Chapter 14

stood on the edge of my ship's bow as my mooks brought the ship into port. I didn't give much attention to what was going on behind me, I was more focused on scanning the small seaside town of Sandyport that we were coming into. First impressions, half the place looked like a dump and the name sucked. Even from the sea, I could see slums and seedy looking venus both near the docks and on the easternmost edge of the city. Perhaps they were barriers of sorts to keep the more wealthy separated from the industry, or to make sure that if they were attacked from those coming outside the kingdom then the poor were hit first.

"A good place to lay low and not be bothered, not a place I'd stay for the culture," I said to myself, tapping my cigar ashes over the sea.

The town itself was a decent size, if a little run down here and there and there and there, and likely because of its bustling and spacious port. It was no Vale, but I wouldn't expect it to be when Shade Academy was further into the Kingdom with its own city surrounding a large oasis. As I'm not going anywhere near Shade, I never bothered to learn more about it than that.

I flicked my spent cigar uncaringly into the sea, turned around, and stalked down the ship's length to the exit ramp.

"Arthur!" I called out as I neared the ramp, my cane tapping the deck with each step closer I got.

The mook I called out rushed over to me after I called his name, nearly tripping over a crate or bumping into some of the other men working. Arthur was kinda skinny and short but, like Jerry, was one of the goons that were the first to join up with me. Therefore, even if he acts like a newbie sometimes, he still knew how to do things kinda the right way, his INT was even higher than any of my other men on this boat. He stopped bumbling around and straightened up next to me, making sure his black suit was nice and smooth. He also understood looks matter, that was good.

"Yeah, boss!" Arthur saluted me after getting himself semi-presentable.

I waved his arm down with my cane, "Put the arm down, we're criminals, not the Atlesian military." Arthur obliged and I continued, "You're in charge of the boat while I'm gone, and don't worry about paying for space, I've already got the next five months covered ahead of time."

"You planning on being gone that long, boss?"

I cracked my neck, "Planning? No. If it were up to me I'd be in and out within a week. But, it's not up to me, so I'm planning ahead. If it looks like I'm not going to be back by the time those five months end, as unlikely as that would be, then you have my permission to steal enough to get by for the next month." I pointed at him in warning, "No more than that, Arthur. We don't need to complicate things with the authorities too much while we're here, for now."

Arthur nodded, "Right, boss!"

I nodded back, "Good. I'll be off now."

With that I hopped onto the ramp and sauntered down like I owned the world, spinning my cane casually as I replaced my captain's hat with my signature bowler. The only thing I had left to do was secure some transportation out of town, an easy enough objective.

Minor Quest Created!

Obtain transportation out of Sandyport!

Reward:

1,000 EXP, 500 Lien

Oh joy, one thousand experience, and five hundred Lien, what a haul. With a roll of my eyes, I accepted the quest and continued down the streets of the town, feeling mildly amused that I was able to walk amongst citizens freely without being called out as a criminal even as I pickpocketed people without a care in the world. I'll take in some of the sights before I skip town this evening, with a vehicle traveling should be easy. It's already nearing six in the afternoon, I should have time to visit one shop before I left.

The streets got busier as I neared what looked like a market, they also got slightly less littered and more maintained. A sign that should be obvious I'm leaving the slums and poorer areas. Other than a bustling market, I didn't find anything of note in the city beyond some vendors selling Vacuoian food. Spicy food, just how I like it.

While I was kinda disappointed at not finding anything of note or value beyond four thousand Lien in wallets, it was mostly overshadowed by the awe of experiencing Remnant first hand. In the show, we only saw Vale and its surroundings, plus some minor traveling on the continent Mistral sits on in the fourth season. Sadly, I was tossed here before I could see Mistral itself, but I suppose seeing it firsthand would be better than my computer screen.

Guess I'm lucky that way.

Evening eventually rolled by and I stalked the now mostly empty streets.

I was looking for a way to get a vehicle to drive out of the city, and as I'm a criminal and I don't feel like going through official channels, I decided my best bet was to steal one. I rubbed my chin as I eyed the worn streets for anybody walking around, I could hotwire a car, but I wasn't very good at that to do it quickly.

My forty-three luck finally shined on me as I turned a corner and spotted a tanned man with antlers on his head taking some groceries out of his car. I smirked to myself before settling my face and putting my acting skills to work.

"Excuse me!" I called out, raising my hand in a short wave, plastering a friendly smile on my face. The Faunus jumped in surprise and warily looked my way.

"Yes?" He gently placed his paper bag of vegetables back into his car.

I rubbed my neck and put on a sheepish smile, "Sorry to bother you friend, but I just arrived in town and I'm already a bit lost. You mind pointing me to the docks?"

The man seemed to relax a little at my overt friendliness and even put on a smile, he nodded at me, turned away a bit and pointed in the direction the docks were, "Sure, the docks are just over th- ack!"

I slammed my cane into the man's neck and slung my arm across his chest before he hit the ground, the guy was already going to have a splitting headache and a stolen car, he didn't need a bloody nose to top it off. I gently set him down and fished his car key out of his pocket, I was even gracious enough to leave his wallet in his pocket and his groceries next to his prone body.

I'm a nice guy like that.

Not wanting to waste any more time I slipped into the driver's seat and started the car. I put the vehicle into drive, thanking whatever god or gods it was an automatic, and sped off down the street. I drove past the town's wall and followed my minimap, the road that leads towards the bandits was a pretty straightforward one, although it wasn't as well maintained.

[Quest completed!]

I closed the quest completed box and kept my driving going throughout the night, using my massage skill to get rid of my fatigue and allowing me to stay up longer. Nighttime in Vacuo is actually nice, without the light pollution of the city I could actually see the stars and the moon was brighter, a constant reminder of my new world.

[Your fatigue has been successfully removed!]

My hand removed itself from my shoulder as I kept my eyes on the road, just because I haven't seen anyone else dumb enough to drive alone on the road doesn't mean I won't find that person. Using some math in my head, and boy is that one hell of a change for me, I was still hours away from my destination. The car's dashboard beeped and I glanced down at it, the light that told me the vehicle needed fuel was blinking.

I sighed to myself, this wasn't even my car and I needed to refuel it.

When I glanced back up at the road I could see a few lights ahead and when I drew closer it was revealed to be a small community of trailers off the side of the main road. Lucky for me there was a twenty-four-hour station right next to it. I pulled the car to one of the pumps, stuck a nozzle into the car and went inside to throw my hard earned Lien into the car.

When the pump finished and I stuffed it back into the station I stopped before I entered the car and narrowed my eyes.

[You have detected bloodlust towards yourself!]

I turned my head over to where my ability detected it from and saw a small group of six people come out of the shadows from the direction of the trailers. I rolled my eyes when I looked the group over, most of them were dirty and had stains on their ratty clothes, and they were all Faunus of various kinds. They did have makeshift weapons on them, most being crowbars and bats, with a minor few toting a gun.

I turned the rest of my body away from the car and faced the group with a smirk on my face, "Well hello there, what can I do for you?" I didn't really need to ask that, I had a good hunch that I knew what they wanted.

The apparent leader, a reptilian Faunus who also had a rifle in hand, grinned and pointed at the car, "How 'bout that shiny car o' yers, plus all yer Lien. Then we'll think about lettin' ya live."

I pretended to think it over, putting on a show with a hand tapping a finger to my chin and all. I sighed dramatically and shook my head, "No can do."

He narrowed his eyes like the thought of being refused didn't even cross his one-track mind, "We gots ya outnumbered an' outgunned, you sure ain't smart."

I laughed and slapped a hand over my knee, this situation was really funny to me for some reason, "Oh, you are just precious! Like one of those funny pet videos!"

Evidently, he had enough of being mocked and looked at the other animals standing around, he jerked his head and shouted, "Get 'em!"

I pulled myself out of my laughing fit and slowly jogged my way towards the charging group. None of them were even a threat to me, I'm not going to need my cane for this one at all. The first Faunus reached me and I ducked under his clumsy bat swing, I slammed my fist into his solar plexus and he went down gasping for air. He was barely level fifteen, didn't have Aura, and a single use of a Power Strike fist knocked most of his health out. I leaped to the next guy and slammed into his head with a spinning roundhouse kick, sending him flying fast into the face of one of the Faunus with a gun.

I leaned back when my sense danger skill went off and grabbed a crowbar before it hit me in the face. The other guy trying to hit me was struggling to yank the offending object from my grasp, sadly my strength was higher than his.

"I wonder… if I can increase the height of my jumps with Aura, can I also increase my strength?"

I pooled Aura into the arm holding back the crowbar and threw him at one of the Faunus trying to run away.

[Through the use of a special action, the skill "Power of Aura" has been created!]

[Power of Aura Lv1 (Active) EXP: 5.0%]

One of the basic Aura techniques used by Huntsmen to amplify their strength. All potential Huntsmen should have mastered this skill by their second year of basic combat school. As mastery of this skill increases, so do its benefits.

Increases STR by 45

Duration: 30 minutes

Cost: 60 MP

I should really look for a book about basic Huntsmen techniques used in combat schools, I feel like I'm a little behind in class right now. Hopefully, the book isn't theoretical and I can just absorb it for the techniques instead of needing to read it and put the theories to practice.

I got rid of the skill message and looked around the station while muttering, "Now, where is the boss of these animals?"

The sound of my stolen car turning on made me widen my eyes and I instantly sprung into action, leaping from my spot and landing on the hood of the car just as the guy slammed on the gas. I slammed into the top of the car when it jerked into motion and used all of my strength stat to grip my hands on the bike rack bars on the roof of the car. We flew onto the road, the car briefly swerving and nearly flinging me off of it.

I pulled myself into the most secure position available to me and raised my fist to slam it into the passenger window. I'd have done it for the driver side, but I didn't want the idiot to crash the car, else I'd have to walk. I had to cancel that plan because the stupid lizard swerved again into the opposite lane, he likely knew I was on the roof of the car and was trying to shake me off. I just kept my grip and gritted my teeth in annoyance, this was my fault for being too arrogant and not at least taking the keys out of the car before engaging in a fight.

A bright light shined in my eyes and I winced when a loud horn blared at us. The car I was hanging onto jerked in the correct lane and a speeding delivery truck blazed past us, barely missing the car. My feet flew over the side of the car and I ended up hanging on the side, barely keeping myself up. The stupid animal and I locked eyes.

[You are about to automatically enter a rare dungeon "Pools of Sorrow"! Press "Deny" before the countdown ends to stop this.]

And a five-second countdown initiated, with me having no way to stop it lest I fall off the car. I just hope that the car follows me into the dungeon since I'm holding onto it for dear life. The countdown reached zero and I heard glass breaking, the world shimmered around me, the car, and the guy driving it.

When the world finished shimmering itself into something else the guy driving my stolen car screamed loud enough I could hear it clearly through the glass. I could understand the reason why he was screaming, the broken moon was no longer it's usual pale self and was a good ominous blood red instead. But that paled in comparison to the landscape in front of me, the cracked wasteland of Vacuo we found ourselves in was filled to the brim with pools of black and softly glowing purple crystals.

The car jerked again and slid into a sandy ditch, stopping hard enough to throw me off the car. I ended up back first into a boulder, taking out a chunk of MP. The guy was still screaming and tried to back out of the sandy ditch, sadly for him, the car couldn't get the traction needed to get out. I growled in annoyance, the idiot's screaming and fear were making the black pools ripple. I know what those are and the amount I was looking at was not something I liked to see. I stomped over to the car and yanked the driver's door open.

"No! No! Get me out of here! What the hell is all of that?!"

I grunted as the stupid guy fought me trying to pull him out, "Would you just get out of the car already?! And stop with the negativity, you're attracting things we don't want!"

I finally managed to get him out of the car and he fell out with tears in his eyes, mumbling incoherently about not wanting to die. I tsked in annoyance and looked back at the pools of black sludge, already I could see the claws of Grimm dragging their bodies out of them. I looked back down at the whimpering and fearful man and made a decision.

I took Melodic Cudgel out of my inventory and glared at the man coldly, "This is for my own good, buddy. You're just in the way right now." I pointed the barrel of my cane at him as he looked up at me, scared witless. With a pull of my cane's trigger, the Dust round tore a hole in his chest and he slumped over dead.

[You have gained 3,250 EXP!]

I ignored the dead Faunus and turned the car off, might be good to save fuel while I fought. The first wave of Grimm finished spawning and I rushed away from the car to keep their attention off of it and on me. I pointed my cane at the rushing horde of regular level twenty to thirty Beowolves and pulled the trigger.

Click!

"Shit, the Dust crystal chamber ran out," I muttered to myself. I power jumped away from the horde and ran across the sludge pool field with them hot on my heels. I kept my Aura off, for now, to let my Aura recharge, I didn't feel like wasting Dust for such a low amount. I opened my inventory and took out a single quality Burn crystal.

[Burn Dust Crystal - Grade A]

Dust, one of mankind's most important tools for survival against the Grimm. In these modern times, Dust comes in many forms, from powdered to crystals, and quality. Dust quality ranges from the lowest grade, E, the type used for beginners to practice with and is practically dirt cheap, to its highest, S. S-Grade Dust is hard to purify, illegal for most people to have, and is mainly used for military hardware.

When used in weapons: 150-200 damage each charge.

Current charge: 120

Extra explosive power effect (Melodic Cudgel).

I put the Dust into my cane's chamber and came to a skidding stop as I turned around to face the Grimm. I pointed Melodic Cudgel at the nearest Beowolf's head and fired, the critical hit made its head burst. I slammed my cane into the face of another Beowolf, kicked off its body and flipped over the one that tried to hit me from behind. I landed crouched and immediately pointed my cane up at the chin of another, pulling the trigger and killing the creature.

I pointed at the ground and used my mental influence with my earth elemental, Rumble, to make spears of rock stab into the Grimm from under their feet. Even if my life was now a game, the world still had to live by its own natural rules and so the unforgiving rock pierced the weak hide of the Beowolves and killed them quickly.

[Summon Elemental has risen by 1 level!]

"Perhaps I should make a contract with the other elementals before I move towards the bandit camp," I thought to myself. "This is a fun way fight, I feel like an earthbender."

I glanced back at the pools and I knew I wasn't done yet, that was just the first wave.

"Rumble," I said. "Can you grab all of the items that dropped and move them into a pile by the car?"

The various items dropped by the Beowolves were swallowed by the ground and my Aura was slightly dipped by the cost.

"It is done," Rumble said, making his presence known as I let him materialize next to me.

I stood over the field of pools and watched as Creeps, one of the weakest Grimm and the same level as the Beowolves, spawned from the pools. I used Rumble to kill them the same way I did the previous wave and send their loot to the car, this was a blatant and boring strategy that continued for the next several waves of Grimm. I still kept watch over the fields, the only break from the same motions was when I needed to give myself more Aura.

"This is getting boring, is this really a rare dungeon?" I asked myself as I once again used Rumble to spear another wave of Grimm, the only thing that was different between the waves was the number. Sure, if I wasn't able to unfairly deal with these Grimm, I'd be hard pressed with the constant need to off them one by one. But this situation felt like soloing a dungeon in a video game when you were clearly way over-leveled for it.

[You have gained 1 level!]

[Aura has reached level 55!]

[Summon Elemental has reached level 90!]

[You sense danger approaching!]

I stumbled around when the earth shook. I looked at my earthy companion, "That wasn't you, right?"

"No."

"Thought so." I looked back down at the sludge pools and noticed they were slowly coming together to form one single pool, "Oh, dear. That's not good."

The pools didn't release Grimm at any point during this transition time, I experimentally tried firing a round into the pools but it didn't do anything, didn't even explode. Once the pools finally formed together I felt an oppressive presence fill the dungeon.

I winced when words actually filled my ears.

"Now, this is… interesting. What is this strange power? To so easily mimic my own powers... It is nothing like I have experienced before, a novelty."

I knew this voice. I ducked behind a rock and warily glanced at the large black pool, I think I get why this attracted her attention. Unlike back in Vale, where the Grimm spawned like they did when the Grimm Dragon came out of the mountain, these pools were more permanent and hadn't existed until now. Rumble dematerialized and stood next to me invisible and waiting for my command.

"I know you're there." I tensed myself slightly. "Sadly, I am unable to see where there is. Something seems to be blocking my sight."

I nearly let out a breath of relief.

"But make no mistake, stranger, I will figure out what this power is. And when I do… I will remove it or make it mine, I do not like having unknown pieces on the board."

"Because that isn't ominous at all," I thought, sweat dripping down my forehead. Give me a break, it sucks being in the presence of the main boss, even if only by proxy. "Something big is coming, I should prepare."

"Rumble," I whispered, "Can you make tunnels under the ground with several exit points behind cover?"

"It shall be done," came Rumble's voice as he turned material and melded into the ground. I turned my Aura off to let my MP regen turn back on. I lent Rumble all of my regen and kept my gaze on the center of the dungeon.

"But I am not so cruel, pledge yourself to my service and I will fulfill your deepest desires. You will have a place by my side when I finally rule over this world. I can not be stopped. Not by you, and not by the Huntsmen of the world."

"She's really laying it on thick." I pressed myself harder against the boulder I was behind and gripped Melodic Cudgel tighter.

"Now, unknown piece, what is your decision?"

I clenched my eyes shut in general annoyance at this situation and muttered softly, "I just want Neo, damn it."

(A/N) A little shorter than I'd like, but hey, bandits and Neo come next chapter, so hold onto your pants.

Name: Roman Torchwick

Age: 25

Class: The Gamer

Level: 42 (Next Level: 8,270/89,300)

Title: Kingpin

Bounty: 58,000 Lien

HP: 2,814

HP Regen: 56.3/min

MP: 5,468 [3,528 + 176.4(5%) + 1,764(50%)]

MP Regen: 547/min [273.4(base) + 273.4(100%)]

STR: 58.8 [Base 42 + 12.6(30%) + 4.2(10%)]

VIT: 71.4 [Base 51 + 15.3(30%) + 5.1(10%)]

DEX: 164 [Base 80 + 12(15%) + 24(30%) + 8(10%) + 40(50%)]

INT: 142.8 [Base 102 + 30.6(30%) + 10.2(10%)]

WIS: 56 [Base 40 + 12(30%) + 4(10%)]

LUK: 43

Elemental Affinity: Earth (10)

Attribute Points: 30

Lien: 2,419,620

Status Effects: Inactive Aura(Toggled Off)