68 Winter Break 30
"Ack! Ruby, don't sneak up on me…I was trying to figure out how my future self was able to add Dust effects into my Summons."
"Ahh…it was pretty cool seeing a Nevermore made out of fire."
"I'll never forget the day I thought I saw a real phoenix," Jaune smiled.
"Yes…well, I think I understand most of it. I was just testing some things with a couple of equations."
"Blech…I think I prefer Symbology's art of words over the math you need for your Sigils," Ruby stuck her tongue out.
Weiss rolled her eyes and said, "Well, who knows, maybe I'll find a way to blend Symbology and Sigils together. You shouldn't look down on math, Ruby."
"I'm not looking down on it, I just don't like it," The silver-eyed reaper replied.
"I'll lend you the books granny left for Ruby and I to study. Like Ruby said, we're going for overkill."
Weiss raised an eyebrow before Jaune explained, "Oh, um. You see, in order to change our future, I couldn't think of anything besides becoming so powerful that we create a wave big enough to change the tides of fate. Us by ourselves won't have a good enough impact. We need every able man, woman, and child to put in the effort. So the more power we have the better."
"So even if we can't win right away, we can at least survive." Weiss pondered out loud while she cupped her chin and tilted her head.
"Exactly," Jaune snapped his fingers with a grin on his face.
Weiss nodded her head with a look of understanding, "I see…that explains why you want so many citizens with their Aura's unlocked…"
"That and production abilities will help out a bunch. Honestly, last time there was barely enough of us left, but if we awaken an entire construction company, I can only imagine how quickly and efficiently a city can be built."
"So where's everybody else?" Ruby looked around.
"Pyrrha went back to mining with Nora, Ren is making…concoctions, Yang is…Yang, and Blake is reading in the tent. We swapped out watch duty every half hour."
"Well, Jaune and I are about to go kill some Grimm! Want to join us?"
"Sure, let me get Yang to take over. I could stretch my legs and try out a couple ideas."
"So team, JWR…um jewelry?" Ruby tilted her head.
The trio smiled at the name before Weiss shook her head and said, "Sure, I guess that works."
Weiss went off and shouted at Yang to take over for her while they went out to level up.
"Huh? Isn't he supposed to be resting?" Yang lifted a brow.
"What, I'm just clearing some Grimm. This for fun for me," Jaune laughed.
Yang rolled her eyes and said, "Well, you kids have fun then. Don't stay out for too long, and make sure to contact us if you need anything."
"You got it," Jaune gave a thumb's up before hopping up on his horse, "I'll keep her safe. Though, I think you know she'll be watching my back too, sis."
The blond brawler gave him a melancholic stare as she said, "Jaune, you stay safe too. You have to start taking better care of yourself. We don't need a leader that ends up shouldering everything to the point they become a burden for themselves and others. I still haven't forgiven you for making me leave you in that mess."
"Yang…I…"
"I'll keep him in line," Ruby announced as her horse stood next to Jaune's.
"You do that sis, and protect that cute butt of his," Yang chuckled at the sight of her sister dropping her jaw.
Jaune laughed while Weiss shook her head and said, "Can we go now?"
"Yes please, and quit looking at my boyfriend's butt! Come on, Buttercup, giddyup!"
The horse trod off as they gave a quick wave and the group made their way out of Kuroyuri's gates.
"Please…whatever benevolent god watching us, protect them…huh, and here I thought Qrow's whole religion stuff was B.S."
Jaune, Ruby, and Weiss rode their horses down to the bottom of the mountain's pathways before the blond knight led them to a few cave openings near a forested area.
Jaune and Ruby stood at the front while Weiss prepared a Dust Amplification Sigil for them to use.
Place their guns up behind the Sigil, Jaune and Ruby smiled before the blond knight said, "Let's shake this nest loose!"
"On my mark, FIRE!" Ruby shouted as she shot a Fire Dust Round.
Jaune fired a Wind Dust round and watched as their attacks combined within Weiss' sigil, forming a large fireball that shot into the cave and exploded.
Roars of anger could be heard coming from inside the cave before a notice informed them that they just killed six Adolescent Chimeras.
[6x Mature Chimera Grimm have been slain!]
[9,000EXP Acquired!]
The ground began to rumbling with the sound of heavy footsteps as the trio prepped their next attack.
Jaune activated his Aura sword while Ruby revealed her new Aura Scythe Blade.
"Impressive," Weiss said as a Chimera ran out the cave entrance.
The winged Grimm beast had three heads, one of a lion, one of a goat, and a serpent tail. It's body was large and muscular. It had razor sharp claws and rows of teeth on each of the mask covered heads, and it was at least the size of an elephant.
However impressive the monster looked, Jaune cut it legs down with a single stoke of his Aura Sword while Ruby slashed the snake tail off.
The moment the creature hit the ground, Weiss stabbed her rapier into the Chimera's lion head and pulled the trigger at the base of her sword.
A stream of fire shot out and incinerated the beast on the spot before a notification for defeating an Adult Chimera chimed in everyone's head.
[1x Adult Chimera has been slain!]
[3,500EXP Acquired.]
More footsteps were heard as the rest of the nest came running out. Jaune and Ruby turned into blurs as their weapons left trails of light coated in their Aura. Jaune's sword sliced through another adult while Ruby killed three Mature Grimm at the same time.
Weiss froze over the cave entrance and made a small funnel for them to run through. The Grimm chose the path of least resistance and funneled themselves into a line before the young couple raised up their guns and fired earth Dust rounds into the trap.
The slugs hardened by the Earth Dust tore through the Grimm like they were Swiss cheese.
[5x Mature Chimeras slain]
[3x Adult Chimeras slain]
Weiss suddenly used the remaining ice on the entrance of the cave to turn it into 2 giant knights with frozen swords and shields.
"Slaughter them!" Weiss said as she lowered her weapon and stabbed it into the ground.
The knights swung their weapons with a fierce wind carrying behind it seconds before more notifications rang out.
[7x Mature Chimeras slain]
[1x Adult Chimera slain]
Jaune rushed in before swinging his blade and letting out a shout, "Crescent Moon Beam!"
The seven foot long sword of Aura suddenly shot off the surface of the blade, cleaving through the stone cave and killing even more Grimm.
[3x Adult Chimeras slain]
[10x Mature Chimeras slain]
Ruby switched back to her sniper mode before closing her eyes and releasing a decent amount of her Aura to fire a laser from her barrel made of pure Aura and fire Dust.
For a second, Crescent Rose looked like a large crimson flamethrower that spewed death into the cave entrance.
[2x Adult Chimeras slain]
[14x Adolescent Chimeras slain]
Jaune then boost Ruby's Aura and made the beam magnify several times over before it exploded and collapsed the entire cave.
[6x Adult Chimeras slain]
[7x Mature Adolescent Chimeras slain]
[10x Adolescent Chimeras slain]
[19x Preadolescent Chimeras slain]
[Reward Screen]
16x Adult Chimeras: 56,000EXP
35x Mature Chimeras: 52,500EXP
24x Adolescent Chimeras: 18,000EXP
19x Preadolescent Chimeras: 5,700EXP
[Total EXP: 132,200]
[Level Up!]
Jaune spent his token on the last Constitution+ Sphere and took a quick look at how much EXP was needed until the next level.
Name: Jaune Arc
Age: 17
Title: Heroic Soul: +100% to Aura Growth, +50% to Physical Growth.
Class: Hunter Knight In Training - Level: 12
Overall Level: 012
Experience: 277,800
Experience needed until the next level: 303,750
Condition: 98%
Constitution: 75->->->84 (+4 from Level Up)(+5 from Level Token)
Defense: 89->->->94 (+20 Armor Bonus) (+5 from Level Up)
Intelligence: 33->->->36 (+1 from Level Up)
Focus: 38->->->44 (+4 from Level Up)
Mana: 0
Battle Power: 275->->->305(+30 from Level Up) (50% Increase from Title Effect)
Aura: 10,545->->->10,620(+75 from Level Up) (x3 Aura Growth from MD Pendant and Title Effect)
"Okay, lets head off to the next nest. I want to see if we can get to level 20 before the day is up," Jaune grinned.
"I wonder what happens when we do. There are only 20 Sphere Slots in our grid," Ruby pondered out loud as they backtracked to where they tied up the horses.
"I imagine it's something like a class up event," Jaune shrugged his shoulders.
"Going by game logic…that seems to be the way of things, especially after seeing you family's class grids," Ruby replied as she jumped on her horse.
"Class ups? Hmm…I wonder what I'll get," Weiss smiled at the thought of becoming a full blown sorceress.
The trio went from Grimm nest to Grimm nest, wiping out every kind of vile creature of darkness they came across with ease. Their new equipment and Weiss' advancements in her Sigils turned team Jewelry into a force of nature no Grimm could stop.
Only monsters like Salem's creations and the nightmare inducing Grimm on the Darklands could put up a proper fight. Alone, each teammate could probably kill an experienced adult.
Though, a team was still needed for the Elder, Ancient, and Primordial Grimm class.
When they reached level 15, everyone suddenly received a notice that they could class up.
[You have reached Level 15.]
[You now meet the minimal requirements to Prestige your class.]
[Would you like to advance class now?]
Jaune's jaw dropped as he saw he had three classes he could advance to.
[Magic Swordsman]
[Paladin]
[War Knight]
Ruby's was…
[Reaper]
[Weapon Specialist]
[Huntress]
Weiss was more than stoked to see magical abilities as the reward of her class up.
[Red Mage]
[Green Mage]
[Blue Mage]
At Kuroyuri, Yang was looking over her choices.
[Monk]
[Martial Artist]
[Berserker]
Ren couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was already grateful that he was leveling up like mad due to his team leaders and Weiss driving a bus, but a class up was out of his expectation.
[Alchemist]
[Assassin]
[Medic]
Nora grinned ear to ear as she read out the provided classes.
[Electro Esper]
[Kneecapper]
[Titanic Tank]
Pyrrha was woken up from her nap to see her class up options floating above her face.
[Champion]
[Dragoon Knight]
[Spartan Warrior]
Blake's ears twitched as she read her choices.
[Kunoichi]
[Archivist]
[Rouge]
Even Sun who was currently explaining things to his teammates got the notification.
[Martial Artist]
[Cultivator]
[Jester]
Jaune quickly pulled out his scroll and sent a mass text to his party group before turning to Ruby and Weiss and saying, "Don't pick a class yet."
"Huh? Why?" Weiss pouted as her finger hovered over the blue mage selection.
"Look at the command prompt," Ruby said as she pointed to hers.
"It says we met the minimal requirements. We might get even better classes if we max out our base class," Jaune followed up.
"I see," sighed before
"Let's keep going. There are thousands of Grimm around these parts we can hunt," Ruby said as she reloaded her Crescent Rose.
"I'm with you," Jaune said as he got back on his horse.
"Right, let's get to level twenty before nightfall!" Weiss said as they rode away from a piece of destroyed terrain. The smoke was still smoldering next to craters and ashes of Grimm.
They fought and fought until they eventually reached level twenty. In total they had killed upward of a 1,000 Grimm, many of which were adults, and just as Jaune expected, there were even more classes to choose from.
"I think I'll choose, Arc Knight because it was the last one to appear," Jaune rubbed his chin.
Name: Jaune Arc
Age: 17
Title: Heroic Soul: +100% to Aura Growth, +50% to Physical Growth.
Class: Arc Knight - Level: 01
Overall Level: 021
Experience: 8,877,800
Experience needed until the next level: 11,677,170
Condition: 48%
Constitution: 84->->->111 (+27 from 8 Level Ups)
Defense: 94->->->127 (+20 Armor) (+28 from 8 Level Ups) (+15 from Sphere Grid)
Intelligence: 36->->->64 (+18 from 8 Level Ups) (+10 from Sphere Grid)
Focus: 44->->->80 (+26 from 8 Level Ups) (+15 from Sphere Grid)
Mana: 0
Battle Power: 315->->->519(+204 from 8 Level Ups) (50% Increase from Title Effect)
Aura: 10,545->->->11,160(+540 from 8 Level Ups) (x3 Aura Growth from MD Pendant and Title Effect)
Ruby looked over her stats with a smile.
Name: Ruby Rose
Age: 16
Title: Grimm Slayer: Aura deals +100% more damage to Grimm
Class: Grimm Reaper - Level: 01
Overall Level: 021
Experience: 8,877,400
Experience needed until the next level: 11,677,170
Condition: 31%
Constitution: 91
Defense: 73
Intelligence: 56
Focus: 97
Mana: 0
Battle Power: 555
Aura: 1,542 (x2 Aura Growth from MD Pendant)
Weiss grinned from ear to ear as she realized that waiting was the right choice.
Name: Weiss Schnee
Age: 17
Title: Sigil Expert: Able to summon 3 additional fallen Grimm Spectors.
Class: Prismatic Mage - Level: 01
Overall Level: 021
Experience: 8,877,400
Experience needed until the next level: 11,677,170
Condition: 21%
Constitution: 79
Defense: 50
Intelligence: 106
Focus: 100
Mana: 50
Battle Power: 215
Aura: 1,188 (x2 Aura Growth from MD Pendant)
Everyone else who gained the extra levels also viewed their screens with a satisfied expression.
Name: Pyrrha Nikos
Age: 17
Title: Masters of Metals: Able to sense metals up to a 100 yard radius.
Class: Spartan Champion - Level: 01
Overall Level: 021
Experience: 8,877,400
Experience needed until the next level: 11,677,170
Condition: 91%
Constitution: 99
Defense: 70(+8 Armor Bonus)
Intelligence: 88
Focus: 150
Mana: 0
Battle Power: 438
Aura: 1,411 (x2 Aura Growth from MD Pendant)
Name: Yang Xiao Long
Age: 17
Title: Martial Master: Increase Damage to unarmed attacks by 50% and gain the ability to learn martial arts faster by a factor of 25%.
Class: Sun Dragon Martial Artist - Level: 01
Overall Level: 021
Experience: 8,877,400
Experience needed until the next level: 11,677,170
Condition: 99%
Constitution: 94
Defense: 48
Intelligence: 51
Focus: 74
Mana: 0
Battle Power: 415
Aura: 1,111 (x2 Aura Growth from MD Pendant)
Name: Blake Belladonna
Age: 17
Title: God Speed Reader: Able to read books 350% quicker.
Class: Shadow Dancer - Level: 01
Overall Level: 021
Experience: 8,877,400
Experience needed until the next level: 11,677,170
Condition: 99%
Constitution: 119
Defense: 72
Intelligence: 90
Focus: 110
Mana: 0
Battle Power: 385
Aura: 1,050 (x2 Aura Growth from MD Pendant)
Name: Lei Ren
Age: 17
Title: Alchemy King: Able to craft potions with a 50% increase in medicinal effects.
Class: Alchemical Assassin - Level: 01
Overall Level: 021
Experience: 8,877,400
Experience needed until the next level: 11,677,170
Condition: 88%
Constitution: 65
Defense: 42
Intelligence: 90
Focus: 86
Mana: 0
Battle Power: 200
Aura: 1,002 (x2 Aura Growth from MD Pendant)
Name: Nora Valkyrie
Age: 17
Title: Lightning Lady: Reduces Lightning Based Damage by 40% and increase absorption ratio by 25%.
Class: Storm Sorceress - Level: 01
Overall Level: 021
Experience: 8,877,400
Experience needed until the next level: 11,677,170
Condition: 70%
Constitution: 140
Defense: 80
Intelligence: ???
Focus: 55
Mana: 10
Battle Power: 705
Aura: 1,450 (x2 Aura Growth from MD Pendant)
