【Beacon Academy, Time: 4:50 AM】
Ozpin would gaze down upon the city of Vale sat upon his door's, in his desk, his back turned to the doors, seeing the flickering lights of the buildings & towns below amidst the ever-moving stream of vehicles & aircrafts from above the skies. His mind was perplexed by the coming decline in the frequency of Grimm in the last few days. Which had become quite the predicament, like an ever-growing thorn in his side.
How would he be able to host the exam for the up & coming huntsman to this world-renowned academy. If all of the Grimm within Emerald Forest were completely eradicated by whatever had taken residences in there; this entire situation was becoming taxing on him, mentally, that is. He'd only let out a sigh soon after, his thoughts being interrupted by the loud 'ding!' Which signaled the arrival of someone, the elevator doors opening to reveal his closest assistance, minus that incessant drunkard of a spy.
"The overall activity of Grimm had begun to decline... Drastically at this rate." Glynda said calmly to the Ozpin, her tone laced with worry & hesitation. Whom had only turned his chair around and towards his assistant, his gaze lingering upon her.
"Is there anything new about whatever's been worming its way into the Emerald Forest?" Ozpin hummed in response; his eyebrow quirked subtly in mild interest.
"Yes... Well, we've found more of what remained of the Grimm... or what seemed to be Grimm that this thing killed." Glynda said in a hushed tone, soon bringing out a scroll from behind her, placing it down upon Ozpin desk afterward.
"Hmm?" Ozpin hummed in response, picking up & opening the scroll afterward, his eyes widening subtly from what had been displayed upon the scroll. Which shows the strewn & broken bony remains of the Grimm of varying sizes & shapes with large cleave & slice marks etched into the bark of nearby tree's with the broken trunks of others that had been halved in two, leaving only a stump of what was once such a mighty tree. What was once a few arces of trees had been reduced to shredded wreckage, it was almost like a tyhoon had ripped through the area.
"This.... complicates things more than I thought." Ozpin sighed, his every word laced with mild exhaustion as he rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment, adjusting his glasses afterward. This was becoming much more of a wrench in his plans than he thought.
"With those marks... It can't be an animal, nor' natural fauna. Just who is doing this?" Ozpin thought to himself for a moment, Maybe it could be Raven-No! She wouldn't do something so trivial as killing off some Grimm. It'll be a waste of her time with what's she's been doing with her clan.
"Interesting...Glynda," Ozpin muttered, closing the scroll & handing it back to Glynda, who only gave a nod in response, awaiting what he would say.
"Please inform Qrow of this & bring him to my office, I have something to discuss with him about this current matter at hand." Ozpin said in a calm manner, while Glynda seemed displeased but agreed nonetheless.
"Right away, Mrs. Ozpin." Glynda said in a hushed tone, promptly turning around & walking towards the elevator.
"Why does it always have to be that drunkard of a huntsman, He's a spineless wreck of what he used to be." Glynda grumbled under her breath, which Ozpin heard but gave no comment to. Seeing how Qrow was quite... Light on his feet & heavy on his beers. Glynda soon walked into the elevators, its door's closing soon afterward with a faint ding! Leaving Ozpin to the confines of his office once more.
"The only thing that could leave the bones of a Grimm remaining could only be the power of a maiden, But... I couldn't be her.." Ozpin sighed, his thoughts unraveling into an incomprehensible ramble of theories & concepts.
"Just whoever is that person causing. If we were able to find them, it might even change the tides of the increase of Grimm & finally put her to rest.." Ozpin muttered to himself amongst the view of Vale below.
"Just who can they be?"
________________________________
A figure sat upon the crumpled skeletal remains of an untold mound of Grimm amidst multiple cleaved trees, the only sound being heard was a mild sigh of displeasure.
"This is starting to get a little tacky. Even boring by a certain extent." The figure muttered, Soon being revealed to be Y/N as he sat amidst the scattered remains of the Grimm that had fallen to his blade. A blade still brandished upon his right forearm, wrapped tightly by multiple wraps of many layers. The blade of glinting brightly in the sunlight as Y/N stared down upon his reflection from the blade.
"Might as well get this over with.." Y/N sighed, getting up from the clattered pile of Grimm bones, clasping his hands over one another. As he'd take a deep breath of air.
"...Expand.." A large shadow would open up beneath the pile within a split of second, the bones soon sinking into the shadows below, vanishing down within an instant as the shadow soon shrunk rapidly into the regular shadow, leaving no trace of the remains that stagnated there.
【278 Grimm Assimilated...!!!】
Y/N would promptly walk away from the area, leaving behind another scene of destruction as he whistled a small tune to himself. "Seems like an achievement... at first, seeing how I have a cursed tool that literally obliterates anything that's made from negative emotions or anything even similar to that." Y/N muttered to himself as he continued to walk forward, his every footfall crunching against the soil & dirt.
"But I seriously gotta merge most of those Grimm I've assimilated into a Chimera. That just leaves one thing; How can I even do something like that." Y/N sighed.
"Might aswell think about that later." Y/N thought to himself as he continued forward.
"I should really eat something... I haven't eaten four days since I've been here.. What could I even Ea-"
"Hey yah, Pal. What are y'doing around these parts." His thoughts being rudely interrupted by the obnoxious voice of someone from his right side, glancing over to see who it was.
"Oh my God, not one of these fucking tree swinging grunts from that damn Tribe." Y/N thought for a moment with a lowly groan escaping his mouth, mentally grimacing to himself as the group of
"I couldn't even sense their presence, Guess their spirit presence is so pathetically insignificant that I couldn't even perceive. Kinda suit them well for disposable grunts." Y/N chuckled subtly upon his own thoughts, his gaze flicking to the approaching figures, counting about three of them.
"So, what's someone like y-"
"Can we just cut to the chase already & stop beating around the bush?" Y/N interjected, letting out a sigh of boredom from his mouth.
"Heh. Well, if you wanna rush it that much..." They cackled, pulling out their weapons, which had shifted into the form of guns, all pointed towards him. "Hand over everything you got."
"I'm gonna stop you right there, bud. Because... Im flat broke." Y/N retorted, his hands stuck out of his pockets, lint falling out soon afterwards as the group of wannabe thieves gawked at him with momentary bewilderment.
"Y,Kidding? Well, if you don't have any use to us then.. you can just die." One of thieves mused, while the rest chuckled, pointing their weapons at Y/N. "This is only fair, The strong live while the weak die."
"I kinda knew this was gonna happen if I gave you something of value or not." Y/N sighed, this was becoming quite boring for him. "It's not like a group of thugs like you would even think beyond something so simple & barbaric." Y/N said with mild comedy in his tone, which seemed to hit a nerve with the group.
"If you keep talking with that fresh tongue of yours, I might just cut it off." One of them seethed.
"Do you even know who we are?! Were part of the Branwen Tribe." The others huffed in arrogance, while Y/N just stared blankly at them.
"Okay? Why should I care? You're just a bunch of damn rats that boast about being apart of some scrappy excuse of a faction that are a bunch of bottomfeeders." Y/N mused with mild amusement lacing his every word. "It's kinda pathetic that it makes you think you have any type of value." Y/N chuckled.
"That's it!" One of them yelled, charging at Y/N, their weapon changed into from the form of a gun to pair of dual sickles.
"You'll finally understand why we're the strongest, while you weaklings grovel in the dirt beneath our feet!" Swinging their Sickles at him, mere moments from hitting his neck.
CLANK..!!!
The harsh sound of metal colliding with itself rang loudly throughout the acres of woods & greenery.
"Wuh-!"
"That's isn't particularly nice, isn't it? But I shouldn't really expect anything better from people like you. This really boring to see." Y/N sighed, his blade blocking the bandits blow, chipping the sickles blade in an instant upon contact as he pushed the sickles away from him without any effort.
"How-!" Before the bandit could finish their sentence, Y/N backhanded across the face, abruptly flinging them into a tree in an instant, possibly breaking most of their bones, slamming them into the trunk of nearby tree, causing it to crack upon impact, leaving quite the rapturous crater as the bandits body slumped fowards, collapsing into the ground with a faint thud! Their face completely bloodied after such an movement.
"Hmm? I'm surprised that one's alive.. Even by a strand." Y/N chuckled, turning his gaze back to the remaining two. "So... who's next?"
"YOU BASTARD, YOU'LL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE FOR HARMING MY DEAR LIAM!" One of the bandits screeched, seemingly a woman as they abruptly rushed towards him, her weapon transformed into a greatsword afterward, prompting swing at him afterwards.
"Is that you're boyfriend or something?" Y/N mused with mild amusement, dodging her swings & slices with ease. "His names Liam? With that temper, no wonder he's such a feeble waste of flesh." Y/N said with disappointment, shaking his head in utter displeasure.
"Shut that foul mouth of yours before I tear it off myself." She seethed with gritted teeth, only getting a mild chuckle from Y/N.
"Now I know why you're such a good pair for eachother. You're both just short tempered imbeciles with obscenely low intellects." Y/N retorted amidst her wrathful slashes, which he dodged with ease, serving to infuriate her further.
"This is amusing, I haven't even gotten proper training. But thus is just pat-!" His thoughts being abruptly cut short as he instinctually deflected a bullet aimed at his head, catching him off guard for a moment.
"Heh!-You let your guard down. Die! You fresh-mouthed pri-" Before she could react, a King Taijitu breached out of his shadow, its jaws clamping down upon her form, slamming her harshly into a nearby tree, causing tree trunk to abruptly splinter & nearly crack open as it lifted her smashed body up & slammed her into the soil below. Breaking a multitude of her bones, blood erupting from her mouth & nostrils with a mix of bile & other bodily fluids, releasing its bite upon her afterward, its blood red eyes gazing down upon her wounded form as the serpentine Grimm slithered back to its masters side.
"That leaves only one." Y/N muttered, his lips curling into a slight smirk, his head turning sharply towards a nearby tree branch. "You should really get better at hiding your presence." Y/N mused, his smirk widening subtly.
"How did he-!" Within an instant he was gone from the last bandits, only to feel a sharp pain in their side as they were flung off the tree branch they stood upon, landing on their feet soon afterwards. Barely managing to avoid crushed into the ground by the large serpent's tail, cracking the ground beneath them in an instant. Sending dust & soil into the air soon afterwards, creating a large shroud of dirt to obscure their vision. Their body soon becoming visible afterwards, glancing around in the obscured shroud of dust.
"I can't save them, I've gotta escape-"
"So you can turn invisible? Interesting." The bandits eyes widened, all that could go through their head was; How? They'd abruptly turn around to be met with a fist being pounded into their face. Sending them skidding across the dirt as a hand would grasp onto their neck, pinning them roughly against a tree.
"Please-" The bandit gasped, their voice akin to a woman's, clawing at the hand clasped around their neck. "Let me live, I'll give you anything!" Their pleas being cut short by Y/N's grip tightened, eliciting a strangled cry of pain from the bandit, their hood falling off & revealing to ears akin to a fox's, pinned back in fear.
"Why would I have any reason for that, you have nothing that interests me. But-" His smirk grew subtly as they struggled as a shadow grew behind them, which was the woman's, holding her broadsword high above her head.
"Die!" She yelled, swinging down upon him as Y/N outstretched his hand towards her.
"5% Rapture." An abrupt spark of positive energy erupted from the tip of his blade. Blowing through her broadsword in an instant, along with the left side of her torso. Blood erupting from her mouth with a shrill gurgle as she collapsed to the ground afterward, blood oozing out of her in waves, painting the soil crimson with her bodily fluids.
"What a waste, you should've just stayed down." Y/N chastised as the fauna shivered in utter fear in his iron grasp, her eyes wide in horror, staring down at the corpse of her fellow bandit. "Also, what did you three say before this all occurred? That the strong live, while the weak die?" Y/N exclaimed, his tone hinted in amusement with a faint undertone of malice.
Her tremors only intensified at the words that came from his lips, her breathing becoming more erratic. As she raised her head, staring right at him.
"If that moral still remains, that means I can simply kill you; you had said that yourself. And clearly.. You're all just weak bugs in my eyes, awaiting to be squashed." He mused, his smirk widening subtly as his grip tightened further upon her neck.
"P-please!" She gasped, thrashing wildly in a desperate attempt to rip herself away from his unrelenting grasp. "Let me live! Spare me & I'll lead you back to the Tribe. I'll give you anything! Just-" She said in a desperate tone amidst shrill gasps as his grip tightened.
"How amusing to think you'd betray us, you're own Tribe..?" Came a voice, echoing loudly throughout the endlessly winding trees. His grip abruptly releasing upon the fauna, whom immediately dropped to her knees in dry heaves coming from her mouth, running away soon afterwards. As Y/N's gaze soon turned towards one of the large trees, seeing the figure standing amidst its winding branches.
"So you're the one who said that? I'm guessing your the leader of these bands of cowards." Y/N mused with a smirk.
"Even though I already know who they are, it doesn't make it any less of an issue." Y/N thought for a moment as they leapt off of the branch, landing effortlessly upon the ground, revealing the imposing figure of Raven Branwen, whose crimson gaze landed upon him as if he wasn't there.
"You can say that, but don't so bold with those words of yours. It might be the final thing you utter but I'm here to offer you a proposition to join me & become stronger." Raven remarked, her tone etched with coldness & without a hint of hesitation.
"I'm guessing i don't have a choice in what i say & that you'll kill me if i were to refuse?" Y/N assumed, chuckling subtly amidst the dire situation. "But i rather die than become one of your puppets to a future led by brutish fools blinded by such pathetic ideals."
"So that is your answer? I was expecting better from someone like you with such potential." Raven sighed, unsheathing Omen, the blade glinting within the sunlight as her gaze narrowed upon him. "It seems the strong must crush the weak back into their rightful place once more."
"You still hold those idiotic ideals? "The strong live while the weak perish", what delusional standpoint." Y/N mocked. "If you want to stick to such ideal's..."
"Then I'll also pulverize you as much as I please." Y/N exclaimed with a deranged smile upon his face.
At that moment, Raven felt something odd about this boy in front of her was no longer a bug. But a beast beyond her own comprehension.
[End of Chapter 20]