Chapter 13
-[Julius]-
It had been a hectic few hours. After the devastating battle, he had to search for Elma and Jaye who were knocked out of the fight at different times.
Fortunately, they were still alive with Elma having already regained consciousness.
Even after he and Rowan had defeated the powerful Grimm, the boy didn't look one bit pleased. He had been silent even as Julius carried him back to the inn in Shion village.
He couldn't blame him. Despite how strong he was, it didn't change the fact that Rowan was still a child. A child who just had a very close encounter with death in such a manner.
The sound of an object vibrating on wood caught his attention. He turned to the table to see Rowan's scroll laying there and Rowan on his bed, not even giving it a glance.
"You're not going to answer it? Girls don't like it when you ignore them for too long." Julius joked in an attempt to get a reaction from him only for it to fail as Rowan sat there, looking into space.
He sighed, moving to sit beside his son. "How are you feeling?"
They sat in silence for a moment as Rowan seemingly didn't hear the question. It took a while before Rowan responded.
"I don't know. That Grimm…we almost died. If I could barely hold my own against it then what's going to happen when another one like it shows up?" Rowan muttered quietly but Julius heard it.
"Before I started at Beacon you said I needed to find something that makes life feel worth it. How am I supposed to do that if we're all dead?" Rowan's words were but a whisper but they carried on to his father's ears.
"You know, you have a point there. We almost died." Julius agreed with Rowan's first statement. "I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't think we'd make it out alive."
As he spoke, he felt Rowan's gaze on him. "Sure, you barely held your own but you're forgetting one thing. You're the one who killed it." Julius reminded him.
"That's only because you were able to stall it." Rowan countered, still despondent.
"Exactly. It was the two of us out there. Aside from the fact that we don't even know if there are more like it, what makes you think you'll have to fight them on your own?" Julius questioned, catching the subtle widening of Rowan's eyes before they narrowed.
"Devon…Gerard…Quint. They tried fighting it and look at what happened. I can't drag anyone else into this." Rowan defended.
This time it was Julius' turn to narrow his eyes. "And who exactly made it your responsibility to deal with them?"
"…I did." His son answered in a whisper.
In a way, Julius felt responsible for what was happening. He was the one who encouraged Rowan to go out and find what he wanted in the world.
To unearth his own answers to the questions that plagued him. This was the result of it. "Rowan, this isn't your responsibility to uphold. You aren't obligated to dedicate your entire life to something you don't want to."
"But I have to. Someone has to do it." Rowan replied weakly.
"And what if you're not there when a Grimm like this attacks, will you blame yourself for that?" Julius asked.
Rowan opened his mouth to argue, only for him to close it a moment later, gritting his teeth. Julius could only sigh sadly. "You need to remember that you're still a kid. You haven't even gotten a girlfriend yet."
"How is that related to this in any way?" Rowan interjected.
"What I'm saying is that no one expects you to take this responsibility on your shoulders. There are huntsmen and huntresses for that." Julius said, half expecting an argument from his son but Rowan stayed silent. "And if you really feel the need to take on this responsibility, you can do that after you've graduated."
"There's no need to rush. When you graduate, I'll be there waiting for you." Julius added with a confident smirk.
They sat in silence for a while as Rowan seemed to take in what was just said. The buzzing of the scroll on the table caught their attention, causing Julius to turn to Rowan.
"On another note, you really should answer her." He said, getting a slight chuckle from Rowan.
How could he not notice it? The constant texts ever since they first got here, and now that the boy wasn't responding, the scroll was buzzing continuously. "So, tell me about her."
"I am not having that conversation with you." Rowan said in exasperation, lightly pushing the man away as moved to take the scroll. "Besides, we're just friends."
"That's what they all say." Julius teased, getting a dry stare from the boy.
At least he wasn't moping anymore.
"Don't you have a wife to call right about now?" Rowan asked in an attempt to turn the tables.
"Yeah, about that…your mother doesn't know you're on this mission." Julius said in a slightly nervous manner.
The lack of surprise on Rowan's face was almost insulting, as were the next words that came out of his mouth. "Typical."
"Hey!"
-[Rowan]-
Ignoring the scroll for the moment, he pulled up his stats. He hadn't looked through the numerous notifications he got after the fight so he figured this was the best one to start with.
•••
Name: Rowan Arc
Title: [Huntsman in Training]
Level: 94
HP: 10,500/10,500 [300 per minute]
AP: 20,000/20,000 [975 per 30 seconds]
STR: 130
DEX: 176
VIT: 150
INT: 200
WIS: 195
Points: 95
•••
'20 levels. Just that fight with the cyclops gave me this much. Even then, it doesn't seem enough.' He thought a bit sadly as thought about where to place his points.
'Even with all my points in DEX, I was barely able to react.' With the [Feather Foot] perk which literally doubled his speed, he struggled to just barely keep up and even then it wasn't enough.
He assigned 5 points to WIS and 24 points to DEX, taking them both to 200.
•••
[Perk Gained]
[Aura Sage] - 200 WIS
Aura regeneration is doubled.
[Perk Gained]
[Unnatural Grace] - 200 DEX
Movement and attacking speed is increased by 150%
•••
The difference was immediate as he felt the changes take place. His aura regeneration rate had grown even more absurd.
With 66 points remaining, he was torn on whether to share it between STR and VIT or take VIT to 200. After a moment of deliberation, he sighed as he allocated 50 points to VIT and the remaining 16 to STR.
•••
[Perk Gained]
[Supernatural Health] - 200 VIT
Permanently increases HP regeneration
•••
He pulled up his stats, more than a bit stunned by the large changes.
•••
Name: Rowan Arc
Title: [Huntsman in Training]
Level: 94
HP: 14,000/14,000 [1000 per minute]
AP: 20,000/20,000 [2000 per 30 seconds]
STR: 146
DEX: 200
VIT: 200
INT: 200
WIS: 200
Points: 0
Ap Regen = WIS X 10
AP = INT X 100
Health = VIT X 70
HP Regen = VIT X 5
•••
His eye twitched a bit at the uneven look of his stats but the absurdity of it prevailed. His health and aura regeneration were at levels that were unreachable by the normal huntsmen and huntresses of remnant unless they had a semblance related to it.
'But will it be enough?' He thought before moving to the notifications that he silenced earlier.
He scrolled past a lot of level up notifications. None of them caught his attention until he got to a particular part.
•••
[Aura has leveled up]
[Due to 'Aura' reaching level 85, your Semblance has evolved!]
•••
He immediately pulled up the description of his semblance, pausing in shock.
•••
[The Author(Active)]
Due to your identity as an outsider, you have gained the ability to view things from a different perspective. You can discern heavily concealed truths with a single glance, from that of the target's true Name to special ability.
[2nd Effect]:[Bookmark]
Permanent spending 1000 AP, you tag a target allowing you to view the tagged target's stats and location from anywhere.
[3rd Effect]:[Pilfer]
You are now able to make use of special skills or semblance of a tagged target.
•••
'This…' He had basically turned into All for One without the whole permanently stealing part. 'I am definitely going to abuse this.'
He spent the next few minutes going through the other notifications to make sure he didn't miss anything.
The buzzing from his scroll drew him out of his trance. He couldn't help a chuckle as he picked up his scroll, seeing a text from a certain cat faunus.
He had expected that after their 'chat' about him knowing her secret that she'd stay away from him. She had done so at first, which didn't really bother him.
Ironically, it wasn't until he got to Shion village that the girl reached out to him, apparently getting his scroll number from Jaune.
To say he was surprised would be an understatement. Though he was surprised, he went along with it. There was no harm in conversing with the girl when she had taken the step to reach out to him.
To be honest, it was cute how worried she got when he didn't respond for a while. It only showed him much of the insecurity Adam had dealt into her.
"What's got you smiling?" Julius's voice came from the doorway.
It only took a second for a sword to embed itself in the wall beside his face. Despite that, the man didn't flinch as a cut appeared on his cheek, his grin not falling.
"You're healing that up." Julius spoke again as he pulled out Rowan's sword from the wall.
"Do it yourself." Rowan retorted dryly as he took his weapon back.
-[Later]-
They stayed in Shion for a few more days to deal with the leftover Grimm. Elma and Jaye had already left before them, too despondent to fight at the moment.
Rowan and Julius stood just outside the village as they caught sight of an airship flying over them.
As it halted above them, the door to the airship opened up as a rope ladder rolled down to their height.
Julius bowed in an overly dramatic manner, gesturing for Rowan to climb the ladder. "Ladies first."
"Shut up." Rowan shot back as he took hold of the ladder, steadily climbing up to the ship. The sound of Julius's laughter elicited an exasperated sigh from him. 'Why me?'