20demayo Mark and semi-final.
Mark and semi-final.
Yo! Here is the promised chapter. Again, it was supposed to be released in just a few hours—five to be exact—but since I woke up to drink some water, I decided to post this just in case I don’t wake up on time. I’m going to sleep in because there was a problem at work, and I won’t need to go in today. Yay!
Well, as always, if anyone wants, it's possible to have 3/7 chapters in advance on my (P)(A)(T). If not, I still appreciate you reading.
Oh, and the next chapter will be out on October 18th.
That said, have a great day and enjoy your reading!
[...]---[...]
I ignored Jinn, who seemed content inspecting the new 'tattoo' she had received, and (CHAT), who had gone into a small frenzy, focusing instead on the energy I could feel coming from the mark.
I pulled my nightmare energy into my eyes. It had been a while since I last used this 'vision mode.' Watching the world's colors fade and red tendrils sprout from nowhere was always strange.
The energy I saw in that hand mark was clearly mine. More specifically, it was my nightmare energy, but there were a few small differences. The most obvious was the sense of 'distance.' It was the same feeling I had when I manifested one of my Nightmares in reality.
The second thing I noticed, after concentrating a bit, was that my connection with Jinn still existed, but it was much weaker and more tenuous than before when she was in my Spiritual Realm. The connection came directly from that hand mark.
I felt that if Jinn wanted to and if I concentrated, it would be possible to 'pull' her mind back into my Spiritual Realm, this time without the damage that the first trip caused.
"Jinn, do you feel anything coming from this mark?" I couldn’t see anything bad happening, but it was better to ask the owner of the said mark, just to be sure. If she felt anything wrong, it would be wise to start thinking about ways to remove it from her as quickly as possible.
A 'corrupted Jinn' or an 'insane Jinn' was something I would like to avoid.
She turned to look at me from her position in the air and tilted her head.
"Yes, but it’s nothing harmful... I think." She blinked, confused for a moment, and poked the hand mark with her finger, more specifically the orange-pupiled eye in the center of her palm. "I can tell that this has changed something in me, but it shouldn’t be anything harmful. It’s not unpleasant."
"Your 'I think' from earlier isn’t very reassuring," I pointed out. "I need a concrete answer here. Do you hear any whispers from afar? Any insane voices murmuring in your ear?"
"None of those options. I don’t even feel like I’m going crazy or seeing shadows," she replied. Jinn had been in my head for a while; she knew how my nightmare energy worked.
"So, what has changed?" I asked. "Besides your restrictions loosening, of course."
She frowned for a moment and moved her body in the air, landing both feet on the ground. I realized she was trying to do something. I could see the energy in the mark stirring as the eye in the center of her palm glowed orange.
It wasn’t a strong glow, but it was clearly visible, even covered by her white dress.
It took no more than a few seconds for a few things to happen, changes both visual and those I could only sense if I focused on the mark.
Her eyes were the main visual change that occurred. They were still sky blue, just a few shades lighter than her skin tone, but now they had gained the same red veins in the sclera and the dark circles that I always had when I used nightmare energy in my eyes.
Even the veins around her eyes had taken on a darker shade of blue. It wasn’t black, but it was clearly darker than her usual blue.
The second change wasn’t something truly visual, but it involved the energy in the mark. It started to weaken and become scarce, as if it were being drained. I’m sure that if Jinn lifted her skirt to show the mark, it would be fading or even starting to disappear.
The third change was simpler. I felt the connection between the two of us become more 'solid.' It hadn’t grown larger, but if it was like a regular rope before, now it was like a steel cable.
"So this is how you see the world when you use that energy?..." she murmured, looking around before staring at her hands. I felt she was talking to herself and not to me. "I’d seen this in the stream before, but seeing it with my own eyes is... different."
When she finished speaking, Jinn turned and looked in my direction. She focused on my eyes for a moment before glancing down at my shadow. I felt my Nightmares stir for a moment, wanting to look back at Jinn. I restrained them.
Before I could speak, I noticed the tips of her ears turning the same dark blue as the veins around her eyes. The speed at which the mark's energy was being drained increased when that happened; I wouldn’t give it more than a few minutes before all the energy was consumed at that rate.
The change in her ears lasted just over a second before she shook her head and the dark blue color returned to normal.
"Even for me, these whispers are really unpleasant..." She frowned and touched the tips of her ears with her fingers, massaging them for a second.
"You already knew that," I pointed out. She had heard the whispers, either through the stream or from a random memory that floated her way when she was pulled into my Spiritual Realm.
"Yes, but I was curious and wanted to hear them for myself." She stuck out her tongue. At the same time, I felt the mark's energy recede, and the changes in her eyes disappeared. The connection between us returned to normal as well.
I shook my head. That curiosity of hers is going to cause a problem later; I could already feel it.
Jinn must have felt the energy in the mark too because, even without me saying anything, she lifted part of her skirt. The mark had undergone some changes. The 'design,' so to speak, was still the same, a black palm with an orange-pupiled eye in the center, but the color was more faded, and the eye was partially closed.
The energy didn’t seem to be regenerating. Jinn noticed this and turned, looking directly at my right hand.
"Have I become some kind of battery now?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I know you’re curious to test it too." She laughed and leaned her thigh in my direction. "Are you embarrassed?~"
...This little blue thing.
I sighed before approaching and kneeling beside Jinn. I ignored the cheerful smile on her face and said, "I’ll treat this as a medical procedure. Let me know if anything happens."
She must have sensed my seriousness or just decided to stop teasing because she nodded with a serious face. I didn’t hesitate to place my hand over the mark.
As expected, my palm was the exact same size as the mark on Jinn’s thigh. The moment I touched the mark, I felt the energy within it react to my own nightmare energy. I let my hand rest on Jinn’s thigh for a second before channeling my nightmare energy into the mark.
I felt her muscles—or their equivalent, since she's more spiritual than physical—tense up. I immediately withdrew my hand.
Jinn spoke before I could even ask what had happened.
"It’s nothing, just... your nightmare energy is cold." She ran her hand over the 'tattoo' before gesturing for me to continue. "Actually, 'chilly' is the right word. It's not uncomfortable, just a bit surprising. You can go on."
Even with her confirmation, I waited a few seconds, both to observe how our energies interacted—my nightmare energy and Jinn's spiritual energy—and to see how the mark behaved.
Watching what was essentially a tattoo move was curious: the way the faded color returned to its original shade, how the eye in the center of the palm opened again...
Once I was sure nothing bad would happen, I placed my hand back on the mark and guided my nightmare energy once more. This time, Jinn didn’t react. I continued "recharging" the mark, so to speak, until I felt a limit.
Instinctively, I knew I could push that limit by pouring even more nightmare energy into the mark, which would cause it to grow in some way. I withdrew my hand and stood up.
I wasn't going to use Jinn as a guinea pig.
"All done. Any changes? Do you feel anything different in the mark?" I asked, brushing my hands together as if dusting them off. It was more of a habit than anything else.
She shook her head.
"No difference. It feels the same as before." She answered, letting her dress cover the mark again.
"And what about when the mark had less energy? Did it feel the same as when it was full?" I asked. "Besides the difference in energy, of course."
"It’s basically the same. If there’s any difference, it’s minimal—small enough that I didn’t notice." She hummed before adding, "I don't feel any mental or physical 'weight' with the change in energy, if that's what you're wondering."
I nodded silently and let my thoughts wander for a moment. Overall, this mark didn’t seem harmful to Jinn in any way. My energy, at least the one in the mark, also seemed more contained. More inert.
Even when Jinn used it, the energy didn’t react in any negative or aggressive way...
"By the way, why did this mark appear on your thigh?" I let one of my thoughts slip out. "I mean, why there of all places, and not on your back or chest, which would be closer to your heart?"
This was something I’d been thinking about since the mark appeared. Why the thigh, of all places, and not somewhere like the back or chest, which would be closer to the heart?
"I have no idea." She shrugged. "Maybe it’s because you touched me there when my body collapsed?"
"When you were pulled into my Spiritual Realm?" I asked. She nodded. "It’s possible, but it doesn’t make much sense. When you collapsed, the first place I grabbed was your shoulder, not your thigh..."
When Jinn collapsed, the first place I touched was her shoulder, and then her thigh when I went to carry her before she turned into smoke and returned to the relic. It would make more sense for the mark to appear on her shoulder if that were the case.
"The mark would also be horizontal if that were the reason, not vertical," I pointed out.
The mark on Jinn’s thigh was an open palm with the fingers pointing upwards towards her waist. If the mark’s creation were really because of that touch, it would be horizontal, not vertical.
"It was just a thought. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just something random," she hummed, walking towards the ship's entrance before turning around with a playful smile on her face. "But look at it this way: at least the mark appeared there and not somewhere else, like on my butt, for example. Recharging the mark if it were there would be an experience, wouldn’t it?~"
At this point, I was used to her teasing just to get a reaction out of me. She seemed to have made it a small hobby or something, even though she didn’t do it when Millia was around, which, given the time, wasn’t the case.
The little slime was sleeping right now. It was late.
"The experience would be the same. I said I was treating this as a medical procedure, didn’t I?"
"You did," she agreed. "But I wouldn’t mind if you squeezed once or twice by accident~"
Even before she finished speaking, the (CHAT) had already exploded with messages. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was also one of her goals with this conversation.
Don’t Djinns like to play tricks or something? Apparently, this Jinn did too...
"No doctor would grope their patients," I pointed out, frowning. "At least not one who doesn't deserve to be brutally beaten into a coma."
That, or pay a visit to my Nightmares.
Before she could say anything else—and by the look on her face, she was about to—I tossed something her way. It wasn’t fast or forceful; she caught the object easily.
"The Codex Umbra?" She held the book with both hands.
"See if you can find something you like... Though most of the rituals and spells in there aren’t exactly pleasant, they’re useful." I said, passing by her towards the ship’s entrance.
The rituals and spells in the Codex Umbra, while indeed useful, came with a high cost, either on the part of the creator of the rituals or the sacrifice those rituals demanded.
Usually, the cost involved something like driving someone or a group of people insane to the point of oblivion. That, or the separation and fragmentation of one’s own mind to create a Shadow Puppet. That last one, as useful as it was, I had used Tyrian as a guinea pig for instead of trying it myself.
Maxwell was a disturbed guy.
Jinn looked at the Codex Umbra in her hands for a few seconds before smiling, nodding to herself, and following me, holding the book against her chest with one hand.
"You know that handing over a book like that, without any warning, could lead to disaster, don’t you?"
I raised my index finger as I replied.
"First, I’m not sure if the Codex Umbra is even considered a grimoire." I raised a second finger, the thumb, before continuing. "Second, you, of all people, should know what not to do in this situation. I trust you not to mess things up."
Jinn might joke and act silly, but when it came to serious matters, she was more than reliable. I didn’t even want to think about how tedious and time-consuming it would be to heal Amber without her help.
When I finished my brief explanation, I closed the two fingers and, at the same time, pulled out a skewer of meat from the inventory, holding it between them.
I couldn’t help but agree.
Beacon was considered by many to be the best academy in the world, where only the best entered. For these students, being in the lowest percentile in their year’s combat class was something shameful.
Usually, these students were the best in all the years they trained at their respective preparatory academies... But not at Beacon. Beacon only accepted the best. When the best met, they realized they were not so great after all...
Some used this as motivation, as fuel to improve and rise to the top again, while others just resigned themselves, after all, being one of the worst among the best was still something that could be considered good...
Then there was Jaune Arc, a young fool who had never fought before Beacon, who didn’t even know what Aura was, but still, seven months later, was among the 'worst of the best.' He wasn’t even the worst in the combat class; there were those who were inferior to him.
It was impressive. More than that. Young Arc had caught up to his peers who had trained their whole lives in just seven short months... The young man was brilliant.
I briefly shifted my gaze from the arena and looked at Devas out of the corner of my eye.
... If Jaune was, in Devas’s words, a little monster, then what was Devas himself?
I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind when I noticed something in the arena. I wasn’t the only one; Miss Nikos and young Arc also noticed, both of them moving almost simultaneously.
Miss Nikos blocked Miss Xiao Long's punch, coming from the right, with her shield, before counterattacking with her xiphos-shaped weapon. At the same time, young Arc positioned himself in front of Mr. Ren, blocking some of Miss Belladonna's gunfire with his shield and the rest with his Aura.
"Trying to ambush someone whose Semblance is magnetism with metal weapons isn’t the best plan," Devas commented. I agreed with his words.
The first to react was Miss Valkyrie, who leaped towards the closest target: Miss Xiao Long, striking her with her hammer. Miss Xiao Long chose to parry Miss Nikos's strike, perhaps considering it more dangerous, with one of her gauntlets, while blocking Miss Valkyrie’s blow with the other forearm.
Even with Aura, blocking a hammer strike with just one arm is inadvisable. Miss Xiao Long must have realized this when she was thrown in the opposite direction of the blow, her Aura glowing around her for a moment.
I didn’t even need to look to know that her Aura meter had dropped considerably.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ren took advantage of young Arc serving as a shield to fire with his two pistols at Miss Belladonna, who used her Semblance to create a clone that took her place in the path of the bullets. She didn’t try to counterattack again but instead retreated, running in the same direction Miss Xiao Long had been thrown.
Young Arc raised his arm, stopping his teammates from following the two, and shouted what I assume was a command to fire, as everyone except him started shooting in the direction where the two members of Team RWBY had fled.
After about five seconds of shooting, young Arc raised his hand again, causing the firing to stop, and signaled to the opposite side, where they quickly began to move.
"Not a bad idea. The shots must have alerted Ruby and Weiss; it’s obvious to think they were heading towards the fight to help Yang and Blake," Devas said, his fingers drumming slowly on the chair.
"Which they’re not," I commented. Miss Rose and Miss Schnee hadn’t moved from their spot.
The former was still placing glyphs everywhere, while the latter was lying on the ground with her rifle aimed at the direction Team JNPR was approaching from.
Miss Schnee shouted something to Miss Rose seconds later, who adjusted her aim and fired.
The shot grazed Miss Nikos on the shoulder, making her grunt and jump to the side, along with her teammates. Her Aura dropped by almost twenty percent.
"Instinct or reflex?"
"Both, I imagine," I replied.
Miss Rose hadn’t missed, and bullets don’t curve in the air. Miss Nikos's Semblance saved her from taking a direct hit that, if it hadn’t knocked her out of the fight completely, would have drained much more than just twenty percent.
"And the redhead narrowly avoids having a hole in her chest! How lucky, ladies! Who would have thought a high-powered rifle would be... high-powered? Who was the IDIOT WHO ALLOWED THIS?!"
Toman's narration always amused me. Apparently, it amused the audience as well.
"Shouldn’t you be out there narrating too?"
"I took a break. Roman seems to be handling things well without my presence," he shrugged. "I’m sure he prefers the spotlight all to himself."
"I have no doubt about that." I returned my attention to the fight.
After the first shot, Miss Rose didn’t continue shooting and stood up, transforming her rifle into a scythe. Without hesitation, she ran towards Team JNPR. Curiously, her focus seemed to be on Miss Valkyrie rather than Miss Nikos.
The first strike of her scythe cut through Miss Valkyrie’s Aura; the second was blocked by the leader of Team JNPR, who defended with his shield; the third aimed at young Arc’s legs, knocking him down and reducing some of his Aura. The fourth strike didn’t happen.
Miss Rose retreated when Mr. Ren and Miss Nikos got up and moved towards her. They didn’t have time to attack before she disappeared among the trees, leaving only a trail of rose petals.
Miss Nikos seemed tempted to throw her spear at Miss Rose but hesitated and changed her mind at the last second. It looks like Devas's lesson had an effect.
"Team JNPR has fallen into Team RWBY's rhythm," Devas commented. "It’s going to be hard for them to recover. And Weiss seems intent on bringing Amity down with this many glyphs."
"Let’s hope that doesn’t happen," I joked. Amity wouldn’t fall just from that.
"Keep thinking that, and you'll be the one cleaning up the pieces when it crashes to the ground," Devas huffed before falling silent.
The battle continued with a fluctuating rhythm. Team RWBY attacked only using ambushes and surprise attacks, never engaging directly with Team JNPR.
Miss Schnee’s glyphs began to become a hindrance as nearly a third of the arena got covered by them. This achievement drained a significant portion of Miss Schnee's Aura but greatly hindered Team JNPR's movement, as they couldn't move without thinking.
The glyphs weren’t just traps that exploded or froze but also signal markers. If someone stepped on a glyph, moments later, Miss Rose would shoot at them from anywhere she was.
"Although she's using her Semblance more, Pyrrha isn’t using the iron sand I recommended," Devas said, keeping his eyes on the battle. "At least she seems to be using it to boost her movements, controlling her armor."
"Miss Nikos has good control over her Semblance, but I don’t think it’s refined enough to control grains of sand. She must be hesitant to use them."
"That’s likely. It’s better to fight normally, as she’s always fought and feels comfortable, rather than trying something new she isn’t practiced with." He tapped his fingers in a slow rhythm before continuing. "And how did your meeting with Blake's parents go?"
"It went well. There were no surprises, and it was a quick meeting. We’ll have a few more in the coming days," I explained, before adding, "The Belladonnas plan to open an academy like Beacon, Haven, and Shade in Menagerie. They contacted the Vale government, who directed them to me."
"They didn’t have an academy? I’m sure I read about that."
"They do have a few," I didn’t deny. "But they are more like Signal than Beacon, preparatory academies. The vast majority of graduates from these academies come to the mainland to study at Haven or learn directly from Huntsmen and Huntresses in Menagerie."
"Given the proximity, I guess. Mistral is the closest place to Menagerie on the maps I’ve seen."
"It’s also the kingdom with the best relationship with them. I’m sure if it weren’t for recent events, they would have gone to Haven instead of Beacon." I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness with the last part.
If Devas noticed my emotions, he didn’t comment on them, just nodded.
"The battle will end soon," Devas pointed out. "Nora and Ren have dangerously low Aura, and while Jaune has plenty of Aura, he won’t be able to assist Pyrrha alone. Blake also doesn’t seem willing to let that happen. None of them do, really."
The two teams were facing each other in a clearing, one of the few places without glyphs. Team JNPR managed to lure Team RWBY to this position, breaking their main strategy a bit, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.
As Devas pointed out, Miss Belladonna seemed pleased to hinder young Arc's movements while fighting him and preventing him from helping his teammates. On the other side of the clearing, further right, Miss Xiao Long and Miss Schnee were both fighting Mr. Ren and Miss Valkyrie.
Fighting Miss Nikos was Miss Rose.
The movements of both were swift, with dozens of strikes being exchanged every few seconds. Miss Rose had a clear speed advantage, dancing around Miss Nikos and delivering strikes that made it seem like a group of people was attacking her instead of just one.
But while Miss Rose had the advantage in speed, Miss Nikos had the advantage in experience. She wasn’t as fast as Miss Rose, far from it, but her reaction time was incredible, and I imagine, combined with her Semblance, she managed to dodge or block nearly every blow coming her way.
"A storm against a mountain," Devas said almost in a whisper. For the first time since the battle began, his eyes took on an orange hue.
His analogy was accurate.
Miss Rose was the storm. The number of rose petals in the clearing was so large, and the speed of the strikes was so fast, it was like a tornado forming. It was small, but it seemed to grow every second, not just in size, but in speed as well.
Miss Nikos was the mountain. She sacrificed her mobility to withstand the torrent of blows coming her way. Even now, at the center of that tornado, she kept her feet firmly on the ground, trading blow for blow without yielding.
Miss Rose and Miss Nikos had the same expression on their faces, or rather, the lack of expression. Their faces looked like stone, adorned with a serious, unblinking gaze. At no point did they divert their gaze from each other.
The standoff seemed to last long due to its intensity, but it lasted a little over a minute. The end came when Miss Nikos’s Aura, already greatly weakened from all the blows she had taken in the forest earlier, fell below ten percent.
Amity's system alert came moments later.
[Pyrrha Nikos’s Aura has dropped below 10%. Current Aura: 9% - Eliminated!]
"How unfair... But, unfortunately, that's how things are." Devas’s sigh was audible. His eyes returned to their normal color.
"This isn’t the first time Amity’s security system has interfered in a fight and it won’t be the last," I sighed, just like he did.
To the vast majority, the standoff between Miss Rose and Miss Nikos might seem favorable for Miss Rose. She had more Aura, moved more, attacked more, while Miss Nikos was stationary, barely able to withstand.
But for anyone more experienced who could truly read the battle, they’d know that just a few more seconds would have reversed the roles. Miss Rose’s hands and arms were shaking more with each second, her strikes were losing precision, and her steps were becoming increasingly erratic.
I glanced at the Aura panel.
[Ruby Rose - Aura: 16%]
Even though Miss Rose had more Aura than Miss Nikos, if the fight continued as it was, I wouldn’t give more than five seconds for her Aura to drop below Miss Nikos's.
If this battle, at least between Miss Rose and Miss Nikos, had been outside of a tournament, the outcome would have been different.
Miss Rose stopped her attacks when the Amity system's voice sounded. Miss Nikos did the same; the look in her eyes wasn’t one of anger or resignation, but of relief. The way her shoulders slumped was as if a weight had been lifted from them.
"Good fight, Ruby. I won’t lose to you next time," Devas said. It didn’t take much to know he was echoing Miss Nikos's words.
Such insane insights.
"No... You didn’t lose to me, and you know that," Miss Rose didn’t move immediately to help her teammates. "You lost to RWBY, not to Ruby. There’s a difference..."
Miss Nikos didn’t respond verbally, just nodded and began to walk out of the arena. Miss Rose only moved when Miss Nikos was out of sight.
The battle didn’t last much longer after that.
[Team RWBY Victory]
[...]---[...]
I enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the part of the conversation between Devas and Jinn and the fight between team RWBY x JNPR. I like writing battles, something I’ve realized I’ve been missing...
Well, for those who asked and read my notes, the Remnant Arc (RWBY) officially ends in exactly three chapters, at least on (P)(A)(T). It was an arc that I thought was cool, but it could have been better. I had many personal issues while it was happening, unfortunately.
Anyway, I won’t go on too long here. Have a great day, everyone, and enjoy your reading!
PS: Next chapter: Interlude (3) - Terraria.