Chapter 15

[||||=LEVEL 15= ||||]

9 years 5 months in Remnant

5 years after Summer's death

Roman tried not to be too needy a business partner. Probably because he was scared of me since I occasionally brought the corpses to his office.

I gave a few tests of his capabilities to show more that our relationship wasn't one-sided than out of any need or desire to use the information he had.

He had recruited rapidly, taking all the men he could into his gang. He then made sure they were as loyal as gang members could be and then sent them to control the territory he had acquired through my purges.

This had spooked plenty of gangs of course but they couldn't do anything with me intercepting them before they went in.

By now Roman had all the territory he could want and needed some time to solidify his position rather than expand. He was too thinned out to properly care for his territory. He needed more men and more organization. Letting the other gangs settle down would help too.

I myself had finally hit three hundred WIS and INT as well as a few benchmarks with my physical skills.

*Ding!* By reaching 150 VIT a new skill has been acquired! - Hardy

"A weathered man can last quite some time without bodily needs."

-Marzu the nomad

-You need 50% less food, water, and sleep.

*Ding!* By reaching 250 DEX a new skill has been acquired! - Instinctual

"Sometimes you just know when something is coming for you. I blame some sort of sixth sense."

-Rikea Faust - first generation huntress

-You sense the presence of danger and react accordingly rather than the knowledge of being in danger triggering a reflex coming towards you.

*Ding!* By reaching 300 WIS a new skill has been acquired! - Dominant nature

"There are many affinities in my soul. But in my heart there is only fire."

-Gaki the inferno

-Your highest base (not externally modified) affinity grows 3x as fast

-Your highest 3 affinities have an additional x2 modifier

*Ding!* By reaching 300 INT a new skill has been acquired! - Steel will

"Mind magic. Magic that changes the will of others to your bidding. It takes away free will. Identity… Disgusting."

-Illia of the ironwilled

-Mind magic cannot effect you

-You retain clear thought at all times

*Ding!* Through massive air and electrical affinities as well as an apparent water affinity you earned a title:

The Storm

-Reduces mana costs of wind, water, and electrical magic by 20%

-Increases air and electrical affinities by 50% (After modifiers)

-Increases mana capacity and regen by 25%

-can be upgraded by acquiring additional facets of a true storm.

Abyss Mavros

Title: The Storm; Passenger

Level – 198

HP – 9,129 (+22.8/min)

AP – 58,280 (+2914/min)

MP - 101,232 (+5061.6/min)

STR - 194 (+425%)= 1018.5

VIT - 179 (+410%)= 912.9

DEX - 268 (+455%)= 1487.4

INT - 304 (+270%)= 1124.8

WIS - 310 (+370%) = 1457

LUK - 62 (+0%)= 62

POINTS - 735

Affinities:

(4x as potent due to skills)

(Top 3 are 3x as potent due to dominant nature)

Air: 278

Electricity: 179

Purity: 144

Light: 131

Heat: 104

Space: 99

Water: 97

Motion: 69

Nature: 64

Life: 58

Ice: 41

Steel will was a little like gamers mind, or how I imagine gamers mind would feel, but I was clearly biased by my emotions. I just wasn't blinded by them. Every thought was based on my emotions and desires but I could tell when I was thinking with my emotions or logic.

Dominant nature was… interesting. Externally modified affinities is probably something like what Ozpin was doing, which after reading the primer he gave me I think might be caused by a sort of bond… but I can't say for certain. In meditation I could feel all my affinities, as always but they were a bit different now from when I first looked into them. It was the first thing I did when I got the insight skill at fifty wisdom.

My air affinity had become a strong part of me. It was like a shepherd of the other elements. The dominant nature skill taking place it seems. It and my large electricity affinity had even given me a title!

It was fast in a way but more in that it was everywhere at once. You could feel it cutting into you though. Like blades. To me it wasn't harmful at all, being my element, but I shiver to what it might do to a different person.

Electricity was like how I imagined Oobleck. Jittery and dashing around. It tried to be everywhere at once. It was violent by accident with how much energy it had. It worked well with air. Air couldn't be hurt easily and was about half as energetic as it.

Purity was serene. There was no way about it. But it was also blinding. It tended to take center stage and push other elements out of the way.

Light was as high energy as ever. It felt more piercing now. Different than the buzz it had before it was an almost booming hum. Like standing near a generator.

Hear was multifaceted. It was hot and cold at the same time. One area of it was a tundra devoid of heat and the spot right next in it a blazing heat that melts flesh to putty. It responded to me, though. If I wanted a temperature it gave it freely so long as the total sum of it's energy didn't change.

Space was a creeping character in the background of everything. It watched everything and changed my soul just by being. I could feel a faint liking towards me though it still did nothing. I don't think it ever will.

Water was still unless I acted on it. Like a still lake but the moment I touched on it it took my actions more seriously than it ought. I gave it a tap and it took a shove you could say. It was cheerful though. Unless I looked closer. There was a darkness in water. I left it well alone.

Motion was random in a predictable way. Like heat it had differing parts. Some fast and some slow. At first look it seemed to be tearing itself apart but in actuality it was bouncing in itself. Weird.

Nature was motherly. It took in water, electricity, life, and air and bound a part of them together. They didn't seem to mind.

More interestingly were the smaller parts of nature. I could barely see them but there was earth, metal, wood, sand, crystal, and a hundred other affinities of mine that were too small to use tangled up in it. It was beyond a compound element. It was like a chimera.

Moving on was life. It was like order and chaos merged into one. The edge of the coin of order and chaos I would call it. Controlled chaos.

Finally was ice. It's the only element I can rightly call lazy. It actively resisted change. It hated change. More than anything else it wanted to hibernate. Do nothing and relax.

It liked me though. It was happy to lend me it's power but unlike air or electricity, that would act on their own, ice would never act on it's own without mana. Like space wouldn't bend without the catalyst of mana ice wouldn't budge without mana because it was sleepy and lazy.

I can't truly say I dislike any of my elements. They were like pets. Happy to see me and help me whenever they were able.

Ruby was family. Raven was family. My affinities were my friends through and through. When I need help I know they'll be there for me. If I was losing an element I wouldn't dare to just leave it. Even if I did somehow lose an affinity I would get right back to meditating to get it back.

Sometimes when I'm alone I wonder… My affinities can act without mana if they're strong enough. I've known this for a long time… But are they acting on my subconscious will?

Or their own?

[|||| == ||||]

"I'm looking for a man by the name of the Villain."

"I don't know anybody by that name."

"Bullshit."

"I. Don't. Know."

"... Fine. Then give me the latest news."

"Lien."

"Tch. Here."

"Hmph. Torchwick's got himself a spotlight. He's been taking gangs over for the past few months and solidifying himself in repetition. But nobody can protest because he has somebody backing him. Somebody big. Really big."

"Who?"

"If I knew that, girlie, I'd be the richest information broker in Vale."

[|||| == ||||]

I didn't bother to say hi to Ruby. I hugged her and she yelped in surprise. Raven snickered.

"Abyss!" Ruby cried. She broke free and turned around before hugging me. It had only been two weeks since I came back around here.

"Oh! Abyss I found it!" Ruby looked to me with stars in her eyes.

Before my eyes she turned to a storm of rose petals - red and black, I noted - and dashed around Raven's tent. She almost knocked a lamp over but I stopped that with some strong and controlled winds.

"Your semblance?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Ruby nodded with a huge grin on her face. I laughed and rubbed her head. With that settled I took a good look at Ruby. She had changed her look. She had a small braid on the front left of her face with some tribal beads in it for one thing. She had also grown her hair out.

More interestingly, though, she had proper attire for a bandit. Furs and leather woven into a thin armor that keeps the cold out while giving some protection. There was a necklace of bones carved to look like beowolf teeth hanging from her neck as well and some more teeth in a wristband. She also kept a dagger hanging in a hidden sheathe sewn into her leggings. She did know a little about how to use a dagger I suppose but it's probably more for skinning than fighting.

"Good job. I still don't know what my semblance is. You've finally got something I don't."

Ruby shook her head. "You can teleport and make tornadoes-" Raven looked to me for a denial of that but found nothing. She tried to hide a jealous look but failed miserably. "-and all I can do is dash around as a bunch of rose petals!"

"That's not true." I said in a lecture voice. Ruby instantly paid me her full attention.

"Your semblance is something like a mix of several of my abilities including what might be my most powerful spell.

"You can turn immaterial. You can't be hurt at all when you turn to roses unless you're caught in an explosion or something. That's similar to my spatial negation spell. You're immune to damage for a moment if you time it right.

"There's your speed. Of course you're not as fast as Qrow or me if we try a little but you're not by any means slow. Speed is what most huntsmen use mainly in combat. Your being faster than them gets rid of that advantage. I think the speed comes from a variation of your mother's semblance but her rose petals were a pure white. Yours are red and black. I'll leave it up to you to think on what that could mean.

"Finally there's the biggest advantage. Your semblance can be activated at a moments notice. Spells don't work like that. I have to go through a whole process to make a spell. Raven cheats so she just does magic."

I gave Raven a glare and she hid her former jealousy under a smug face, which was really just her normal face.

"What do you mean? Don't you just think and the spell happens?" Ruby asked in confusion.

I shook my head. "First you have to convert the mana to an element. Then you have to draw out how much mana you want to use. Then release where you safely sever the mana you formed into a spell.

"Of course there are a whole bunch of in-between steps like sometimes you have to form the mana a second time outside your body or channel it through an object and then you form the spell inside that object… Anyways, magic is hard."

"I think 'tornado' and let go of my control of my maiden soul and then the stuff happens." Raven said for comparison. I know she's not even lying. I taught her, after all.

"I just think 'I want to be there' and I'm there." Ruby said helpfully. I grinned.

"Well that's because you have poor control over your semblance." I said evilly. Ruby looked at me with that oh so familiar 'oh shit' expression. It's like when you ask your parents for something to do and they say to clean your room.

Raven decided to put her own two cents in. "I used to make portals by accident. Ruby does the same now." There's the hook.

"Well not anymore. If you stayed still but became rose petals you could dodge any attack." I said. There's the bait.

"I-... Um…" Ruby looked uncertain. On one hand, power. On the other hand… Training. We need more bait it seems. What would a twelve year old want?

"I suppose I'll have to take time off of my new job to help you train. I could make cookies at the same time if you do well."

"DEAL!" Ruby shouted. Then she realized what I said.

"YOU GOT A JOB?!" Ruby shouted louder. Raven's eyes asked the same question. I nodded.

"I'm taking over Vale's criminal underworld with Roman Torchwick, a kingpin. We've taken over about half of Vale's criminal enterprises by now."

I looked towards Raven and changed my expression to a more serious one. She did the same. "And on that note, Raven. I need you to manage my empire through Roman. Roman's a rat. A resourceful rat but a rat nonetheless. I can't keep an eye on him and keep training Ruby and keeping myself in Signal at the same time even with all my power."

Raven looked considerate of that for a moment. "Why would I do that? My tribe has a tradition of raiding, you realize." I nodded at that.

"Each and every single one of your tribesmen will get a shower, which they need. Badly." Raven winced at that.

"There's also the wealth, nicer living conditions, you won't need to kill as many people if you play your cards right, your tribe can actually find girlfriends and boyfriends aside from the other tribesmen," A few tribesman pretending to not listen to my offer looked towards me hungrily. It was that bad?

Raven frowned and nodded grudgingly. "Fair points all… but what about Ozpin? The risk in the lifestyle? The expenses of living in the city?"

I smiled. "I put Roman on it. He got blackmail on a landlord of an apartment complex. A whole floor with forty eight different rooms belongs to you. Privacy, utilities, and everything in the city you might want along with a stable job in the budding criminal empire. Your tribe even stays a tribe considering you'll all be living together."

Raven looked at me appraisingly. "Let me get this right… you want my tribe to run your criminal empire?" I shook my head.

"I don't much care for your tribe." A few frowns turned my way but I wasn't wrong. I was family of Raven but not family of the tribe.

"I want YOU to manage Roman from behind the scenes and report to me. You have leadership skills so you can manage him and any who you need to reveal yourself to. Ozpin wouldn't know of you. Even if he does find out what's he going to do? You're a maiden. He can't touch you. Besides, what you'll be doing will actually be good for him even if mainly you benefit. He'll turn a blind eye. I can pull a favor if he tries to pull something. He owes me for showing him Ruby has silver eyes."

I waited a moment. Raven looked tempted. Extremely tempted. A better quality of life by at least a hundredfold from living in dirty poverty in the wilds of Mistral? And she kept her safety and anonymity while gaining more power. But she was a stickler for traditions.

"I see you're still not entirely convinced. Fine. I have one more reason you should move." I turned to face the tribe, who were unabashedly listening in now. "See these?" I took off my illusion system from my runic matrix. My runic symbols appeared and the tribe looked curiously.

"These are runes. They channel magic for different purposes. Spells in written form. These runes on me offer a variety of things. All I'll tell is that they offer me immensely enhanced physicality. I'm stronger, faster, and I have a healing factor along with a few other far more powerful things. I can do so much more if you desire it. You could be as strong as huntsmen without the work. I can't say I would approve of not working any more but I'm willing to do it on all of you should you wish it."

The tribesmen weren't stupid. They knew I was probably telling the truth but they wanted proof. "Prove it." An older woman said sternly. "Then I'm in. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain." I nodded.

A simple rock from the ground sufficed. I quickly scribed a small rune to absorb aura and store it along with use it as a shield, as aura does on people. I funneled my aura into it and made a dagger of ice. I handed the two to the woman.

"Stab the rock." I instructed. She raised an eyebrow but held the rock in her palm and raised the dagger. She then harshly stabbed down. A crimson force field erected and repelled the dagger and some huntsmen cred out in shock.

Nodding approvingly the woman handed the dagger to a man next to her and drew her own. A quick stab proved that yes indeed the aura held.

"You can do this to us?" The woman asked. I shook my head.

"I can do so much more. I can make your aura huge. Give you a surge of strength to rival Raven or myself for just a moment. Allow you to teleport. More."

Raven seemed willing to go through with it now but she still held a question. "Why have Ozpin or Salem never tried this?" I snorted.

"They never tried. I don't think Salem would reveal this type of power to any of her servants and Ozpin either never wanted to stand out much so he can control humanity or he just never tried. He and Salem are old and so stuck in old ways. They see runes work on so much but they only ever use them to make anti-teleportation necklaces from what I see. They might not even use them for that. They could have just had a few of those lying around."

Raven nodded. "Fine. I agree. We'll leave tomorrow."

I grinned. "Of course."

Ruby reminded us that she was still there. "So… can I have the cool tattoos too? And can we go home now?" I rolled my eyes.

"You'll get yours when you go to beacon. I have yours already planned out as a graduation gift. And yes." And at that a portal of mine opened up.

I called out to the tribesmen one last time. "I'll see you all tomorrow. Write down what it is you want most on a paper so I can make a matrix for you. You too Raven." Raven looked surprised I would rune her too but nodded anyways. And at that I left and the portal closed.

[|||| == ||||]

"So… these runes. You believe him? That we can become so powerful so quickly?"

"... Yeah. Yeah I believe him but I think he was bluffing a little about being as strong as a huntsman. Huntsmen have skill. We'll just get strength. Like a gun but where we have crap aim or the boss when she first got his powers."

"But when she mastered her powers…"

"Yeah. Ten times as strong."

"And the kid taught her."

"... yeah. He's strong. Stronger than the boss. He could have forced us to work for him easily. Why didn't he?"

"Because he's smart. He's not keeping us close to keep an eye on him. He has a criminal empire with him and one untrustworthy man watching it. He can't trust him."

"What do you mean?"

"I-... oh, he was saying earlier in their conversation that he has a guy named Roman Torchwick watching his empire for him but that he doesn't trust him and wants Raven to watch him as a job. That's why we would get all that power."

"I.. don't see."

"Keep your allies close and your enemies closer. What people don't say is to keep your face to your enemies and your back to your allies. He can't keep his face to Torchwick so he might stab him in the back, being untrustworthy. Raven, though… he can trust Raven. You know that he, Ruby, and her are family. Not bandit family or a community family but like a brother to Abyss and the tyke's like a niece. So Raven watches his back and he gives her strength and a better life."

"I see. So like what we do with Raven but she gives us her strength and we keep her a base."

"Pretty much."

"... Do you think we could make him an honorary member? Of the family."

"I don't know. Let's ask."

[|||| == ||||]

I had just made dinner when something different happened. Ruby had mostly eaten cookies and talked about the good things that happened. Her semblance, which she got when she almost spilled a glass of wine (which I was alright with. If it was just a sip to see what it tasted like it was fine. Ruby wasn't developing any habits at twelve years old) and she used it by accident.

There was also learning how to mend clothes from the older woman named Carlaya and sparring with the bandits. She sometimes won against them, which I was proud about. They were experienced and hardened bandits. And she, a twelve year old not even in high Signal yet, beat some of them. Then Yang walked through the door and looked wide-eyed at Ruby.

Yang looked to Ruby and almost seemed to say something but stopped and went up to her room silently. Ruby sighed and went back to scraping the bottom of the bowl of her soup.

"Well that was… odd." I said.

"Maybe it was the clothes?" Ruby suggested. I shrugged. She was still wearing leather and fur. We had only been home for a few hours so Ruby hadn't taken her clothes off. They were hot for Vale but Ruby really liked the feeling of the fur on her skin so I let her wear then with a temperature enchantment on them. She obviously couldn't wear them out of the house though. Her hair was fine though. A braid wasn't unusual. Yang might have been surprised by the sudden change in fashion from T-shirts to tribal wear.

Now, though, it was time for a topic I had been avoiding. "So… did you learn about banditry?" I asked. Ruby winced.

"Yeah…" She said sullenly. I sighed and put my hand on her consolingly.

"That bad, huh?"

"Yes!" She cried out. And here it all comes.

"How could they just grow numb to it all?! I know they have their own reasons but they don't have to take everything! They don't have to act like they're proud of how well a raid went! I took part in a few but at least I wasn't proud of how I did on it! Auntie Raven was just… she was proud of her clan but that's obviously fine! They're like her family! They are her family but they're just not like you or me are to her but at least she wasn't proud of ruining lives!"

Ruby panted a little and hugged me tiredly. "I know people have to do bad things to get by but why do they have to be proud of it?" I rubbed her back.

"It's alright to be proud of their work. They worked hard on something. Did they act proud of how anybody screamed or just how scared people were? Or how desperate they were?"

"They were… mostly proud of how good they were at being bandits. At how scary they were to this one guy or bragging about some loot they got or a piece of small praise Raven gave them."

"That's okay." I said. "Huntsmen brag about killing this one nasty grimm. Farmers brag over raising the largest hog that they slaughtered. Salesmen brag about pulling one over this one poor fellow. Banditry is no different if they're bragging like that. If they were bragging about the tears a kid spilled over them or the nicest woman they forcefully slept with then they would be terrible people. As they are they're just people in a bad line of profession.

"There are plenty of terrible people who wear kind faces and you might think them the nicest people in the world. Raven's bandits, at least, are honest even though they're dishonorable people."

Ruby sniffed. "Okay."

I released from the hug and Ruby reluctantly did too. "They're so nice when they're not robbing and hurting people but then they look like feral wolves." Ruby paused. "Oh and by the way I saw some feral wolves once. It was awesome. We caught one and I learned how to skin stuff."

I smiled and walked over to the couch, where I laid down. Ruby followed over to the recliner where she laid across the armrests. "Oh really? I don't actually know how that works. Can you tell me about it?" Ruby smiled brilliantly and her silver eyes seemed to sparkle in the light.

[|||| == ||||]

"Dad?"

"Yeah, sunshine?"

"... Where's Ruby?"

"... um… here."

"A… hm… a trip? He doesn't say where."

"Yeah. He didn't."

"... how did we come to this?"

"Well… We left her. Then there was only Abyss."

"But… she just left? Without any notice? Anything at all?"

"We brought this on ourselves, Yang."

"How can you be so nonchalant about this?! I know I'm not a good sister but I at least want to know where she is."

"Sunshine, Ruby is happy with Abyss. If she was in trouble I would be there in a heartbeat but she doesn't need help. She's perfectly happy where she is. Us butting into her life would bring nothing but tears and angry words. We both know this."

"Yeah but…"

"Sunshine… I want her back too. But we didn't mess up a little. We didn't mess up a lot. We left her on her own and only Abyss helped her. We lost something that day and it's been years since we've even had a conversation. At this point we have to accept that we lost something and hope that one day she needs us and we can be there to help her."

"... fine. I… can't we at least try?"

"I did. When I was at home once Qrow came over. He tried to bring me in for a dinner but all I could pay attention to was how right it was. For them. I was an intruder. A blight on their peace and happiness. Ruby has a life of her own now, Sunshine. She has Qrow and Abyss and she loves them both so much. I heard her say something about an auntie once. I don't know who that would be but that just proves my point Yang. She's a world away from us. It would be like you going to the least popular kid in Signal and trying to be friends with him but worse because you and him would have bad blood between you two."

"... Okay. Okay I… It feels like we lost her too dad."

"We did Sunshine. And there's nobody to blame but ourselves. We just have to move on and hope that one day we can come back to her."

[|||| == ||||]

"Super strength?" I looked to the tribe member and held my tongue. "Temporary like a burst or normal strength like a smaller permanent boost." The man appeared caught off guard by the question.

"Um… both?" I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I can do both then. Fine." taking my hand away I was silent for a minute while I sketched the runes on a sheet of paper. Well, my version of a sketch. I suck at drawing so I had to use some creative interpretation. I stared calculatingly at the sheet.

"I can probably add one more thing. Your last want is… Invisibility? Too big. Hypnosis? No I can't do that either. Oh? Telekinesis? Well aren't you ambitious? I can't do that for fine tuning but I can fit in a system to let you blast a wave of air at things. Blow people back and watch them fly. Or knock projectiles out of the air. Useful if I do say so myself but it'll be costly to use."

"You can?! Hell yeah! Absolutely!" The man looked excited now. Hyped, really. I nodded.

"Go out and talk to the others. We'll have a second session in an hour to talk about what else you might want to replace anything with later. The man looked happy to comply and nearly skipped out of the makeshift office.

I leaned back and kicked my legs up onto the desk. The bandits were pretty happy to take anything. They weren't the kind to look a gift horse in the mouth. I also couldn't add much for them. The bandits didn't have mana in their bodies and unless they wanted to be running back to Raven or me every five minutes to refill their runes to use powers they had to use more space on their bodies.

Each tribal tattoo used about half their body from the waist down and a little bit more at their lower back to absorb and store mana. Even with all my work in that specific runic system they would only absorb twenty mana per minute with a storage of about six thousand mana. If they wanted to have more storage or more regeneration they could ask me and I could do more or less of one or the other but twenty and six K was the average and most popular choice.

Making a runic system to transform people into a makeshift wizard wasn't easy. It took a few revisions. There was a subsystem for controlling the mana through a mental command, one for storing the mana, one for absorbing ambient mana, and a few others. Like the illusion system to hide or show the runes. I heard talk of keeping the illusion system off at the base because it actually took some mana regen to use. Not as much as mine but nothing to sniff at either for people like them with a tiny amount of mana.

To make just one spell took a system to convert the mana to an element, form the spell, and release it in a way that won't kill the recipient. Like a flamethrower had to be super hot but not burn the person using the flamethrower with it's heat. I could only add a few per person.

I wasn't going to do a deep tattoo per every person. That is to say a tattoo that goes beyond the skin. This was skin level only. A deeper tattoo was way more complex. It was three dimensional, for one thing so I needed to make the matrix click in three dimensions like some sort of terrible rubix cube. It was horribly, terribly complex and personalized.

I would only do one for Raven because that's what family does for each other. The bandits would have to settle. I didn't want them to die but handing them that much power of a deep tattoo would take more effort, give them a concerning amount of power, and if one of them went rogue Salem or Ozpin might learn of three dimensional rune making, which they might already know but I'm not taking my chances.

Besides, the bandits were mass production. Not special to me like Jaune or Ruby or Raven. Well, Jaune was a… special case. I winced at the memory. I should check up on him discreetly. Make sure mama Arc is keeping up training or running and hiding again but from me this time.

Raven tried to be sneaky and make a portal behind me silently, a trick she had picked up from me and applied to her semblance. It was touching that I had a bond with her when she first used the portal to steal my dinner and raid Tai's fridge for beer.

"Done already?" She asked with her mouth close to my ear. I didn't change my breathing pattern at all.

"Yeah. Your people aren't too needy. Well, not as much as I dreaded they would be. I guess people don't ask for better when you say you can make them super soldiers." Raven wasn't surprised that I wasn't surprised and moved across the table to the chairs. She kicked her legs up and laid them on the desk like I did.

"Thanks, by the way. For not forcing me or my tribe to do your bidding."

"Angry people make poor servants."

Raven made a small stone from mana and threw it at me with magic. I caught it with motion magic and tossed it back at her. She diverted it off to the side with air magic, not really caring to play a childish game.

"What did they all ask for?" She asked. I smiled.

"Invisibility, teleportation, and lightning bolts, though they're actually pure electricity, were the most common. The flamethrowers are fine but EVERYBODY wants them or at least puts the idea forth before I suggest something better. Lightning bolts are less common for those with the brain to be a little different. I gave up after the third person to ask about teleportation and made an announcement to everybody that if they wanted teleportation they would have to only be able to use it once every week or so and they would need to practice it a ton. That shut them up." Raven snorted.

"My tribe get a chance to pick a superpower. It's like getting three semblances and a good looking tattoo. Everyone saw how your tattoos made you look all swirly and fierce."

"They just look like that. I wasn't aiming for a look when I made my matrix."

"Is that what you call it?"

"A runic matrix is the term. You uneducated savages call it a tattoo. Plebeians." Raven lazily threw another rock and I didn't bother to defend against it. It bounced off my sub-dermal armor and I hardly felt it.

"So." Raven took her legs off the desk and leaned back in her chair. "Do you have any ideas for me?" I laughed and got to a sitting position.

"Alright. So you'll be getting a more advanced tattoo than the others and far more efficient as well. More advanced because while I'm alright giving your thugs power as part of your employment I'm not giving my secrets to them. The less I spread my specialties the less people can learn about them." Raven nodded to this.

"They also get far less efficiency because they have to collect and store mana in a large tattoo from their waist downwards. And no, I'm not touching privates. I'm not tattooing a guy's genitals Raven." She laughed at me and didn't seem to care either way.

"So my mana from my maidenhood will help me then? To fuel the matrix?"

"Partially. Some will come from outside but plenty of runes will be fueled from what you naturally emit as a maiden." Raven narrowed her eyes.

"Can this emission be used to track me?"

"Of course it can." I said simply. "So I made a matrix to collect it and put that leaking mana back into your body. You don't need to bother controlling your mana since any mana that leaks away will be brought back into you." Raven looked at me blankly.

"You mean all those mana exercises you made me do were for nothing because a bit of ink can fix all my problems?"

"It's more complex than just ink in a fancy pattern and no. Too much mana actually can leak through the matrix. In addition, mana control is still very much needed to form your spells in the first place. You can just afford to lose some of the excess. Also, I wasn't just going to give you a matrix right away and you sure as hell weren't going to allow me to sedate you to give you a tattoo."

Raven frowned a little. "I need to be sedated to get the tattoo?"

"Not your tribesmen but you will be for the fancy tattoo. You're not allowed to be awake when I do my work." Raven grudgingly nodded agreement. I smiled at her.

"You'll be fine. Besides me being here I runed the whole building to be safer. A defense system against people with ill intent and a container for aura. You can flare your mana and aura in here as much as you like and nobody can sense a thing."

Raven nodded with some relief and took a moment to put the idea of being sedated out of mind.

"So… your plans?" I smirked gleefully. She let a small smile onto her face at my smile. It meant good things for her, after all.

"Let me tell you about the dust system. You're going to love it."

[|||| == ||||]

"Ember?"

"Sis?! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm looking for information on the recent assault on the Arc family manor. The mistress asked it of me. And you?"

"I looked for that. I found a name. Or, well, a title. Villain."

"How did you find that? I've searched all of our contacts in Vale and a few in other kingdoms."

"I asked the Arc matriarch."

"Of course. Silly me. Why didn't I think of that."

"Hehe. No need for jealousy, Cindy. I'm sure you'll be able to come up with simple solutions one day!"

"If only I was gifted with your intellect. Going up to a paranoid potential enemy and asking them a highly sensitive topic without acquiring a sudden case of death."

"I know. I'm also banned from their manor but you win some you lose some."

"As if the ban has any real meaning. Have you found any leads with the name?"

"Nope! None whatsoever. This and Fellian's shop are the last two places to check before I've marked every contact off my list."

"Fellian doesn't know anything."

"Oh good. Now I can get back to wandering the countryside seducing young boys."

"You're so lonely you're talking to Aether again aren't you?"

"..."

"As I thought."

"Well… he's good conversation at least."

"You and that horse are perfect for each other, I swear."

"Ugh. Okay, you got me. Well I' looked for my target, Abyss Mavros, but I didn't find anything in any of the info brokers. The only thing that happened was the Arc incident and the rise of a new kingpin in Vale called Roman. Mind if I travel back to the mistress with you?"

"Yes."

"Great!"

"I know you couldn't seduce a rock so I'll keep the old men away from you. That's all you're going to catch anyways."

"Dammit I'm growing! Not flat!"

"The good genes all went to me. Mistress said so."

"Bullshit!"

"Fine. But she feels that way."

"... Maybe."

"You could always aim for Tyrian or Watts. They're both old and creepy. I'm sure you could seduce them. Maybe Even Hazel."

"Fine! You win! I submit to your big sister teasing techniques! Please spare me Cinder!"

"Hmph. As you ought. Stay away from creepy old men and young boys. You're twelve."

"Yes Cinder Onee-Sama-Chan."

"I have a migraine already. This must be a record for you."

"I'm making up for lost time. We have a long ways to go."

[|||| == ||||]

After two days of work I was finally done with all the bandits and their runic matrixes except Raven's. She was last.

Ruby and the bandits had completely changed the apartment to be WAY nicer than it was before. One of them knew a thing or two about buildings and architecture and remodeled some of the floor to be nicer than it was. Less structural flaws. Raven used her powers on concrete and I used some runes on a few things to be stronger or more efficient. Like the runes at the elevator that show the floor as a normal floor with the boring grey walls as on the other floors.

In actuality the walls were re-painted a nice warm brown. The concrete that was the floor was covered in a loose array of rugs and carpets stretching down the corridor both ways. It made a nice flooring.

A few rooms became rec-rooms of a sort. Communal space. A kitchen, a lunch room, a storeroom of sorts, and even a bar. It was nice that the close community of the bandits will stay together despite not being alone anymore.

Everyone had gotten furniture, clothes, and whatever they might need for their rooms. Roughly two or three to a room. There were sixty eight bandits in total that shared about forty rooms. Raven had one to herself of course. There were a few rooms that were private in case somebody wanted to bring a woman (or man) back to sleep with.

I had pitched in a little more than the runes, which were easy to do compared to a bodily runic complex. I just made an avatar and put a parallel on it. I had made these little lamps out of glass globes. They glowed softly at night and a bit brighter during the day with natural sunlight.

Ruby had inspired everyone and generally just been cute. She had also put her foot down with me that this was where we were staying this year and that Tai could stick it. I caved after a while but I refused to let her out of her morning runs. I made a teleportation array to her room that I hid under her bed under the carpet that floored her room. She would teleport and appear on her bed for a shower and run and then jog to Signal as always. I also bargained more spars with Raven and the other tribe members. Ruby had easily gone along with this. She needed to be more sociable anyways and she had integrated into the tribe flawlessly.

The tribe members practically praised the ground I stepped on. It had long been out there that I was a bit stronger than Raven, which was true in some ways. I was stronger than her in magic but physically or skillswise I was way below her still. I was better than many in my technique and she smiled, truly smiled, when I said I found my own style, but I was still only second year beacon level without the experience and skill of a professional huntsman. Magic was just a fantastic equalizer.

They also loved me because of the runic matrixes. Raven had honestly told them that theirs weren't as good as mine or theirs though she left out that hers was better anyways. I think they knew, though. They didn't seem to mind.

Plenty of people had gone for something like fireballs, wind blasts, or lightning bolts because they were small for me to make and useful. A few had gotten the ability to fly despite how expensive it was. One man had sacrificed himself for the greater good and gotten invisibility and flying and only focused on regeneration to just be a scout. Smart man, really.

I had abstained a few things. Dimensional cut wasn't offered because it was a nuclear option. It cuts through aura and everything else and was used for nothing but killing unless you were responsible and had very good mana control. I had actually scared myself at the power of it when I hurt Argentum Arc so badly. There was also disaster and mana sight on that blacklist of mine.

Finally it was time for Raven't turn and I have to say that I rocked it. It was fantastic, though cutting her open was a little disturbing. I kept all my parallels on her to keep her alive and well during the operation and everything but it still felt odd to be doing surgery on the naked woman who was like an aunt to me. I got it done though.

Raven had some… really good systems. Like REALLY good systems. The dust, net, and cloaking system were mandatory as were the physical enhancements but I left the toughening runes out for aura capacity increasing ones.

For one thing, Raven's cloaking system was different than mine or anyone else's. Hers had the additional feature of invisibility. It was harder to do than it sounds. She had tattoos off and then invisibility in the same system. It was like a lightswitch with three different settings. It was surprisingly hard to pull off but she thought it was well worth it. She absolutely loved the thing.

Second was the muffle system. It was basically my unofficial muffle spell of stilling the winds around her feet. Raven had never gotten a hang of the technique with her powers no matter how hard she practiced. So I threw her a bone. It was a tiny system but it meant a big difference. It's also eerie to fight a woman who doesn't make sound. Her sword strikes, for example, aren't heard. For a fighter it's off putting to have to rely on only your instincts and sight. Hearing was as important in a fight as seeing.

Third was the heal system. It was like regeneration that can be used to various intensities in comparison to my constant healing factor.

Fourth was one I had absolutely insisted on. Mage armor. If you don't recall, mage armor is the sort of replacement for aura out of mana that I never use. I don't need to. Raven, though, has average huntress aura. Summer, Ozpin, and I have huge auras due to our perks but Raven only has her maidenhood, which boosts her mana. We have another solution in place for that in the last system but this was enough to give her a little more of a safety net.

Finally was the system Raven had directly asked for besides the dust system. The inventory system. It was almost exactly as I call it. Almost. You see, It wasn't Raven's inventory she was accessing. It was actually a section of my own inventory. I had isolated a tiny portion of my soul space, about a tenth of it, which was still over two thousand three hundred cubic meters… that's a little over a cubic mile so unless Raven wanted to store a junkyard worth of stuff she'll be fine. I would take her in for therapy if she felt that she needed that much space though.

It was sort of like my remote avatar spell but only the link to my inventory and in runic form, which was hard to do surprisingly. I got it down though. It was just rather hard to do.

I tried to teach her the inventory spell herself but Raven isn't very talented at magic. She has to rely on her affinities more than anything since she's so much less about the technical details than me. She's more of the 'feel it out' sort of mage.

This reliance on affinities caused a rather unexpected problem. Her maiden affinities just absolutely dwarf her space affinity. She has a hard time accessing the affinity because of this. So she used my own. We can also trade things we need with each other. I still say that she should have learned to use her own inventory but she preferred this way more than learning the spell herself.

Raven did have one huge advantage though. I stored a runic matrix on a sheet of metal in our shared inventory that has just one function. It transfers aura or mana and flawlessly integrates it with the other's aura. This lets us trade our aura and mana from any distance. I had long since maxxed out the aura transferring skill by giving Ruby more aura to fight with in our spars or to help fuel Summer's aura in the few times we actually fought so it was easy to get used to the new way to trade aura. To my sadness we won't be able to swap affinities (Raven had such good affinities, being a maiden) but this was for her. Not me.

With all that Raven was a happy camper. I observed her and smiled. She really was strong in her own way.

Raven Branwen

Titles: Bandit queen; Renegade

Level – 354

HP – 13,208

AP – 12,800

MP - 128,000

STR - 285 (+510%)= 1738.5

VIT - 208 (+535%)= 1320.8

DEX - 420 (+515%)= 2583

INT - 453 (+0%)= 453

WIS - 320 (+0%)= 320

LUK - 84 (+0%)= 84

Semblance: Portal (Empathetic) - Using your emotive link to another you may create a portal to their location regardless of distance. Links: Qrow Branwen - disdain; Taiyang Xiao-Long - disgust; Yang Xiao-Long - contempt; Ozpin Meridian - Hatred; Glynda Goodwitch - Disgust; Vernal Greene - Responsibility; Ruby Rose - Affection (Familial); Abyss Mavros - Respect;

Affinities:

Ice: 1099

Wind: 1088

Electricity: 1056

Earth: 1049

Fire: 1021

Nature: 1011

Water: 1005

Space: 81

Shadow: 25

Perks:

Maiden of Spring - You are a maiden. One of the heirs of the legendary women blessed with powers by the wizard. Whether this power is a blessing, a burden, or a tool is decided by you and you alone. No matter your decision you are worthy.

-1000% to MP capacity and regeneration.

-Mana and aura are unlocked.

-Nature, fire, water, ice, wind, lightning, and earth affinities are increased by 1500.

-Luck increased by 100 in spring. No limits on your total affinities.

Bodily runic matrix (3 layered) - A master of runes has inscribed upon your body a matrix of three parts. The effects are:

-+35% VIT and +10% more STR from reinforced bones and shock resistant organs.

-+15% DEX from runed joints

-Dust system may be used to enhance spells with dust.

-No excess mana or aura emitted through techniques via net system. Excess is absorbed.

-Illusionary cloak may be donned for 150 MP per minute. Passively hides the runic matrix unless toggled off. Invisibility available for 200MP.

- Healing factor (1MP per 3HP)

-Mage armor available. Passively uses mana as a shield after depletion of aura.

-Air may be stilled around your body (you are capable of breathing) to negate sound from you.

-Inventory space available for use. Under supervision by Abyss Mavros.

Wizard's gift - An archwizard has granted unto you the ability to turn into your spirit animal through an ancient ritual.

-You are capable of turning into a raven. No MP requirements.

Bio: Raven Branwen was born into the Branwen tribe and trained in the art of combat from a young age. Her life took a turn when she was sent into beacon academy to train to combat huntsmen and huntresses to better equip her tribe against their one weakness.

Ozpin Meridian attempted to turn Raven's team into agents of his after their graduation and succeeded on two counts of Summer Rose and Qrow Branwen, Raven's brother.

To Raven's irritation she became pregnant by accident to her teammate Taiyang Xiao-Long. She doesn't regret having a child but she does regret having one with Taiyang, who she looks down on due to his perceived weak will.

Shortly after birthing her daughter Raven left to rejoin her tribe. Upon finding that she was the strongest she took the mantle of tribe leader and combats huntsmen by herself to keep her tribe intact.

After the death of her best friend, Summer Rose, she killed the spring maiden, Bondi Trys, and took on the power of the spring maiden.

She recently reconnected with her best friend's daughter, Ruby Rose, through you. She feels that Ruby is something like a close niece to her and you her current best friend.

With the recent deal of her tribe becoming stronger through runes she believes her and her tribe's situation will grow stronger as they integrate with Vale's criminal underworld. She is willing to do everything in her power to make sure her tribe never loses it's edge as killers and survivors as well as their sense of community.

She is incredibly skilled with a blade granted by a lifetime of training and practice and heavily physically conditioned to the level of some of the best huntresses in the world.

I carried Raven through the halls from my makeshift operating table quickly and put her in her bed. The sedative would remain for now. It was nighttime too so she'll probably sleep… I should do the same. Ruby's first day is tomorrow.

[|||| == ||||]

"It's not that simple Ozpin."

"We have to have trust in him, Glynda. Otherwise he won't have trust in us."

"He could be doing anything! He has a silver eyed warrior that he's all but raised, his magic growing more powerful by the day, his affinities already dwarf yours, he made a BODY for himself for dust's sake! We can't control him!"

"He is the first wizard in hundreds of years. The first powerful wizard in thousands. Do you realize what we can do here? He's a genius with magic beyond anything I've ever seen. Whatever he did to his soul was complex so that I cannot fathom it. What he did was to the level of the archmages of old."

"It doesn't matter if he's powerful! Salem is powerful and yet she opposes you! What if he does the same? If he's dying he can just make a new body to oppose you if you ever anger him! He's as big a threat as Salem but instead of reclining a continent away he's right here in our face!"

"But what is he's not an enemy? What if we brought him to our side and used him against Salem? We have a real chance with him, Glynda. Other than him we have only two hopes. One untrustworthy and one desperate beyond all measure."

"And this one is the equivalent to letting a SS class huntsman have free reign to do his own will, be it to rob, kill, steal, or anything he cares to do at all."

"He's not anywhere near SS rank, Glynda. With his magic he's S rank. I can use a failsafe if he decides to rebel or simply crush him myself."

"... Fine."

[|||| =NEXT LEVEL= ||||]

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