(A/N: I am in an extraordinarily good mood but I also want to pace myself so I'm going to try something I haven't since my first story. Just a little powerstone goal for an extra chapter. If we can get say, 500 powerstones by friday I'll drop an extra chapter on Saturday. Got to make it hard for all of us that seems like a good number. I'll leave it your hands now.)
XOXO
"Come on, man! You'll look like a bitch if you lose this!"
"I put all my drinking money on you, you hear?!"
Veins had spread across my opponent's forehead and arm, their teeth gritted, the cheers and yells around us probably fly in one ear and out the other. He was putting everything he had into this little match, his hand tightly clasped with mine and on the verge of forcing the back of it on the table. Not a surprise considering this was the same guy that typically guarded the bar's entrance, his raw strength exceeding mine.
But, even in something as simple as an arm wrestle, a contest of strength, power like that wasn't everything.
He'd come closer than anyone else, countless others having lost lien to me already, but he couldn't get the job done, my steady arm not getting any closer to the table no matter how much effort he put in. Eventually, said effort turned against him, my hand slowly raising our clasp back up to the center point.
By then his arm was shaky and a sudden burst of force at the right angle saw the match turned on its head, the back of his hand slammed against the table.
"Ah, dammit." He cursed, rubbing the back of his hand. "You sure you aren't using your semblance?"
"You're strong but not that strong." I said. He grunted, sore about the whole thing, but slid over a few lien cards, Miltia, who was to my left just behind me, catching the stack. Melanie, on my right, didn't waste any time goading another to try and take a swing at beating me.
Not exactly sure how I ended up being used to make money, but it was a mildly entertaining way to pass the time on a slow night like this. Not to mention a certain someone would know exactly where to find me.
And speak of the devil.
As another match started, my newest opponent straining to get my arm just a quarter of the way down, Cinder entered the busy bar, keeping to the edges as she neared. She didn't bother getting close to the small crowd around my table, propping herself against a wall to silently watch.
Was she really so adamant about avoiding others that she'd just stand there hoping I saw her at some point? Lucky for her I did, but she really took anti-social to the next level.
Easily taking control of the match with a shift, I slammed my opponents hand down with a dull smack.
"That's it for me." I said rising to a stand. There were some boos and complaints from a few either looking to try themselves, make more lien betting on me, or just hoping for more entertainment but they all returned to their prior business, scattering back to their spots around the bar.
"Your cut." Melanie said, handing over a majority of the stack the two had been building up. How they managed to turn what started as an innocent request from someone curious about me into a drawn challenge like that was something, especially since people were willing to pay at all. Probably had to do with their mother and all the goading. Melanie's haughty attitude had a way of undermining just about anyone's pride if they let it and few in here were willing to go against anything she said.
"Don't spend it all in one place." Melanie called after me as I headed over to Cinder. She pushed off the wall, walking alongside me towards the exit.
We've done a good bit of work together, most revolving around those supply points beyond the city, but still didn't do much talking. There was a change, however, a certain tension no longer there and my presence not treated with the same paranoid scrutiny everyone else got. I was still kept at arm's length, figuratively and literally, even now, as we stepped out onto the stone streets, Cinder maintaining enough distance to give her time to react to any sudden moves.
Theoretically anyways.
We were more professional colleagues than friends.
"Need something?" I asked once we were a good distance from the bar.
Silence.
Cinder's brow had furrowed, her lips shifting but never opening, as if she couldn't find the right words.
"Need help with those books?" I deduced accurately if her slight tensing was anything to go off of. "How'd you learn to use aura?"
"…I taught myself."
Of course she wouldn't tell me the exact truth but that might not be completely inaccurate. It's not like the show went into depth with anything her former teacher may have taught here so it was possible that by the time things came to end with him, she was barely beyond the basics.
"I can pay you." She added.
Rents out a room in a shitty hotel, buys the cheapest meals around, and barely spends anything she earns in general yet here she was, not hesitating in the least to throw lien at something like strength. All without ever flat out saying the word help.
Cinder had some deep rooted issues but at least she wasn't so prideful she wasn't willing to come to me. That would've made things more difficult.
"We'll meet tomorrow." I said.
Meeting up for something beyond the work that came from the Spiders.
The first real bit of progress since I gave her pointers on her semblance.
XOXO
I stood outside my room in the halls of the cheap apartment building, a few of the lights above flickering in and out.
Cinder stood just outside of hers, staring up at my face. Hard. And it wasn't because we lived in the same building, a few not so coincidental sightings here and there over the past week cluing her in on that fact.
"I look stupid in these or something?" I questioned, adjusting my sunglasses as I came over to her, careful never to reveal my eyes. After a moment of silence, she dropped the stare and shrugged.
Most, her included, probably assumed the mask was meant to hide my identity. While it did offer that convenient little benefit, it wasn't one I really cared about. Any government records on me were so old or presumably under lock and key by Ozpin that few if any would be able to figure out anything about me with only a name and face. Its not like I'd be telling anyone which kingdom to go looking for that information in the first place.
Connecting me to anyone in Vale would be damn near impossible. Looking for a needle that may have already been removed across several different haystacks really.
Walking past her, Cinder followed after me, one of the books I recommended in hand. A trek through the streets then one quick gondola ride up, and we were up in the same market area Cinder spent time window shopping her way through.
It was a good bit after noon, a few hours before the sun would begin to set and the time we'd usually be arriving at Miss Malachite's bar. Not a lot of time for something like aura training but it'd have to do. With things like school out and many off work, the place as busy as ever, but I led us around the crowds until some free seats, an umbrellaed table just outside of some kind of casual restaurant, caught my eye.
All the noise might be distracting but it was out in the open which should help with Cinder's constant paranoia, still present towards me to some degree, but the area was so crowded we wouldn't particularly stand out.
We headed over, seats taken across from one another on the metal benches.
"So-" I started after realizing she wasn't going to say anything, just setting the book and opening to some random page as if I would understand whatever implication there was in that. "-what part of it do you need help with?" She flipped the book around sliding it over to me.
My brow jumped up immediately. "You realize I listed out those books for you in a specific order for a reason, right?"
"I already know the basics."
"Oh? I thought you were self taught."
"I'm not going to waste my time reading about things I can already do." She insisted, flat out glaring at me now.
Guess I could only go so long before ending up on the receiving end of her attitude. Unfortunately for her that wasn't going to fly here. She was talented, I knew that much firsthand, but the section of the book she brought was specifically talking about aura disks. Summer had showed me that early, but it'd taken an ungodly amount of time before I could use it effectively without the Sharingan, the technique far trickier than it sounded.
"Alright then." I said closing the book. "Put up your shield." Despite holding her glare, she did as I said, a deep yet vibrant fiery orange energy similar to her eyes flickering to life around her. It was second nature and stable. "Now drop it, starting with your right hand."
"What?"
"Drop your shield, starting from your right hand." I repeated. Cinder's brow furrowed as her glare dropped to her own shielded hand, her confusion poorly hidden. "It doesn't really have much practical use but anyone who's studied all the basics should be able to control how their shield drops rather than letting it happen all at once." I explained while placing my cheek against my fist. "You did know that right?"
To her credit her brow only furrowed further by a smidge, Cinder disregarding the condescending comment to blindly try what I instructed. Her fiery aura, always flaring with little rhyme or reason weakened around her hand before the rest of her body followed suit, the entirety of her shield pathetically crackling away.
I held back on another condescending comment. I understood wanting to jump to the advanced stuff the moment the opportunity came but that wasn't the way to go. Not for what she wanted.
She tried a few more times without looking back up at me.
"He who climbs the ladder must begin from the bottom." I said while sitting up straighter, Cinder finally looking up from all her failed attempts. "I don't know if you've ever heard that but its an old saying." More like one stolen from an anime but I'm sure someone in this world must've said some variation of it. "I've seen you fight enough times to know someone like you doesn't need help. You're talented enough to get on what you already know and whatever else you manage to figure out." I admitted. One didn't survive in her situation by being weak after all. "But if you decide to ignore the fundamentals now, that's no different than crippling yourself and in the end, you'll end up weaker than you otherwise would've been."
At first her glare held but as I spoke it eased up somewhat, Cinder opting to glare down at the table instead by the time I was done.
"If you don't have a problem with that keep trying to make your way through this thing." I said, pushing the book back over to her. "But I'm not helping you unless we do things right and start from the beginning."
"Why does it matter to you? You'll get your money either way."
"Our work pays a lot. Do you really think I agreed to this for lien?" I questioned. "I doubt anyone sat you down and told you, but you must've realized that you've been stuck with me because no one else wants to deal with you." Cinder's glare rose up to me, but I didn't back down under the heated gaze. It'd might've been a bit blunter than necessary, but some half-assed lie or asinine excuse wouldn't go far with her.
"Simply put, the better you are, the less I have to worry about while were working together." I said. Not necessarily true considering she could be a far bigger threat than most Grimm could ever hope to become. "So?"
Cinder didn't outright answer my question, but she didn't just pick up the book and leave either.
I stood up, setting out from the bench.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Going to get us something to eat since we're here." I said, before leaving her behind and heading into the restaurant.
I was sure she'd take the offer, but I wasn't so certain truly training her was the smart thing to do.
It was better than doing nothing at least.
XOXO
(A/N: Back when I wrote this, I meant to dive straight into training but Cinder is just difficult right now, that prickly personality drawing everything out. Either way, the two are fixing to be spending a lot of their time together.
That aside, don't forget that powerstone goal.
And also, a little poll? Posting it on p@tron for all the members there but I want everyone to get some kind of say and realized that site isn't available everywhere in the world. Basically my objective from the very start has been to be the kind of efficient writer that can handle more than one quality story and January has been me challenging myself with one. Assuming I don't trip up, I'll be throwing a second into the mix in feburary.
I'll list out the ideas and their summaries. Again, this is just to gauge where interest is from all of you.
XOXO
My Hero Academia: The Bloody Mess
Summary (This summary is sort of meant to be read like an actual narrator rather than the MC's perspective. Think like the narrator from Baki or Love Is War):
His parents were vain.
At only a single year of age, young Katsuya Toga came to that realization. And he was not wrong, money and status constantly at the front of their minds. Which did they crave more? With so little experience and a limited understanding of the world despite his strangely enhanced mental capabilities, he could not say but he did know one thing.
Both served the other, creating a never ending cycle.
Soon he learned they weren't just vain. They were selfish idiots.
A realization that cemented itself at only four years old, when his twin sister, Himiko Toga, developed her quirk. Born as little more than accessories meant to help fit the image the couple had of themselves, her quirk, coming with unnatural cravings for blood, put her on the receiving end of their parents' ire.
She was to suppress and hide what society deemed the freakish part of her quirks.
He went along with it not to please his parents but for his and the safety of his twin sister.
For, unbeknownst to his parents, Young Katsuya Toga had learned one damning detail about his own quirk, one he'd been keeping hidden since his birth. The urge, the insatiable hunger, the raw force of nature demanding that he feed was not satisfied by animals, his own spilled blood, or blood packs. What he needed, what the dark force within screamed for, was fresh blood from another, willing or unwilling.
His solution? Be the perfect member of society, the perfect student, then the perfect hero.
After all, committing crimes in the nation protected by All Might was just asking to be arrested. More importantly, no one would suspect one of the top hero's protecting them to be draining a few people here and there. And if he were ever caught? Well, it was just an honest mistake that could be forgiven, after all, it was all being done to protect innocent people from dangerous criminals, right?
But society was often as vain as his very own parents.
Naturally, becoming a hero with even half the respect of a cultural icon like All Might meant graduating from UA. Something young Katsuya's twin sister wasn't going to let him do alone.
XOXO
Elden Ring; Maedryn of the Frenzied Flame
Summary:
Reborn as a demigod within the safety of a thriving dynasty, Eric should've been thrilled by the opportunity. A chance to wield magic. A chance to discover foreign lands. A chance to lay eyes on mythical beasts. What fantasy lover wouldn't drool over a situation like that?
Problem was, his reincarnation brought him to The Lands Between: a cruel world fated for suffering yet to come. If that wasn't bad enough he was reborn as Maedryn, one of three triplets born to Lord Radagon and Queen Marika, Malenia and Miquella being his twins. Mirroring them, he too was born cursed.
Cursed to house the Frenzied Flame.
The assassination of Godwyn the Golden, the Shattering, and all the suffering and chaos that would follow. Eric, now Maedryn, must prepare to survive the whirlwind of catastrophe all while contending with a searing flame eating away at him beneath the surface and all the dark impulses that come with his curse.
XOXO
Skyrim: The Crystaline Adventurer
Summary:
A world of pollution and endless war. Enlisted into the military from a young age he'd spent most of his life as just another cog in the machine that was his nation. Doing his part as it was always told to him.
Utter bullshit.
But he did as he was told, surviving suicide mission after suicide mission. What other choice did he have with the alternative was being arrested and sent to prisons that none ever left?
None at all.
Or at least that's what he thought.
A mission gone wrong and the discovery of a strange crystal worlds away rips him away from his and strands him in the heart of a land known as Skyrim. Rather than seeing it as a bad thing or desperately seeking out some way to returns, he seizes the opportunity, deciding to make the most of his life in this new world.
XOXO
Elden Ring: A Foreign Soul
This is just the other story that's already on my account. Just look at my account to see what it is and decide if you're interested, no need for descritpion here to bloat this chapter even more.
XOXO
Anyways, comment about which one your interested in. If I had to say which ones I'm favoring it'd be the My Hero Academia one since Himiko will be an important character and the new Elden Ring one since its preshattering and a lot of the demigods will be big players. Both very interesting premises to me.
As always, if you want to read ahead or just see an expanded explanation on a few of these here's the link:
patreon .com/ thirdratewriter
Don't get the powerstone goal!