He's close to Domremy. He can feel it. He recognized the markings on the trees. Ursa territory. He tried to avoid them. His intuition told him it was a bad idea then. It's still a bad idea now. If just Beowolves could kick his ass, Ursas—Ursae? Ursai? Ursai.—would destroy him. Even if all his resources were back to full now.
Except for his MP, which was still in the 70s. He hoped it'll be enough if anything else happens.
He'd been running for a little bit. About ten minutes or so, if he were to estimate. Finally, he arrived to Domremy, the cozy town that it was—
"Everyone who's able bodied, come and get a weapon! We'll send a raid in triple oh-five!"
Was currently extremely chaotic. What in the hell? He muttered as he went down to investigate.
Multiple civilians were at the front gate, arming themselves with weaponry. Guns, swords, bows, spears, even some basic mechashift weapons. He was incredibly tempted to nab one for himself and disassemble it... but the situation seemed a little too drastic for that.
"What's going on?" He asked a guard he recognized. The same friendly one from his last life. "I seriously don't know kid." He says, his lips pursed in worry and his eyes, filled with anxiety. "It was so sudden... Last night, when Joey and I were fighting off a Beowolf, it suddenly... started spasming out... and it was like the thing suddenly got twice stronger." The man visually cringes at the memory. "God... It was like nothing I've ever seen."
Twice stronger... So it was because of me... Ein grits his teeth in frustration. "I... Can I help?" Ein asks. "You sure, kid?" The guard was iffy. Not just due to his age, but also because he was a stranger to them. The death of a child would weigh heavily in the guard's mind if he were to let it happen. Ein understood the feeling, so to demonstrate his capability, he lets his aura coat his arm. "I have aura unlocked."
The guard gasps before saying, "...Well, alright kid. Go get a weapon. I'll tell Artie we have another huntsman on our side." He says, looking downwards before under his breath he mumbles, "Thank god..." "No need. I've got my own weapon." He takes Galepierce and Tin Bow out of his inventory. "O-Oh, heheh..." The guard chuckles awkwardly. "Before you ask, semblance." A lie, of course. But the guard seemed to buy it. "Right. I'll lead the way then."
---
Ein was lead into Artie's shop, now refitted to look more like a war room. "Here's the other huntsmen." The guard says before leaving. Oh no. This looks dire. There were certainly huntsmen. A whole entire two of them. Artie himself, obviously, and a glasses wearing girl in an outfit that just screamed RPG mage.
Artie's weapon was a giant wooden chain minigun with gems embedded into it, while the man himself was leaned against the wall of his shop. Meanwhile, a girl sat on a chair, reading a mystical looking book, who seems not to have a weapon on her. Then again, the book itself could be her weapon. You never know with Remnant... A sword's a dagger, gun, rifle, knife, and spoon. He joked before being greeted by Artie. "Three... That's not enough... But at the moment, I don't think we can pick and choose. Welcome."
The man sounded serious. "Try not to hold us back, will you?" The girl said, sounding bored out of her mind. Already, Ein didn't like her. "Stop that, Luna." Artie scolded. The spectacled girl, now named Luna, rolled her eyes with loud "Ugh." before going back to her book. "As you can tell, the situation's dire." Artie said. "So I'll make the briefing quick. We're sending a raid out into the Bois de Domremy in five minutes." A raid? Ein raised his eyebrow. A raid for what? Artie seemed to sense his confusion, opting to explain.
"We're gonna pre-emptively lower the population in the forest in case these things get any stronger." "Ah." Ein couldn't help but say. Yeah, no, that makes sense. He didn't know how he didn't connect the dots earlier. "Oh, so you can speak?" The girl snickered, not even so much as looking up from her book. "Or is 'ah' the only thing you can say?" Ein groans, rolling his eyes. He wasn't gonna dignify her with an answer.
Artie picks up his wooden gun and slings it over his shoulder. "Our job is to make sure none of the civvies die." He opens the door to the chaotic outside. "Let's go."
---
"Dad, please!" The young wannabe knight begged his father. "People might die! They need as many hands as they can—" The blonde was interrupted by his father. "You might die, Jaune!" He scolded. "Imagine what your sisters would think if you came home in a body bag!" He argued, but Jaune became enraged. "Do not hold my sisters against me!" Jaune scowled. "I—I want to go specifically because of them! I want to go because I want them to be safe!" Jaune argued back. Indeed, he loves his sisters, all seven of them, but he also wanted to follow his dreams. The boy, only sixteen, a year below Ein, wanted to become a huntsman, but his father never trained him despite their lineage of huntsmen and knights. "They would feel safer if you were by their side!" Their argument had become a screaming match at that point. "Get back inside with the rest of our family, you brat!"
Ein had been watching the two bicker. In all honesty, Ein found himself relating to Jaune. That very same patronizing infantilization, to never be thought to be anything greater. It moved Ein. Even from what little he saw of the show, he felt himself most pulled towards Jaune's plight. After some inner monologue, he decided. "What are you doing?" Artie asked. Ein ignored him and went straight to Jaune and his dad.
"I can accompany him." Ein says matter-of-factly. The two turn to him with very different reactions. "I'm a huntsman. Still just a student, but a huntsman." A lie, but neither seem to notice. "Kid, this isn't your—" The man was interrupted by his own son. "C-Can you really?!" Jaune beamed excitedly. Ein nods. "He seems to be good kid. Plus, he has the heart of someone who might be a hero one day." Jaune felt himself lifted. After all this time, after being told that he wasn't—and would never be ready. After being told that he was better off abandoning his dream of becoming a huntsman...
Someone was finally believing in him.
"You can't be serious?" Luna questions, but Ein's face told her everything she needed to know. She clicks her tongue. "No, we're not dragging mister deuteragonist into this—"
[HOST HAS COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANOTHER HOST OF THE SAME GENERATION.]
[CERTAIN PREVIOUSLY LOCKED INFORMATION HAS COME TO LIGHT.]
"...We'll talk about this later." She clicks her tongue before walking away back to Artie, mumbling something to him. Right, later. Ein thinks before turning back to Jaune and his father. "Besides, Artie would be there. He'd never let anything bad happen to Jaune, right?" Ein says, as if a hundred percent familiar with Artie already. Jaune's father kept silent. He also knew of Artie's prowess. In fact, he knows it first hand. And so, hesitantly, he says, "Alright."
Jaune's heart rose, a small smile creeping up his lips. "Jacques, hon! Are you coming?!" Jaune's mother called to Jacques, his dad. "I'll be there, Isabelle. Just... Please brace yourself for the news!" Jacques shouted as he ran back to their house. "Thank you..." Jaune muttered under his breath. "Don't worry about it, dude. Name's Ein." He introduces himself before leading him to the crate of weapons and armor to get him geared up and ready for the raid.
---
The leaves crunched underneath the feet of about twenty volunteer soldiers, not including Artie, Luna, and himself. To say that it was tense would be an understatement at best. They had come across a few Grimm. Razorwings, Beowolves, Alphas, even the occasional Ursa. Thankfully, the iron weaponry of Domremy was more than enough to defend against them. He was almost jealous of the Tier 3 weaponry and armor they possessed. Almost. They could never match the coolness factor of Galepierce.
There was also a certain mystery that had been plaguing his mind since the beginning of the expedition. "So... Are we gonna talk about it, edgelord?" Luna whispered to him, taking great care that no one. not even Artie, heard her. "Or are you just gonna be brooding all the time?" Ein glares at the girl. "Who the hell is brooding? Also, edgy? I'm barely 'edgy'." He talked back in an equally low whisper.
"Let's see... Lone wolf, weird looking Grimm colored spear, rough outside with a caring inside... Seems pretty edgy to me." She teased condescendingly. "What's next, you're gonna tell me your name is Shadowkiller Darkheaven—?" Ein, appropriately, smacks her face with his backhand. Of course, he didn't take the hit too seriously. Hence why her aura didn't protect her. "O-Ow!" She exclaims, the noise of her pain attracting the attention of the soldiers. "S-Sorry!" She apologized before elbowing Ein. "Fuck you." She grumbles, holding her nose. "You too. Name's Ein Valestein."
"Hmph. Luna Ciel, Jerkass." She introduces herself back. "Anyways, back on track... How's your progress on Apothecary?" She whispers— "Apothecary?" Ein asked. What Apothecary? "You know, The system, stupid? You don't even know the name of your own cheat sheet?" Now Ein was even more confused. "I don't know how to say this, but it's pronounced Rebirth. Apothecary is a different word." Now it was Luna's turn to be confused.
"What are you talking about?" She whispered. "You know, collect herbs, get XP, unlock stuff in the skill tree, level up your stats—" Ein interrupts her. "Woah, okay, stop." I think we have different systems... He thinks... But he won't know for sure until he confirms it. "Collect herbs? You don't have to die to get your XP? Also—level up stats? That's bullshit!" He shout whispered. "I have to work for my stats! I can't just grind for it!" While Ein was jealous of Luna Ciel's stat gain, the opposite was true for Luna.
"You can just work out and your stats increase?!" She asked him. Oh, how desperately she wanted to shake that ability out of him. "Increasing stats are such a pain 'cause of how expensive it is!" She complained to him. "At first it was just a hundred exp for every level up, but now it's sixteen hundred! Wait, I wonder if... Open..." Luna's Menu opens up... And Ein could see it. He glanced over at Artie, and by his shock... Does she not know that Artie's a host? Ein decides to keep his mouth shut. It's not his story to tell. Though, I should probably tell Artie... Later.
For now, it was time to look at her stat sheet.
[MENU]
[AVAILABLE XP: 222]
[HOST INFORMATION]
[NAME: LUNA CIEL
TITLE: POTIONSELLER
AGE: 17
GENDER: FEMALE
HP: 45/45 ((VIT + STR) x 5)
STP: 18/18 ((VIT + AGI) x 2)
MP: 132/132 ((INT x 10) x 1.1)
AP: 99/99 (((INT + VIT) x 5 ) x 1.1)
AC: 3 (+5)
(INCLUDES PASSIVE SKILL BONUS. EXCLUDES ALL OTHER SOURCES OTHER STAT SOURCES UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.)
CLASS: COMBATANT LVL 3/10 |0/80
STATUS EFFECT: NONE
SEMBLANCE: [LOCKED]
[EQUIPMENT]
[HEAD: EYEGLASSES
TORSO: APPRENTICE ALCHEMIST'S COAT
LEGS: APPRENTICE ALCHEMIST'S PANTS
SHOES: LEATHER SHOES
ARMS: NATURE BRACELET
HANDS: NONE]
[vvvEXPANDvvv]
[STATS]
[STR: 3 (+4) ((0/200 XP)
VIT: 6 (+2) (0/1600XP)
DEX: 3 (+2) (0/100 XP)
AGI: 4 (+2) (0/400 XP)
INT: 12 (+2) (+10) (+5) (0/1600 XP)
LCK: 10 (0/100 XP)]
[SKILLS]
[(ACTIVE)
MEDITATION LVL 3/5 |0/120 XP)|
SPELLBOOK LVL 7/??? |LVL SCALES WITH LEARNED MAGIC ACTIVE SKILLS|
CAULDRON MANIFESTING 1/2 |0/100000|
(PASSIVE)
DOCTOR LVL 2/10 |0/60 XP|
GRIMM ENCYCLOPEDIA LVL 1/5 |0/3000 XP|
RAPID CAST LVL 1/3 |0/3000 XP|
ARCANE MASTERY LVL: 5/10 |0/400 XP|]
"This is some bullshit." Ein said. "Your stats are so much better than mine! How is your intelligence so damn high?! My highest base stat isn't even half that!" before showing her his own status— "Pfft-" And Luna couldn't help but let out an incredibly indignant laugh. "O-Oi!" Ein elbows her with a scowl. "S-Sorry! But like, it's been a week, man! How do you still have such shitty stats?" "A week? I've only been here for two days." Luna raises her eyebrow. Now that changes things. She thought. Two days and he was already almost caught up to her? "That's so unfair..." Luna whined.
"If it makes you feel better, I've had to get murdered by Grimm twice." Ein grumbled. "Murdered by Grimm—? Oh, right. You said your system's called Rebirth, right? How does it work?" Luna asked, for once, in genuine curiosity. If nothing else it's obvious when she's beinggenuine. Ein thought. "Well, you see..."
---
Luna listened to the Host of Rebirth intently. Jeez... Now I kinda feel bad for being an ass. She thinks. "And you get XP from... What, making potions?" Ein asks. "Yeah, that's the gist of it." Luna admitted, now feeling a little small, considering how much Ein has to go through to so much as get a single bit of XP. "Still... Your skills are so damn overpowered." Luna complained. "That First Blood thing is nuts. If I had an additional four points into all my stats, I'd be unstoppable... And that Sadism skill giving you life steal is nuts!"
"Speaking of which, what does Doctor do?" Ein asked, looking over her Menu in curiosity. "Eh, it's nothing too major." She plays it off. "Just makes it so that my restoring potions have slightly stronger effects. Nothing helpful in combat." Ein would soon learn in just a moment that her downplaying was completely bullshit. For now, he took her word for it.
"What about Spellbook? Arcane Mastery?" The other two skills stood out to him. "Oh, Spellbook isn't anything major. Just a way for me to shorten my skills list. I don't wanna get barraged by a wall of text every time I look at my skills list. Apothecary made it for me." Ein held in a snicker. "So it's a glorified clipboard?" That earned him a grumble and a light punch to his shoulder. Frankly, it only made him laugh more. "Arcane Mastery's my only useful in combat passive. Gives me a bunch of bonuses to my magic attacks. Also gives me two intelligence for every level."
Just then, twenty minutes into the expedition, Artie went in front. "Alright, people. Look alive." He says. Ein looked around. They'd stopped at a fenced off area. Signage was everywhere, warning of Grimm infested territory. "From this point, we'll be in constant danger. I will need your full strength and cooperation." Artie pushes open the fence gate. "Luna and...?" Artie glances at Ein's direction. "Ein." He introduces himself. "Right. They'll act as our rear guard. I'll stay in front. Keep alert."
Artie touches a red gem on his minigun with his thumb. The barrel began to smoke. "Let's move."
The moment the entire party crossed the border of the fence—
All hell broke completely loose.
---
[RAZORWING {LVL 2}]
[HP: 20/20]
[ARMOR: 0]
[WEAKNESSES: WINGS, THROAT, HEART, ELECTRIC & HOLY ELEMENT.]
[RESISTANCE: WIND & DARK ELEMENT]
[STR: 2]
[VIT: 2]
[DEX: 12]
[AGI: 16]
[INT: 2]
[LCK: 2]
[DAMAGE CALCULATION (BOWS):]
[(75%-100% DEX + 50%-75% STRENGTH + WEAPON STAT BONUSES + AMMO STAT BONUS + SKILLS) x WEAKPOINT BONUS - ARMOR CLASS]
[RAZORWING HAS BEEN STRUCK AT A WEAKPOINT]
[(9 + 7 + 6 + 2 + 5) x 1.7 - 0]
[49 DAMAGE HAS BEEN DEALT]
[SUPER OVERKILL BONUS: GUARANTEED RARE DROP—]
"Shut the fuck up for a sec!" Ein complained, shoving the notifications out of the way as he shot another three Razorwings out of the sky. Just skip straight to the damage numbers! I don't need your calculations right now! Ein complained in his thoughts. Thankfully, Rebirth understood.
[PARTIAL MUTE COMMAND CONFIRMED]
That works! He thinks. "Rude!" Luna replied as she fired Firebolt after Firebolt. As she was about to get jumped by an Alpha Razorwing, Ein managed to jump in the way, holding Galepierce in a block.
[A. RAZORWING {LVL 2}]
[HP: 40/40]
[ARMOR: 0]
[WEAKNESSES: WINGS, THROAT, HEART, ELECTRIC ELEMENT.]
[RESISTANCE: WIND & DARK ELEMENT]
[STR: 4]
[VIT: 4]
[DEX: 24]
[AGI: 32]
[INT: 4]
[LCK: 4]
[8 DAMAGE RECIEVED]
[AP: 32/66]
"Not to you!" Ein elaborated, as now he was taking the brunt of the Alpha Razorwing's attacks.
[9 DAMAGE RECIEVED]
[5 DAMAGE RECIEVED]
[8 DAMAGE RECIEVED]
[AP: 10/66]
This is so unfair! Ein thinks, gritting his teeth. The problem was how fast the thing was. Sure, Ein could react, even if barely. Even then, he couldn't hit back, and it was too fast to simply catch off guard. He braced himself for the breaking of his aura—
But this time, he was the one being saved. He felt the wind pull him back. "Thank me later!" Luna exclaimed as she threw a potion at him.
[MINOR AURA POTION {LVL 3}]
[QUALITY: BAD (TIER 2)]
[STATS: +50 AURA (+50) OVER 10 SECONDS.]
[COOLDOWN: 1 MINUTE]
[DESCRIPTION: A LIGHT BLUE POTION EXCLUSIVELY MADE BY THE (HOST OF APOTHECARY). A MYSTERIOUS LIQUID THAT HEALS THE SOUL ITSELF, EVEN ONLY SLIGHTLY.]
Exclusive to Luna, huh? Ein thought. Did he also have exclusive items? Thoughts for later as he downed the potion without hesitation. But also, slightly? Bullshit! Doubling a potion's effects is not fucking 'slightly'!
[AP: 10/66 --> 66/66]
He looked back to Luna, slightly concerned. If his maximum total of eighteen agility couldn't do anything to catch up to it, how could she?
His question was answered in the form of her spell. It was Lightning Spear, he recognized. A quick cast. The Alpha Razorwing dodged it, of course. But then Luna merely smirked. "Dumbass NPC." She muttered, pulling her hand back as the spell curved in its trajectory, frying the harpy Grimm. "Oh." Ein could only say.
"What? Impressed?" Luna said with a cocky tone. "...Honestly, yes." He admitted. "I didn't even know you could control the flight of spells mid-air." With that, he left her be to wreak havoc on the flock of flying Grimm. He also took a glance at Artie—
And the woodcarver was a beast in combat, to say the least. Each of the gems on his minigun apparently correlated to a different type of dust, and he used his resources like a master. He watched as Artie dealt with an even larger horde full of diverse Grimm. He killed each and every one, not missing even a single shot despite the fact he was using a minigun.
Even the volunteer soldiers were doing well. They maintained their positions. Shield bearers armed with swords in front, spearmen in the middle, and the ranged fighters in the back. Ein could see Jaune in the frontline, deflecting a stray creep and pushing forward with his sword. His form was terrible, his footing uneven... But he was eager to prove himself. Ein couldn't help but smile—
"Oi! Pay attention!" Luna exclaimed, narrowly dodging the swipe of a Beowolf. "Right!" He drinks his own potions—
[MINOR POWER POTION HAS TAKEN EFFECT]
[+1 STR, +1 AGI, +1 TOTAL DAMAGE]
[DURATION: 6 MINUTES]
[MINOR SHIELD POTION HAS TAKEN EFFECT]
[+2 AC]
[DURATION: 6 MINUTES]
[MINOR GIANT POTION HAS TAKEN EFFECT]
[+10% KNOCKBACK RESISTANCE]
[DURATION: 6 MINUTES
—before jumping back into combat, hitting the Beowolf with a well timed Firebolt before rushing to her side. "I'll deal with the ones on the ground. Make like an outdoor cat and disturb the bird population." He joked. "Oh, shut up!" Luna retorted.
---
That was the gist of their game plan. Luna would deal with the aerial enemies with her homing projectiles, Ein would defend her. If either of them needed to recover their resources, the other would use themselves as bait, attracting the attention of the Grimm. The Alphas in particular were easy to bait. Apparently they could understand their words now. A bit concerning, but alright. Ein thought as he hurled another insult at an Alpha Creep.
[A. CREEP {LVL 2}]
[HP: 80/80]
[ARMOR: 4]
[WEAKNESSES: WIND, FIRE & HOLY ELEMENT.]
[RESISTANCE: EARTH, WATER & DARK ELEMENT.]
[STR: 8]
[VIT: 8]
[DEX: 16]
[AGI: 20]
[INT: 4]
[LCK: 4]
The thing charged at him. Too obvious! He thought, dodging its aerial kick before swiftly barraging it with piercing blows.
[A. CREEP HAS BEEN STRUCK WITH A STRONG ELEMENT 3x]
[45 DAMAGE HAS BEEN DEALT]
[55 DAMAGE HAS BEEN DEALT]
[49 DAMAGE HAS BEEN DEALT]
[A. CREEP: DEAD]
[OVERKILL BONUS: +10 LUCK]
Another Razorwing was finding its way to him. Thankfully, it got sniped out of the air by a precise Lightning Spear by Luna. "I'm back to full! You still good on Aura?!" She asked frantically as she casted another Lightning Spear. "Yeah! I'm at fourty!"
The entire squadron had been fighting for almost a full five minutes. Ein's buffs were almost out, and according to Luna, her stock on her potions were almost out too. Everyone was tuckered out, with the exception of Artie of course, who kept fighting. He checks his reserves.
[STP: 18/30]
[MP: 45/88]
Concerningly low, but enough. The horde was actually thinning. They were winning.
Then... The Grimm finally retreated with growls. "D-did we win...?" A soldier said, hoping his words were true. Unfortunately, Luna and Ein both watched enough movies to know that that exact string of words were bad omens.
A low growl came from the depths of the Grimm infested forest. A paw came from the bushes, covered in root, rock, and moss. A Grimm walked out. It was a Beowolf, covered head to claw in earthen debris. It's eyes, usually an bright red and yellow, now shone a verdant green and brown. Its fangs were riddled with mineral growth. Its flesh, instead of a pitch black, was like that of a tree trunk with the texture of bark. Clearly... it was no normal Beowolf.
[M. BEOWOLF {LVL 2}]
[HP: 200/200]
[ARMOR: 20]
[WEAKNESSES: EYES, THROAT, HEART, FIRE ELEMENT.]
[RESISTANCE: EARTH & DARK ELEMENT, LEGS, BONE PLATE]
[STR: 20]
[VIT: 20]
[DEX: 30]
[AGI: 40]
[INT: 10]
[LCK: 10]
[SPECIAL DESCRIPTION UNLOCKED: THE FIRST PATH AN ALPHA BEOWOLF MAY MUTATE INTO. IF IT WERE TO ABANDON ITS PACK AND INSTEAD SEEK ITS OWN POWER, THE POWER OF EMOTION OVERTAKING AN EMOTIONLESS VESSEL WOULD CAUSE IT TO MUTATE AND GROW. BEOWOLVES HAVE A SPECIAL AFFINITY FOR THE RESTFUL SLOTH OF THE EARTH. MAY MUTATE EVEN FURTHER IF THE EXISTENCES OF THE FOUR NEW-GEN HOSTS BECOME CLEAR ENOUGH FOR THE WORLD TO TIER UP TO TIER 2.]
A mutant. "Is it just me... or?" Ein asked, hoping he was instead going insane, rather than the Mutated Beowolf being real. Frankly, it was a better outcome. Unfortunately, Luna's silence told him everything.
This was very real.
[DUE TO HIGHTENED EMOTION, (CALM MIND)'S EFFECT HAS BEEN NULLIFIED]
---
From this point on, the chapters are gonna get much shorter cause I got better at condensing information. I also stopped using parenthesis for skills n' shit, that was stupid from the start anyways, and I'm simply too lazy to remove them myself. K bye.