrent. Any time their on a job, you're going with them."

"Woah, hold on, I'm gonna be robbing people?"

"No, no, you're not. I'd like-" he stressed the word 'like' very heavily. "-if you could, but Junior already warned me enough that you aren't a criminal. You'll do your huntsman job and protect the good people of the Kuroi Kuma from evil that is whatever the hell is taking them out." The man seemed frustrated at that, but willing to concede. "We have a deal?"

"Yeah, works for me. And a disguise would be preferable as well."

Lyoto waved his hand dismissively, opening a wide door to their side. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You'll get a disguise, some washout hair dye and shit. A hat, glasses, suit, you'll look like any other grunt here."

Lautrec walked in, and surprisingly, Melanie was already there. Mil was as well, though she was standing off to the side. She didn't look to happy at him showing up or maybe she was upset it was Melanie that got to fight him? He wasn't sure, if he was being honest.

"Okay! Mel, darling, you know the deal. Aura to the red or submission. Lautrec, don't go overboard. If I stop the fight, you stop." He stared hard at him, but Lautrec nodded.

"I got it." The boy had already pulled off his warm coat, knowing the thick sleeves would limit his range of motion. "Mil! Catch!" He tossed it at her.

[OST: "Let's Dance, Boys!" - BAYONETTA]

"Start!"

"What?"

He didn't have time to react, the sudden call catching him off gaurd. What was worse was when a bladed heel was swung in a spinning kick, very nearly catching his temple, it was only instinct that kept his head attached as he leaned out of the way.

[Quest Created: Trial by Fire!]

[Objective: Impress Lyoto-

He didn't have time to read the quest, even in his head as Melanie closed the distance, blades in her hand. To his surprise, her heel ejected a small amount of ice, allowing her to use the blades on her feet to skate at him, frictionless and even faster for it.

Lautrec cursed, diving to the side. He didn't have his sword, it wasn't even in his inventory! He left it in his fucking hotel room in his tiredness! All he had was his starting dagger, or the broken greatsword.

Neither was viable. Not when she was that much faster, that much more skilled with blades. He needed something, a plan, a strategy. His Mana would have to do.

With squinted eyes, he dove to the side once more, getting out of the way a dagger swipe.

"Come on, Lautrec, don't tell me all you're gonna do is run!" Her voice yelled, haughty and teasing as she skirted around the room.

"I don't have my weapon, so I'm planning!"

Lyoto cut in. "Good! I like my employess being able to think on their toes."

Lautrec rolled to his feet, spreading his legs in preparation for Melanie's next attack. Pushing his mana into his body, [Oakflesh] took hold and his aura became more internal, boosting his physical attributes more. He had a plan, if he could create a small barrier of mana, and have it catch her skates, she'd be flung off her feet.

She didn't expect it, not as she poised her blades in front of her. As he let out a breath, his mana became a thin, almost unnoticeable glowing ring around him. It was around at his heels in height, Melanie didn't see it as she rushed forward.

Just as he had planned, the retractable skates caught the mana ring, and rubberbanded Melanie harshly, snapping the mana ring and the thin metal of her skates.

This time, it was Lautrec on the offensive, summoning the dagger he had and rushing to try and finish the fight before it could even really start.

But this was a huntress trained fighter he was dealing with. Maybe not as strong as a hunter, but one who was trained to fight like one anyhow. Melanie would not go easily into the night. She retracted whatever metal was still jutting out from the bottom of her heels, and bounced up from her grounded position, moving quickly backward as Lautrec enclosed on her position.

"Dick." She said one word, before setting her weight onto her front leg, and kicking out toward his body.

Had he not had [Oakflesh], it would've hurt a lot more than it did, but since he did... Lautrec barely buckled as the ball of her foot slammed into his abdomen. The strike was easily as powerful as Yang's strongest punch, and with how precise it was on his diaphragm, it would be foolish of her to expect anyone to simply charge through it.

But with both Aura and [Oakflesh] protecting him, he could do so with little risk to himself. It made her own strike work against her, the strength of her teep kick pushed her backwards as he moved through it, his fist already shooting forward and landing harshly against her temple.

Of course, that wasn't to say he got away with such a reckless move unscathed. Just the one strike was enough to tear a sizeable hole in his aura. Down three hundred aura points from a single strike wasn't promising, and he didn't have the luxury of seeing how much he did to her.

Pressing his advantage, he kept moving forward, using his superior reach to search for angles, his punches often missing her body, but crashing against her arms and her gaurd. It would wittle down her aura, given time.

This was just the nature of fighting a much larger opponent, range, height, weight, it all added up on a list of disadvantages. But the twins were already small girls, only around five feet four inches tall. So with a smirk, Melanie ducked a punch, and jumped backward.

She spun in place, letting momentum do the work for her as her leg snapped out. The blade of her boot slammer directly into his arms, cutting into them painfully. Before stopping at [Oakflesh]. Lautrec grabbed her leg, holding onto it and stepped forward, moving his front leg to her back leg and hooking it with his foot.

The simple trip takedown worked, and Melanie fell to her side, before moving onto her back. Lautrec dived on top of her, entering her gaurd and beginning to rain down what he could in term of elbows. It wasn't much, not when Melanie was able to get a foot to rest against his hip, and that small amount of leverage was enough to keep him just far enough to keep her out of elbow range.

Lautrec would either need to clear the foot, or try to stand and shift into side control. Neither was an easy task, not when he knew his aura was nearing half. But standing would probably be his best bet, given how she was better than him, and strength wasn't so important in jujitsu. If she was good enough, she might be able to slip in a hook and take his back.

He grunted, grabbing her legs and shuffling back. The moment he let go, Lautrec leaned away to avoid the up kick.

"Get up, I'm not grappling with you."

Melanie smiled, pulling her hands behind her head. "Scared?"

"I'd probably lose a grappling match, but I can beat you on the feet. Simple as that."

From the side, Miltia voiced her agreement. "Yeah, you would lose!"

“Shut up! I don’t need to hear it” He turned slightly to face Miltia, and in that moment of inattention, Melanie rolled backwards to stand up.

“Back to square one, Lautrec." Melanie looked calm, and Lautrec could safely say he felt the same. The break in the action also allowed him to see her 'health bar'.

[Melanie Malachite]

[Aura {---79%--..}]

Which was better than his, even if they went by percents. Lautrec took a cursory glance at his own, and it sat at around sixty percent. Though, he wasn't using much mana, realistically speaking. He could end this fight if he were to do that, [Flash Step] in to close distance faster than she could realize and then land as much and as hard as possible. But that carried risk out the wazoo. One or two more good hits from her, and he would be in the red.

"You ready to lose? I don't plan on going easy from here." Putting as much cockiness as he could in his voice, the boy dropped his hands. He may not have seen the rewards for this quest, but if he wanted to garuntee victory and get whatever job Lyoto and Junior was offering, he'd need to close the gap of skill. And if he couldn't out skill her, he had one hundred and nineteen wild points.

'Assign fifteen to strength, thirteen to dexterity, fourteen to vitality, twenty-seven to agility, sixteen to wisdom, twenty six to intelligence'

[VIT 46 -> 60

STR 85 -> 100

DEX 47 -> 60

AGI 53 -> 80

INT 44 -> 70

WIS 54 -> 70]

[-101 Wild Points]

[4 new perks available for purchase!]

[Mana Point Capacity: 4350 -> 5510]

[Aura Point Capacity: 1181 -> 2109]

The effect was instant, Lautrec could feel his body morph, slightly changing his mind and his soul. It was beyond invigorating, enough to overcome the feeling of [Mana Exhaustion] and [Exhaustion 1]. Rolling his shoulders, he stood taller.

"I hope you're ready!" He moved forward, and he MOVED. Faster than someone his size had any right to move, and his fist dug far into her abdomen. There was a sound of crinkling, like aura straining, and she was sent backwards. He moved in again, sending punch after punch and landing harshly on her arms and body.

Until randomly, Melanie ducked a hook, blocked a second one, and leaned back out of range of a knee. That did confuse him, but only for a moment. he moved back in again, throwing a jab as fast as he could, only for her to slip it. Melanie was glowing as she moved, literally glowing the brightest white he had ever seen. A semblance of some sort.

She took his slowing down as an opening, dashing in and kicking low, her shin landing roughly against the side of his knee. Lautrec moved his hands instinctually, catching a follow up kick to the body on his guard. To his surprise, it landed thunderously, forcing him to take several steps to the side. Her pace didn't let up, and he was put on the back foot As she chased him down like a woman gone mad. Whatever semblance this was, it couldn't last long, it was boosting her beyond anything she could possibly do, more than he could defend against. And despite his best efforts, he was getting hit and tagged at least once every flurry.

Even with his aura reserves being bolstered by a factor of two with his increased stats, the damage was too immense. Where he had around seventeen-hundred aura to spare initially, Lautrec was already back down to six hundred, and much closer to the red for it. She was supposedly two levels below him, and yet he was the one being defeated handedly.

A kick flashed to his head, and the boy did all he could do in that moment, [Flash Step] as far away as he could. The maybe ten feet of distance bought him enough time to exhale before she was on him again! Her dash was expected, however, and Lautrec launched a check left hook, hoping that she'd run herself into it.

Melanie did not, slipping the strike and slamming her foot into his abdomen with no remorse, a spinning back kick that forced the air from his lungs. It overpowered [Oakflesh] completely, the force sent shocks throughout his body. That strike alone was enough to send him backwards and slam against a wall.

11%... one percent shy of red. That number burned into his mind for the split second he was able to regain his mind. 'She's a monster like this.'

For all his hax, for all the benefits he had... Lautrec was still too fucking weak. Too weak to beat someone who was lower level than himself.

'Stop! Focus!' His mind cried, just in time to [Flash Step] out of the way of another strike. He only had enough mana for three more of those.

He locked eyes with Melanie, who's glow was fully enveloping her body still.

"You're strong." He said curtly.

"You as well." She replied with a small frown.

In a straight fight, she wins. Ten out of ten times she would simply overpower him within moments and beat him bloody. This fight showed him that. Her semblance was too great to fight in a head on clash. He smirked. When did he ever fight to his opponents strength? Did he ever enter a brawl with Yang? Did he ever try to solely box and grapple with Taiyang? A sword fight with Qrow? A measure of speed with Ruby?

No, not once.

[Melanie Malachite]

[Aura: {--21%.....}]

She didn't give him another moment, and charged forward. Unhesitating as she did, Lautrec laughed loudly and followed suit. He understood now.

A lighting fast low kick came from her, which he lifted his leg and dodged completely rather than check. She feinted a kick to the body, and he bit. A [Flash Step] that carried him instantly to her side, and then another [Flash Step] to behind her, and then his final [Flash Step], carried him to the opposite side of where he first went.

His first [Flash Step] she had expected, and therefore jumped away from where he had appeared. The other two, not so much. She dove towards him without even realizing it, and dove right into a right hook. It was no where near enough to break her aura, but it landed hard enough to snap her head to the side.

But Lyoto didn't step in.

[Melanie Malachite]

[Aura: {-11%......}]

four hundred and eighty damage. That was hoe much damage his punch did. Forty damage shy of what he needed to do.

Melanie dropped her glow, and dove backwards, just barely dodging a secondary punch that would've ended the fight.

They were both on their last legs. Both worn down by their short scuffle. The next strike would- !! DODGE !!

She activated her semblance again, and yelled as she moved from standing several feet away from him to nearly instantly appearing in front of him.

Perhaps it was Luck again, that saved him. He couldnt assume it was just skill that let him understand she had attacked him just then, not when he knew what was coming before it had even happened. So much so that he dodged perfectly, her fist just barely knicking his ear as he slipped to the side.

her glow stopped, and her eyes widened as Lautrec pushed himself upward, his own strike digging into her ribs, just above her liver. It was a perfectly timed counter-uppercut.

"Alright! That's the fight!" Lyoto called out. And Melanie, who was sent reeling by the strike, fell to the floor in a sitting position.

"Fuck.." Lautrec also found himself sitting down. Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"That was a hell of a showing, Lautrec! I think Junior fucked up only making me pay twelve thousand for you!"

Lyoto wore a shit eating grin, turning the tablet over to show both of their auras. Melanie was at eight percent, while his was at eleven percent. And while, technically, that meant she still had more aura than he, aura meters didn't go off hard numbers like [The Game] did. It went off reserves and how much you had to fill. On the other side of the room, Miltia cheered for him and teased her sister loudly.

But to him, the sound was muted.

He won by the skin of his teeth. And it only cost him one hundred and eleven wild points.

Yang, in a little less than two years time would be able to beat Melanie, Miltia, every other grunt in The Club, and Junior singlehandly while never even bleeding.

'I need.... I need to get better.'

[You have leveled up ×5!]

[Quest Completed: Trial By Fire!]

[Objective: Impress Lyoto Machado enough for him to accept you as his underling (+)]

[Bonus Objective: Defeat Melanie Malachite (+)]

[Bonus Objective 2: Defeat Melanie Malachite without use of Mana (X)]

[Rewards: [Questline; Mob Ties], + Massive XP, + 1 Perk point, + Skill book; [Detect Danger], + Large REP of Malachite Twins, + REP of Lyoto Machado, + 10k Lien, + Dragoncrest Shield Talisman ]

One Perk Point for that? That was the hardest fight he'd ever had, and it cost him over a hundred wild points just to match her semblance!

He huffed, standing up as Mil offered him an hand.

'At least I know why she's called White Death, now.'