The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

First Boss

I had no delusions about where I stood.

But I wasn't scared, either.

I knew that with the power difference between the Nevermore and I, there was a limit to how much I could do to it. Even with all my skills, I wasn't going to survive if that thing managed to get a solid hit on me and I had severe doubts about being able to even delay it long-term. I knew I wouldn't be able to kill it the normal way by myself—I probably wouldn't be able to wound its hide that badly even with my best attacks.

And yet, here it was. I'd dragged it out of the sky, sent it crashing painfully to the earth, and bit off a good-sized chunk of its HP—way more than my Aura Crash or bullets had done and probably more than I would be able to do now. I'd done far more damage then I should have been able to, given my level and stats. How?

Simple. My life was a game…but it was also real life. For instance, there was more to hitting the enemy then some formula hidden in the background, even if my power could make me better at hitting things. There were a lot of factors that wouldn't normally have applied in a game unless specifically designed to, including a lot of really basic stuff.

Like standing up, for instance.

I took a deep breath, gathering my Aura as I did and settling it in my lungs, the air within them, and in my vocal chords. It was a lot like the way Aura was used to enhance anything Hunters did, but getting it precisely right to create what I needed required a lot of practice and fine control—or else a bullshit power that let you bypass all that. In the time it took to inhale completely, it was ready and I met the Nevermore's eyes as it struggled to rise.

And then I roared.

Except…saying it like that doesn't really convey what happened, however accurate it was. The sound that came from my mouth was something that even I had a hard time believe came from a human. It didn't sound like anything the size of a person could produce and it was far, far too loud—loud enough to shake the branches of trees slightly, loud enough that you could feel it as well as hear it. It echoed out from me, stretching God only knows how far in a wave of painful sound that gave even a Nevermore pause, if only for a moment.

But a moment was enough.

While it was stunned, I hit the ground and rushed over with all the speed I had, moving faster than I ever had before—a result of my Air Aura, most likely. I was inside its guard before it could respond, blurring under its massive body until I was standing between massive black legs, and then I put Bai Hu's ancient art to use. On each of its enormous feet were four massive claws that it had sunk deep into the ground to help support its weight.

I pried them out of the earth one by one, ricocheting between them and the creatures body with Tiger's Lunge and tearing them out of the earth one by one with a combination of the Tiger's Claws and Jaws, Power Strike, Crush, and Rip. With the speed of the Tiger's Tread boosted even further by my Air Aura, I flickered between my targets faster than I would have believed I could move before today—and once all its claws were free of the earth, I toppled the Nevermore with what must have been half a hundred flickering attacks between its ankles, knees, and shins, rebounding back and forth again and again until its awkward footing and the weight upon it causing it to finally give out.

Each of my strikes removed only a tiny sliver of health. Even nearly a hundred strikes had stripped away what amounted to only a small portion, its hide standing up against my crushing blows. But gravity wasn't level specific and being over level fifty didn't make it weigh any more or less. When I knocked its feet out from under it, it fell.

You've received the title 'The Tiger's Child.'

The screen appeared before my eyes but I barely paid it attention. The Nevermore tried to catch itself as it fell using the fingers that extended from its outermost wing joint—but it was slow here on the ground and its size made it seem all the more so, even while falling. I lowered myself closer to the ground and the world shifted again as I hammered into the slowly falling limb with my whole body before bouncing back to the ground and up again, smashing into the other wing.

And the giant fell, seeming to shake the earth as it collapsed, already broken wood cracking underneath it as it settled. I bounded away, out from underneath it before I could be crushed, and looked at the fallen beast as my heart hammered in my chest.

The Giant Nevermore, for all its durability and terrifying power, had only two means of attack. It could launch its razor sharp feathers with great force and it could hit its target with its massive body; simple attacks made exceedingly deadly by its sheer size and power. But the former required aerial superiority and the latter required the ability to move effectively—which meant that it couldn't do either while prone on the ground.

It was nearly forty levels above me and had to power to kill me in one hit—and none of it meant a damn thing if it couldn't attack. I'd grounded it and as long as I kept it that way, there was nothing it could do.

Now it was just a matter of giving it bigger things to worry about.

I touched the ground just out of reach of the Nevermore and bounced backwards to land with my feet on the truck of the closest standing tree before kicking off towards the fallen Grimm's masked face, left hand outstretch, right reared back. My left hand touched the white of the Grimm's mask first, holding fast as I leveraged my body forward—and then sank my right hand deep into one of the monster's eyes.

Immediately, the Nevermore began to thrash, throwing its head back and forth as it struggled with frantic motions. I barely managed to keep myself from being flung away as it snapped it's head to the side, but I knew I wouldn't keep hold for long so I grasped what I could with the wicked claws of my right hand and completed the Jaws of the Tiger by tearing it free, pushing away with my left hand as I did and flipping backwards away from the still struggling monster.

As I landed, I danced a step back and waited, casting my glance at the creature's HP bar. If the crash had taken twenty percent of its health away, then everything I'd just done, including the critical hit to its weak point, had caused…about five percent more, despite all it had taken out of me. Now that I had stopped for a moment, I could feel my actions taking their toll on my stamina, worsened by my armor and the Aura Crashes I'd used beforehand. But…

It wasn't focused on rising at the moment. I crouched again, ready to spring into action again the moment it calmed—though I had to wonder how long I'd last—but ever moment I could save counted. I acted only when it tried to rise, gripping massive fingers and pulling with all the power in my body before diving away. It kept its head trashing to make attacking its eyes harder, but its motions were slower that way, clumsier, but then so were mine. I couldn't keep this up for very long, even if I was stretching my time as much as I could.

Just as I was wondering how long thirty seconds could last, though, I heard it.

"Move," Adam said and though the words were not loud, there was a power in them that made them carry. I danced back several more steps and jumped back, flipping over Adam as he drew his sword, and I couldn't deny I felt relieved. For a moment, the sky went red and the world turned black as the Nevermore fell—and just as quickly, it was over with Adam sheathing his sword and nearly stumbling. I landed and dashed to his side, steadying him with one hand without looking at him.

My attention was still on the Nevermore—on its health bar. With a single attack, Adam had forced most of it to highlight and quickly drain away.

Most of it.

But not all.

The relief I'd felt withered and die, leaving a sinking hole behind. If the crash had taken twenty and nearly a hundred hits from me had done five more, Adam's attack had wiped away more than sixty percent. What was left was probably less than a tenth of its original HP—but it was still alive and both Adam and I had drained away a lot of our power just to get this far.

For a moment, the both of us were breathing hard as we watched the Nevermore twitch and then start to move.

"I don't suppose you can do another one of those?" I asked. "It doesn't have to be a big one; it's down to about ten percent now."

"Even assuming I could, could you distract it like you did before?" Adam retorted, taking slow steady breaths that made me think he was holding himself back from panting.

I chuckled a little at that and shook my head.

"Think we can run away?" Adam mused.

"Well maybe if you'd taken off a wing or something instead of just giving it a booboo," I speculated. "As is, I think it would catch up. I figure it's kind of pissed at us now—and I'm pretty sure that's your fault."

"I must be more tired than I thought because all I'm hearing is whining," He cut me off, one hand going to an ear as if to check it. "Think you can crash it again if it does?"

"Maybe," I muttered. "My luck's not doing so great today, though, and I doubt it'll fall for the same trick twice and if it gets us…"

I shook my head.

"I'm running out of MP fast and Aura Crash is a bitch. It's risky," I said. "So let's call that plan C."

"You got a plan B?" Adam asked and though I couldn't see it, I was sure an eyebrow was raised beneath his mask.

"What kind of question is that?" I replied, faking hurt. "Of course I have a plan B. You think I'd risk everything on one insane scheme?"

Adam snorted once before turning to look at me.

"Is it a good plan?" He asked again.

I winked at him.

"I don't know yet," I said honestly. "But it's your turn to play distraction, anyway."

I started running before he could ask what that meant, rushing towards the Nevermore. It had already struggled up enough to lift its head and it focused on me with its three red eyes. I knew it recognized me because it shifted its head so I could reach its eyes and then opened its beak wide and let out a shriek filled with pain and rage—but that was my chance.

I jumped as hard as I could, boosting it with one more Tiger's Lunge. I straightened my body as I all but flew through the air, hands stretched out before me, and with both hands I grabbed the very tip of its beak, using the force of the force of the impact to curl my body.

For an instant, I met its eyes.

Then I shoved myself down its abyss of a throat, feet first.

Now, as insane as this idea sounded, there was honestly a logic to it. Though I'd managed to keep it down, dozens of my best attacks had been water off the Nevermore's back and I had burnt through my power quickly to accomplish very little. If I wanted any hope of killing this thing, I'd need to do at least twice the damage I'd caused before, using less attacks.

There was only one way that was going to be possible—through critical hits. I'd need to make every hit count, striking a vulnerable place on the Nevermore's body like I had before with its eye, which had caused most of the damage I'd been able to inflict upon it before.

There were a few issues with that, though. For one thing, I wasn't going to be able to do anything unless I simultaneously kept the thing grounded the entire time, which would need to be in addition to hurting the creature itself. For another, I'd already used Observe on it and it just didn't have a lot of weak points and it already knew to defend its eyes.

Maybe we could have made it work. I could have continued what I'd been doing while Adam hit it as hard as he could, again and again and again. But…Adam was already exhausted and I was on my way there fast and if either—or, worse, both—of us ran dry before it died…

A prolonged tactic wasn't in our favor. This fight needed to be over now. But how was I going to consistently get critical hits when it was guarding its eyes?

The obvious choice was to hit it somewhere else, some place unprotected by its durable hide, some place it couldn't guard even after I'd hit it there—I had to find a place where it couldn't run or hide or even fight back, where I could hurt it. And there was only one place that fit those criteria.

Inside of it.

Inside, it had so many vulnerabilities—organs, veins, and countless other things. Inside, it had no real way of attacking me. And hell, so long as I was inside of it, it couldn't get away—now that's positive thinking at work. And really, when I about it that way, it was a brilliant idea.

Having said that, my first thought inside the Grimm was that I was kind of glad I could see what I'd gotten myself into in the moments that followed, because from what little I could feel through my armor it must have been disgusting. I slipped down its throat on something slick and slimy that I didn't really want to think about until I reached out and sank my fingers hard into the sides of the beast's throat and plant my feet on its slick walls as best I could, preventing my fall into who knows what waited in its stomach.

I had a moment to dearly hope this worked and then I was in motion, rebounding of the sides of its throat to cause as much damage as possible. I grabbed, I crushed, and I tore pieces away, liquid flowing over and under my armor as I made a ruin of my surroundings. Once more, I was a little gladdened by the fact that the insides of the Grimm were almost unnaturally dark, sparring me the sight. I felt the Nevermore thrashing around out, it's throat working even harder to bring me down to its stomach, foul smelling air rushing over me.

Hard as it tried, though, I held on, bladed fingers sunk deep into soft flesh. I felt the creature's body being rocked by something—Adam doing his part, I was sure—but I focused on what I needed to do. With the Tiger's Jaws, I sank fingers deep and pulled again and again, until I'd made a large enough opening for what I intended. Fluid spilled over me, passing through the holes in my armor to cover my face and body. I had to hold my breath as I forced myself against that stream, reaching an arm through to loop around the edge, shoving against what felt like a massive tube. With my other hand I grasped the edge of the flap I'd made and heaved, as if I were lifting a tree, widening it even as the creature thrashed.

I felt Crocea Mors, the manifested spirit lending me its strength as I tried to force the hole open. I shoved until I could lift a foot to stand awkwardly on the broken edge and grab the top with both hands, putting my entire body into opening the monster's throat even as I resisted what felt like a flood of fluid and held my breath until my lungs burned. At last, I tore it wide enough to pass through and I could feel the Nevermore's struggling weaken.

But I didn't stop. I Lunged forward, bladed fingers sinking deep into the tube I'd felt earlier before ripping into it with Jaws, Power Attacks, Crushes, and Rips. Between each attack, I Lunged back into the Nevermore's throat, tearing at the other side, before throwing myself back like a saw, shredding everything in my path with the dwindling remains of my power. Even as my lungs and limbs began to burn, I didn't let up. I didn't stop as the thrashing slowed. I didn't stop when what seemed like my entire world shook as the Grimm finally fell. I didn't let up until—

Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one!

The windows shone brightly without actually illuminating anything—probably because only I could see them. As the messages appeared, I had to smile, despite my exhaustion and how disgusting all the various things that must have been covering me made me feel.

Then I started as I heard a disturbingly pleasant jingle and felt a thrum through the whole of my body, followed by the appearance of another window.

You have defeated the boss monster Giant Nevermore! You've obtained the title Grimm Slayer!

I didn't have time to ponder the meaning of that, though, because my lungs were still burning and I was still submerged in Grimm blood. I crawled back into the dead monster's throat and half climbed, half swam up it. Blood had flooded it from the wound I'd made, though, and it was only the surge of MP leveling up had given me that allowed we to escape, rushing up the passageway with another Tiger's Lunge. I had to crouch as I reached its beak, but it was thankfully mostly free of blood and I could see light through the cracks of the beak. I finally took a breath—

Only to gasp in what seemed like particularly foul smoke instead of air. I started coughing immediately, going to one knee, but there was still no air to draw in. I struggled to lift the Nevermore's beak—though that meant lifting its entire head, really—but I'd done too much, too quickly and my stamina was shot for the moment.

I pushed on anyway, even as I tried to cough up my own lungs, because I was not going to go through all this just to die on the way out.

Suddenly the beak's weight eased. I saw bright light, a shadowed figure, and then I was being hauled out. Adam dumped me on the ground even as the smoke signifying the Grimm's passing billowed out around us, and as close to the ground as I was, I could at last breath. So I laid there for a moment and did that. It was nice. So was having nothing trying to kill me. And having survived the various things that had. Being alive was kind of nice in general, really.

"It's about time you showed up," Adam said. "I was about to leave without you."

"The hell you were," I said after a moment. "Who'd drive you home?"

Adam snorted and sat down beside me, drawing one leg up to rest his chin on. For a moment, the two of us just sat there, resting in the aftermath.

"You look disgusting by the way," Adam noted, looking at the mixed black and red fluids that covered me from head to toe. "The other Grimm are probably avoiding this area because of the Nevermore, but that's going to draw them in like nothing else once they finally decide to check this place out."

"Man, screw them," I said and there was only a little bit of a cough in it. I was already mostly recovered, thanks to my power. "They'd be biting off more than they can chew."

I reached back and knocked on the Grimm's beak, just in case he didn't get it, and I was pretty sure Adam rolled his eyes beneath his mask.

"Seriously, though, just give me a chance to meditate and I'll take on all comers," I said. "That's why we're out here, after all."

"Oh? You still want to train?"

"You kidding?" I asked, turning my head to look at him. "I'd say today has been a pretty damn good day. My first time outside the boarders and I killed a Giant Nevermore. I already gained six levels man, and we've just gotten started. Why? You getting tired already?"

Adam actually chuckled at that, shaking his head before leaning back, keeping himself upright with his arms.

"I'll have to warn everyone who's working with us. 'He's a good pilot,' I'll say. 'But he's completely insane,'" He said before pausing. "God, it's just now sinking in that I'm going to fly across the ocean with you in the captain's seat. And I volunteered for this."

I laughed loudly at that.

"Hey, don't worry—I won't get you killed," I promised. "I need someone to drag me out of any Giant Nevermore we kill."

"Please don't tell me you're honestly thinking about hunting those things?" Adam sighed.

"Why not?" I asked, smiling brightly. "We know how to deal with them now and they have pretty easy attack patterns, too. If we ground them in the Bullhead, they basically can't fight back—I get inside and run amok, you charge your best attack, boom. I got five levels off this one guy and two titles…whatever those do-I'm a Grimm Slayer now, by the way, and the Tiger's Child. If we could farm these guys…"

"I don't think so," Adam said firmly. "They aren't that common around here anyway."

"Yeah, but in the wild…" I wagged my eyebrows at him. "You know we'll stumble across trouble on our way to Mantle. You know. And there are places where you can find flocks of Giant Nevermore."

"Ugh," Adam groaned, lip curling in disgust. "Well, maybe we can avoid that if you do the smart thing and put your points in Luck. You have thirty points to spare now, right?"

"Thirty-one," I said. "I could boost it up to forty-one right now. Although I have to wonder…if I got luckier, would that attacks stop or become more frequent?"

"What?" Adam asked flatly.

"Well, it all depends on how Luck works, doesn't it?" I argued cheerfully. "I mean, depending on how you look at it, I've been pretty lucky so far. Horrible danger aside, I got so much experience from that Spider Droid and those Quests and this thing, it's amazing. And I'm alive! But if I want to get stronger, I need to keep fighting powerful enemies and stuff, right? So would luck decrease how much trouble I got into or increase it? Would I meet rarer monsters? I mean, hell, what does luck even do for me? Jokes aside, my luck's pretty normal at ten, so…"

Adam winced, shaking his head.

"That's…" He shook his head. "Let's put luck on hold for a bit, maybe?"

"Until we can be sure it won't cause a bunch of rare Grimm to appear, just in case," I agreed, looking around carefully to make sure I hadn't given the Universe any ideas. "I mean, in normal games, I'd figure it would improve my chance of critical hits or getting item…"

I trailed off, noticing something beside the Nevermore that I hadn't seen before. Or…maybe it hadn't been there before. I stood up, feeling vaguely stunned, and walked over to it as if in a trance, while Adam frowned at me.

"Jaune? What is…what is that?" He asked, shifting his question midsentence as he noticed what I'd seen before.

"Adam…" I said, blinking. "I got loot."

"You're kidding me," He said, coming to my side. He looked down and was, for a moment, silent. "You're not kidding me."

Beside our fallen opponent, on a patch of unstained ground, was a folded black-feathered cloth. Atop it was a book whose cover I couldn't see because it was obscured by a mask much like the Nevermore's, except smaller, and beside it all was a thick stack of Lien.

"I…don't know why I'm surprised," I said. "This is what would happen in a game, after all, it's just…I guess I always thought my power applied only to me, because it was my Semblance. But, this…did it create these out of nothing?"

"I…suppose," Adam said hesitantly. "It's often said that the Grimm are manifestations of enmity, which is why they eventually fade after they're killed. But if they can be given form, it's obviously possible for stuff to be created that way, so it's not utterly impossible that a fallen Grimm could be turned into something else. But…I've never even heard of anything like this. What are these?"

I picked up the pile of goods, still staring at them in wonder before shaking myself and using Observe.

50000 Lien

Fifty thousand lien, obviously. Do you need an explanation on how money works?

Dreary Midnight—Rank: Rare

A cloak made of Nevermore feathers and infused with their power. While worn, greatly improves the user's Air Element Affinity, giving the power to better control the air and potentially to even to glide upon wind currents. Try not to run into any trees.

Passive Skill: Air+.

Skill Book: Far Strike—Rank: Rare

A skill that enables the user to strike opponents at a distance with a wave of cutting power. Though relatively weak at first, both power and range can be improved by raising the abilities level.

Lenore—Rank: Mythic

The Grimm Mask of the Nevermore, infused with their dark power. The Mask of Loss.

?

Frowning slightly, I relayed the information to Adam, who tilted his head with a frown and nodded.

"Seems like a pretty amazing haul, but…I just don't know what to make of your ability," He said, reaching out to flip through the skill book. "I mean…I suppose I can understand the mask and maybe the coat, but…this book for example. Did it steal it from somewhere or create it and fill it with knowledge? Because I know this technique and what's written here is accurate. And is this counterfeit Lien? And if not, how?"

"I have no idea," I shook my head. "I keep telling myself not to be surprised by my power anymore, but…"

I just shook my head some more.

"Well, whatever," I said, sighing in resigned acceptance. "How do you want to split it? The books useless to you and we don't know if the money works yet, so I'll take the former and check the later."

I hesitated for a moment, greed rising up in me again. This was the part where I should offer to give Adam the mask and keep the cloak for myself—he had, after all, done most of the damage to the Nevermore, so it was only fair he get the most valuable item and he wouldn't benefit from the book or cloak besides—but…I wanted both. Well, I mean, I was more than a little nervous about the Mask, because, one, it was a Grimm Mask and, two, I didn't know anything about it, but at the same time…it was a Mythic item. Sure, I hadn't know I could get items like this until a minute ago, but it was a level above rare.

Even if I was half-convinced it was probably cursed, I wanted it.

I took a moment to try and suck it up but Adam raised a hand, stopping me.

"Keep it all," He said.

"What?" I asked, starting slightly.

"I can see you salivating you want it so bad," Adam said, smirking. "The book and cloak are useless to me anyway and you can think of the mask as a gift; you might as well have one of your own instead of using a hand-me-down. Besides, if it decides to eat the face of whoever puts it on, better your face than mine, right?"

"Gee, thanks," I said, but I was smiling. That didn't keep me from looking down at it nervously, though. "I do want it, really. But…even beyond what it might do to me, wearing a Grimm Mask might send the wrong impression…"

"You're wearing one right now, idiot," Adam said and I was pretty sure he rolled his eyes again.

"What?" I asked, blinking at him. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think these are?" He replied, tapping his mask. "They're Grimm masks—or designed to look like them, at least."

I reached up to touch my own mask, the one Blake had given me.

"I thought they were for hiding our identities?"

"Most of us can't hide, even with masks," Adam said before pausing. "Us being Faunus, that is. Most of us have features that are too recognizable if anyone truly looks. If you're born with horns or a tail and someone sees them, they can generally trace it back to you, given time. Because Faunus can vary greatly in what animals they take after—and even in how a specific animals traits manifest—most of the time we can't even blend in around each other. The masks aren't about hiding, they're about showing; Humanity made us out to be monsters, hunted us, tried to cage us in. So we became monsters."

"Huh…" I said after a moment. I looked down at Lenore, toying with it in my hands. It was a beautifully crafted mask, if odd looking. Four eyeholes, the pair on each side connected by a smooth, red design with a short spear arcing out of the lower set of holes; the ones designed for a person's eyes. The other set would rest higher, near the temples, useless. Two more curved lines near the nose completed the mask, trailing down just enough to draw attention to the slight beak. "Still, I probably shouldn't wear it. Like you said, it might eat my face."

"I was joking about that; what kind of item would kill the wearer? It's more likely it'll just turn you into some kind of horrible monster," He said easily.

"Probably," I agreed. "I'll put it away for now."

I opened up my Status screen and put the Lien in my Money section, increasing it to fifty thousand one hundred. A push of an arrow took me to my Inventory and I stored the cloak and mask, before devouring the Far Strike book.

You've obtained the skill 'Far Strike.'

Smiling slightly as the knowledge flowed through me, I was about to close the window when I remembered the titles I'd gained earlier and pressed the arrow again. The next page was a list of my skills; I figured it'd be in here, I just didn't have much use for it since I could call up the abilities I wanted to look at directly. Why bother going through the menu when you could use shortcuts? And it's not like I ever forgot about any of the skills I learned. I obsessed over the things.

Except…there were two I didn't recognize.

"Hey, Adam, listen to this," I said, staring. "I was looking for my title page and I found something."

Gamer's Body (Passive) LV Max

Grants a body that allows the user to live life like a Game.

Gamer's Mind (Passive) LV Max

Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows a peaceful state of mind. Grants Immunity to psychological status effects.

"I knew about the former and I've been noticing the latter, too," I said after I finished reciting what I saw. "I was always calm, even when I probably should have been terrified. I guess that explains why, but…"

"I know," Adam said, apparently thinking the same thing. "If you're immune to status effects that touch your mind and you said you healed everything else every time you slept…"

I pressed the arrows again and found the title listing, made a mental note to come back to it, and then went on back to the Inventory, withdrawing the cloak and mask.

"Think I should try it?" I asked. "Doesn't really fit the martial arts look I've been working on, but what the hell."

"Actually…" Adam mused. "I have an idea about that. Blake told me once that the best disguises come in layers."

I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment before understanding dawned and I had to sigh.

"Man," I complained. "At this rate, even I'm not gonna know who I am when this is over."

"Actually…" Adam said, and there was something like vengeance in his smile. "What was that 'title' you mentioned earlier?"

"Grimm Slayer," I replied, absently flipping back towards the title section.

"No," He shook his head. "The other one."