Ruby Pov:
Jaune and I watched as Alex just stared at his hands.
Poking his face didn't do anything, Jaune slapped Alex's shoulder too.
So we decided to drag him along until Alex.exe rebooted.
'But that scythe looked cool. I wonder if he made his own too?'
----
Alex Pov:
I had no idea how long I was lost in thought. My ears were ringing as my mind raced over all the stuff I have ever collected in games.
That was a long list. So long in fact that the next thing I knew I was standing in a large room.
Next to Red and some blond girl. They were laying down on sleeping bags as they stopped their conversation to look at me.
"No time, got to test!" Is all I gave them before sprinting for the nearest window.
I have never been so fast as I hopped over startled classmates and heard a growing commotion behind me.
But no time. Only test. Darkside i- I mean Test is.
I, with comedic grace and speed, opened the window and jumped out. The third floor window.
I see. This may have been what everyone was trying to warn me about. Too late.
I flared my aura as I made a slide. Bleeding my momentum forward. I was mentally picturing Frozone.
I then locked in as I gunned for the forest.
----
OK, so after rigorous testing I have my findings.
After draining my aura 352 times I can confirm some interesting tidbits.
The legal ownership rule still applies. However it seems to follow the laws of the game world I pulled it from.
For instance it's perfectly legal in Skyrim to loot your slain enemies. So that's nice.
Another thing. The items are lore accurate. Lore, mother fucking, accurate!
Unfortunately it seems my aura is used in place of any magic or fantasy power effects.
So magic items and god killing weapons like the Blades of Chaos are a no go.
It seems to cost more aura to summon the more magic an item has. So that's annoying.
Simple fix. I just need more aura, or as Martin kept beating into me. 'It's not about more it's about better control.'
So my aura control just became priority number one.
What was also interesting to find out. Miracle materials like Element are NOT magic. So no added cost.
For now, solely tech is my focus. So after a long time of ear bleeding testing. I have my go to items.
First off, I had to. Every boy has to. I'd even say you're not a real man if you didn't try.
It surprised me when I realized it technically didn't have any magic. Just a miracle cristal.
I smiled dumbly as I ignited a green light saber from the Force Unleashed.
It ate a good bit of my aura and took about five percent to initially summon.
This would be my oh shit weapon. I let it dissolve into aura as I tapped my temple pulling up my new display.
For my second item I picked something with utility that was as light as I could think of. My new Focus lit up as an augmented reality display showed a detailed scan of the light saber.
It was a good choice as my aura naturally regenerated faster than the Focus drained.
I never got too far into Horizon Zero Dawn, didn't even touch Forbidden West. However I know a convenient super computer when I see one. So, yoink.
I then let out a sigh as I let my focus dissolve. Running my final tests.
I stepped forward as a metal suit materialized around me. It ate nearly a third of my aura as it formed. The tight fabric and shock absorbers compressed comfortably against my body.
A faint buzzing static sounded in my head before clicking into place. My vision widened as my senses became one with the suit. I couldn't suppress a manic laugh as I shot into the air. An unknown energy propelled me nearly a hundred feet up in the blink of an eye.
My aura was dropping by the second as I only had around ten minutes to play with it. I let the energy field hold me aloft as the same unknown energy cracked along my right arm.
"Unlimited POWER!!!" I roared in pure glee as I shot my hand forward. Energy shot from the bobles on my right arm as a sudden lightning strike shot down from the sky.
I couldn't help laughing like a kid as I dipped down and started to fly through the forest in my very lovely Storm Javelin courtesy of the Ironman simulator, Anthem.
My fun was sadly cut short as I landed just before my aura broke. With it my Javelin dissolved.
Not quite enough aura to be combat viable but I would fly again if it was the last thing I did.
It then dawned on me.
Literally, it was dawn. The sky had started to fade from deep navy blue to that light sky blue. The same experience gamers every where had.
"Oh shit, it's already morning?!"
----
I plopped down at the table. Meandering through the motions as I ate some of the pancakes provided. Down the table I saw a rather energetic couple to be that I actually did remember from the show.
Nora hounded Ren as they ate. Going on and on about whatever came to her mind.
Jaune sat down infront of me as he eyed me like some kind of demon.
"You ok?" He finally asked as I just raised an eyebrow in question.
"You dived out a window last night! Everyone thought you were dead or something!?" Jaune was not subtle as he waved and gestured. Animated by some unknown energy source.
I grumbled through my pancakes. "I was testing a new facet of my Semblance." Is all I said.
Jaune didn't quite get it and I didn't care to explain. My mind was focused on how I was going to survive the day on zero sleep...
I then groaned in frustration and exhaustion as I had to catch myself from face planting into plate.
"Fucking landing strategy..."