Increase

The Games We Play

Increase

​

I sat at the center of a now flattened field, everything around me long since scoured clean. Even with my eyes closed and my body in a constant state of being shredded, I had no trouble keeping track of what was happening around me. Though the process was painful at first, even being torn apart wasn't enough to infringe upon the Gamer's Mind, so I remained calm and still and, in time, got used to the storm of blades that swirled around me. For nearly fifteen hours, I didn't move from where I stood, take a break, or even breath, but simply healed myself again and again, mending the self-inflicted wounds as quickly as they occurred.

But even while stationary, I trained. I kept on almost all of my usual skills, discarding only the ones that improved my defense or increased my HP regeneration. I kept the White Tiger of the West active the whole time, both the title and the skill, and all the while remained in a mild but slowly increasing state of Acceleration, burning well over twelve million MP in less than a day, even though I wasn't going all out. Even for me, it was a flat-out astonishing amount of power, but I cast it off with no more concern than the sun did its light. As I was now, this was nothing.

All the while, I went over the events of the last few days, looking for any sign that I might have missed as I tried to prepare myself. Even now, though, I was trapped in a state of ignorance, with so much I didn't know and had no idea of how to find. I couldn't help but allow my thoughts to return to that, even as I tried to formulate countermeasures from the tiny fragments I'd been able to piece together.

It wasn't going very well. Even if I assumed my Weapons of Mass Destruction guesses were on the mark, it didn't tell me anything about how they might manifest. After all, Conquest was a biological weapon, certainly—but not one that worked the way I'd have ever imagined one to work in real life. He was a biological weapon that had about as much respect for conventional biology as the rest of the Grimm did. The simple fact of the matter was that creatures like the Giant Nevermore, Deathstalkers, Goliaths, and monsters like Ziz just shouldn't be able to exist; just their own weight should be enough to tear their bodies apart. Crocea Mors weighed the same whether it was a shield of a sheath, because its mass wasn't affected by its shape, but the Grimm just didn't seem to care much about any of that stuff.

I'd known that from the beginning, as did everyone else, but until now we'd just accepted it. Ancient people had thought it was because they were evil spirits given form while the popular modern theory was, essentially, that the matter their bodies were composed of was magic. It was a lot more scientific sounding than that, with cool sounding names for the theories and the type of matter, but it basically boiled down to us having no real clue how the hell it worked, with how their bodies disappeared and all. It's not like they were very interested in talking, either—except to me, of course.

Which made me wonder. Was this tied into Malkuth Theory, as well, or something related to it?

If I ever found out more about what exactly Malkuth Theory was, it would bear looking into—but for now it was just another question I couldn't find any answers to. For now, I had no choice but to accept that the Grimm just didn't care much about what rules we thought they should be bound by; this Red Rider, if he or she truly was a 'chemical' weapon, could be able to do just about anything. Maybe he turned into a gas that melted flesh on contact or killed in some other horrific way. Or maybe it would be more subtle, altering brain chemistry in some mysterious way to turn us all against one another. Or perhaps it would be more personal, when activated, shifting the infected into some type of semi-Grimm battle form like Conquest had done. I had no way of knowing without facing it, at which point it could well be far too late.

As such, I had no choice but to try to be ready for everything. That was pretty much impossible to truly do, but far better than doing nothing at all, so as inefficient as it was I tried to prepare myself anyway. If it was a gas of some kind, I could contain it with Levant or my other Elementals, perhaps even building a reinforced cage around the area. If it altered brains chemically, my experience with Conquest left me sure that wouldn't get past the Gamer's Mind, but I could grind resist poison later, just in case. The Grimm form…that actually seemed like a very likely possibility, in the host body at the very least. That is, though she looked normal while 'On A Red Horse He Rides' was Low, it wouldn't surprise me if she began to transform when it started to increase. That had been what all of Conquest's infected had done, after all, mutating its carriers more and more until we were as built for battle as any of the Grimm. That could have been something specific to its biological nature, but…I wasn't sure. It was just too…useful.

It had been more than just the physical enhancements, though Conquest had been good at making already powerful abilities exceedingly lethal—if he'd actually been willing to kill me, I'd have died over and over and over again in that fight, to any number of powers. But as flashy and frightening as those transformations had been, thinking back on it the most dangerous feature was probably that armor and the Grimm flesh beneath it. Boring, perhaps, but that didn't change the fact that it was what had allowed them all to fight like that. Even with the sheer amount of physical power Conquest had layered onto all of them, they shouldn't have been able to use their Aura's so freely. Carmine had enhanced every attack, Keppel had frozen everything around him, Tenne had guided nearly eleven times as many shots as normal, and my father…my father had controlled a thunder storm with enough ease to banter as he shot lightning bolts at specific people. While making bombs inside of it, no less! Ignoring the multitasking involved, they'd spent a lot of power in a short amount of time. Where had they gotten it from?

The answer was simple. They hadn't gotten it from anywhere; they'd simply used what was there in a different manner.

Specifically, they'd drawn from the well they would normally have used to defend themselves—because they didn't need as much, when they had the bodies of Grimm. Human bodies were more durable then some might think, but the simple fact of the matter was that they just weren't up to the things Hunters put them through. The Grimm were lifeforms—if they were, in fact, lifeforms as we understood the term—built for combat in a way nothing natural was, and so in order to combat them, Humanity as a whole and Hunters in particular had designed weapons that quickly exceeded what was feasibly survivable.

As a result, against anything they were expected to fight, Hunters needed to use their Aura to defend themselves. Running out of Aura wasn't the same thing as dying, in and of itself, but if you do so while fighting another Hunter or a powerful Grimm—well, if there was some magical effect that transfigured anyone who ran out of Aura while fighting into chunky salsa, it probably wouldn't change a whole lot. As a result, most Hunters keep a vast quantity of Aura in reserve; more than a lot of people knew, in fact. To use a hypothetical fighter with a thousand points of Aura as an example, at least half of that power is likely kept in reserve except in an extreme emergency. More realistically, that number is probably closer to seven or eight hundred, depending on the fighting style of the person in question. That was an enormous amount of power to keep locked away, but the fact of the matter was that most Hunters drew the power to fight from what was effectively their life bar.

In fact, thinking about it… I couldn't be certain, but I was pretty sure that what my power interpreted as HP bars were, in fact, a representation of the amount of Aura people generally used to defend themselves from attacks. After all, if something hit them hard enough to break an arm or leg, that could well decide the fight right there. That didn't matter much to me personally, because I had the Gamer's Body and could ignore things like that, but the truth of the matter was that in any fight involving Hunters, defense was the biggest expense, at least in terms of Aura.

But the Grimm didn't have Aura; they were just tough as hell. The stronger ones could shrug off sniper rounds and ignore blades that could cut through steel, they were so durable—and if you gave that power to a Hunter, well….just look at me. I'd long since lowered the amount of Aura I used to soak damage, because I didn't need it as much anymore. By simply infecting and armoring those Hunters, Conquest had accomplished much the same, increasing the amount of Aura they could draw upon to fight several times over. And while that could have been something unique to him, well…if you had an easy way to vastly increase the power of your soldiers, why wouldn't you use it? Laying low when they needed to act as sleeper agents was fine, but if a fight broke out, why not stack the deck?

It seemed like a pretty unfair advantage to give to ones strongest minions, so I figured it was safe to assume that it just came standard. At the very least, it would have been stupid to not be prepared for it, so I did what I could. I'd need to learn more about Ruby when I got the chance, see if I couldn't predict how she might change. Conquest had altered bodies to best make use of their natural abilities, so I had a general idea—it would likely focus on further improving her speed, at the very least. That could be an issue; the fact that her power was Speed-related implied that she used a lot of Aura to keep herself from getting equal and opposite reactioned out of existence if she happened to run into something. Even before any leg or body modifications, the large supply to draw upon would probably translate into a dramatic increase in her speed and meant that there might be a chance of her escaping attempts at containment.

That was unacceptable, which was why I was training Acceleration now, on top of everything else—just in case. I was confident in my own speed, to be sure, but I didn't really feel like gambling with countless lives on the line. What else I might need to be on the look out for, I didn't know enough to truly say, but…I'd do my best to find out.

But for now, my time was up.

Exhaling slowly, I opened my eyes and lifted an arm to deflect the shards aimed at gouging them out. At once, my Glass Elemental stopped, floating in the air above expressionlessly. He blinked his eyes again, which did little to hide the fact that they were turning in his skull once more, slowly lowering himself to the earth. When I met his eyes again, a stained glass sun and moon looked back.

"Thanks for your help," I said honestly. "But it's five in the morning, now—we have stuff to do. You can rest now."

He tilted his head to the side and immediately crumbled to the ground in a pile of glass dust—except for his eyes. The sun and moon remained, floating in the air even as bodies began to grow from them, fire and air pouring forth. The dust beneath rustled and shook before rising in the form of Ereb and in moments all three were standing before me again.

Turning my head, I glanced over the horde of windows that that appeared while I'd had my eyes closed, closing them swiftly as I confirmed that they were just skill level updates. All but one, that is, which caught my eyes and made my eyebrows rise.

By raising Aura to level 99, you have gained the skill 'Aureola.'

I frowned slightly at that, tilting my head to the side.

"Like the painting thing?" I murmured, checking my skills absently before shaking my head.

With this, I knew what happened when my skills reached level ninety-nine and I had a fair number of skills approaching that point, including my healing. I'd need to test this, work towards it, and train even harder from here on out—it might be the answer I was searching for.

But for now, I had work to do. I'd get back to training as soon as I could, but in all likelihood, one of my sisters would arrive today.

I should probably get the house in order. Hopefully I could train my new skill while I worked.

XxXXxX

Collecting Autumn from Gou, I got to work as soon as I returned home. With the house having spent most of the last few days empty, there weren't many dishes to wash, but I cleaned the bowl Adam had used, put it in the dishwasher, and ran the machine. Vaguely remembering how much stuff a house of ten went through in a day, I went downstairs and started up the laundry machine as well. Leaving those machines running, I fetched some cleaning supplies, swept up what dust had gathered in the house while we'd been away, and then went upstairs, truly entering my sisters' rooms for the first time in years.

They were all pretty much empty, which was why I rarely bothered. With what I knew now, it was obvious that they'd all left without much intention of ever coming back and taken everything with them—and just as obvious that my mother had made sure to leave what little remained exactly the way they were. The only things that remained were the signs I'd left here and there—in traces of paint and crayon on the walls of Sienna's room, an old storybook Bianca had left behind for me but which I'd long since memorized, that type of thing. Nonetheless, I went up to the attic, brought down a several sealed bags of beddings, and arranged things the way I remembered.

Even moving deliberately slowly, it barely took me half an hour to get everything inside the house, leaving me mostly done before the clock even turned six. The only major thing left to do was to go out and buy everything that an entire family full of Hunters would need for a day or two, but with my money and Inventory, neither paying nor transporting it would be an issue. I made a mental list of everything I'd need, split it into groceries and household goods the way my mother always did, and double checked to make sure nothing was missing before deciding to go at seven. The supermarkets were open all day, but a lot of other places would be closed and since there were a few other things I needed to do in town, I might as well wait a bit. Besides, it gave me a chance to look over my new skill.

Setting up a Temple around my house, I shed much of the constant influx of power by using Green Thumb, both grinding the skill and feeding Autumn. At the same time, I used my status screen to quickly take off my hoodie and left Autumn be for a moment as vines grew around my upper body, partially liquefying into a green fluid as it went. In a few seconds, she'd wrapped most of my chest with a vest of vines and, after reminding her to withdraw the inch long thorns she'd grown over every inch of her body, put the hoodie on the old fashioned way, covering her up but for the rose blossom that now grew at my throat. As she did that, I reread and considered the profile of my new technique.

Aureola (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The manifestation of one's soul, now too large to be wholly contained by one's mortal frame. Through training and focus, the user's Aura has turned them into something much more than just a man, burning like a star to throw back the encroaching night. This skill enhances the user's Aura, giving them the power they need to truly face the darkness. The effect of the user's Aura may be enhanced by spending more MP.

I considered it as Autumn continued to leech off my power. The description was a bit vague, but it got the point across. The original profile of my Aura wasn't something that had a cost attached to it, but it wasn't free, per se—it was just that my Aura was pretty much my MP bar and any costs were taken into account automatically. I could control it and turn it on and off—or rather, willingly restrict the effect—but it wasn't quite the same as a lot of my other skills.

Now though, rather than just something I was able to turn on and off, I could improve it. How much, it didn't say, but…

Well, there was an easy way to find out.

Slipping into Naraka absently, I stopped using Green Thumb and focused on my power, guiding it in a way that was at once foreign and familiar. Rather than 'spending' Aura, it would have been more accurate to say that I turned my power in upon itself—except that implied 'direction' to something that was really more 'magnitude.' Still, I shifted it, changed it in a way I wasn't sure how to truly describe, and then felt it shining against both sides of my skin.

Opening my eyes, I realized I was glowing bright white, the way I had when I first used my Aura. But where that had died down in a few moment and slipped beneath my skin, this went on and on. I felt it rise around me—but more than that, I felt it rise through me, like we were two different things that somehow inhabited the same space.

Though given the skills I'd recently gotten, maybe that was literally true.

Regardless, it felt amazing. I started small, allowing a few hundred MP to flow into it per minute, but even just that much was something amazing. It ran through my body, aligned with it until I knew each motion was backed by something far more than physical force—and then I channeled even more into it, a thousand MP per minute, then five, then ten, until I was standing in the midst of a white star, illuminating the dim morning air as if it were high noon. I didn't do a thing, stood perfectly still for fear of what any sudden movements might do to my daughter or our surroundings, but…I'd found something incredible.

Also, potentially inconvenient, I thought, bringing my mood down a bit. Amazing as it felt and visually impressive as it was, I could think of a few problems with running around inside my own personal star. It seemed like the type of thing that would attract attention, perhaps even a few raised eyebrows and questions, and, well, I would rather avoid anyone jumping to the wrong conclusions.

Or, worse, the right conclusions.

Fortunately…

I took a deep breath, focusing on the image in my mind—myself, minus the lightshow. With my myriad senses, I traced the exact shape of my face, the motions of every hair, everything about my physical body, and imagined it in color so clearly that it was as if I was seeing it with my very eyes. Then, I made sure it was visible to everyone's eyes, giving the image shape with Delusory. Slowly, I felt it take shape in reality, forming around me like a skin and hair tight shell.

As it did, the light dwindled and faded, hidden by my power.

Exhaling slowly, I sensed a few Grimm approaching my position and summoned my Elementals to deal with the matter while I was focused. I still didn't move, didn't even breathe, but remained as still as I possibly could to remain inside my illusion. I kept the image focused, adjusting it with every motion, from the slightest change in my hair to the blinking of my eyes. After a moment, I took a few breathes and mimicked them on my illusions form before twitching my fingers slightly and turning my head. With a deliberate, careful motion, I lifted an arm and took a step, moving the image even as I did my body.

This wasn't the same as becoming invisible and showing nothing. If anything, it was something far more difficult; showing something rightly. Displaying an image that was so accurate, so close to the truth but for that one change, that nobody would even notice. I forced myself to go through the motions slowly, to think through the things I normally did unconsciously as I paid close attention to myself. Every motion, I tracked with my senses and displayed on my image. It hard, because there's so many little things that had to be accounted for, so many slight changes caused both by me and things that interacted with me, and I had to account for them all, as they happened. It was hard.

But it would be good training. I could wear this image over my body and this way, I'd be able to train both my enhanced Aura and my Delusory skill in my everyday life. The other techniques I had that changes my body were too extreme to try this with yet, where the chances of me making a mistake were so high and the consequences even higher, but for now, this should work. I'd stay out of sight for a while, stay observant, and it should be enough. And if I used them around the clock every day, with the experience point increase from my Wisdom skill, I should be able to improve quickly.

Taking a breath, I slipped down to the basement just to be safe and crossed back over into the real world, walking slowly and with care. I adjusted my power output slightly, deciding to pin Aureola around ten thousand MP per minute, and started to divvy up the rest with care. The washer finished its work and I moved everything over to the drier before returning upstairs to wait, deciding in the process that I'd use the rest of the hour to practice this combination, giving myself a very, very light work out to test it while in motion.

About a quarter before seven, though, I paused in the midst of my pushups as I sensed a pair of figures approaching. Pretty sure I knew who it would be, I still checked them thoroughly before rising and moving towards the door, walking slowly enough that they started knocking when I was halfway there.

"Coming!" I said, raising my voice and moving a bit faster once I had an excuse. Opening the door, I came face to face with a pair of blondes. Both of them had shoulder length hair that made me think they'd probably either gone to the same stylist while living together or that they'd both just learned to do it that way—a swept, wavy look that framed their faces. One, the older of the pair, had blue eyes like my own, while the other had brown, and though both were tall, there was an inch or two of difference between them. Even so, they were obviously sisters.

My sisters, specially.

"Hey," I said, looking them over quickly. They'd changed a lot in the years since I'd seen them, though I suppose we all had—but even so, there was no doubt it was them. I didn't even need to glance above their heads to confirm it, though I naturally did so anyway.

The Light That Sears the Unrighteous

LV 92

Bianca Arc

The Flames That Immolate the Damned

LV 85

Shani Arc

"Hey yourself," My oldest sister replied, wearing a custom white suit with a black tie. To her side, Shani was dressed more casually in jeans and a red shirt, but each of them carried bags with them—and the Hunter's in them showed through, as the clothing and lethal weaponry were kept carefully separate. Even so, I saw uncertainty pass through their eyes, concern mixed with simple awkwardness. What did one say after meeting again after years of separation? And in a situation like this to boot? I could see them trying to come up with something to say and spared them the trouble.

"One sec," I said, halting Bianca. Placing a hand on top of my head, I slide it through the air to hover above hers, lifting my other hand to put two fingers beneath it. Shani snorted, looking away even as Bianca rolled her eyes—but she didn't bother hiding her smile. "About five centimeters. Guess you can't call me little anyone, Bianca."

"You'll always be Tiny to me, Jay," She said, smiling up—a fact that was very important—at me. "It's not about physical size—it's just a state of being inherent to runty little brothers that irritate their beautiful older siblings."

"And who might that be?" I asked, ducking as she swatted at me playfully.

"Case in point," Shani laughed. "Hey, Jay."

"Shani," I nodded as she punched me in the arm by way of greeting. "Vacuo been treating you okay?"

"Eh, it's Vacuo," She shrugged. "It doesn't treat anyone all that great, but hey, still a pretty awesome place. You doing okay holding down the fort?"

"Well enough," I nodded and we all smiled, falling back into things despite the years. It wasn't that things hadn't changed, but that something mattered enough to last. I stepped to the side, welcoming them back to a home they probably didn't find at all welcoming. Even so, they were here and that counted for a lot. Too bad I knew the good mood wouldn't last. Still, there was no reason it couldn't linger for a little while longer.

"I like the flower," Shani said as she stepped past me and paused for a moment. "And the dog! Mom let you have a dog?"

She quickly went to Gou's place on the stairs, sitting down beside him to scratch his ears as she asked her questions. Bianca followed more sedately, but looked surprised.

"Yeah," I said. "When I found him, he was badly hurt, but he's a survivor. I healed him and one thing led to another."

"Did you teach him any tricks?" Shani asked, picking Gou up and cradling him in her arms to scratch his belly.

I took a moment to just…consider that. There were so many answers, so much to say, but really, who was I not to take advantage of an open line like that? It's not like I was going to keep their niece a secret from them after all, and if I told them about Autumn, why keep this a secret?

So I smiled.

"Yeah," I said, shutting the door and leaning back against the frame. "Gou, speak."

"Woof," He obliged, pronouncing the actual word.

XxXXxX