Chapter 169: Stride

Chapter 169: Stride

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Stride

The ground shook with each of Gou's footsteps, sinking beneath his weight to leave behind a growing trail of massive footprints. Streets cracked and dust rose, the air moved as each step displaced several times his volume in air, and the rubble compressed beneath his feet as we ran a path around the city. Whatever buildings had once gotten in the way had collapsed and broken before Gou's relentless advance, destroyed simply for being an inconvenience. On one hand, it was an amazing display of the sheer power of a creature that went far beyond the scale civilization was built for and a reminder of the destruction the mighty creatures of Grimm could so easily inflict upon the world.

On the other, it was surprising how quickly you get used to it.

We ran alongside Gou, allowing he and Autumn to get used to their new bodies. I wouldn't quite say that Gou was slower now, given the distances he could devour with each of his massive strides, but there was a size and a weight to each of his movements now that was literally earthshaking. Even to normal eyes, his legs wouldn't have blurred as he ran, but instead each been a massive affair, like the rise to the top of a mountain and then the race back down. It was harder to move so much mass and it consumed an enormous amount of power with each motion, one that he was trying to strike a balance with using his own HP and MP recovery. Occasionally, he would grow or shrink, testing the limits of his power, but the hardest part seemed to be getting used to the world when his body was so massive.

Autumn, naturally, was just trying to get used to a body, period. It had only taken her a short time to begin making changes to the way she walked, starting with a reorganization of the 'muscles' involved, but she'd also gotten more used to having limbs and moving them in concertwhether that meant two limbs, four limbs, or more. She'd been switching between forms fairly rapidly, modeling them after things she'd seen, whether human or Grimm. At the moment, she most resembled a giant biomechanical spider that was scurrying alongside us. She'd tried to just hitch a ride on Gou's back, earlier, but while I'd praised her for finding the simplest solution to getting around, I'd insisted that learning to move on her own was important and she'd gotten back on the ground.

As for Adam and I

"How long are you going to lug that thing around?" Adam asked, looking behind me as he kept up with a light jog. In my defense, I'd added more and more weight to my block and it was slowing me down.

"I don't know," I mused with a quiet grunt, pulling the house-sized block along with every step. "A few thousand miles, maybe? Then I'll switch to something bigger."

Adam sighed quietly and shrugged.

"Well, whatever works, right?" He asked before raising an eyebrow at me. "It does work, right?"

"Yup," I answered, not bothering to breathe simply because I knew I'd end up panting. "Today's been a good day."

By raising STR above 100, you have gained a random ability related to your physical abilities.

The skill 'Shockwave' was created.

By raising STR above 100, you have gained the passive skill 'Devastating Blows.'

By raising STR above 100, you have gained the passive skill 'Divine Strength.'

By raising DEX above 100, you have gained a random ability related to your physical abilities.

The skill 'Yellow Road' was created.

By raising DEX above 100, you have gained the passive skill 'The Four Winds.'

By raising DEX above 100, you have gained the passive skill 'Angelic Steps.'

By raising VIT above 100, you have gained a random ability related to your physical condition.

The skill 'Riposte' was created.

By raising VIT above 100, you have gained the passive skill 'Supernal Condition.'

By raising VIT above 100, you have gained the passive skill 'Second Chance.'

One of the benefits of Acceleration, I thought, gritting my teeth. I'd layered it as many times as I couldwhich was quite a few times thanks to all the skill boosters and cost reducers I'd been getting latelyand I'd prioritized it when it came to MP consumption. Between that and the giant block I'd literally tied myself to, I'd finally broken through with my physical stats, as well as a few of my skills.

By raising Regeneration to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Liquid Flesh.'

By raising Haste to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Celerity.'

By raising Feather Fall to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Featherweight.'

By raising Firepower to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Scorch.'

"No new combinations?" Adam asked, as I'd already told him about today's earnings.

"For Tiferet, you mean?" I replied before shaking my head. "Not yet. I guess I'll need to raise some more skills to find valid combinations on that front. Good news is that quite a few of my skills are getting there, especially thanks to the boosts from my Wisdom skills and Acceleration. I got these buffs in the White Whale incident and it about finishes off the stuff I got there, but there are a few more to go and then"

I shrugged.

The Nemeans that Gou had been keeping at bay leapt forward at the perceived vulnerability, teeth flashing towards his throat and hamstrings while he was down. Just as they were about to fall upon him, though, he blurred, flipping over and sliding beneath one of the Grimm in a maneuver that left swaths of burning lines in his wake. His massive size slowed him down immensely, in a relative sort of way, but none of the Nemeans seemed to anticipate his still impressive speed as he Shed away from the attack and slid behind them. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Gou simply opened his mouth wide, spreading light as he displayed the conflagration between his teeth.

And, if you looked closely, peering through the light and the warping heata figure.

Adam stood at the front of his mouth, the flames raging behind him. His left arm was wrapped in layers of spider silk whose other end bound it tautly to a nearby tooth, the bone like a stone column beside him, and with the other, held his sword behind his back. The flames of Karna that filled Gou's maw simply came to a stop at the blade, as if warded back by its edge, but though the flames seemed to blend together, I could see them swirling towards and around the hungry blade. As Gou took a deep breath, the flames cut of, plunging the surrounding area into darkness againbut for Adam's sword, which shined like a beacon in the night as he lifted it.

Wilt glowed pure white, the heat within it so intense that it was almost painful to look at, but as the flames at his back fell away, he didn't hesitate to bring it back around and sheath it within blush, hiding its light with a quiet click. Small trails of electricity crackled down the length of his body and around the sheathed bladed, even as he lifted his hand from the hilt. With echoing stomps, the Nemeans scrambled to their feet, but Adam simply twitched a finger at the sight of them.

His trigger finger, to be precise.

Wilt shot from Blush and light flooded outwards from it again, small trails of lightning sparking between sheath and blade. When it was mere inches out, its hilt slide neatly into Adam's hand and he pulled it the rest of the way free in a blinding slash of his blade that released a wave of power that expanded from Gou's mouth in a flash, cutting across the field in front of himand straight through everything in its path. The charged strike tore through the pride of Nemeans, cutting them from their chests to their haunches as it went and leaving the resulting mess to fade away. Absently clicking the side of his blade against one of Gou's teeth, the pair moved on.

"Autumn, finish up here," I said, returning my attention to the matter at hand. Autumn stepped forward without a word, the majority of her body hidden within one of the many white cloaks I'd made her. With her hood up, all that was visible of her face were her faintly shining eyes. While the cloak itself fell over a mostly humanoid figure, it came to an end nearly a meter above the ground, barely touching her 'knees.' Six legs, oddly jointed, spined, and insectlike, they curved up around the underside of the cloak and carried her forward easily. Pushing off, they threw her into the air above the Grimm I'd all but slain and then lost their shape for a moment before speeding towards earth like half a dozen wooden lightning bolts. They pierced through open wounds, eyes, mouths, and more, pinning her targets firmly in place before shimmering slightly as smaller, bladed limbs unfolded and pierced through any vulnerabilities they found. When a creature died, Autumn plucked the limb free and stepped on the next, never lowering her from her position ten meters above it all. When all the Grimm were put out of their misery, she stepped back up to my side and shrunk back down to normal.

I chuckled and patted her side.

"Not even going to use your arms, huh?" I asked.

"Pointless," She answered after a moment.

I hummed and inclined my head at her, knowing what she meant.

"It won't be long now," I assured her. "But we can't let you fight before you're ready, can we?"

"No," Autumn replied, staring off into the distance. She wasn't objecting, she was just bored. Recently, her only job had been to finish off the creatures I'd weakened for herI was like a Papa Bird, preceding her food. Still, it was working.

Thus Kindly I Scatter

LV 68

Autumn Rose

"Where to next?" I asked her, letting her pick our next target. Autumn tilted her head and began walking, six legs moving quickly as she headed towards the forest again. I'd taken us pretty far from Mistral simply to avoid notice, far enough to find wild trees, and Autumn seemed as happy to consume them as she was to slaughter Grimm. When we reached the edge of the forest, Autumn hunkered down, the tips of her feet biting deeply into the ground, and then went still. I could feel her roots spreading and eased their passage with Ereb as they flowed up to the roots of other trees and then into them, beginning her consumption from the bottom up. I walked around, absently laying my hands upon the trunks and drawing out what power I could. I knew from experience how this would work; Autumn would remain as still as a tree above the ground, spreading her roots to touch everything she could and merge with itand then, when she was down, she'd suck them all down at once and simply walk away.

In terms of the experience granted, it wasn't that impressive compared to slaying Grimm, but the added mass seemed to benefit Autumn in other ways, so we spent a fair bit of time like this. For my part, I stood watch and made sure nothing attacked her while she spread, grinding my own skills as I did. Whatever Grimm came nearor inhabited the forest to begin withI crippled and left on the ground for crawling roots and vines to finish off and drag away.

"Jaune," Adam murmured on the other side of the battlefield, drawing my attention several hours later.

"Hm," I replied, making my voice carry as I walked through the forest.

"Raven just called," He said. "She wants to meet in a few days."

"Ah," I answered. "I know."

"What should I tell her?" He asked, patiently. He probably knew that any irritation on his part would simply give me strength.

"That I'll be there, of course," I answered. "With company, this time."

"You mean?"

"It's about time she met the rest of the team," I confirmed lazily. "Unless you think there's some reason she shouldn't?"

"No," He said after a moment. "That's fine."

"Good," I replied, smiling as I stretched. "Then just make sure to finish up anything you want to show her before then. You'll want to look impressive for your parent-teacher conference, right?"

"Ugh," Adam grunted as if struck by the mere thought. "Don't call it that."

"I'm totally calling it that," I answered. "Thinking about making you a report card, too."

"Hmph," He snorted, annoyed in spite of himself. I could feel it and it bolstered my moral that much more. "You done with whatever you were working on, then?"

"Not quite," I replied with a sigh before my smile return. "But I'll finish it up soon, I think."

By raising White Tiger's Five Hundred Years to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Bai Hu's Five Hundred Years.'