Transmigration

The sounds of flapping wings rumbled like machinery. It was pure darkness, which formed a canopy of void like the glare of the abyss.

'Where am I?'

Aciel frowned as he gazed at the sudden appearance of a tiny dot of light, which gradually expanded into a vast sun of unsurmountable magnitude.

"Ugh..."

When he woke up, a strong headache affected his psyche as he looked around to figure out where he was.

It was a desolate white landscape, with snow cascading from the sky. Aciel shivered as the cold seeped into his body, and he slowly rose with weary, dazed eyes.

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath, feeling disoriented as memories flooded his mind. The other life he once knew had suddenly transformed into a life-and-death situation.

"Grr...!"

As Aciel grimaced and shook with every waning breath, a dark figure with a white mask resembling a humanoid wolf approached him. Aciel felt like he was about to collapse and wondered, "Am I dreaming? Why does that look like a Grimm from RWBY?"

The only thing he knew was that he was about to die. Calmly, he breathed in through his nose and exhaled smoke as he glared at the Grimm.

'I can't fall here.'

Swiish!

Aciel gritted his teeth as he stepped back while dodging the sharp claws of the Beowulf.

The Beowulf growled with annoyance as the prey, which should have been a harmless rabbit, countered with a punch to its left eye.

The Grimm screamed as the darkness of dust scattered from its eyes, and it looked to see that Aciel had run into the woods.

"Awoo!"

The Beowulf furiously followed the footprints.

.

.

.

As Aciel ran through the woods, his body felt weaker with each passing moment. Suddenly, he tumbled down and rolled onto the snowy ground, frowning as he glanced at his side.

It was the body of a deceased male adult who had wide eyes, showing that he had not been expecting his body to be severed in half, as the white snow was dyed red. The body was still fresh with the smell of metal and sulfur.

Aciel stood up as he was already used to seeing this scene so many times. Then, he found an axe lying beside the corpse.

He seized it and dashed through the woods once more, catching sight of the looming figure of Beowulf, who had been pursuing him.

'There isn't any shelter.'

Aciel glared at the Beowulf as he stopped running away. Had he continued, he would have died from exhaustion. It was better to confront it than to run away.

The Beowulf stopped and slowly circled him as snowflakes fell from the sky. Aciel calmly assessed any openings. "A soldier doesn't run away from death," he said. He focused all his senses on his surroundings.

"Grrr!"

When the Beowulf grew impatient, it pounced at Aciel with a wide mouth filled to the brim with its white fangs, capable of ripping an adult in half.

'It didn't even think I'd be a match for it, huh? What a stupid monster.'

Aciel's crimson eyes glowed with malice as he skillfully swung the axe in a complex pattern.

"Awogh!?"

The Beowulf howled in agony as its left eye was slashed open. It frantically moved, trying to bite Aciel, but Aciel was already out of its reach, leaving behind only a cloud of snow dust from his kick. Taking advantage of the wolf's blindness caused by the snow, Aciel seized the opportunity to attack by swinging his axe left to right in a fluid motion from top to bottom.

Swiish-Swoosh!

The Beowulf howled in agony, sustaining multiple shallow wounds across its forehead and belly. When it turned to look at Aciel, its eyes widened.

An aura of darkness slightly shrouded Aciel's body, unbeknownst to him. The wolf found the sight disturbing, as its senses felt undulating fear from the unknown.

His axe left afterimages filled with feint attacks, mocking the Beowulf's senses. As the axe continued to dig into its body, Beowulf countered with its fierce claws and fangs, but Aciel dodged calmly, almost as if he were predicting the future.

Swiish-Swoosh!

Beowulf dashed backward as fresh dark dust spewed from its wounds. As Aciel calmly approached the wolf, its belly and forehead were full of shallow and deep cuts.

"Grrr..."

The Beowulf backed away at the terrifying sight of the boy's cold and distant eyes as he calmly approached with a pale face while exuding a ghostly aura. Despite this, the Beowulf couldn't help but shudder in fear.

No matter how hard it tried to swipe its claws, it couldn't even touch a single strand of the boy's hair.

It was like observing a predator with its eyes fixed on its prey.

Fear was a fundamental emotion ingrained in every living being. It sensed that it would only be jumping to its death if it continued to pounce on the boy. So, it backed away and ran for the first time.

"..." 

When the Beowulf finally left, Aciel kneeled to the ground as blood flowed from his nose and mouth.

"Tsk..." Aciel gritted his teeth.

'If it didn't leave there, I might've died a dog's death.'

He had already sustained injuries in his brain as the cold permeated his lungs, which was the result of hypothermia, causing his coagulation system to bleed due to acidosis.

Aciel's vision was blurred as he attempted to stand up, then he quickly lost consciousness.

.

.

.

It was dark. He could only hear a faint sound of his body being dragged from the snowy floor.

"Ugh."

'How many times have I woken up with a headache?' Aciel soothed his sour feelings with a sense of reality as he looked around.

He was tied up with heavy restraints of ropes tightening on his arms as he tried to move but to no avail. He was locked inside a gloomy place while a fireplace was lit up in front of him. When Aciel glanced at the giant figure on his right side, he heard a raspy voice of a middle-aged man.

"You're finally awake."

Aciel turned his head to see a man with bear ears and a badge symbol on his chest.

'Faunus...'

The Faunus Rights Revolution Group was somewhat hostile to humans. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they hate humanity. It was an undeniable truth for the race that faced discrimination due to their birthright.

"What do you want?"

Aciel asked with a haggard voice.

"You'll become my dinner. I hadn't eaten in a long time since I ran away from my group, who lost the will to fight against the humans. So I hid here away from the pursuers. I was looking for a deer, but I've found you. It's much tastier to eat you, damn humans."

'He is not sane in the head.' Aciel assessed carefully.

"Who are you?"

"You ask so many questions, but I'll tell you since I want to see the fear in your eyes. I am the captain of the Revolution Group."

'One of the remnants of the Faunus Rights Revolution Group? Not only a deserter but a psychopath and a cannibal.' Aciel frowned as he focused his senses on the surroundings to observe any openings while buying time.

"... Why do you hate us so much?"

Aciel asked, and the Faunus man laughed as he heard the question.

"Why do you need to know so much? You human bastards killed my mother. Now, I'll do the same. I'll kill and eat your kind."

Aciel frowned when he noticed the man sharpening a sharp knife.

Thud! Rumble!

The Faunus man glared at the door leading to the basement, then bit his tongue in frustration as he left the knife on the table.

"Tch. I'll be back."

"..."

Aciel glanced around the room; a fireplace in the center, ropes bound both of his arms. He then looked at the table where he had left the sharp knife.

He swung his body back and forth using both of his feet and snatched the knife with his sole feet. Aciel's blood trickled as he firmly grasped the sharp edge of the knife with his toes.

He then lifted his foot, bringing the knife to his arms. Aciel ripped the ropes that bound him as he glared at the spot where the man had been.

'I'll have to wait.'

Aciel slowly hid behind the dark corner, and after several minutes, the Faunus man returned. He glanced at the torn-off rope with bafflement and shock.

"Huh? Where the hell!-"

Before he could react, Aciel fell from the ceiling as he grasped the Faunus man's neck with both feet gripping the neck while hands stabbing a knife into his neck.

"?!"

Thung!

Aciel's knife didn't penetrate his skin. The Faunas man tried to grab Aciel, but Aciel was faster as he jumped down while slashing his eye, causing the man to block it with his bare hands.

The faunus man's skin was full of pentagon green lines that covered his whole body. Aciel firmly grasped the sharp knife as his body still felt weak.

"Tch! I was wondering why you were still alive. It seemed that you managed to drive away the Beowulf with that skill of yours."

"Hahahaha! Once I eat you, I'll regain a lot of strength. Maybe my aura will grow stronger!" The Faunus man smiled as he ripped his shirt off.

As his muscles expanded with his green-like aura, his eyes burned with the color of grass.

Thud!

"I'll kill you today, human brat!"

He lunged at Aciel with unbridled force like a buffalo, ramming the shelves behind Aciel as Aciel rolled to the ground to evade the body slam. The books and trinkets scattered as Aciel slashed the knife again.

Thung!

It was like a metal hitting another metal. The aura forcefield blocked his attack once more. Aciel grimaced as the Faunus man readied another body slam. Aciel grabbed the rope from the ground and swung it to the ceiling, he then turned to look at a familiar weapon before grabbing it and hiding it behind his back.

He slid to the ground using the rope tied to the ceiling as the man used his superhuman-like strength to dent the ground a meter long, using his body alone.

"You move like a monkey! Stay still!" 

As the Faunus man readied for another slam, Aciel entered a high-flow state before calmly assessing the situation similar to when he fought the Beowulf. 

This guy was a lot stronger than the Beowulf. Thankfully, his body still has energy. It also wasn't as cold as before.

'He is also stupider since he relies so much on brute force.'

But that still doesn't take away the dangers of this ordeal since this Faunus man was an aura user.

Surprisingly, the Faunus man stopped as he couldn't help but open his mouth.

"You're using an aura? How can a bean sprout like you do that?!"

He asked while gritting his teeth in jealousy. Aura needed a lot of experience and training, yet the boy was using it at a tender age. But wasn't that better? If he could consume Aciel, then that would only make him stronger.

"What?"

Aciel couldn't help but frown at his question. He then checked his arms, chest, and feet. The black aura was covering his entire body from head to toe without him even knowing it.

'This is my aura?'

Aciel didn't have time to wonder as the Faunus man had already lunged himself at him.

"That's even better! Once I get you, I'll get more than feasting on an ordinary human!"

Aciel breathed in and out as he focused. He felt his body grow stronger as he realized the unknown force permeating his body. 

Aciel stepped to the side as he moved the force from his body to his sharp knife. It was filled with the aura of darkness as he focused it all into his knife before swinging it to the man's neck.

The Faunus man felt the danger as he tried to block with his hands. Aciel broke through his aura as the darkness eroded his arms before slicing it off cleanly, causing the man to scream in agony as blood gushed out like a fountain after his severed arms fell to the ground.

"ARGH! Damn you!"

The Faunus man used his last bit of strength to slam his forehead into the defenseless boy, but Aciel showed the axe from his left hand, hidden from the line of sight of the Faunus man before he had even sliced off his arms. 

He could only watch in horror as the heavily aura-infused axe was about to enter his forehead.

'He planned this already? I am going to die! I can't die here! I don't want to die!'

"NOOO!!!-"

The Faunus man couldn't help but widen his eyes when the darkness-infused axe went into his skull before piercing his brain.

The Faunus man dropped to the ground with his fear-stricken gaze as Aciel glanced down at him with indifferent eyes and panting breaths.

As he sat on the ground and rested, Aciel searched the corpse and found several items.

"Huh?"

There were gold Lien cards.

'I don't know much about the currency of RWBY, but it's better than nothing.'

He searched the house for something to eat, but there were only a couple of rations and a frozen water bottle.

Aciel brought the frozen water near the fire and boiled it inside a cooking pot while steaming the jerky rations, which would only last a day if he ate it all.

'No wonder he was so hungry to the point he'd cannibalize another race.'

Of course, Aciel preferred not to do that since he detested eating something as disgusting as a human body.

When he searched the house, he found more Lien cards, which amounted to millions of Liens. (1,346,000 Lien)

'I don't know how much this is, but I'll have to see once I start trading the money for items in the city.'

Aciel also stopped as he grabbed a silver mirror. It was the face of a white-haired boy with crimson eyes. 

'This is...'

He looked a lot younger. It was like he was back in his teenage years.

Aciel wore the black cloak and the loose black uniform without the badge as he went to the door where the Faunus man had heard the sound. When he opened it, the door led to a basement.

His footsteps were silent as he was used to espionage.

When he reached the bottom floor, Aciel's eyes widened at the sight.

"This..."