701A/N: If you enjoy my work, please pop into my Discord server at discord dot gg slash ABfg74C
Choosing The Path
My physical stats were pretty garbage, probably because [Outsider] only imported my mind, not my body. Then again, maybe that was a blessing in disguise, since it gave me a blank slate to work from. More importantly, though…
What the fuck is that Status?
[Yellow Death]
[Debuff - Curse]
[Experience is the teacher of all things.]
[Current level: Highest]
Excuse me, what the fuck? Where's the part where you tell me what in the fuck that means, or how I got cursed, or how to get rid of it!?
I prodded at the status, seeking more information, but all I got was a description of debuffs — status effects with a negative impact — which I already knew, and broad definition of curses in that context.
[Curses are a type of debuff which can have a variety of sources. While most debuffs are straightforward effects which strip positive effects from or otherwise weaken the target, curses can be far more oblique. The effects of a curse can vary from mild to extreme, and can be inflicted by anything from karma to malediction. Curses do not end naturally, and must be actively broken.]
What in the Kentucky Fried Fuck… There's nothing on how to break it! I still don't even know what it actually does!
Huffing in frustration, I returned to my [Status] page, and selected the [Newcomer] title instead.
[Newcomer]
[You are from a (very) distant land, so far removed from Remnant that nobody has ever heard of it, though you know a little of Remnant from stories told in your homeland. Although you will undoubtedly find some of this land's ways to be strange and discomfiting, you can also be sure that some things its people take for granted will be to you new wonders that you've never laid eyes on before. If you're not careful to conceal your origin, you may find more attention on you than you wish.]
I frowned. That's just a rephrased Far Traveler background from D&D.
I checked the dropdown, but I didn't seem to have any other titles available. Hopefully those would come when I got some adventuring under my belt. Han Jee-han's first title came from killing enough zombies in an instanced sort of dungeon, as I recalled, so maybe I would get one for slaying Grimm. I could definitely see that being useful as a Huntsman.
Next up, to see exactly how far this was going to go…
"Pause," I tried. Nothing happened. "No such luck, eh? Okay, how about… Settings? Configuration? [Options]– Ah, there we go."
[Gameplay]
[Audio]
[HUD]
"From the top, I suppose," I murmured, selecting [Gameplay].
[Gameplay]
[Mode: Interface (Locked)]
[Difficulty: Death World (Locked)]
[Auto-Loot: Off]
[Instances: Limited (Locked)]
[Auto-Enter: On]
[Hints: Limited (Locked)]
[Controls: Regular]
[Multiplayer: Party (Restricted)]
Tapping on each [Locked] option in turn simply played a negative buzz tone. Fuckall I can really change in here, huh? I snorted.Of course there's no easy mode… And limited hints, wouldn't want to take the blinders off the horse. Fuck's sake…
I did change [Auto-Loot] to [On] for my future convenience, and [Auto-Enter] to [Off (Ask)]. Instances might be 'Limited', but I didn't want to trip into them by accident.
The only other one I could change was [Controls], which could toggle between [Regular] and [Inverted], whatever the hell that meant in this context.
Out of curiosity, I switched over to [Inverted], but after an instantaneous bout of vertigo, it just seemed to have turned me into a Lefty. Seeing no real benefit, and the distinct possibility of screwing with my muscle memory, I switched back to [Regular].
With a resigned sigh, I moved on.
[Audio]
[Master Volume: 100%]
[Voices: 100%]
[World Sounds: 100%]
[Semblance Music: Disabled]
[Semblance Sounds: 80%]
[Background Music: Off]
[Character Image Songs: Off]
[Captions: Off]
I frowned at this set. I would probably have to come back here fairly often, to fine-tune sound settings for different scenarios. For the moment, I left [Captions] at [Off], but bore the option of [Subtitles Only] in mind for situations where it was noisy and [Eavesdrop] wasn't the way to go. I toggled on [Background Music] and [Character Image Songs], and set the newly-enabled slider for [Semblance Music] to 50% to start. Background music in a game could give you a feel for the relative danger or intensity of your current situation, and a person's theme tune was often quite telling. Then I dropped [Semblance Sounds] to 0%. This unlocked an option to switch to [Vibrate], which I decided to test out — if I had this right, I had just disabled that annoying Ping! that new messages generated, and instead turned on a sort of nerve-buzz to replicate a vibrating phone. Or Scroll, rather.
Backing out, I checked the next Option group.
[HUD]
[Display: On]
[HP bar: On]
[MP bar: On]
[Ammo: On]
[Available Skill icons: Off]
[Current Buff icons: Off]
[Cooldowns: Off]
[Compass: Off]
[Minimap: Off]
[Objective Markers: Off (Locked)]
[Waypoints: Off]
[Music controls: Off]
[Transparency: 50%]
[Color: Classic]
Humming, I checked over the colors, and settled on a color scheme labeled [Matrix], with green text on green-outlined black boxes, that I thought would be less distracting than the current white text on blue. I had a feeling that allowing my skills and cooldowns to populate my HUD would leave it very crowded in short order, but I set [Current Buffs] to [Active Only], then tested by activating [Eavesdrop]. Sure enough, a new icon appeared, indicating that the buff was active and currently consuming mana. Cutting it off when I didn't hear anything interesting, I returned to the menu. [Compass] and [Minimap] were both getting switched on for sure; bring on the Augmented Reality. I couldn't activate [Objective Markers], probably because that fell under 'Hints' as described in the Gamplay section, but I was able to toggle on [Waypoints], so I should start seeing those as soon as I figured out how to set them.
After a moment's thought, I also switched on [Music controls] for kicks. This left my current HP and MP at the bottom of my vision, wherever I turned my head, a compass near the top, a minimap in the bottom-right, and the usual Play, Pause, Seek, and Skip buttons in the top-right. There was a small window underneath them, which I presumed would display the current track if I was listening to music.
Thinking about it, I reached over and grabbed Jaune's backpack, pulling it into easy arm's reach and digging out the contents. The hoodie went straight into the Inventory, as did the headphones, which prompted a message.
[Syncing music collection to Semblance player.]
Ah, so they weren't just headphones, they were the music storage as well? I had just assumed the music was streamed from the Scroll. Speaking of which… I placed Jaune's Scroll in my Inventory as well.
[Syncing Scroll to Semblance communications…]
[This Scroll was locked by a different save file. Would you like to set a new PIN?]
"Yes," I said aloud, and a ten-key number pad appeared. Submitting the street number of the house I grew up in back on Earth, I read:
[Syncing Scroll… Done! The Scroll may now be used via the HUD as long as it is in your possession or in the Inventory.]
Nifty. Why carry anything in my pockets if I don't have to?
I tossed Jaune's keys into the inventory as well. Then, pressing the empty backpack into the Inventory as well, I was rewarded with the message I wanted to see.
[Syncing storage device to Inventory… Done! Items small enough to fit inside the [Backpack] can be retrieved from the inside the Inventory by reaching into the backpack.]
Seeing that, I quickly added Jaune's wallet as well.
[Syncing to currency inventory. The desired amount of currency may now be retrieved from the Inventory by reaching into the [Wallet]. Money cannot be stolen from the wallet in this way except by a special skill.]
Sweet, no more worrying about getting robbed.
Overall, not as many options available to me as I would have liked, but I suppose I didn't have too much room to complain. Most people didn't have an Options menu at all.
That left me with some time on my hands, a good deal of energy, and not much else to do, so I decided to take some time to plan. What did I think I know about my Semblance, that I would need to test? The Gamer could gain skill points by improving the relevant talent — STR points by lifting weights, for instance. That would be a good place to start, since most likely I wouldn't get tired in the same way as a normal person, thanks to [Gamer's Body]. My Level would go up as I gained EXP from completing quests and, most likely, from fighting monsters. Given that I was on Remnant, that would probably mean Grimm. Skills gained experience just by using them, although it was possible using them in combat might result in an EXP multiplier. New skills could be created by performing an action, manipulating my mana in various ways, or by consuming skill books.
I'd run my finger along all of Jaune's books while cleaning, and none of them had offered a skill creation prompt. And somehow, I doubted Olivia and Indigo would be sanguine about me wandering off to look for Grimm to kill, especially since from their perspective, a Grimm had almost killed me less than a week ago. That left training stats, creating skills, or grinding skills. My current skills were [Deception], [Observe], [Eavesdrop], [Detect Aura], and [Hair Brushing]; the last one didn't offer any direct benefits, the first required me to actively lie to someone, and I'd already used [Observe] on everything in Jaune's– my room.
That left [Eavesdrop] and [Detect Aura] that could actually be activated and kept active to gain EXP, at least until I ran out of MP. Given my current MP regen, that would be… about fourteen minutes. After which I'd have to wait over an hour before I was full again. Not having anything else to do with my MP for the moment, I activated both, and consequently found myself hyperfocusing on the birds outside, which I could both hear more clearly and feel in a way that was very difficult to articulate, since I was using a sense that didn't have words to describe it, at least on Earth.
It was absolutely fascinating, and I didn't notice my attention had been fully captured until I felt a strange twinge, and both skills shut off. Blinking at the odd, empty sensation, I surmised I must be out of MP.
[Eavesdrop has increased by 1! Detect Aura has increased by 1! Detect Aura has increased by 1!]
Decent enough, although I'll have to work on not being distracted by my heightened senses. Nobody ever considers that drawback.
Realizing the fourteen minutes were up, I now had an hour to kill, and no more to do than I had before. While laying around doing nothing was formerly one of my favorite pastimes, I now found I had too much directionless energy for it. Was that because of the technical age regression, or was it just the nature of being the Gamer?
After all, most games exist to be played.
Fortunately, the timer was almost done on the washer and dryer, so I headed downstairs to shuffle the loads again. The dry clothes — jeans, athletic shorts, and some dark shirts — went straight into my Inventory because screw carrying things. Equipping one of the pairs of shorts, I decided to poke around the rest of the house until my MP recovered.
The first floor had the kitchen, where I'd already been, just off the entryway — the foyer, I guess you would say, although the whole Arc home was pretty un-pretentious. Laundry was off the kitchen, which also connected through to the dining room. Interestingly, despite having a table in one corner for informal dining, the kitchen wasn't an 'open concept', as had been so popular on Earth. It had actual doors, which made me think the house was probably built with the idea of a live-in staff. Then again, considering how many Arc kids there were, maybe it had actually been necessary to hire cooks and such at some point in the past. There definitely weren't any currently, or I'd have felt them with my [Detect Aura], but I made a note to look for hidden stairs to test my theory, since such things were almost always present in houses built with a staff in mind.
There was also a library, a weight gym, an open room with wooden training weapons on the walls and honest-to-Japanese tatami-mat floors that I could only think of as a dojo, and an armory lined with actual, live weapons. It was here that I found Jaune's, and hopefully my, future weapon: Crocea Mors. It looked exactly like it had in the show, blue-wrapped hilt and all, and I popped an [Observe] on it immediately.
[Sabre de la famille Arc (Artifact) — Rank: Legendary (Debuffed)]
[A shining, eversharp silver blade, within which sleeps the Arc family heirloom, lost but not forgotten.]
[Carries a legacy which can only be awoken by one willing to experience the journey, walk the path, and learn its lessons.]
That… That does not say 'Crocea Mors', I thought. I knew I was pointing out the blatantly obvious to myself, but I couldn't help it. My French was crap, but I was pretty sure that just said 'Sword of the Arc Family'. Its rank is… debuffed from what it should be? What's above Legendary rank? And what's that description about? It reminds me of my Yellow Death debuff, actually; maybe they're connected? It was still 'eversharp', though, so I definitely still wanted it. Apparently the previous Jaune had good taste in weapons, despite the implied derision in having a weapon that wasn't also a gun.
Of course, I was still planning to carry at least one gun. Simple rule of thumb for fighting: if you can hit your enemy, and he can't hit you back, you win every time.
I thought about taking it off the wall right then, but I should probably at least let someone know before I disappeared it into my inventory. Reluctantly, I backtracked into the dojo and pulled a wooden sword of about the same length off the wall. I gave it a few experimental swings, noting that it seemed to have a weighted core, then opened my [Inventory] and formally equipped it in my right-hand slot. The 'sword' vanished from my hand and a bandolier appeared across my right shoulder, leading down to the sword now hanging at my left hip. I reached down and found it was at a height where I was able to draw it easily. Shrugging, I put it back, planning on whacking some trees later and hopefully picking up a sword-user skill. And since the Family Sword came with its own shield, I also equipped a light wooden shield on my left arm. My Semblance stored it on my back, which meant that getting it actually onto my arm took a bit of fidgeting, but I got the hang of it fairly quickly, finding that it didn't restrict my range of motion by much in either position.
Storing both in my inventory for the moment, I wandered back through the foyer and found Olivia in the kitchen for a glass of water.
"Hey," I said. "Is there anywhere around here I can do some shopping?"
Olivia frowned slightly. "What are you looking for?"
"Right now?" I asked. "Shirts I can wear to work out. Better shampoo and conditioner. A decent knife. Although, now I think about it, I don't actually know what things cost." I pulled out my wallet and withdrew 1,000 Lien, fanning it out. "Would this cover that?"
"The shirts and hair product, definitely," Olivia said. "The knife might be a little more. That's a decent amount of money, though; you been saving your allowance?"
I shrugged.
"Oh, yeah," she said, looking momentarily guilty as she remembered my amnesia. "Well, Mom and Dad usually gave us 200 Lien a week for allowance, which is enough to buy a pretty nice meal, or plenty of snacks."
I glanced at the money still in my hand, before slipping the plastic cards back into my wallet. "So what are some rough prices for things?" I asked. "A soda, a cheap meal, a train ticket? How much is, say, a motorcycle?"
"A bottle of soda is maybe 20L," Olivia replied, once again adopting a professorial tone. "A place like Redds does a burger, fries, and drink for about 60L, more if you want to upsize; or they also have a Tenner Menu for cheap stuff a la carte. A bowl of noodles at Simple Wok would be about the same. A nicer restaurant, you might pay 120L for a roll of sushi, or a little more if your chef is actually Animan. The train is 25L for a single ride, or 50L for a day pass; Academy students ride free. Buying a motorcycle new? I haven't priced them out, but I'd imagine at least 100,000L. Why? I know you were never taught how to ride one."
"Seriously?" I said, trusting in my [Deception] skill that had been serving me in such good stead — and sure enough:
[Deception has increased by 1!]
Of course it did. I guessed the fact that Jaune's sisters all wanted to believe me probably helped, because I was still getting huge experience gains for successfully fooling people with levels so much higher than mine.
Mentally shrugging it off, I finished, "Did I learn to drive a car? I'm almost positive I can do both."
"You did not. That's… bizarre," she observed, and I shrugged physically this time.
"How about if you were going travelling, and you needed to spend the night somewhere?" I asked, to keep the conversation moving.
Olivia hummed. "You'd probably budget 500L per night at an inn, which might come with a meal depending on where you are. That's a bit more common out in the smaller villages. In the city you might just get a Valic Breakfast–"
"Which is?" I interrupted.
"Muffins, croissants, juice, that kind of thing," she answered, her frown returning. "You understood everything else I said, but you didn't know what a Valic Breakfast meant. They use that term everywhere. There really is no consistency to what you do and don't remember, is there?"
"None that I've found," I lied. Rooster Teeth hadn't been great about weaving exposition into the narrative, and I had never gotten around to watching the side-series.
[Deception has increased by 1!]
Sigh. At least I'd gotten rid of the pings.
"Well, I guess there's no problem with you going around the village…" Olivia said slowly. "Try to be back by dark?"
"When's that?" I asked, looking around for a clock since my Scroll was still in my Inventory.
"You've got maybe three hours," she told me. "Just hang a right out of the driveway and the road will take you to the square; you can get clothes at Taylor's, and Lilac at the salon will sell you some shampoo and conditioner that's actually worth using."
[Quest Alert!]
[Shopping Trip]
[You have decided to invest in some undershirts and better hair care products. Your sister is allowing this, despite you just getting out of the hospital, on the condition you return before dark. Complete your shopping and return home before night falls.]
[Time limit: 3 hours]
[Reward: 250 EXP, 150L, skill book "?", increased closeness with Olivia Arc]
[Failure Penalty: Decreased closeness with Olivia Arc, decreased closeness with Indigo Arc, likely embarrassment, skill ?.]
[Accept/Decline]
Not much of a reward, but then, it's not much of a quest, I thought. Might pop me over the threshold for third level, though. And who knows, the skill book could be good.
"Don't buy a knife though," Olivia was saying. "I'll give you one — what did you have in mind?"
"Something with a fixed blade that I can carry here," I said, patting my right hip. "Since I'll have the Family Sword on the left and whatever gun you buy me on my back, probably."
That made my sister finally crack a grin. "You're really that cocky about winning our bet, Bro-bro?"
"More than I was before," I told her. "By tomorrow I'll give you a final answer on how confident I feel, but I'm shooting for it regardless."
"Good luck, then. You've got the right attitude about weapons now, at least," Olivia said. "Let me grab you that knife before you go."
"Got any others you don't want?" I followed her up the stairs, seeing no downside to asking. "A folding knife for my pocket, and maybe something smaller I can stick in my boot?"
"Jeez, Jaune, paranoid much?" Olivia asked, amused. "Sure, Bianca gave me a boot knife you can use, and I think I can dig up one of Azure's old butterfly knives."
I grinned, pausing at Olivia's door rather than follow her inside. "Is it paranoia when the entire world really is out to get you?" I asked rhetorically. "I'm not looking to add to my collection of scars anytime soon. Hell, I'd take the Family Sword right now, if I could."
Olivia turned around with two of the promised knives in her hands, looking serious. "Let's hold off on the actual weapons until you're ready to tell us your mysterious secret, Jaune."
"Well, not all my secrets," I laughed. Taking the knives, I said, "Let me get dressed while you look for that knife of Azure's."
Stepping back into my room, I shut the door and started flipping through my inventory. Unequipping the workout shorts and house slippers, I replaced them with some dark-washed jeans with a wide brown belt. I pulled on some socks, and then equipped Jaune's boots, which were surprisingly nice considering the general mediocrity of his wardrobe — his clothes weren't ratty or anything, but they were clearly chosen for comfort over style, whereas the boots were very high quality, complete with steel shanks and toe-caps.
The belt knife was equipped in my hip slot, materializing an extra strap to hold the sheath against my thigh, while the boot knife was completely out of sight as the jeans dropped over them.
Pausing to examine myself critically in the mirror, I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair a few times now that it was mostly dry, teasing it upward and then raking it back with my fingers until it looked both well-maintained and careless.
Something was still missing, though. I walked over to the closet and rifled through it until I found a nice white overshirt that it looked like Jaune had never worn. Moving back to the mirror and equipping it over the gold tee, I nodded approvingly. It wouldn't have worked for me on Earth, but it was a much better fit for Jaune's complexion. Unless I had a better idea, this would probably be my color scheme as a Huntsman.
Opening my door again, I found Olivia coming out of another bedroom idly playing with a balisong. Flipping it closed, she handed it to me. "Here you go, the third in your newly-established knife collection. Remember to be home by dark, or I'll send Indigo to go get you."
I paused, slipping the butterfly knife into my pocket, and said, "I don't have the context to parse that sentence, but it sounds like a threat." The failure condition on my quest said 'likely embarrassment', as well…
Olivia grinned evilly. "It is one-hundred percent a threat. Trust me, you'll want to try not to find out what it means."
"Noted," I said, heading for the door. "I'll try not to get swept off my feet by pretty ladies moved to sympathy by my recent injury."
Grinning as I heard Olivia's snort of laughter, I shut the door behind me, calling out, "Long days and pleasant nights."
I felt pretty good about my interactions with my new siblings. Hopefully all of Jaune's family would be equally as accepting of the 'new me'.
On the way home an hour later, almost a thousand lien poorer but possessing a dozen new A-shirts to wear as both undershirts and workout clothes, plus some high-quality shampoo and conditioner in my inventory, I paused on the way back to the Arc house as I ran out of MP again. I had been popping [Eavesdrop] and [Detect Aura] on as frequently as my MP would allow, while spamming [Observe] like a true Gamer on every tree, stick, and blade of grass, gaining one, two, and one levels respectively.
There was still over an hour until dark, so I stepped off the road toward the treeline, drawing my knife from my belt. It felt… not awkward in my hand exactly, but it also didn't feel as natural as I expected. I knew how to hold a knife from Earth, so I wasn't sure what was putting me off so much. I took a few swipes and test stabs, but the feeling didn't go away.
Pondering, I assumed a basic knife-fighting stance, right foot forward with the blade in my right hand, edge toward the knuckles, almost like a sword. I swung at the nearest tree, scoring a long slice along the bark. Flipping the knife over, keeping the edge knuckle-out, I took an upward swipe, then stabbed, sinking the tip an inch into the tree.
[Importing Outsider save data… Save data loaded successfully!]
[You have remembered the skill [Knife Mastery]!]
[Knife Mastery (Passive) LV 15 EXP: 0.00%]
[A skill that allows the user to freely handle knives and other short blades. The predominant advantage of a knife is its maneuverability, allowing the user to attack enemies from any direction.]
[25% increase in attack damage with short bladed weapons.]
[9% increase in attack speed with short bladed weapons.]
There we go, I thought. Fifteen ranks was more than I expected to import, actually, but I wasn't complaining. The knife felt much more solid in my hands, now, and I didn't feel as worried about possibly dropping it. I twirled it in my hand a few more times, testing different grips and orientations.
[Skillful action caused your DEX to increase by 1!]
Nodding, I slid it back into the sheath on my hip and equipped my wooden sword and shield instead. I swung it at the tree experimentally, first with simple taps, then with better form. It wasn't until I really put my back into it, and committed to the swing, that I got the popups:
[Sword Mastery (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[A skill that allows the user to freely handle swords of all kinds. The predominant advantage of a sword is its versatility, allowing the user to attack enemies in a variety of ways.]
[10% increase in attack damage with swords.]
[5% increase in attack speed with swords.]
[Blunt Weapon Mastery (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[A skill that allows the user to freely handle bludgeoning weapons. The advantage of blunt weapons is that they can be easily used for non-lethal takedowns, and are easy to improvise.]
[10% increase in attack damage with blunt weapons.]
[5% increase in attack speed with blunt weapons.]
[By pushing your body past its limits, you have increased your physical abilities! Your STR has increased by 1! Your CON has increased by 1!]
Hah… Guess I got both because this wooden sword doesn't have an edge, I mused, panting. I glanced at the shield on my arm. Nothing was coming at me, so I didn't think I'd be able to gain a Shield Mastery sort of skill.
Putting the practice sword and shield away, I pulled out the balisong and started playing with it as I started toward the Arc house again. I botched a few flips, naturally, and closed the knife on my fingers once or twice, but it only cost me a few HP and there wasn't any blood to show for it, thankfully. Truth be told, I barely noticed, because I was deep in thought and just following the waypoint I'd placed on my map.
So, the Gamer went for an INT build, I recalled. And I'm already slightly skewed that way myself because of [Outsider], but I'm not sure that's actually the best call. Han Jee-Han got discovered almost immediately, and my current storyline quest was very clear that I need to conceal the Gamer Semblance from the powers that be, both Ozpin and Salem, and probably the governments as well.
It didn't say or imply anything about my family, though, fortunately. I was hoping to rely on my sisters' experience to get better at Hunting, and having to conceal what I could really do would cripple that.
Plus, magic is barely a thing on Remnant, I returned to my train of thought,so if I start running around doing things that can't be explained by a single Semblance, or Dust — which I still don't really know anything about — I'm going to draw attention in a hurry. And on top of all that… it makes me dependent on magic for defense, and if I run out I'll be screwed, because my physical stats will be relatively neglected. On the other hand, physical stats are way easier to train directly, and I'll have the additional lifeline of not being one-shot if I run out of MP, or rather, Aura.
I paused in that train of thought, then shook my head.
No, that's unnecessarily limited. I don't want to be a straight fighter, more like a paladin. I want to improve myself all around. I won't neglect creating spells, if I can do that, but my focus should be on subtle ones. Buffs, rather than flinging destruction; I can do that with Dust anyway. On the subject of D&D spells, maybe I'll try inventing the Smite group of spells regardless, since I canexplain it away with Dust, but I think the animal set of buffs will be more valuable in the long run if I can pull that off.
With a thought, I added that to my [To-Do List].
I want enough MP and regen to keep important buffs going, ideally twenty-four/seven, but my focus should be on getting stronger and tougher. One near-death experience is enough, thanks. Let's call Not Dying Again my paladin's oath. I'll write something up later.
Another mark on my [To-Do List].
That means my focus right now needs to be on raising my base stats and stacking passives; I've already got a quickly-growing CHA boost from [Deception], so hopefully I can find an equivalent passive for the other stats. Fortunately, I'm not locked into my 'class' choice, so I'm not actually restricted from gaining points in other categories, and there's no need to have a dump stat. I can just be good at everything. Besides, if I recall, Han Jee-Han got a special skill upon raising his INT above the 50 threshold; I'll have to see if that's true here too, because if it is, then spending points to bump WIS up to at least that level will probably be worth the cost.
I paused as something loomed in front of me, and realized I was standing at the front door to the Arc home, so I flipped the butterfly knife closed once more.
[Skillful action caused your DEX to increase by 1!]
Quickly pulling the bags of my purchases out of my Inventory, so my sisters wouldn't ask where they were if I encountered them on the way to my room, I unlocked the door with another, "Hello, the house!"
"Welcome back," I heard Olivia reply from the kitchen.
[Quest Complete!]
[Shopping Trip]
[You have gained 250 EXP and 150L!]
[Level up! Your level has increased by 1!]
"I'm going to work out in the gym," I called, mounting the stairs to put the shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom, then closing the door to my room behind me. "[Inventory]."
I put the undershirts back away, equipped one under what I was currently wearing, and then peered more closely at the options available on this screen. Specifically, at the tabs above my character model, which read [Armor Set (+)]. I glanced over my current outfit, and nodded, tapping the tab and saving it as a Set called "Casual". I even had the option to automatically swap out exactly which jeans, undershirts, gold shirts, and white overshirts would be selected, based on how dirty they were.
Not seeing a limit to the number of Sets I could create, I made another called "Workout", consisting of underwear, shorts, and an undershirt; then equipped it. Looking down, I found that I was indeed dressed to work out, so I added my headphones to the armor set. Reaching up to where they were now hooked around my neck, I found the power button and toggled them on, settling them over my ears.
[Importing Outsider save data… Save data loaded successfully!]
[Syncing music library… Warning! Not all tracks available.]
[Missing tracks may be found in the world as Image Songs.]
Okay, wasn't expecting that. I glanced through the song library via the Gamer interface. That looked like… most of my albums, I thought. Maybe there were some missing, but I couldn't tell at a glance. Unfortunately, it looked like I'd have to rebuild all my playlists, but I was the kind of guy who listened to music all the time, so having my old collection of my fingertips was a big comfort.
With a few taps, I threw together a playlist of a few metal albums plus some other essentials — no workout playlist was complete without Eye of the Tiger, after all — then hit Shuffle a few times as I headed down to the family gym, humming along to the opening riff of the first song. Hefting a barbell into the power rack that was thankfully present, since it meant I could work out safely without requiring a spotter, I had to wonder how much I could realistically lift with a STR of… what, 11? The weights were in kilograms, which threw me off a bit, but hopefully the math would become second nature.
50kg on the squat bar was a decent warmup, but it was a little too easy, so I threw on ten more. Hefting it, I immediately felt the difference — to my frustration, since it still wasn't very much weight in the grand scheme. I had been able to squat way more than this, before.
It was such a huge difference in the effort required, though, that I had to wonder if each point of STR was only good for a certain amount of weight, and I would have to exceed that to actually struggle with my workout. If so, and if I could figure out what each STR was worth, I would be able to calibrate my lifts way more easily, at least for squats. Presumably benching would be different, since less muscles were involved. If my STR score made all my lifts the same that would be utterly bizarre.
These thoughts and the driving music carried me through the set and I racked it with a grunt.
[By pushing your body past its limits, you have increased your physical abilities! Your STR has increased by 1!]
[Importing Outsider save data… Save data loaded successfully!]
[You have remembered the skill [Weightlifting]!]
[Weightlifting (Passive) LV 12 EXP: 67.37%]
[You are experienced at weight training, and have knowledge of proper weightlifting form and breathing techniques to better control your body when working out.]
[Increases balance when lifting weights by 26%]
[Improves breath control by 31%]
It felt good to be back in the gym, frankly, even if the ache in Jaune's muscles made me wonder if he'd ever lifted anything heavier than a comic book. Wiping the sweat from my face, I found my fingers worrying the gap in my eyebrow just as the song's final chorus ended.
"Every wound will shape me, every scar will build my throne!"
Considering the prominent scars on my new face, and the drive I possessed in spades at the moment… if I had a theme song for this new life, I thought that might be it.
[Image song selected: Jaune Arc – "Throne" by Bring Me The Horizon]
And apparently it now is. You know what, I can live with that.
Straightening up as my fatigue faded (thanks [Gamer's Body]), I got under the bar for another set, but as soon as I lifted it, something felt wrong. The 60kg that had been a genuine struggle to lift was now… easy. I could still feel it, but it barely registered.
Frowning, I racked it again and pulled up my [Stats] page. 60kg had been challenging at 11 STR, but was nearly trivial at 12. Was this like a carrying capacity, at literally 5kg/STR?
To test it, I loaded another half-kg onto each side, then tried again, and… Yep, now I'm overencumbered,, I thought, feeling way more strain than going from 60kg to 61kg should have been capable of causing. Deciding to experiment, I racked the weight once more, and removed the half-kg weights. Going up to 65kg felt the same, as did 70kg; I could tell that it got heavier each time, but it wasn't significantly harder to lift each time.
When I tried 75kg, however, I couldn't lift the bar at all, so whatever the final threshold was, I had obviously passed it. Going back to 70kg, I started going up by 1kg and hit failure at 72kg. If I assumed it used whole numbers, then 72 kg was my absolute limit, meaning it topped out at 6kg/STR. So, with a 12 STR, where I was overencumbered at 60kg and overloaded at 72kg, my training sweet spot would be in between that.
[Clever intuition caused your INT to increase by 1!]
Apparently I'm on the money, then. I'll run through my usual routine, but increase the weight as much as I can stand on each set since I don't think I have to worry about overtraining. Then I'll cool down with a run, shower, and do some stretches after dinner.
Dropping back to 70kg, I pushed through another set:
[Physical exertion caused your STR to increase by 1!]
Then another at 75kg, just under my new max:
[Repeated struggles caused your CON to increase by 1!]
Awesome.
I ended the night on the treadmill, pushing it as hard as I could to see what kind of speed I could keep up at a sprint, and for how long.
[By pushing your body past its limits, you have increased your physical abilities! Your DEX has increased by 1!]
Awesome to the max.
I worked out until dinner, gaining seven more points in STR, two more in CON, and three in DEX, as well as two in WIS for coming up with a good routine and vowing to stick to it. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be getting this many points in a row again, but being able to quantify my progress was really nice.
I also netted another level each in [Eavesdrop] and [Detect Aura], and had [Observe]d everything in the gym until doing so stopped giving me EXP for the skill.
By the time Olivia called out that dinner was nearly ready, I was well into my cooldown and my breathing was steady enough to sing along to the music from my headphones. I almost tripped off the treadmill when I got a popup for it.
[A skill has been created through a special action! Determinedly ignoring your shortcomings in maintaining a note has created the skill [Sing]!]
[Sing (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%]
[A skill that represents your ability to create music with your voice.]
[Improves singing ability by 10%.]
[Improves breath control by 10%.]
No import? I used to sing all the time, though. I thought about what that must mean. 'Determinedly ignoring my shortcomings'? I was THAT untalented in my past life? Ouch… True to the description, I was finding it easier to stay on-key now, but still. I guess you can only fail at something for so long before you figure out all the ways that don't work.
I was dripping with sweat when I emerged from the gym, heading for the stairs to clean up before we ate.
"Hey, Jaune? After you shower, can you wake Indigo up for dinner?" Olivia asked from the kitchen door. "I should have it on the table by then."
"Sure," I replied. "She's second on the left, yeah?"
Olivia nodded.
Humming in the shower netted me the [Humming] skill, which was basically the same as [Sing], just for humming, obviously.
I made good use of my new shampoo and conditioner, feeling the difference immediately, and after drying off got dressed again by equipping a pair of black silk boxers I had bought earlier for sleeping in. Then, as a courtesy since I wasn't getting in bed right away, I also threw on an oversized tee-shirt to cover up for dinner.
I knocked on Indigo's door on the way back down the hall, and it was unlatched, so it swung open. Hearing no reply, I glanced in, but the bed was empty.
Puzzled, I went back downstairs. "Where's Indigo?" Olivia asked, stirring a pot on the stove. "You know you have to chivvy her down or she'll go back to sleep and won't eat."
"She's not in bed," I replied. "I didn't check the bathroom; maybe she's already up?"
Olivia snorted. "That would be a first." Then she looked back at me and seemed to realize something. "Did you look under the bed?"
Raising an eyebrow, I shook my head.
"Would you, please?" she asked. "The soup is almost ready, or I'd do it. Get her shadow's attention before you shake her."
Nodding as if that made sense, I backtracked up the stairs. Knocking on Indigo's doorframe, I waited, but there was no more answer than before. Stepping inside, I crouched down beside the bed and looked underneath. Sure enough, there Indigo… lay? She was still wearing her day clothes, minus the hat, but was covered in writhing shadows, which twisted over her limbs like snakes, and she seemed to be actually halfway submerged into the shadow on the floor. It was decidedly non-Euclidean, and my eyes didn't want to interpret it. It didn't seem comfortable, but then, it wasn't my Semblance.
I knocked softly on the floor where the light from the hall lay, and a moment later, the head of Indigo's shadow stretched into view. It nodded, and I took that as permission to touch Indigo's shoulder. The shadowy tendrils pulled away as I shook her gently, until one dark blue eye cracked open.
"Hey," I told her. "It's dinnertime; Olivia made soup." I released her shoulder, but left my hand outstretched under the bed. She stared at me unblinking for a good ten seconds before she reached out and grabbed it. I drew her slowly out from under the bed, and upright, where she stretched and yawned hugely before shuffling toward the door ahead of me. Apparently she knew the score, and had decided not to make me work at getting her down for dinner. By the time we hit the stairs, her gait had steadied and she seemed at least as awake as she had been this afternoon.
There were three steaming bowls of onion soup on the kitchen table — I would have called it French onion, but that wouldn't make sense on Remnant — and as Indigo and I sat down, Olivia stood up from the oven with a fresh loaf of what smelled like sourdough.
"This is what I'd planned on making for when you got home," she said, setting the bread down along with a serrated knife. "I didn't expect you to be well enough to spend the afternoon running around town and working out, but no sense in wasting the ingredients."
"I appreciate it regardless," I replied. I waited to see if there was any sort of prayer or ritual expected before eating, but Indigo dug right in while Olivia carved off slices of bread for everyone, so I shrugged and went for it.
It wouldn't have been ideal after a heavy workout, on Earth, but I didn't think [Gamer's Body] cared about whether I ate sufficient protein. I wasn't entirely sure I even needed to eat, although I did still feel a desire to do so. My guess was, I would get some negative status effect if I neglected my physical needs, but I probably wouldn't die from it unless such a 'starvation' effect started draining my HP. I still definitely enjoyed food, though, and Olivia's soup was excellent.
"You spent the afternoon working out?" Indigo asked casually.
"After I went shopping," I explained. "I wanted some new clothes, and I needed some better shampoo."
"Oh, that's right," Olivia said, leaning back in her chair and snagging a book off the counter behind her. "I meant to give you this when you got home. It'll be good to have studied when you unlock your Aura."
[You have received the skill book [Unity: Remnant's Heartbeat]!]
[Would you like to learn the skill [Gaia's Pulse]?]
[Y/N]
Ah, this must be the book that was a reward for the shopping quest. I wondered why I hadn't gotten it. I ignored the prompt for the moment.
"You do remember that you just got out of the hospital today, right?" Indigo asked pointedly. "Hell, you remember that you just woke up from a short coma earlier today, right?"
I shrugged. "I feel fine," I told her. "Better than fine, even. I feel great after that workout; like twice as strong." That wasn't even an exaggeration; my base STR was already 20 compared to the 10 it had been when I woke up. "I'm feeling good about my chances of getting into Beacon." I grinned at Olivia.
Indigo's spoon froze. "You still want to be a Huntsman, then?" she asked tonelessly.
"Sure," I said. "The entrance exam is in March; I should be in great shape by then if I train my butt off."
"We made a little wager," Olivia told her sister. "If Jaune makes it in, I'll buy him a weapon he designs to go along with Crocea Mors. But if he doesn't make it, he has to be my errand boy for a whole year until he can try again."
"I'll start working on blueprints," I said, smirking cockily as I finished mopping up the last of my soup with another slice of bread.
"Unbelievable," Indigo grumbled. She pushed her bowl away and stood up. "Jaune. Dojo. Get dressed." She stalked into the foyer, turning sharply down the hall.
"Uh, did I miss something?" I asked aloud.
Olivia bit her lip. "I guess she was more upset by you getting hurt than I realized. I should have, though, since she volunteered to stay at the hospital with you a lot while you were out."
"And because of that, she… wants to fight me?" I said, trying to follow the logic. "Why?"
"To make you reconsider not taking it easy, I suppose," Olivia mused. "Or maybe show you how far you have to go. Just do your best. Go change while I clear the table, and I'll referee."
I sighed, opened my inventory, and switched to my 'Workout' clothes. Olivia's eyes widened, so I explained, "It's part of my secret. I'll tell you tomorrow, like I promised?"
Shaking her head, Olivia said, "This had better be one heck of an explanation."
Sure enough, Indigo's slippers were waiting by the door to the dojo. My Workout 'armor set' didn't include shoes at the moment, so I simply slipped inside. Indigo was waiting with her arms folded, tapping her foot impatiently. Her shadow, I noticed, was tapping the opposite foot, slightly out of sync. It might have just been me, but I found it incredibly distracting.
"Something bothering you?" I asked unnecessarily.
Scowling, Indigo jabbed a finger at me. "I thought that being attacked by a Grimm, winding up comatose in a hospital bed for three days, and gaining a horrible scar in exchange for losing your goddamn memory might have instilled some survival instinct in you, but apparently not."
"On the contrary," I said. "I have a very strong desire to survive. I decided that the best way to ensure I do, is to get stronger so that something like this can never happen again. I've got eight months to get up to snuff, and after today, I think I can do it."
Olivia had slipped in behind me while I was talking, according to the passive portion of [Detect Aura], and I could hear some vaguely familiar music with no discernible source, that nobody else was reacting to, starting to pick up on volume. Taken together, these events hinted that this spar was going to kick off soon. I'd hoped to avoid it by staying calm and rational, but Indigo wasn't going to be so easily dissuaded.
As I'd feared, Indigo shook her head, dropping into a combat stance.
With a sigh, I moved over to the wall and pulled down a training sword and shield, identical to the ones I had stored in my Inventory. "As you wish."
"I won't use my Aura or Semblance," Indigo told me. "If I do, that's a forfeit. Force me to use them and it's your win. Otherwise, there's no rules, and we're going until you can't get back up. Let's see how determined you are, Jaune."
[Duel Alert!]
[First Duel Note: Duels represent any fight that ends in any win/loss condition where the terms are agreed upon beforehand. Duels are never a part of quests, and any fight that is part of a quest's progression will not be a Duel.]
[Combatants: Jaune Arc vs. Indigo Arc]
[Victory Conditions: Impress Indigo Arc]
[Optional Objectives: Indigo Arc activates her Aura or Semblance]
[Loss Conditions: Inability to continue]
[Victory: 5,000 EXP, 10,000L, increased closeness with Indigo Arc]
[Bonus Reward: +2,500 EXP, +5,000L, skill book ?]
[Loss: 1,000 EXP, decreased closeness with Indigo Arc]
As I resignedly accepted the Duel message — not that it gave me a chance to decline — the background music suddenly kicked into gear, and I finally recognized the song.
[BGM Unlocked! Arc Family Sparring theme – "This Is Gonna Hurt" by Sixx:A.M.]
Oh, dear…
Name: Jaune Arc
Level: 3 (Next: 3.33%)
Title: Newcomer
Race: Human
Age: 17
Job: None
Class: The Gamer
Semblance: The Gamer
HP: 340/340
MP: 370/370
STR: 20
CON: 14
DEX: 16
INT: 27
WIS: 19
CHA: 23.3 (21)
Points: 15
Money: 275L
Status: Cursed – Yellow Death [Highest]
A/N: Sticking to my usual estimate of about 10 Lien to the dollar.