Story 22 Bloody Evolution Chapter 2

The backpack given to me had a good bit of funds allocated to me with the Lien of this world working rather similarly to the US Dollar back home so with ten thousand dollars, I had more than enough money to get a decent two-bedroom hotel room for a week. 

And most importantly, have the extra money to go get myself a weapon to join Beacon and pay to have my Aura unlocked if I could find some people to do so.

So after I put the hotel room's standard cuck chair away into the small closet, I took the Wisdom Cube out of my backpack and held it within my hands. I could feel the power, and potential within the cube of condensed soul energy along with other things my mind couldn't really process at its level.

And I took a deep breath as I held the Wisdom Cube and then it glowed ever brighter as I flipped the mental switch within it. Its essence and power unfolding as it floated out of my hand and began gently spinning in place with the light becoming brighter to the point that I coudn't see the wisdom cube within the swirling light.

I watched as the blooming light grew more powerful and then finally its light became solid with the light retracting outwards as the light dissipated into small motes that disappeared.

White hair, with a red streak graced my view and as I took in her smiling face, I was entranced with her dark amber-gold eyes that met mine before I took in the rest of her form as she seemingly studied myself. 

She was wearing a red and black highly decorated suit like leotard that exposed her sides and her legs up till her knees that were covered in pantyhose of sorts. And then there was her rigging.

On her hips was the draconic like decks that had dragon like heads at the end that were seemingly smelling the air while small cannons that I knew would shoot a 122 kilogram round at 900 meters per second.

As with her being a Shipgirl, those rounds, torpedos, and missiles that they had, they may be shrunk down. But when they were fired, they still had their orignal mass. So beyond her main gun she also had a number of smaller but still powerful secondary guns and even some anti-air guns as was the norm for World War 2 ships.

Mounted on her back was two large pieces of rigging that held a flat part of a ship's deck and underneath the ship deck top, were a couple more guns and rows of torpedos.

But my inspection of her form ended as my ship girl gave a slight hum and spoke with her voice having a sensual purr to it. "Hello mine Admiral, am I your first first shipgirl?" She asked curiously.

I gave a small start at the question and then smiled wryly as I nodded and said. "Indeed, it will be a good while until I gain the resources to call upon another ship girl, so I will be relying on you Prinz Eugen." 

There was a moment of silence before she shifted and she put her hands under her ample chest as she strode over and grabbed one of the wooden seats next to a table and brought it over to sit in front of me. "Well then, in that case. Tell me what your plans are. I need to know what I have been summoned for after all ufufu."

I nodded and after I organized my thoughts I began speaking. "I am not so sure what memories you have of your previous world, but in this world, its being over ran by monsters of darkness that wish to eat humanity and all sentient life on this world."

Taking a breath, I then continued on as Prinz listened in without cutting me off. "I plan for us both to enter a Combat School with yourself being registered as part of my inherited magical ability, and from there we can work our ways up the ranks as a Huntsmen to gain the nobility rank to have a good life here in this world." 

She was visibly digesting the information I had given her, and after a moment she nodded slowly and her eyes looked back at me in turn before she spoke softly. "Then my Admiral, what is your name?"

I smiled and held a hand to my chest as I said. "My name is Jake Bariss."

To which she looked almost... Annoyed for a second before she asked. "American, am I correct?" 

Blinking, I nodded and she took a deep breath before she said bluntly. "I am the ship Prinz Eugen, you are not American anymore with this new life, just as I am no longer German."

Slowly I shook my head as Prinz Eugen took a deep breath before she spoke. "I fought so hard during the second Great War... I defeated Hood, and the Prince of Wales, and cleared the English Channel many a time before being hurt by Trident."

She leaned in and asked me with a haunted look in her eyes. "Do you know how I sunk? How I died?"

I slowly shook my head and without emotion in her voice she spoke. "After the war, I was surrendered to the United Kingdom which... Although disgraceful for my homeland, it was needed. But rather than keep my form which had sunk many of their own ships, the British gave me away to the Americans as a War Prize."

She shuddered as she spoke with zero emotion. "They used me and other war prizes to test the effects of their nuclear weapons... Twice I survived blasts that fried my internals, twice I felt my hull shuddering and breaking under the force of the explosions and water slamming into me with tidal wave-like power."

There was a moment of silence as I sat there stunned at the trauma download she was throwing onto me. And then she looked me in the eyes and said coldly. "And even then... I lived, a barely floating carcass of a ship unwilling to die until a large wave capsized me when I was dragged to Kwajalein Atoll and the American's finally deigned to send a single screw from my body back home to Germany after almost thirty years of my irradiated corpse poisoning the sea."

You know... I never really stopped to consider the mental issues a lot of ships would have being that they were all war vets in a number of ways. So although Prinz Eugen didn't have memories of Azur Lane itself and fighting the Sirens and such.

She very well remembered her life as the ship she is named after. 

So after a moment of thought... I slowly nodded as Prinz was right in a way, I wasn't American anymore anyway. I was now Jake Bariss, born from the slums here in Vale as said in my paperwork and I needed to take this new life by the horns and accept it.

And in turn, Prinz would let go of her... Honestly fair, if irrational disdain/maybe even hatred of Americans. 

"Alright Prinz, so we are now Valian's of this kingdom of Vale... Can I count on you to stand beside me?" I asked bluntly as I held out a hand towards her, with Prinz taking a breath and nodding.

Her gloved hand slid into mine, and she said solemnly. "Of course Jake. Even if you remained dogmatic in keeping to your American ties... I would have been disappointed but I am your ship, I will protect and serve you until I sink into the dark stormy waters." 

There wasn't any hesitation in her words. The sea waters were wet, and Prinz Eugen would serve alongside me until she died. That was the end of the discussion.

So with that tension pushed away as Prinz shook my hand carefully before retracting her hand, I spoke again. "Alright, so the next steps we need to take are thus. First, I need to get a weapon I can use without too much training, and second I need to get both of our Aura's unlocked." 

Prinz put a finger to her lips as she laid a leg over the other as she leaned back in thought before she spoke in her slightly german tinged accent. "Hmm, perhaps a shotgun for a weapon? And what is this Aura you speak of?"

"Aura is basically activating your soul, which then will create a force field around your body protecting you from harm, enhancing your body's abilities, and every person gets something called a Semblance that is unique to them and an expression of their soul made manifest into reality."

Prinz raised an elegant eyebrow at my words before her legs began kicking about as she considered things. And I could see her mind working as she put together the knowledge of supernaturally enhanced warriors, with aura, my brief mention of magic, which was arrayed against a seemingly endless tide of monsters.

"Very well, getting Aura for us both first would be for the best. As in the worst case, you can use your abilities as my Admiral to create your own weapons correct?"

I blinked before actually face palming as I forgot that I wasn't limited to just RWBY weapons, I could make the ship girls Augment Modules, which I myself could use... And Azur Lane had some wacky weapons that could be fairly powerful honestly.

With Prinz nodding and saying calmly. "Indeed, as although I have my standard loadout, I can have my weapons, armor, and scanning equipment upgraded if not replaced... To say nothing of how useful it would be to have my own Augment Module added to my frame."

Prinz Eugen's Augment Module was an enhancement of her boots, and with the upgrade it allowed her cannons to have a bit more armor penetration along with enhancing the solid energy shields she could call upon.

While, I could likewise make some augments that I could use as well. Either way, Prinz after a moment asked me. "So, beyond Aura, what do you know of the local magic system?" 

To that, I could only shrug and say honestly. "I truly don't know. This world is unfamiliar to myself and I just landed here today after all. So in the morning, I suggest we go about learning how to get Aura, and finding out how magic works in this world."

"Very well, then goodnight Jake. I will take that bed and tomorrow we will go back to the library and see what this world has in story for us." Prinz said and I nodded in understanding as her rigging disappeared into motes of light around her body leaving her body unadorned by weapons of war.

I knew I had alot to do tomorrow, so I went and got myself changed out of my clothes, and put on some shorts I bought for cheap as I got myself into bed while I noticed that Prinz's head was the only thing peeking out of the blanket she wore over her body.

There weren't any other words spoken, as Prinz let me sleep throughout the night without issue... Until like halfway through the night the roar of what sounded like a dozen anti air machine guns roared to life and woke me up before petering off with Prinz standing beside the window to look outside.

"The anti air guns were taking out a flock of large birds? Are they the monsters you spoke of" She whispered in some confusion.

I gave a grunt of agreement as the roar of Anti-Air guns was a loud and fucking uncomfortable way to wake up to say the least. "Yeah... The monsters are called Grimm, they come in all different shapes and sizes even though most them take after an animal theme. Though some of the more of the more powerful ones look more monstrous."

Prinz was silent for a moment before she said calmly. "Go back to sleep my Admiral, I can keep awake comfortably for a couple of weeks without rest."

I gave a grunt of dismay as I bundled up the thin pillows around my head to block out the sounds and cannons and machine gun fire to the point that even Prinz sighed with annoyance as she knew I wouldn't be able to sleep like this.

I could hear Prinz's amused laughter as she went back to bed and finally after a while... My intercity brain got used to the gunfire like I got used to loud cars and people doing stupid stuff, and I managed to get some sleep.

=

A few hours later I was eating a rather expensive breakfast as the food was apparently at a premium here in Vale what with it being a very closed ecosystem to keep out the Grimm besides the small port entrance on the coastline. And as I was eating I asked Prinz more seriously.

"So you going to be fine without oil for a while? Or do we need to make that an utmost priority?" 

Prinz smiled indulgently as she was seemingly in a much better mood after seeing me being a not-at-all-morning person. And she replied easily. "I shall be fine for a few days, I was summoned at full capacity for fuel. So, so long as I am not getting into prolonged combat, I shall be fine."

I nodded in understanding before yawning and as I covered my mouth, I said. "Alright. Then lets head back to the library, you can help me look up the best ways to get our Aura unlocked, find out what magic is, etc."

And Prinz nodded in agreement so we quickly made our way out of the medium-tier hotel I was renting out of, and we made our way back to the local library I was at before and got back onto the terminals.

Once we got onto the terminals we were both off on our research expeditions with Prinz working on researching magic and the local Grimm. While I was focused on the legality of Aura and how to acquire it.

[Aura. The light of one's soul. The left hand of humanity's continued survival in this world. Aura is the manifestation of a user's soul power leaving the body to protect it, an unlocked Aura however is a beacon to the beasts of Darkness. Hence while it is perfectly legal to be a Knight at Arms or a Huntsmen in training and have it. It is expected that those who have it are family with those who serve the kingdom in protecting it.] 

[On the other side of things. outside of Vale's enchanted walls manned by thousands of Huntsmen and at least a single S rank and five A ranks at all times not including soldiers in far larger numbers. Outside settlements will try to keep aura user numbers down to make their settlement less noticeable by the tides of darkness as they toil to send Vale the small amounts of resources it needs to prosper in its closed Eco-system.]

Looking past the definition and the bits of lore and history of Aura, I got into the nitty gritty of it actually acquiring it as a civilian trying to move up in the world. [Aura use is the foundation of all huntsmen. They do not have the centuries if not millennia of stored magical knowledge and tools that the Royal Families and nobility do. So the act of unlocking your aura within the confines of Vale is not a punishable offense as Beacon advocates for even novices to combat to join for when they did not have the ability to join a combat-focused school.]

'Ok so getting aura isn't a problem. All that remains is actually getting it.' I thought. And then I did the simple things and typed up. [Aura unlocking for sale]

And low and behold I got all the hits I wanted.

After a couple minutes of searching, I found a good hit I liked mentioned for a local marketplace in one of the slightly more commoner sections of Vale in a retired vet that would unlock some people's aura for a cash payment of five hundred Lien.

Which was... A good bit as the average rent for a single-bedroom apartment in the medium-tier commoner sections in Vale seemed to go for three thousand a month.

The prices for owning land though here in Vale? Yeah, that got up there real quick with how Vale literally had limited land due to its nature of being a walled-in kingdom.

After doing some more research and seeing how the vet's prices was fair, I gave a hum and asked Prinz quietly. "Sooo find anything out?" 

She sniffed and spoke with annoyance. "Indeed... Magic, seems to be in the domain of the old families and especially the royal families. As to learn magic will take a great deal of study and then innovation and progression with magic can take decades at the very least."

'Well, there goes that... Should do my own research though.' I thought with some annoyance as I began looking up magic myself while Prinz went to begin taking notes on the various Grimm here in Vale and how they were apparently classed as threats.

And Prinz's analysis was correct as I began doing my own research. [Magic, the bending of reality towards one's own will. The right hand of humanity's survival.- Magic as a system is even less understood then aura in which everyone can have it unlocked and have it put to immediate use. Magic on the other hand requires the knowledge gained from millennia of failures, losses of the lives of researchers, their experiments, and the untold billions of Grimm slain with such magic.]

I kept reading as the various articles tried and failed to put magic into a box that could be analyzed and studied. [Magic comes in all shapes, sizes, and uses... No two mages can and will use the same spell the exact or even minorly in the same way hence why magic is an art form reserved for the old families and powerful organizations that have the resources to teach their children magic.]

[Various schools of magic may have similar effects, but are completely different. The Schnee Royal Families, Slaying of Evil Summons, is completely different from Necromancy. As the Schnee Royal Family uses constructs of the things they slay enhanced by their likewise inherited Semblance shared within the bloodline to create armies on demand. Whereas a Necromancer has to use his magic to reanimate the Grimm or people they have slain or gathered the bodies of.]

Just out of curiosity... I went to go see how Necromancers were actually treated here in this world and surprisingly. Not bad at all.

It was honestly sad, that Faunus's were treated worse than Necromancers which were actually well-favored as should a Noble warrior or Huntsmen die, their family can sell the remains of that warrior to Vale's Royal Necromancer Lich Lord, and that comes with the benefit of having your nobility privilege extended for a full extra generation.

Either way with my path to Aura at least secured I leaned back with my neck popping as I looked at Prinz and said. "Alright, you ready to go get our Aura unlocked?"