ushernet Investments, Sword, and ‘Fortress’.
Investments, Sword, and ‘Fortress’.
Well, I think this is the longest I've gone without posting...
A few things happened. The first one is: I finally graduated from college. The final exams weren't great, but it's over. I'm graduated.
The second one is: I had a ridiculous creative block. Not for all my stories, but for the Devas one, or part of it. The end of this arc has been written for some time, but these last chapters leading up to it just wouldn't get written.
I wrote the next interlude for Terraria (which will be the next chapter), the SCP interlude, and 2 chapters of Hunter. I didn’t post them for the first reason; editing them would have taken time I didn't have.
Well, I guess that's it. I want to finish this RWBY arc soon and write about Terraria, but I can’t just skip things to avoid them feeling forced or poorly written.
I won’t drag this out; I need to write a few things and submit some graduation documents. Good night to everyone (it’s probably already day) and happy reading!
PS: Next chapter: Interlude (2) - Terraria.
(P)(A)(T)/CalleumArtori
[...]---[...]
"Are you going to show your sword?" Yang's smile made it clear she was well aware of the double entendre in her question. "No need to be shy~."
"You do realize there are several other people in this room, right?" I pointed around Glynda's office. "One of those people, by the way, is your uncle, and the other is your sister."
After we arrived at Beacon, Dahlia and Havi went off to finalize the negotiations regarding their caravan accommodations. Theoretically, I was supposed to be part of those negotiations, but, like Ozpin who was beside me, I had passed that responsibility on to someone else.
So at the moment, the only three people not in the room were Glynda, Winter, and James. Winter was monitoring Amber along with Penny. Glynda and James were with Dahlia and Havi.
Of course, I left my number with the couple in case they needed help, whether it be monetary or otherwise.
"Of course I know." Yang huffed and pointed at Qrow. "I can guarantee he's just as curious as I am."
"It's true, I'm curious." Qrow shrugged. "Don't worry if it’s not that impressive, I won't judge."
The smug grin on his face was identical to Yang's.
"If I had any doubts you two were related, they're gone now." I shook my head, amused. Ruby, on the other hand, sighed; she had a dead look in her eyes.
She was already used to these two, wasn’t she?
"What's the chance the sword will explode on me?" I asked the two people who knew the most about the relic: Ozpin and Jinn.
"None... I think." Ozpin was the first to answer.
"Incredibly encouraging response, Oz." I huffed. "Jinn?"
"There shouldn't be any problem. As far as I know, which is quite a lot." She laughed at her little joke she loved to make. "The relics don't have any mechanism that attacks their own bearers."
I hummed for a moment and drummed my fingers on the arm of the chair I was leaning on.
"Why the hesitation? You walk around with the lamp hanging on your belt?" Qrow took a swig from his flask. The smell was of whiskey. After drinking, he pointed at Jinn. "How did she respond, by the way?"
"Only one of the relics has 'destruction' in its name." Weiss pointed out the obvious.
"The game board is active." Blake replied, pointing to the corner of the room where the chessboard was.
"That, and I did some experiments on the lamp before touching it." I supplemented Weiss's answer. I wasn’t even the first to touch it; Ozpin was, and I only touched it after probing it with my mana for some time.
"Paranoid as hell." Qrow huffed.
"Thank you very much for the compliment." I laughed and pulled the sword out of the VoidBag, placing it directly on the table.
I could see the appearance of the sword now without all the vegetation covering it. If I had to guess, the sword was about one hundred and twenty centimeters long, with the blade taking up most of that length, around one hundred centimeters.
The blade of the relic had a bluish-silver color, somewhat pearlescent, and had two edges like a European sword, ending in a fine, sharp point.
As for the hilt, it was a pure gold color with a small blue crystal at its base, almost the same color as the blade. The guard was curved in a shape almost like two horns, with the right side curling a few centimeters along the blade.
As before, I could feel the divinity in the sword. The sword itself wasn't divine, but it contained divinity. The best example I could give is that it was an item created by a god, but not made for a god to use.
Created by the divine, used by the mortal.
I moved my arm, my hand blurring and holding something to my right.
"I wasn't going to touch the sword." Ruby pouted. "I just wanted to see it up close."
"Your hand extended towards the sword says otherwise." I shook the mentioned hand, holding Ruby's wrist.
"I was just going to lean." Her puppy dog eyes told one story, the lie I felt from her another. Well, at least partially.
"Just because the sword is from your world and theoretically won't hurt you doesn't mean it's wise to touch it." I sighed and turned Ruby around, who huffed, seeing that her tricks hadn't worked.
Ruby wasn't really going to touch the sword; the angle of her hand was towards the table. Did she want to touch it? Yes, but she wasn't going to, or at least didn't intend to. She had watched me long enough to know how risky it was to touch any magical artifact.
After pushing Ruby towards Yang, I turned my attention back to the sword and touched the table it was on.
[41,204,368 SP needed to fully analyze the item: Relic of Destruction - Sword]
Forty-one freaking million SP. Damn...
But it made sense; the sword, unlike the lamp, was the complete repository of all the relic's information; the lamp wasn't, as it shared that information with Jinn.
I had analyzed Jinn before, and the price was damn expensive too.
[66,186,127 SP needed to fully analyze the item: Relic of Knowledge - Jinn]
It was kind of curious to know that the stream considered Jinn an item and not a person... But damn... That price was damn high, wasn't it?...
I looked at the screen in front of me for a few seconds before looking at the (CHAT). Stark was already flooding the (CHAT) with messages.
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: See, I told you you'd need money soon. Damn DS, you need to listen to me more, fighting and killing things is your thing, but I'm the billionaire here. (Presumptuous Iron Man emote). Want me to send you the SP from the investment you asked for?
[TheGreatGoddessAqua]: You know, if I squint a little this sword looks like Gram... (Goldfish with narrowed eyes emote).
[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: IT DOESN'T LOOK ANYTHING LIKE THAT SWORD! ONLY THE SHAPE IS THE SAME! (Generic guy pointing with both arms at a sword emote)
[MagicalGirlSera-Tan]: You know Devas~ If you need money just ask, but of course, we'll have to make a little deal... I'm sure we can find common ground~ (Innocently smiling magical girl emote).
[TheGreatGoddessAqua]: Of course you wouldn't know, you're dumb, Dumbzuma. I'm talking about the way it was created, I've seen these trinkets long enough to know the sword was made for mortals to use. (Chibi Aqua puffing out her chest proudly emote).
[AinzOoalGown]: Looks like a particularly high-level piece of equipment. It's kind of hard to estimate the level of the item without analyzing it myself, but if I had to guess, I'd say the sword is level 70? No, 80, maybe more given the ability to destroy any target, even if the cost is vitality. (Skeleton scratching chin emote).
[AsuraLady]: You know, I remember you telling me that seeing my status was 9,000 SP, I was happy at the time thinking it was a lot... Damn, it's obvious, but anything involving a god is expensive, isn't it? (Lion with pink mane sulking emote).
[TohsakaHeiress]: It's amazing how easily you find items equivalent to Noble Phantasms, Devas. And it's even more amazing how it doesn't surprise me at all anymore. (Chibi Rin spinning a pencil emote)
[WiseWizardGleam]: I can say I'm used to it too, but it's still fascinating to see a god's creation up close like this. Besides, of course, Miss Jinn and the lamp. (Old wizard drinking tea emote).
"I refuse." I didn't hesitate to respond. "And my refusal is to Serafall, I'll accept the offer, Stark."
I would be an idiot to make a deal with Serafall when I clearly needed something, and she knew it. A deal with the devil, or a devil in this case, was something I would make on my terms and always on my terms.
Regarding Stark's proposal, it had been some time since he told me that the investments I suggested to him had paid off and earned him a good amount of money.
I'm not going to lie, I had written those investment tips in the letter as a joke, but since he followed through and even set aside my share of the profits, I wasn't going to complain.
Money was kind of useless to me for now, especially money in Marvel, a place literally in another universe. If Stark could transfer that money to me in SP, I would accept it.
"What's the cost of the sword's ability, Ozpin?" I asked the old wizard while waiting for Stark to finish the transaction.
"It varies. Destroying something like, for example, a chair wouldn't cost more than a few hours of life, but a living being?" He glanced sideways at the sword. "At least a few weeks. If it's a person with Aura, increase that number to months or even one or two years."
A few weeks to erase someone from existence seemed like a low cost to me, but I doubted it was that simple when Mana and all kinds of energy came into play.
If just Aura increased the cost to months of life, something like the Deerclops would easily cost hundreds of years, maybe thousands. Damn, theoretically, I was immortal, but I doubted I could bear that price.
Anyway, using the sword like that was shortsighted. If I couldn't destroy my enemy with a single strike because the cost was too high, I could destroy their attacks, maybe their defense, or just a part of their body that cost less vitality.
Anything that gave an advantage in battle was useful; I didn't necessarily need to delete whatever I was fighting from reality, even if it was preferable.
"Are you all aware that you're casually discussing the potential erasure of individuals from Remnant using that sword?" Weiss remarked, crossing her legs with a raised eyebrow.
"Not anyone innocent." I looked at Weiss, who nodded before I turned to Ozpin. "I imagine destroying Salem with the sword isn't an option."
Jinn was the one who answered me.
"No. Even if we ignore her vitality, which is tied to the world itself, the sword cannot destroy anything created directly by the Brothers or touched by them." Jinn glanced at the lamp on my belt before looking at Ozpin.
"Just as the sword can't destroy another relic, it can't destroy Salem or Ozpin," she complemented.
"I can confirm that, not that it's necessary." Ozpin spoke next. "I already tried using the sword for that purpose, it didn't work."
I remained silent at Ozpin's words. Jinn did the same.@@@@
Except for Ozpin himself, maybe only she and I understood what he meant by those words... It wasn't just Salem he tried to destroy with the sword... Maybe she wasn't even the first target...
The more I learned about those two brothers, the less I liked them, not that I ever really did.
Fucking pair of gods...
Stark chose this moment to donate, or in this case, transfer the SP.
-//-
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] Donated 70,000,000 SP!: You know, I was just thinking, you never ask for SP donations, do you? What kind of streamer does that?
Anyway, here’s the SP. It's not everything, even with the 5 to 1 conversion, there's still a good amount of money left in the account. If you need more later, just ask, but I figured you wouldn't want it all at once to keep the account generating interest.
By the way, did you know that by donating this much I can write a lot here? Like, a lot, so I hope you don’t mind if I send a script here.
Once upon a time, in a kingdom
far, far away,
the king and queen were
blessed with a beautiful baby girl.
And throughout the kingdom,
everyone was happy...
-//-
"I don't know much about the other relics." Jinn waved her arms. "I know the basics of how they work, but not all their complexity."
She seemed annoyed by that fact, but no one pointed it out.
"What's the secret? Some kind of super badass divine magic?" Qrow asked from further away, brushing his hand over the dust that was once a stone.
"Not really. It's quite simple, to be honest." Not that I could replicate it. What the sword did was simple on paper, but I had no clue how to shape a concept like it did.
"Basically, all the vitality the sword consumes to destroy the target is actually what causes the destruction." I looked at a fallen log a few meters away and turned it to dust with the sword.
"What's the opposite of life?" I asked. Ruby was quickest.
"Death."
"Correct. And what's the opposite of creation?" The answer was obvious.
"Destruction." Ruby answered again.
"Vitality is life, is creation." Jinn murmured, looking at the sword. "The sword reverses the concept of vitality, which is the domain of the God of Light, and molds it into destruction."
It wasn't a question, I knew that. Jinn grasped things quickly. Well, it was expected given what she was.
"That's basically it, or at least what I managed to understand after these few tests." Theoretically simple, it was just reversing vitality into destruction.
In practice? Fucking hell. I had no idea how to do that.
"Simple yet effective," Ozpin commented. "And it's also a way for the Older Brother not to encroach fully on the domain of the Younger Brother. At least not entirely."
"They didn't like each other?" Blake asked.
"I wouldn't say that, but they had their share of fights." Ozpin's gaze unfocused for a moment.
"Just like all siblings," I commented. "Even as gods, they were still siblings."
"Maybe..." Ozpin sighed.
After a few more tests, I stored the sword back in the inventory and returned to Beacon. I took the opportunity on the trip to update the VoidBag and the MiniMap, which I hadn't updated in a while.
-//-
[VoidBag]
Current Level: [VoidBag LV7].
Cost of next upgrade: 10,000,000 SP.
[..]
[MiniMap]
Current Level: [Living Map LV6].
Cost of next upgrade: 3,000,000 SP.
[..]
[Current SP: 45,079,350]
-//-
I upgraded both without hesitation. Even though it was thirteen million SP, it was still relatively cheap.
I spent a few seconds understanding the changes that had occurred in both. They were simple but useful.
First, the VoidBag. The range had increased by just over double, from one hundred to two hundred and fifty meters. Not only that, but I felt my control over the VoidBag was even better than before.
I could feel even the leaves far away, fallen on the forest floor, almost outside the VoidBag's range. Right now, I'm sure that even without focusing on Neo's gloves, I could read the hand signals she made.
As for the MiniMap, the range had only doubled, from five kilometers to ten, but the map's accuracy had improved significantly. If I zoomed in on the MiniMap, I could see even the details of tree leaves and their falling in real time.
It was like a satellite at this point, but much more precise.
Overall, the upgrades were good, unlike the rising prices...
-//-
[VoidBag]
Current Level: [VoidBag LV8].
Cost of next upgrade: 50,000,000 SP.
[..]
[MiniMap]
Current Level: [Living Map LV7].
Cost of next upgrade: 10,000,000 SP.
[..]
[Current SP: 32,079,350]
-//-
Damn, from ten million to fifty million. This was starting to get kind of worrying; what would the next price be? One hundred million? Two hundred? Damn, five hundred?
At least the MiniMap was still in the 'normal' price range. I'll upgrade that thing later and keep this SP stored in case something important happens.
If necessary, I'll upgrade the MiniMap, but the current one was good.
"The professor didn't die!" Nora was the first from Team JNPR to speak when we met them in the hallways of Beacon. "I told you, Renny, he just went to do some things and would come back."
"But did he never say otherwise?" I heard Jaune murmur. Ren put his hand on Jaune's shoulder and shook his head; Jaune seemed to instantly understand.
"Good afternoon, Professor Devas, Professor Ozpin, Miss Jinn." Pyrrha stepped forward and waved to Team RWBY, who waved back. The only reason she didn't greet Qrow was because...
"Cow!"
Well, he was a crow at the moment.
"Greet the crow, he's kind of troublesome." Yang pointed at Qrow on Ruby's shoulders.
"And maybe he'll shit on you in revenge." I ignored the look Qrow gave me. "Good afternoon, by the way."
"Are you guys heading to the training room?" Ruby was the one who asked.
"We're just going to dust off our muscles for tomorrow's fight." Jaune looked at the four before turning to me and Ozpin. "Would you like to come?"
"Spar or just normal training?" Yang asked with a growing smile. "If it's the first, we'll need someone to supervise the fights."
They all turned to me basically at the same time. Before I could respond, my phone rang; it was James.
"Tell me it's my ship that's ready and not that Atlas started falling from the sky." I answered the phone casually.
"Please, never say those words again. Just thinking about it gives me chills." His sigh was audible. "It's your ship, I waited for it to get close to Beacon to give you the news, thought it would be better that way."
After a short conversation, I hung up the phone and put it in my pocket.
"Well, unfortunately, you'll need another professor to supervise the training." I patted Jinn and Ozpin's shoulders. "Pick one of these, I'm going to get my new toy."
"As if we'd miss this." Blake followed me the moment I started walking. Ruby, in fact, was walking ahead of me.
"Can I drive?" Yang asked. "I have a license."
"From a military ship? I highly doubt it." I chuckled, amused.
"Wait, this toy is a military ship?!" Jaune shouted from further back before Team JNPR began following me as well.
"You four weren't going to train?" Ozpin looked at the four.
"Who said that?" Nora looked around and grinned foolishly. "Because none of us did. I'm sure our fearless leader here said we were just walking around with nothing to do."
"And I guess you all want to come with us." Jinn's smile was much like Nora's.
"I knew you were my favorite teacher for some reason!"
"Can we? We don't want to be a bother." Jaune asked before Nora elbowed him in the ribs.
I shook my head, amused.
Minutes later, with four more people in the group, we arrived where James had landed my ship.
"Wow!" Ruby wasn't the only one to exclaim. "That's awesome!"
I couldn't help but agree with her words.
I wasn't sure of the size exactly, but the ship easily had more than a hundred meters from end to end. If it weren't for the VoidBag upgrade, I wouldn't even be able to fit it in there.
The ship was rectangular, much longer than it was wide, and had a gray color. From side to side, I would estimate it should have about twenty, maybe twenty-five meters. On the sides of the ship were four small 'wings' with thrusters that slowed down slowly as the ship landed.
I could feel the ship's internal mechanisms thanks to the VoidBag, including the armaments on the sides: machine guns, missile launchers, and what I thought were Dust cannons...
"It's going to be a fucking pain to put Mystic Symbols and Runes on this thing..." I murmured with a growing smile. "Damn, at least a month."
"You don't sound sad about it." Jinn nudged me.
"That's because I'm not." I replied back. "Not at all..."
Fuck it, I'm turning this thing into a flying fortress!
[...]---[...]
As for the Sword and the Ship, well. The sword is strong, very strong, but it's not something that can be used in every situation. Sure, it's still a damn sharp sword, but the ability, as strong as it seems (and it really is), still has its limits, as I wanted to show.
The Ship, well, Devas is going to have some work covering it with Runes and Mystic Symbols, but when that happens, well, the Humvee was a good example of what something 'ordinary' can become.
Well, I think that's it. Any questions or theories, just comment, and I'll respond as best as I can without giving away spoilers.
Finally and as always, good night and happy reading!