Chapter 17 - Light

Red quite fell in love with the surrounding culture.

Some customs differed, but others resembled something he knew.

Like a good beer after tasting the expensive wines, him, one after the other, the taste couldn't be compared to quality.

Business thrived here.

At a first glance, Shion rivalled even the capital city with its beautiful scenery and the amount of tourists.

Thanks to this flow of people. They had very formidable defences in place.

Huntsmen lived here well and with the amount of manpower.

Only large swaths of Grimm that happened a few times a year threatened their peace.

Most of the times. Even those swarms couldn't do much.

Nowadays, people dared to hike beyond 3 kilometers of Shion's walls and people who paid extended that to 5 or more.

Patrols of huntsmen took care of the routes.

Directly cutting the odds of large groups of Grimm from appearing.

Some people invited him instructor, including his instructor, to travel around.

Red declined, though. He already had a plan in his mind, along with the routes he found.

It felt distracting, but not harmful.

Business thrived and people livened up their surroundings with their shouts.

From vendors to guides and many more.

Guards passed through multiple times, keeping the order in check.

He noticed that some guards had a white lily on their backs.

The other group wore red flame. Striking crimson red.

A slight shiver went down his spine. This logo looked eerily similar to the one that the fire syndicate used.

Except that their flame had a bright yellow colour.

Nevertheless, they looked way different from a syndicate, and people around them seemed grateful.

They didn't look at them in fear. More like reverence and gratitude.

He walked around some more, deciding to ignore it.

Though he did actively listen if anyone talked about the guards and their organisation.

In just two hours. He toured the city from east to west, taking the best routes.

Although not nearly as huge as Vale.

The place looked and felt like a condensed version of the capital. They didn't waste any space.

And with housing areas being on the outskirts with some rare ones in the inner circles.

Most of it became entertainment or shops.

Here, he truly got the taste and experience for why they called it the artisan city. Almost every culture gathered here.

Even some Vacuo artisans came here to test their strength against others.

A sort of holy ground for blacksmiths, scientists, artists and many more, which in turn made this place a perfect marketplace.

Anything you wished for, you could find.

And if you couldn't?

Then just some lien would solve such troubles. Red heard that even some world renowned blacksmiths resided in this city.

Though they remained in the shadows. Only the people with connections knew where they resided.

He wanted to try his hand at a junior blacksmith competition.

The amount of people guaranteed many newcomers. That meant that the competition happened every month.

Sadly, the next one happened to be in three days.

By that time, he'd be long gone.

However, he decided to return here once he got to Mistral.

This place looked perfect for training.

Low level Grimm in the surroundings combined with endless resources.

The only problem remained.

His lack of funds, or rather a stable income. Right now, he could live for three months in the more expensive parts of Vale.

But lien dwindled. Not to mention his adventure today that cost quite a lot of lien.

Food added up. Especially small snacks that tasted good.

Throughout his journey, he gathered some info.

They called themselves the Fall society a merge of three societies that existed for almost a hundred years.

Before, four organisations struggled for supremacy.

The white lily gradually became the most powerful, while the other three couldn't compete.

When it looked like a white lily was about to win.

They merged out of nowhere.

The most surprising thing that came out of this ordeal was the lack of conflict.

Seamless merge. People inside didn't struggle for power.

And no one knew who stood at the peak. Nor did anyone know why they renamed themselves as Fallen society.

In the end, taxes got cut. Instead, shops had to pay the protection fee.

People paid overall less tax, which gave them more spending power.

On the other hand. Influential shops got hit the hardest, while the smaller ones could develop.

A strategy that could work only here.

The city of artisans. Place where people didn't gather because they had to.

On the contrary, when the news spread of this change.

Many ambitious upcoming craftsmen took root here, intending to forge their foundations.

What became even a greater surprise to many.

Was the transparency. People loved it and the Fallen society didn't even need to fight the white lily.

They began dying on their own.

No incentive for people to support them and they had no resources to support the giant like the Fallen society did.

A crushing blow without losses.

Red had to admit. The level of something like this could perhaps rival the Schnee.

Although they used drastically different methods.

He believed that this one might be superior. He grew interested in the person who managed to build all of this.

In just a few months. News still didn't spread far enough.

Meaning that this prosperity might triple.

Maybe even quadruple. Their distance from the capital granted them autonomy.

The relatively close proximity to Vale gave them another advantage.

Overall, crushing.

He really wondered what kind of genius made this.

And once again, he realized. That he couldn't underestimate the people of this land.

Some of them could crush him any day of the week.

But he had to confidence to outgrow them in strength and pure power after few years.

This? To make this might take him years of hard work.

Or he might just make it worse. People like these run the society.

Aside from these, the power of Semblances and their influence on the world. Famous artisans often awakened semblances related to their occupations.

Some of them had minor ones like superior dexterity and other perks that came with it.

Others, though. It bordered on real magic.

The most famous blacksmith in the world didn't have a known confirmed semblance.

However, people said that he had a gravity or mineral manipulation semblance.

His creations oftentimes got called artifacts.

Near indestructible. He even turned basic iron into a formidable weapon.

Thanks to people like him. The world lived on without the use of technology hundreds of years ago.

While some traces of decline remained, no one could argue about the value of people like him.

Aside from obvious weapons.

Another cool thing turned out to be the obscure artisans that didn't have a deep heritage.

Like painters.

No matter how long they existed. People never used them in combination with aura, semblances or dust.

That is, until the Great War.

A genius pioneered a way for painting to influence their surroundings.

He considered it a way to defend his family.

It brought calmness and in return made the settlement almost invisible to the Grimm.

Apparently, a tragedy followed, and his teachings got lost alongside his family. Of course, no one could just visit it at will. Thankfully, the caravan stopped here for their members to try it as well.

Better mood meant less Grimm on the way.

Superior fighting strength and overall made the trip much safer than it would be otherwise.

The one who owned it turned out to be a blacksmith.

Some said that the blacksmith appeared only during the time he showed off the painting.

Other times, the blacksmith became elusive.

Couldn't be tracked down or found as if he teleported when the show ended.

Another enigma with rumors surrounding 'it'.

Right. No one knew its true gender or even race, with many people speculating that a Faunus might be the one behind it.

The only reason they called it the blacksmith was because it wanted it to be so.

Distorted voice and body covered by large clothes.

Nonetheless, they remained as the sole owner and at the same time never got attacked.

To dare and attack the blacksmith during this event. Would be courting death. Too many interests laid here because of the painting.

And factions preferred this over the sole ownership.

Because everyone could use it. Thus, no one could gain an overwhelming advantage out of this.

Thanks to the amount of people that wanted to join. An entire colosseum got created by the numerous artisans right on the outskirts.

People jokingly called it the Grounded Amity. Dozens of thousands of people could get in easily.

Defence wasn't a problem.

Due to a contract, or rather promise, that got fulfilled each year by the blacksmith.

Any qualified huntsman that defends the colosseum during the event gets a free pass right after it.

Although the price wasn't outrageous.

They had much more time and a better environment to get sucked into the picture.

Current record stood at staggering thousand plus huntsmen.

So many people created a huge hole in defences around the world and thus it became an honourable job granted to the strongest.

And to Red's surprise. He met someone he knew.

"Hic. Well, isn't this a coincidence, you heartbreaker. How's it going?"

"Hello, Mr. Qrow." Red said as he looked at the man before him.

The man became quite the enigma. Out of all people, that were somehow related to the incident. He understood Red's feelings the best.

Not hatred, but also not the familiarity that used to be. But that didn't mean he'd completely cut off contact with everyone.

Qrow treated him the same and even joked around.

Right now, he was drinking out of his flask. The other hand held a quite menacing weapon.

He now understood where Ruby got her weapon of choice from.

This one looked even more intimidating.

Qrow took Red inside, ignoring the queue and earning a few gazes along the way.

He didn't seem to care. No one stopped them and sometimes people even saluted when they met him.

"Tsk out of all the people that got to know my precious niece..." Qrow said as he judged the boy before him.

After all, aspiring huntsmen and almost all veteran huntsmen knew him.

Red just tilted his head in confusion.

"Ey ey you should spend more time on the internet." He said and brought him to a resting area.

It looked decked out. Various pieces of art locked behind glass.

Many of them looked very expensive. Below, he spotted the price tags, making him almost faint.

'Moonless Lake'

Price: 420 000 000 Lien

He didn't dare look at the other price tags.

Just this one place had so many expensive things, but Red eventually realised.

Except owning a great business.

The most lucrative job remained the huntsmen and huntress occupation.

Filled with danger and equal opportunities.

Not to mention being a bodyguard to some billionaire. Just completing missions granted millions of lien.

The greatest could probably earn enough to buy such a painting in a few years.

Ridiculous, but he couldn't judge.

Qrow took him to another room, which directly led to the main colosseum area.

"Here, a freebie. I take only booze as compensation, smell you later!" He said and disappeared in a flash.

Qrow's signature on a fancy card. Red took it and looked around.

Many people had their own invitation cards.

Some just stuffed it inside their pockets. But the more nervous ones had it out just in case.

As people poured in. The place got louder and rowdier.

Yet everyone quieted down almost in an instant. A figure appeared on the middle podium.

No one dared to approach it.

"Welcome, let it begin!" said a husky voice.

Although deep, it felt artificial. The painting appeared and people began to close their eyes.

Silence prevailed with the occasional mumble.

Red took a deep breath. One blink and he found himself in another realm.

The place kept switching colours. It struggled with its final form.

At one point, it trembled for a while, and he began to panic a bit. After a minute, it stopped. Another shock awaited him.

Because he wasn't in Remnant or a weird dimension.

A house a child and a mother.

One holding back her tears whilst the other waved.

A silent parting.

The door loudly creaked and closed shut.

Tears broke through the dam as they escaped, a house and a crying mother. That's all there was left.

Red, an outsider, stood there.

Silent.

'Why?' a crisp voice asked.

"I don't know." He said and continued to watch. Thus began his journey.

The world began to move forward.

And the legendary tale began. Red destroyed his competition, and along the way, gathered his partners.

With charmander in the lead, the one who put up with him and suffered the most.

Red wasn't satisfied with those weak pokemon. Thus, he cleared the first few gyms with just eevee and charmander.

It was hard. But he did it and his companions grew.

'You could have spared them the agony. Why?' the crisp voice asked again.

"..." He said nothing.

The second gym came, one that gave them the most problems.

Here he struggled for some time before beating it.

The water gym. Second weakest gym with a new generation leader taking lead.

And the fateful encounter.

He watched as Misty fell in love with him and decided to leave the gym under the care of her sisters.

She left the place she loved for him.

Red kept growing and growing and she tried to keep up as it became harder and harder.

Finally, she broke down. He watched her cry as her plea for love remained unanswered.

Month later the water gym became the fourth strongest in the region.

He kept going. No one could stop him as he marched forward.

Be it alone or with a companion.

Yet, there wasn't fire in his eyes or passion to be the best.

'Why?'

'Why?'

Twice it asked, and Red remained silent.

Eventually, he did it. The title of the champion became his.

But he wasn't satisfied, and region by region fell on his hands. No one was his equal.

Then he dared to stare at the Gods.

Those too crumbled after a while under his relentless fights.

His pokemon became tired, but continued for the sake of their master. They loved him.

From the weakest, to powerful gods ruling over laws.

Finally, he met Dialga. Her curiosity over Red's nonexistent determination got met with his attacks.

Even she underestimated the power he had gathered.

Defeated, she gave him a proposal. Another timeline where he could challenge himself.

Perhaps only then he would be satisfied.

He agreed and watched himself grow, but it was different. The 'Red' before him smashed through his competition as well.

However, he had something in his eyes.

Silent care for pokemon. His own companions, he didn't need words to express his care.

Eventually, he too gained the title of the champion.

After he fought with legendaries. Red challenged him to a battle under disguise.

Crushed without a chance. The other Red chose to forfeit instead of needlessly fighting a lost battle.

Hole that always existed began to expand.

In this timeline, he challenged everything and overcame everyone.

But.

Something happened. A difference larger than that between him and 'himself'.

Lyra, a person that he didn't know in his own timeline.

She appeared, and to his surprise. Hold her own against Red.

Not with powerful pokemon, but with ordinary weak ones that roamed the planet.

She had mega evolution on her side and pokemon that exceeded their given potential.

Just like that, their journey began.

Her comments, innovation, and genius shone through.

She wasn't just a talented trainer and a caring person that loved her pokemon.

She was a leading scientist. Perfect cook, singer and anything Red knew.

If he was unparalleled in combat. Then she stood second and no one could challenge her in anything else.

He tried to imitate her just to fail.

No matter her encouragement or the amount of time he sank into it.

He didn't progress. Almost as if he wasn't meant to be good at anything else.

Just fighting and calculations.

'Jealous?' The crisp voice asked.

"No." He said as he looked at his self.

The girl gave up on teaching him anything else and instead taught him something different.

Emotions.

And...

It failed, no matter how hard she tried.

He wasn't a cold machine. His eyes didn't hide evil or good.

They were just an empty container filled to the brim by one thing, a voice.

Emotionless and commanding. Where they all died.

Nevertheless, three paintings survived.

One called a 'Wandering Doe' which brought solace to people and sucked them into some sort of illusion.

There they traveled until their doubts disappeared.

Such an effect didn't work on everyone. Mostly powerful huntsmen or other notable people.

Then came the 'Hole Without an End'. A different work of art that worked the other way.

It forced the grievances and negative emotions in you out.

Blocked in darkness until even the darkest emotions seeped out, which then fall into the hole.

This one held a level of danger.

People reported losing their memories of the traumatic events. But that fuelled the value of those paintings even higher.

And finally, the last one.

'Light'

Everyone saw something different. Some saw the most valuable thing to them and others something completely unrelated.

That man's masterpiece and the painting that gave him his title.

The Painter Of The Light.

Most mysterious and confusing of them all. Sometimes they had no memories.

Other times they lived entire lifetimes and the most common result was nothing, but the benefits still came.

They just felt better. As if their mind opened to new possibilities.

Rare cases even reported that they met the painter.

That he lived inside the painting. For some it was a beautiful woman, for others a sickly old man.

Forms varied, but the female counterpart showed up the most.

No one could confirm if they lied or not, though.

As such, the paintings gained more mystery and intrigue than ever before.

Eventually they got split.

Rumours say that Schnee own one of the paintings.

One's location is unknown. The third one.

It resided in this very city, the hall of artisans and one of the reasons why painters from all over the world gathered here.

To become the next painter.

And Red wanted to visit it, the 'Light' and judge for himself.