29 Chapter 29

[||||=LEVEL 29= ||||]

"Let me guess… It was somewhat boring and you crushed the poor fool you were paired with." Leonidas said dryly. He took a quick bite of his turkey right after. He really had made me cook every day…

"Yeah that sounds about right." I commented.

"She tried her best." Pyrrha mumbled.

"So just like the last three times then." Leo observed. "They have a free for all tomorrow. That release five people into the arena and just one comes out."

"That actually sounds worth watching." Raven said. She had been along with me the second time to see what it was like with the preliminaries. She was as disappointed as I have been. "I'll be sure to watch that."

"It takes place in the actual arena this time." Leonidas grinned. "I'll show you and Ruby there. Abyss will be thrown into the free for all and basically have to handle the five guys himself. Standing out means they'll focus on him first. The same goes for Pyrrha."

"I'll be sure to cheer for you!" Ruby says happily.

"Should we announce some sort of declaration of rivalry? Make the end more dramatic?" I asked Pyrrha.

"That does sound interesting." she said thoughtfully.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby cried dramatically. "I will fight you… For your heart!"

"For in the arena is the only one of such lowly birth as I may earn your favor!" Raven smirked.

"May we meet in glorious battle in a duel of star-crossed lovers! Believe it!" Leonidas grinned at us.

Pyrrha was just used to it by now and only looked irritated. I had grown more numb to it than I was before. That didn't stop my ear from twitching in irritation. Ruby and Leo had honed in on it as a signal that their teasing was working. Controlling my facial expression no longer worked as well.

"You three all suck." Pyrrha muttered.

"Yeah yeah. I mean we all know Abyss has already seen you naked." Leo jabbed at her. Pyrrha's eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together. Oh I want to see this.

"If that meant we were dating then should I be concerned about you stealing him away?" absolute silence reigned as everyone stared shocked at Pyrrha. She had never jabbed back like that before.

She blinked and seemed to realize what she just said. "I mean-! I, um, sorry!" Her final apology was barely heard. Ruby and Leo busted into laughter, more from the unexpectedness of it than good humor. Raven snorted at the insinuation.

"I win!" Leo laughed happily. "Pay up! She cracked!"

"Just one more day…" Ruby mumbled. She dug around in her pocket and withdrew ten lien, passing it to Leo. Raven scowled and handed over a twenty.

"You bet on me?! What am I saying. Of course you did." Pyrrha rolled her eyes and got on with her meal.

"Raven bet you would hold out the week to day seven or beyond. Ruby bet for days five and six. I got the rest." Leo smiled happily as he pocketed his newly earned funds. "Thank you for being unused to teasing sweetie." Pyrrha ignored him, refusing to speak.

"Are there any bets on me?" I asked.

"None that you can know about." Raven said.

"Can I get in on it?" Pyrrha asked curiously. Leo smiled proudly.

"I'm so proud of you right now." He said happily. Pyrrha rolled her eyes.

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

"So the bet?"

"Umm… You're not going to like this actually."

"We're betting on whether Abyss will beat you, corrupt you, or break you."

"… Huh?"

"Look, my brother is… Being around him changes you. How you see things. How strong you are. How much you value things versus other stuff."

"I… I don't understand."

"This is more of a warning than a bet. My nephew has strong morals… Very strong morals. Greater than even I hold mine and I went so far as to abandon a road of life for my own path."

"His morals… Rub off on you? I don't get it."

"Pyrrha a few years ago I was a near helpless girl who didn't know a thing about the real world. Now I'm practically an expert in weapons design and supposedly at the level of a beacon student. But that's more of a side effect than anything. I used to hear the word hero and think of me bravely slaying Grimm. Now I hear the word hero and I think of good-hearted men and women dying for others."

"O-oh. That's… pessimistic."

"You still don't get it. Abyss is like his namesake. You get to know you, and he leaves a mark. You so much as look into him and he sees absolutely everything. You've seen that piercing look of his. Like he knows every single thing about you - and he does! He knows everything! He keeps an eye on everyone and everything and… And you haven't seen him angry."

"He… he can't be that bad."

"In a mission of sorts Abyss and I encountered a threat that knocked me out and held me hostage. I escaped and Ruby stayed back while Abyss and I attacked. He didn't kill the threat. He left it to slowly die off in pain. Not because he was cruel but because the moment it even considered attacking Ruby it stopped even being a person in his eyes. It became a thing."

"… I think I'm starting to see where you're going with this… Is this something along the lines of 'don't make him mad and know the risks?'"

"My nephew should terrify you. Completely and utterly. He still makes me afraid of what he could become sometimes. He is one of the few things I can readily admit to fear."

"But even with big bro being scary and strong and for most purposes all knowing he isn't… He isn't a terrible person. Whether he's a bad one is… he's like a force of nature. He can cause chaos and panic in moments. He can creep up on you in seconds and cause ruin, but it isn't that he's evil. He is. What he does is just something that… Is."

"Abyss should scare you. You should remember that if he ever truly marks you as an enemy you will die. He might slit your throat when you sleep or eviscerate you in the middle of a crowd. Like a storm he's unpredictable."

"A storm… That seems like a good way to define him… but you're not painting your family in a good light. I get that he's terrifying beyond comprehension but what about the good things? I don't believe anyone could be that bad with no good side."

"… His friends. He only cares about one class in his schedule. Subterfuge and intelligence. Ocean, Kerrigan, and Cesium… they met with me once. They wanted to see me because I'm his sister. They… He terrifies them. They fear him but they can't help but love him. He gave Cesium wealth and safety. He gave Kerrigan and his family sanctuary and happiness. He gave Ocean a real home in his class. And Bella… He's still working on her but he already gave her somebody to trust. Now he's giving her the truth."

"The… never mind. I think I get it now… Sort of. Abyss is like a storm. He's unpredictable. He might be loud and you can spend the whole day constantly knowing he's there. Or you could simply look up one day and he's there. It's hard to not fear his power when he's mad but it doesn't matter because he isn't hurting people because he's bad. It's just how he is."

"You're scratching the surface but yes. My nephew is incredible, terrible, and so much more. A pit far below the ground to limitless depths and far into the sky to be nearly unreachable."

"… Okay… I think I get it. I'll be careful."

"For your sake I hope you are. Don't hold back against my nephew. Fight like your life depends on it whenever you fight him. For all you know it does."

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

"Welcome! To the ANNUAL MISTRAL REGIONAL TOURNAMENT!" The crowd roared approval and cheered and screamed in glee. When they settled down a little the announcer started up again.

"For our first match of the day, the very first match of this tournament… we're starting hot with, you all know it… A FREE FOR ALL!" The crowd roared approval a little more.

"First is the only, the first… Capricorn Jel!" Applause rang out as a large kid dressed in simple yellow armor, clearly sixteen or seventeen, walked out with a charming smile on his face. Some ladies screamed and he threw them a wink. They laughed like they had won the lottery. He stood tall and confident at his gate.

"Second is the beautiful… Shine Serpesta!" A slim girl with twin swords on her back and bright green armor walked out with a mischievous look into the pit and stood in front of her gate.

"Third is one we have straight from the jungles of Northern Vacuo! He's rough, tough, and prepared! Give a hand for Munsell Seabrick!" A youthful looking kid stride out. He actually wore combat armor camouflaged different greens and kept an assault rifle on his shoulder. He grinned confidently and sized up the other two.

"Forth is someone that nobody could have expected! Out of the blue with a flash and owning all the spotlight… Honeydeewwwwww!" A short, fey-like girl with pigtails skipped out laughing and a chorus of 'awww's and coos greeted her as much as applause.

"Finally, and really we spoil you all, he's straight out from nowhere and has dominated every scene ever since! We have a champion here today straight off the bat! Do I even have to say his name? Enter… ABYSSSS MAVROOOOSSSS!"

I walked out with my calm smile with a little more excitement than usual. I wasn't really excited. In fact I actually kind of dreaded heading out there with all the noise.

I was dressed in actual huntsman attire though it looked almost like I was a special operative. A simple black long sleeved shirt with my emblem of the abyss - my emblem - on my right pectoral. I had a bandolier over my left shoulder down to my right waist with a holstered pistol.

My pants were similarly plain. The only notable thing about them was that they had a lot of pockets if you looked closely.

The only really notable part of my outfit was a dark purple sort of half cape coming down my right shoulder with a hood. It's only use was fashion. Or, more specifically, to seperate my fashion from military to a professional huntsman. I had my hood down and I doubt I'll often use it.

This was one of two outfits of mine. Normally I won't be using the cape but when I preferred to be flashy or travel light I would be using it.

As soon as I walked out my applause drastically overshadowed that of the other competitors.

I could very faintly hear some boos but they were so small and such a minority that a normal person couldn't hear them right next to them. People were here to see a fight. Not preach racism.

"Now for what is undoubtedly the best part! I'll quit stalling and say the words everyone wants to hear!..." The crowd was roaring with cheers now.

"Oh sorry am I supposed to say something! It seems I need to be reminded." A chant broke out. In a jumbled mass that somewhat blurred together you could hear the word fight.

"What's that? Fight who? Are you sure?" The air was thick with the vibrations of so many roaring voices.

"Oh all right. COMPETITORS! FIGHT!"

Immediately Honeydew raced towards the immediate right, where Shine was. Munsell and Capricorn looked at each other and seemed to hesitate, choosing between fighting me or each other. They shared a look and decided mutually to attack me.

I myself began strolling casually towards the middle. I drew my weapon and twirled it lazily.

Munsell aimed at me and began shooting. I looked in his direction and used aura enhancement on my dexterity only. Eye for detail kicked in and I could see the bullets coming at me. I also had prediction showing me where they were going and instinctual alerting me to danger.

Some swift swings of my sword that some use of my acting skill made look casual left sparks in the air around me. Not a single one of the bullets hit me. Munsell unloaded his whole magazine at me while I sliced all of his bullets with ease.

The whole arena died down to a silence. Munsell looked at me in shock as he lowered his assault rifle.

I hit the middle of the arena and all eyes were on me. Even the other contestants were only shooting glances at their competitors.

I smiled pleasantly at Munsell for a moment. Then in a blur me left arm shot to my holster and drew my pistol. I leveled it to Munsell and slowed myself so everyone could see me as I pulled the trigger.

I'm not actually great with pistols but with prediction and this pistol I don't need to be. A pistols bullet wouldn't actually hurt anyone with aura that much. I could take bullets from an average pistol all day and not feel a thing myself. But this pistol was made by me.

The pistols barrel had the rifling that rose eclipse had. It shot at Mach 6. But that, while surely VERY damaging, wasn't the selling point of the pistol. The bullets were the real treasure.

Putting wind affinity is an object was like an acceleration spell with a few extra side effects normally. Any motion is done faster, the object cuts things easier, air resistance is nullified, and the object is silent if you shoot it or throw it really fast. But I didn't like that. So I used runes to change it.

The bullets all had a matrix to contain the wind attuned mana and it was VERY good at it. The bullets could be individually stuffed with maybe three million wind attuned mana each. When they land the matrix shatters and all that wind mana explodes outwards violently to make, you guessed it, a shockwave.

These bullets had three hundred thousand mana in them and still they caused enough force to throw a person halfway across this arena. I had tested in my soul space with a sack of ice. The three million ones? Well… They destroyed about half an apartment buildings worth of ice.

I had made some specialty bullets for Ruby of course. Ice could be used to make obstacles, wind to push people around, purity to annihilate Grimm, and consumption gave the bullets a sort of acidic blast that ate at the place around them.

I kept them from being too powerful (Except for twenty 3 million purity bullets because screw Grimm. Purity does jack against people) so she wouldn't hurt herself or others. She was getting better at using them.

With that said… my bullet went straight for Munsell and hit directly at his sternum. A huge boom echoed out and he was thrown back into the standard arena forcefield, where his head cracked against it. His aura was at roughly five percent.

"A-and Abyss one hit KOs Munsell. I… Um…"

"Quiet please." I call out. The announcer shuts up. I turn to the remaining three competitors. "I think it's pretty clear that my gun can shatter any of your auras easily." I say easily. Silence is my answer.

"So come at me with your swords and such. If you don't…" I clicked the safety on my gun and holstered it. Every eye was on it. I could see far in the stands Jacques Schnee was in the VIP section with Weiss and Winter. Winter was looking at my pistol grimly and Jacques with greed.

"Well?" I asked the competitors. Nobody moved. I sighed and drew my pistol again. I took out the magazine and put it on my bandolier. The moment I did Honeydew sprinted towards me. The others followed suit, apparently in agreement that I had to go.

I kept my calm smile on perfectly and met Honeydew with a half step. She whipped her arm out and there was… A whip. Huh. I grab the thing, which costed a little of my aura, and pulled her behind me, tripping her in the process. She probably had a counter to this but I was fast.

A round of some more cheers began slowly but picked up quick. The audience stopped being so stunned and began cheering me on while the announcer prattled on.

Shine and Capricorn engaged me at the same time. Capricorn used some sort of pneumatic fist and Shine her two swords. I parried the swords and dodged Capricorn punches. I could have knocked them out any time but I restrained myself to the level of speed they had and matched them with skill.

For five minutes I blocked, dodged, parried, and occasionally countered as the three desperately attacked me. None of them had semblances that could really oppose me. Capricorn could charge at extreme speeds towards someone, Shine could shoot low powered lazer, and Honeydew lasers, which was ironic to say the least. Honeydew managed to tap my wrist and I felt a presence on my mind. Steel will resisted her easily, which was impressive judging by the shock and awe on her face.

I knocked out Honeydew when she was surprised by my steel will. I parried one of Shine's swords to the side and tore the other from her grasp after a well aimed side-kick to the stomach. I then stabbed at her chest hard enough to drain her aura to a fifth of what it was before throwing her at Capricorn. He side-stepped her and I threw her sword at him. It wasn't really intended to hurt him but it sliced his shoulder and he winced. I darted a slash at his side and finished him with a snap kick to the chin and ajab with my sword to his throat.

The crowd roared approval and I threw my arms out, urging them onwards. After a moment of that though I stepped out, offering a helping hand to Capricorn and Shine along the way. Honeydew had gotten out of dodge and Munsell had sneaked out somewhere in the fight.

As soon as I stepped back through my gate the applauding crowd stopped being so loud and the announcer began announcing the next fight I could hear two voices. One of which was rather familiar.

"We need that gun, Jacques. Atlas lives off it's technological and industrial edge. You know this as well as I do."

"Obviously. I'll produse more. Make them standard fare for atlesian soldiers."

"What?! Dust no! A gun that powerful in the hands of an average solder?! Manic! No. In the hands of the specialists and high class personnel. We make absolutely sure that the blueprints stay only with Atlas. If he keeps one and gives his uncle one fine but we NEED a monopoly on that sort of firearm and who knows what else nature's bounty has in store? That was pistol Jacques. If they applied whatever tech they had in that bullet to a sniper round what could it do?"

"Fine fine. You'll be owing me another one for this."

"I'll lend you the firearms for your security personnel. It'll deter white fang raids."

"A good start. We'll talk later. If this Abyss is anything like his uncle he'll be casual, brusque, and carefree. You're none of those things in business. So don't talk."

"Fine."

I blinked into the room after that. "Are you gentlemen done scheming?" Jacques jumped slightly and Ironwood whipped out his hand cannon and took aim at me. I also saw Winter Schnee with him slashing with her rapier towards my neck. Not too fast but enough to rest it by my neck. I suppose it makes sense that she's with Ironwood. That she's already his right hand is surprising though. She can't be much older than twenty two or three by now.

I threw my right hand out and grabbed the barrel of Ironwood's hand cannon while ducking. My leg shot out and kicked his right kneecap hard enough to make him fall down and his grip loosened slightly. I tore the gun from his grasp and brought him to a sleeper hold in my left arm but not enough to knock him out. Just make him struggle a little. The hand cannon, and I checked the safety to be on, was pointed at Jacques. I twitched my left fingers and a knife emerged from my soul space to Ironwood's neck.

Everything came to a rapid halt. Winter's eyes widened at the position I had Ironwood and Jacques trembled staring down the barrel of a gun. Ironwood grunted and struggled a little and I tightened my hold. He stopped resisting then.

"I-ah… hello mister… Mavros." Jacques stuttered out. "Ah, would you please put the gun down?" I rolled my eyes, which Winter bristled at, and tossed Ironwood away. He stumbled once and stood gracefully. I tossed him his hand cannon back and he caught it with a little surprise.

"It was on safety by the way." I told Jacques. That didn't seem to reassure him. "You want the blueprints to the gun." I said bluntly. "You can't have them."

Ironwood gritted his teeth. Jacques looked like he was about to speak but I interrupted him with a cold look in my eyes. "A deal with the SDC is paramount to making a deal with Atlas. I'll be talking to general Ironwood first." I looked back to Ironwood again. "Why would I bother giving you the blueprints to the weapon?" He took a moment to calm himself and stood straight.

"You just assaulted a general of Atlas and held the CEO of the SDC at gunpoint. You'll be facing charges for life. Not to mention that you know how to suppress your aura, a skill reserved for specialists and special operatives. It's illegal for a huntsman in training to know how to do that."

"It's illegal to learn in Atlas, Mistral, and Vale. I learned in Vacuo. In addition, you assaulted me first. I defended myself and as I said before, the gun was safety on. If it was off you would be even more at fault for pointing a primed firearm at a minor. And the camera caught everything." I said bluntly with a wave towards the locker room camera. "Do you have anything important to say or are you going to try to stall again?" Ironwood gritted his teeth again. What a bad habit.

"What do you want for it?" Ironwood spat.

"Nothing." I said with the same bluntness. "You can convince me to not spread the blueprints, though. Oh, and I made this gun. I own all rights to it. It's my personal gun and I'm the only one who knows how to make it. Don't bother going to my uncle. He doesn't know and he won't pull the 'I'm your guardian' card."

Ironwood growled. "What. Do. You want?" I looked at him stoically.

"You approached me. I'm not giving the blueprints to you. You have nothing I want and seemingly nothing to offer me." Suddenly something occurred to me. "Actually you do have something I want. You have a contract over one professor Poledina. The one working on project P.E.N.N.Y." Ironwood's eyes grew to the size of the moon.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS?!" He yelled.

"I want professor Poledina's contract." I continued, ignoring him. "I have research materials I need studied and I want him on it. I don't want him connected to Atlas and… you know what? I'll just offer him a job directly. I can't believe I never thought of this sooner." I shook my head.

"I'll give you this gun." I took out my pistol and removed the magazine, putting it in my pocket. "If you escort me to professor Poledina. If you reproduce the effects of the gun I'll not press any charges and let you do whatever you want with it. Otherwise I suppose I'll give the blueprints to professor Ozpin. Probably with a sample. It make this deal more valuable for you, you see." Ironwood looked at me with pure hatred. Jacques couldn't suppress the smallest hint of admiration in his eyes. That and fear. Lots of fear and confusion.

"… Fuck you." Ironwood said to me.

"Is that a no?" I said with a tilt of my head. Ironwood glared at me as hard as he could and drew his scroll with hands shaking with anger. He tapped a number on speed dial and brought it to his ear.

"It's Ironwood… yes I'm fucking angry. You're being transferred. We're selling your contract to Nature's bounty. They have me… actually scratch that. Abyss Mavros has me by the fucking throat… You can forfeit but… just talk to him." Ironwood tossed the scroll to me.

"-I'm not working for that company! I have to make Penny! I can do it I swear! Just give me some-"

"Mister Poledina." I greeted. He fell silent. "You'll be continuing project Penny. Don't worry about that. Ironwood will be transferring all of the data on that project with you. We at Nature's bounty already know how to imbue aura into objects and have them keep the aura." Ironwood looked to me in shock and Jacques in surprise. Winter looked almost horrified. I actually could imbue my aura into things. It was just aura transferring. My higher soul handled the rest. I haven't bothered to try it with a grand soul. I suppose it'll simply be better. And I really would offer Poledina everything he needed.

"… You're serious?" Poledina asked in shock.

"That's all I can say with Jacques Schnee and Ironwood in the room. We actually know quite a bit more than just transferring aura to objects." I said, as though transferring aura to objects was a trivial thing. "Ah, we made a homunculi once. That doesn't really matter though."

"Doesn't-!" Poledina cut himself off and was quiet. Good. I had a little more to say anyways.

"After completing project P.E.N.N.Y you'll have other work to do but I assure you that it will be quite original and rather ambitious. I'll give you the details when we come to that though." Poledina was silent.

"Alright. Prove that you're being honest and I'm in."

"Good. I'll drop by to retrieve you soon." I turned from the scroll. "Where is Poledina located?" I asked Ironwood.

"An Atlas blacksite. Three hundred miles east of Atlas underground." He said bitterly. "I'll escort you after the tournament." I nodded.

"Ironwood an I will drop by in three days." I informed him. "Do be prepared to leave by then. I'll hire whoever you have need of. Money is no issue so long as it's reasonable."

"I… okay." Poledina said in a slight daze. He then hung up. I tossed Ironwood's scroll back to him.

"A pleasure doing business with you general Ironwood." I turned my gaze to Jacques. "I do hope you enjoy my uncle's soft-heartedness more next time you meet him. He calls me when there's a genuine problem. So don't be one." Jacques paled slightly and nodded. No wonder. I just threatened to get rid of Atlas' biggest advantage, being their military technology, pulled the name of what was obviously a top secret military project out of my ass casually, and all of this was done in a few minutes.

Jacques, Winter, and Ironwood filed out of the room, Jaques being last. "Oh, and Jacques." I called. He looked back to me. "In your right coat pocket is a slip of paper with my scroll number on it. Should you wish to negotiate an equal deal, alliance, or something or other with Nature's bounty I'll negotiate. I'm also willing to offer you my talents and the talents of people many are scared to name for a price. Should you have a truly serious problem and wish to strike a deal to be rid of it my scroll will be open." Jacques reached into his coat pocket and retrieved the paper I had blinked into his pocket. He stared at it for a moment before nodding slightly shakily. Well I certainly left an impression. Before I teleported to Pyrrha, Ruby, and Raven, who were waiting for me at the garage, I heard a voice.

"Father?" A feminine voice asked confusedly. Another one spoke next.

"Did something of note occur?" Oh is that Weiss and Whitley?

"Weiss. Whitley." Jacques spoke gravely. A small hinto of admiration was in his voice. "When you meet Abyss Mavros… when you truly meet him… Do not look down on him. He is smarter than so many his age." I smiled slightly. Jacques is a bastard among bastards… but he can be used. I teleported to my family and Pyrrha with a wide smile on my face.

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

"Mister Granite! Mister Granite!"

"Hm?"

"Do you have any comment on Mister Mavros' match today? Do you have any idea what his mysterious gun is?"

"I have no idea what the gun was. He hasn't ever used it at signal."

"Why do you believe he used it now?"

"I know Abyss. He doesn't do flashy or cocky. He does things the smart way. When he used that gun it was a message. He was saying that he was the strongest in the room with that gun. And then he may as well have thrown it away. He showed everyone that he could easily beat them and then he threw that away. And then he beat not just one or two people. He actively rallied them. And then he beat them mercilessly."

"What do you mean, sir? We were under the impression that Mister Mavros was struggling for the match after holstering his gun."

"Tell me, did Abyss take a single hit?"

"… No."

"When he moved as fast as he did at the beginning - speed to cut BULLETS in half… did he ever move that fast again?"

"No."

"And even then it's not unknown that Abyss uses both a halberd and a shortsword. But he only used a shortsword."

"Mister Granite are you implying that mister Mavros held back immensely during that fight?"

"Oh no. I'm saying it. Abyss didn't use his semblance, his other weapon, his real speed, or even his real skill knowing him. What he did was show everyone that those four people weren't worth the dirt on his shoes and every huntsman or huntress in the audience could tell."

"I… I see… do you know why he might have done such a thing?"

"… I always forget that people don't see Abyss the same way those at signal do. In signal Abyss doesn't listen to the teachers. The teachers listen to him. Why that isn't the same here is anybody's guess but does it matter? I doubt people will look at Abyss as just a champion after this tournament."

"… Do you believe you stand any chance against Mister Mavros?"

"I'll win if he wants me to win. It doesn't matter if I'm fighting him or not. I'm done answering questions now. Please go. If Abyss hasn't made it excessively clear to everyone in Mistral who he is… well… that won't happen."

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

"You stole my spotlight." Pyrrha pouted. I leaned back in my kitchen chair and smiled.

"I'm not sorry at all." I said in utter lack of regret. Pyrrha sighed irritatedly. "So what happened with you anyways?" I asked.

"My fight was right after yours. I led other competitors into each other and shot at the person with the largest amount of aura. After your little showing people assumed I was as powerful as you and steered clear of me whenever they could after I showed that I don't have some absurd pistol that one hit KOs people."

"How many people did you get out?"

"Three."

"Good job." I said with a smile. Pyrrha sighed again.

"It just seems so small compared to all the stuff you did. You were amazing for the crowd but for everyone else you know you were terrifying, right"

"Oh I know." I said with a grin. "I was aiming for that." She looked to me curiously.

"Why would you want people to be afraid of you? Or the people you're fighting at least. Are you going to intimidate them in tomorrow's match?"

"No. You might figure it out eventually." I said knowingly. Pyrrha hummed.

"Maybe eventually. Also was that pistol your weapon? The one you're not showing me? It was kind of hard for me to not get asked about it and shown a video. Sorry."

"It's fine." I waved her apology off. "It wasn't my weapon. I just whipped that up as a proof of concept thing. I don't care to use it. Oh, and I'm trading one to general Ironwood for a guy I need to get." Pyrrha's eyes widened.

"You're saying that Atlas is going to have those guns?!"

"No of course not. They won't be able to figure it out." I smiled innocently. Pyrrha stared at me before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Just… Atlas is already pretty much the most powerful kingdom… giving them another huge advantage like that is… it would upset the balance of things." I nodded.

"I know well about the balance of power. I disrupt it all the time after all." Pyrrha laughed a little at that. "I need to go to bed now. I'd like plenty of sleep for tomorrow morning. I actually need to set some things straight with Raven." She nodded and stood up herself.

We walked upstairs together and Pyrrha disappeared into her room next to me. "Goodnight Abyss." She said as she closed the door.

"Goodnight Pyrrha. Last step comes tomorrow. You can do it." I said easily. I knew she would, after all. She had done it before. I stepped into my own room and studied a message I had received earlier today. I hadn't gotten around to looking at it yet.

*Ding!* Plasma and electricity affinities merged to form a lightning affinity from 20% plasma and 80% electricity! [214(80%)+45(20%)]= 180.2 lightning affinity acquired!

By acquiring an additional facet of a storm your title has upgraded:

The Storm

-Reduces mana costs of air, plasma, lightning, water, and electrical magic by 20%

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

-Increases mana capacity and regen by 25%

-can be upgraded by merging all component storm affinities.

-Should a storm affinity all component affinities will be sacrificed to to form a true storm affinity and an unlocked storm based semblance in addition to the already existing [Locked] semblance. All component affinities will be permanently barred. This effect will take place regardless of this title being equipped or not.

I looked at the final part of the title and a huge grin spread over my face. An… ADDITIONAL SEMBLANCE?! Well… I wonder if this title is a one-time thing or if I can gain more semblances through the titles like this one, assuming there are any. I know there's a mountain affinity, for example. It's another complex affinity like storm that's hard to increase but is multi-faceted and very powerful. Perhaps… maybe I could make an origin affinity? Icmant had mentioned it…

"Mana converged naturally and the affinities were close enough to form an origin affinity, which was unstable due to the lacking of a vessel to reside in and broke to purity and corruption…"

Perhaps I could do it… But I would need a corruption affinity. It might be just me but that seems like a bad idea… no. I can make an origin affinity. I will do it. That affinity was unstable because it didn't have a vessel for it. That implies that it could exist if it had a vessel such as my soul, which is a vessel for all my other affinities. So I could theoretically make an origin affinity… what it does is up for debate. It might be like that creation technique from naruto where I can create things from nothing… that could help with my research into the plants to farm for Nature's bounty… a lot.

I'll… try it. First is the storm and then I'll get the corruption affinity and make an origin affinity. I suppose I'll spend time meditating on it now. No time like the present.

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

"Ruby. I found her."

"You… you did?!"

"Of course I did… are you truly ready to do this?"

"I… yes."

"There is no turning back from this sort of a path."

"It's a path that leads to me standing beside my brother. I can do it."

"… You are so similar to your mother but… I don't think I could ever mistake you for Summer again."

"Mom is and always be my hero… but I can't follow her lead. Abyss is making his own path and rising to new heights. I have to find my own and catch up. It's… it's all I can do."

"You shouldn't feel forced to do this. You can walk away from this. After you do this… it's a commitment to something beyond anything else you could ever do."

"I know… auntie, when you left Yang with dad, left your past behind to follow your own path… have you ever regretted it?"

"Of course. But when I think about it there's no place I would rather be. The regret of not choosing a different path will always be there when times are hard. But regret isn't the issue. Are you truly prepared for this?"

"… Yes."

"… I want you to know… I'm proud of you."

"… *sniffle*… We're hugging."

"…"

"… Okay… when do we leave?"

"After the tournament you'll be taking a week off of school."

"Okay."

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

"Ladies and gentlemen! We saved him for last this time and ARE YOU EXCITED?!" The roar of the crowd was becoming more and more familiar now.

"GOOD! As you all know this will be a one versus one string of fights! KO as many as you can from the randomly selected pool of good competitors until you run out of steam and get KO'd yourself! The biggest record so far has been twenty seven competitors by Pyrrha Nikos! A new record at only thirteen! A once in a century prodigy she is!" A roar of agreement answered the announcer.

"But we all have high expectations don't we? Out of a survey from four hundred of you kind fold we discovered that most people expect that our shining star Abyss Mavros is expected to take down a whopping thirty four before he is KO'd! Now are you all having high expectations or what?!" A number of cheers were heard for me. Had I really made that much of an impression? That was better than I expected.

"As always we have a rule elected by the governing board for this tournament for each competitor! And boy are we going to see Mavros here actually break a sweat!" I narrowed my eyes. An elected rule? That explains how they cherry pick their candidates for the finals then.

"Abyss Mavros' rule is… he is not allowed to use any weapons whatsoever!" A huge chorus of gasps and surprise was heard from the audience. "And we have been informed that Abyss Mavros is in possession of a sort of hammerspace. Well using that will be considered cheating! So don't. Using weapons taken from opponents is allowed for the duration of that match whereupon it must be discarded. Now we welcome what will undoubtedly be the most difficult match of the year if not this decade!" Two attendants stripped me as the announcer continued talking.

"That's all of them." I growled. The two backed off then. I stored the knife hidden inside my cloak in my soul space.

"The people's favorite, the so-called strongest champion… Abyss Mavros!" I strided out with a calm look but no smile this time. People shouted encouragement like 'you can do it!' and 'you go mister badass!' and a variety of things. I stood at the center of the arena and waited for something to happen.

"First up is a Valean favorite! Fulvous Gallean!" A guy dressed in orange armor with a sword and shield walked out with confidence and poise. "GO!" the announcer cried.

Fulvous' sword shifted into a SMG and he took aim at me. I suppose that would be a common tactic. I blinked next to him and punched him in the throat. Fulvous choked and gaped at me teleporting in front of him and I tore his SMG from his hands and unloaded into his stomach until his aura was low.

"Amazing! For those of you that don't know our hero's semblance it's one of the main reasons he's unarmed in the first place! He has spatial manipulation! Teleporting! Portals! Hammerspace! And rumors of something else… what he's got will start to be shown right here! Right now! And next up is Bistre Orlean!"

A girl in a brown duster and grey shirt with a spear and arm guard walked out from a gate and winked at me flirtatiously. I deadpanned at her and crouched down briefly and grabbed a rock from the sandy dirt floor.

"Oh now what's this?" the announcer said curiously. I reared back and with the help of prediction I threw the rock as hard as I could. It rocketed across the arena and Bistre looked in surprise at the speed of the rock. She raised her spear to slash it out of the air but missed. The rock slammed into her forehead at high speeds and she yelled and stumbled backwards to rub her forehead with her off hand. Her spear tilted down to almost touch the ground in the process.

"What the?! Did he just?! That was a rock that just hit Bistre if you missed that!" A lot of laughter directed at Bistre was heard. I blinked in front of her and stomped hard on her spear. The tip broke off and Bistre stared in horror at her not defiled weapon. I roundhouse kicked her in the face in the meantime. Her aura was down a lot but she wasn't out. I readied a punch and blinked once more right in front of her. My fist slammed into her sternum and she was knocked back and out.

"I don't think I've ever seen a match as… interesting as that one, you all." the announcer said with a little humor. "Next up…"

I went through thirty seven more people. One after another. However, to avoid pointed fingers I had been using aura to fuel my powers. Not mana. After one blink too many I ran near ten percent and was pulled out. Everyone knew I could have gone farther but at the end of the day… it just got boring for everybody. I suppose they either didn't think I would actually pass or thought my semblance was more dramatic than suddenly appearing in a new place. Weird.

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

"Can we just appreciate that the kid took down thirty nine people?"

"Yeah. Thirty nine good tournament fighters. Or supposedly good."

"He's making our fighters look bad. This tournament accepts fighters from all over, being fair and all, but this… he's Valean. People see him easily clock almost forty of our fighters, not take a single hit except for a tiny poke because he was bored and daydreaming, when we laud Nikos as a once in a century genius. So either we're lying or he's just incredible. Luckily people are believing the second more but even so people are looking to Vale with higher respect because they brought out this kid, barely a FIRST YEAR!"

"Well what can we do? He fought nearly forty bare handed. He'll cream Nikos. It'll be bad rep all around."

"You all are forgetting something. Nikos and Mavros haven't gone all out yet. Nikos said it was because they wanted to fight each other. A showdown of prodigies. We can still hope Nikos wins when she goes all out."

"Hopefully… can we ban Mavros for future tourneys?"

"We can instate a new rule that the champion has to be Mistralian or that the champion has to abstain a year after their win for fairness' sake but people aren't stupid. People don't really care we were unfavorable towards the Mavros kid this time since… well come on. Thirty nine for dust's sake… but we can do some things. Fill his schedule around the time of the tournament or something."

"… Let's just ask him to not come back."

"What? That's just stupid. You can't just ask somebody to not-"

"It'll work."

"Wait, you too?"

"Does Abyss look like a super sneaky kind of guy? He's incredibly strong and fast and damn skilled too but he's a kid. And on top of that he's bored here. Dust's sake he nearly fell asleep in match thirty four!"

"… Fine. We'll… politely ask him to abstain after he wins. Or if we have some sort of divine miracle Nikos will win."

"We can only hope."

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

"You're not really giving me a chance here." Pyrrha growled. We were laying at the side of a mountain. I had looked at them from the restaurant tower and thought 'I wonder what the view is like over there?' and as it turned out the view was nice.

"Whatever twenty seven." I teased. Pyrrha huffed.

"Abyss… will I even be a challenge for you?" I considered that.

"That depends…"

"On what?"

"Are we going to be fighting or sparring tomorrow?" Pyrrha looked to me confusedly.

"Neither of us have actually tried." I explained. "So… are we actually going to try?"

"Of course!" Pyrrha looked almost insulted that she wouldn't.

"Then yeah. You'll be a challenge." I smiled. Something nagged at me though.

"Say, Abyss?" Pyrrha asked somewhat timidly.

"Hm?"

"We can still be friends after, right?"

"Obviously."

"If I lose I want you to train me." Pyrrha said passionately. I blinked and looked at her. "I know I'll probably lose." She said confidently. "But obviously I'm going to try my hardest. But next year it'll be different. I'll be stronger. Strong enough to actually fight you."

I looked over to Pyrrha. "… Pyrrha Mistral is boring." I said bluntly. She blinked twice and looked to me for clarification. "Mistral is just… this place has nothing for you. You have your father and that's it. Nothing. Nobody to really fight. Nobody to challenge you. You haven't introduced me to a single one of your friends. It's like this place is sucking the life out of me the longer I stay here. The only thing worth a damn in this whole city is you and your father." Pyrrha was silent.

"Are you suggesting I move to Vale?" She sounded like she was considering that. I growled. Actually growled. This place was so frustrating!

"Hell no." I said, voicing that frustration. "Pyrrha when I was about five or so my parents died. Shot in front of me." Pyrrha looked to me in surprise. Had she learned this already, maybe? "They died in an instant. I had nothing in Vacuo. Nothing at all. So I left. Not with a dust jet or a bullhead or to anywhere. I walked into the desert and travelled. I did nothing but walk through those dunes for about two years. It was horrible." Pyrrha looked confused.

"Pyrrha while I was there I did NOTHING!" I yelled. She looked surprised that I had actually yelled at her. "For two years I barely gained anything! I sat on my ass and did NOTHING! And that's Mistral! Those sands in the arena? They're useless. They're just a desert where nothing ever happens! People fight, leave, and for what? Fame? You've gotten to be a name most everyone in Mistral knows and you don't even like it! So why the hell are you here?!" Pyrrha looked down and frowned.

"… I don't know."

"Then find a reason!" I snapped. "Find one or move to a place where you actually have a purpose! Mistral is nothing but an empty, rotting place for me. Vale is my home! It's where I actually feel complete! I have friends there! Family! But here is absolutely nothing! The only reason either of us is in it to fight each other and we're just edging around it like we're supposed to have some sort of ritual before we fight. NO! If I want something I take it. Pyrrha you don't know half of what I've done but I blackmail teachers, fight at the levels of people who I have no damn right fighting at and know things I have no business whatsoever knowing!"

Pyrrha was silent but that was fine. "Do you know I unlocked my own aura?" Her head snapped to me, her eyes wide. "I had and have one goal. Just one. It's how I unlocked it. I want freedom. I want to go where I want. Meet who I want. Do what I want. And I sure as hell don't want to sit and wait to fight in some tournament for some snobs who think we have to EARN the right to fight each other! Tomorrow I'm leaving to Vale and I hope I never have to spend another day in this empty, useless city unless you decide for some reason to stay!"

"I don't want to be here." Pyrrha said quietly. I whirled to her.

"Do you really? Do you actually dislike this place? It's a birdcage for you. There's a wide open sky but can you actually muster up the courage to walk out?!"

"I want out!" She snapped. "My mother isn't even here half the time! My father did nothing but drink and train me all day until you actually came here! My sister left a long time ago and by dust she was and is a nervous wreck so why am I here?! I ask myself that every time I walk into Sanctum! I learn nothing! I fight nobodies who say 'I want to be a huntress!' 'I want to be the hero!' and they do nothing for it! But me? I actually did something! I worked! And now what?! There's nothing here! Nobody to do anything! But I stay here and do nothing! I don't have a reason!"

"So why haven't you left?!" I roared at her.

"I DON'T-"

"IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE SPINELESS DAMNIT!" I broke at that. Damn her finding the answers herself. She stopped and all that anger seemed to melt away.

"You fight because people tell you to! You stay because why move?! You don't do ANYTHING unless it's right in front of you! You don't have the spine to stand up and LEAVE! And every day I spend in this cursed city is another day I think that I have to do this or that. That I have to go to this fancy tower when I can cook ten times better than they can! That I have to fight a hundred useless pricks one after another just so I can go home and sit on my ass some more! You've been here your entire life! What have you actually done that was your own choice?! That you stuck with because you wanted is so badly that you actually reached out and grabbed it?!"

"I… I…" Pyrrha was at a loss for words. She seemed to be really thinking.

"Pyrrha I lied. After this if you don't find SOMETHING to do I won't talk to you again until you do." She looked at me wide eyed and shocked.

"Find something. Hate me if you have to but by dust if you don't find some semblance of life in that empty shell of yours you dare to call a life! You fight and nothing else. That is nothing! And you've done nothing but show it in every single one of those useless empty fights you fought this week! So FUCKING FIND SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR!" I angrily swept a hand through the air to make a portal and stormed back to my room at the Nikos residence.

After calming down a little bit I regretted only one part of that conversation. I had sworn a lot… That was just being crass. I sat down and meditated, hating that I had nothing else to do to pass the time. I heard Pyrrha trudge back into her room a while later. It occurred to me that I hadn't made a portal for her… whoops. It also occurred to me that steel will's clear mind effect had taken a sort of backseat to the loud and angry force of my emotions… I can't find it in myself to dislike that. That all needed to be said… hopefully my position is somewhat clearer now…

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

"Pyrrha? Whoah! What happened?!"

"Abyss got angry. Not fire and brimstone angry but some… very harsh words."

"Oh…"

"Ruby…"

"Um, yeah?"

"I'm going to kick your brother's ass."

"Uhhhhh… okay?"

----------------------------------------------------------

If like it please drop some POWER STONES