Chapter 18

Day six inside the Branwen Tribe…

On the morning of the sixth day in my time here in the tribe I found myself laying on my back with my eyes shut and a smoking cigar in my mouth, just thinking. Today is the day that the tribe and I will travel to the town that will be raided, and I'm not really looking forward to it. During my time spent on Remnant I've robbed stores, beat up a few street punks that thought I was an easy target (didn't even give much experience or money so they were inconsequential anyway), tangoed with the police, formed my own gang, and bought an expensive ship that will let me travel the world.

Vale, for a single city, is an exciting place where things happen. Lives are made or destroyed at the flip of a coin or at the end of a gun's barrel. A place where a nobody, if they knew what to do or had some way of gaining power quickly, could begin to rise to the top of the underground world. I, for example, am basically the poster child for this type of situation.

The day before I left Vale I looked into the real Roman's past. As much as I was able to find anyway, honestly, there was not a lot to go on in the first place. When I came across a few obscure and hidden away documents on his scroll, I never took my time to really go through it since I was so busy, I found some of his basic information. His age, for example, is twenty-five. When that piece of info came to me I received a notification that said my status screen was updated with new information.

The documents I found were extremely basic, like just basic health information (blood type, etc) kind of basic. I still have no idea what Roman's past even is.

So, I, as far I know, have no past I can turn to. No friends or relatives I can call on, and only my wits and the clothes I have on my back to bring myself up to the top of the underworld. I have no real connections besides Junior and Walter as I've all but ignored the other Vale Kingpins, they haven't made a move on me yet so I never bothered with them. Perhaps they think I'm too reckless, young, and hotblooded to actually hurt or destabilize their own little slice of the underworld.

Perhaps, with how I've acted so far during my time as a criminal, they think I'll be arrested before the year is through. Some stressful parts aside, I've been having the time of my life. I felt freer than I've ever known, even if what I know is rather small right now. I have the freedom to run my gang how I saw fit, choose which mission to take personally or send a group of my men to do it for me. Steal what I want, when I want. Sell what I stole and make a profit to line my pockets.

I blew out a cloud of smoke, I wasn't feeling that freedom right now.

Tomorrow I'll help a bunch of people I don't care about, lead by a woman I don't hold in very high regard, ransack a village. Sure, I don't particularly care about their lives and would gladly steal from them anyway. But this is something I'm being told to do, I'm being ordered to do this to benefit someone else. I'm not going to keep the best things for myself, I'm not the one making the decisions. What it boils all down to is that I don't like being the one taking the orders, I don't like being one of the grunts. I'm selfish, and I think I like that.

I felt a small weight settle on my stomach and I opened the eye not being covered by my hair to see what it was. I smirked around my cigar when I saw that it was Neo, the one who I've subjected myself to this brief time as a grunt for. She seemed to be using me as a chair while she crossed her arms and glared down at me.

"What?"

Neo raised an eyebrow and pointed at the tent's flap, miming the act of carrying a box.

"You want me to help prepare for the attack? Come on, that's the job of the lower ranks," I whined. Neo glared at me, she was annoyed. I sighed past the cigar and snubbed it on a nearby ashtray, "Fine, fine, I'm coming."

Neo nodded, pleased, and got off of me before leaving the tent to do her part.

I was not far behind and after a brief time to stretch I stalked down the camp to where the tribe was preparing for the attack. Now, from what I can recall in the meeting between Raven and Qrow, Raven can make portals. So, I had to ask myself why she wasn't doing the same to attack the village and not waste all this prep time. Perhaps the portals take too much energy or don't stay open for long. I don't know.

As it stands, I just need to help the bandits put empty, open, boxes and other containers in the center of the inner camp. I found it odd that we weren't loading the things into one of the camp's vehicles, but I didn't feel like asking any of the people I was working with. Once the day hit noon the last box from storage was finally set out in the middle of the camp's inner circle and the bandits and I were hanging around doing nothing. I had some small talk with Neo. Or, well, I was the one doing all the talking, Neo just nodded along with whatever I was rambling about.

She's a great listener.

"From the lack of any actual work going on right now I take it everything has been set up?"

Neo and I turned to look as Raven addressed the crowd from the entrance to her tent, Vernal stuck to her side like glue. The throng of bandits quickly moved around to make it look like there was some sort of order going on. Neo and I stayed put on our box seats, we were happy to not bother getting up.

Raven eyed the crowd and the containers sitting around, "Kerri, you and your group are in charge of the camp defense while we are away. You know what to do when it's time."

"Well, that sounds ominous," I thought.

"Yes ma'am," I heard a girl's voice said from somewhere across the crowd.

"The rest are with me. Eat and be ready to leave within the hour, we need to be near the village by nightfall," with that said Raven reentered her tent. I frowned in thought, to me, if I was Raven, it would be easier to make a portal inside the village and just let her whole tribe attack in one swift and brutal strike. Since she wasn't doing that there had to be some limitation to her portals, perhaps it was too aura intensive and she would rather not waste the energy before a battle.

It would explain the boxes in the middle of camp, a portal straight home after the battle is over and done with so there isn't a need to bring a ton of vehicles to haul the stolen goods. Only enough to transport the tribe there and then just use a portal to get back. Made me wish I had a similar ability right now, perhaps I could find a way eventually. But, that's in future Roman's to-do list.

I tapped Neo's shoulder and handed over a plate of spaghetti with a fork stuck in the side from my inventory, I have a lot of random food in there. She sat there staring at it with abject confusion before gingerly taking it from my hand, like it was about to eat her.

"What, you don't like spaghetti? I made it myself," I said. She looked up at me, her face never changing as she set it down and made frantic gestures to the top of her wrist. I shrugged, "I got it just now of course, what kind of a gentleman gives a lady food that isn't fresh?"

Seriously, my inventory is completely broken. I've had that spaghetti in there for a month already and it still came out as steaming and fresh as the day I cooked it.

Neo lost her mind for a bit and yanked at her hair in frustration before finally taking a deep breath and calming down. She eyed me warily before taking the plate and stuffed her face, her eyes lit up when the taste finally hit her and she started eating with more gusto. The cooking skill I acquired gives a chance that whatever I make has the potential to receive different qualities to it. The quality works like restaurants, you know, one star, two stars, up to five stars. The higher the star, the less the chance to get it and the higher the skill level the bigger the chance for a higher star and less the chance for a lower. I got particularly lucky when I created this batch of spaghetti, it was the full five stars.

I brought my own plate up and shoveled a forkful of the pasta into my mouth. The star quality to the food really makes a difference, somehow, and I found myself eating slower than Neo in order to savor the flavor. Eventually it was time for everyone to leave, and I watched as a several large, tarp-covered trucks were uncovered from their parked spots near the camp's entrance. Funny, I never noticed that they were even there to begin with.

Raven and Vernal entered one of the trucks, and Vernal waited for vehicles to be filled with the bandits filing into the back of each truck before driving out of the camp. The truck taking Neo and I followed right behind hers, I'll admit that this was a bit of a tight squeeze with all of these people shoved into the back of trucks. That, along with the desert weather, made this trip uncomfortable and longer than it should be. Raven, Vernal, and the drivers were lucky, they got air conditioning.

Neo didn't seem to mind all of this all that much, in fact she seemed downright giddy.

I rose an eyebrow at her unusual behavior, she was much more hyper than she usually was. Maybe she was stir crazy, being constantly subjected to guard duty and the occasional day when chores were needed to be done over guarding had to be mind-numbing. It just made me want to know what the deal with this whole situation was even more, a simple trip outside the camp shouldn't make a person this happy. A chance for combat and stealing things notwithstanding.

After eight hours of driving the small bandit convoy finally came to a stop behind some rocky outcroppings not too far from the village we were going to attack. The drivers made sure to keep off the road and out of sight, it was easier with the setting sun.

Raven was one of the first out of the trucks, she turned and addressed the rest of us, "Eat whatever you brought quickly and no fires. We attack before dawn, I don't think I need to tell you to get some rest. I'll personally deal with whoever risks the lives of their fellow family members because they didn't get enough sleep."

I handed Neo a blanket once dinner was done, she blinked and nodded at me gratefully. Nights in deserts were very cold, it was the least I could do. I settled down next to her with my own blanket, my back against one of the large boulders. I was not looking forward to sleep against a rock, I just know that I'm going to need my massage skill in the morning. I smirked to myself, I know that Neo is going to feel just as back, if not worse, because thanks to my Gamer's Body, my body doesn't work like a normal person's does. I bet I can bring her to my side with just my Massage skill.

With those amusing thoughts in my head I drifted into a soft slumber.

Seventh day in the Branwen tribe…

I was woken up before the attack by one of the bandits going around and shaking any sleeping members. Neo nearly bit his hand off when he did the same to her, he screamed like a girl and leapt back in fright much to the amusement of everyone else in the camp. The unlucky tribesman grumbled curses under his breath and went back to waking others up.

I patted Neo's head, "Down girl."

I yanked my hand back when she tried to bite it, not an early morning person I see.

As for me I didn't feel too tired and just stretched and massaged my sore back, thanks to my unique body the pain from sleeping against a rock went away within minutes. I offered Neo a granola bar as a peace offering by shoving it into her peripheral, she took it without even looking in my direction. After a light breakfast everyone gathered back into the trucks, a select few were standing up with rocket launchers at the ready.

I felt a tug on my sleeve.

I looked in Neo's direction and she mimed something at me, it involved a lot of pointing at me and back at her.

"You want me to stick with you?" I asked.

Neo nodded and pointed over at Raven's truck.

"Raven's orders, then," at Neo's affirmative nod I gave her a smirk, "Well if it means that I gotta put up with you then I don't mind following these orders."

Neo smirked back at me and I looked back at Raven, waiting for when the attack will commence. I watched as she raised a hand in the air and flicked it forward, that was all the incentive the others needed. With hoots and hollers, the trucks sped forward, bouncing on every bump in the ground and kicking up dust. The barest tinge of color on the horizon said that dawn was not too far off.

We were at the halfway mark when I heard an alarm going off from the town, it seems that whatever sentries they had spotted us. In retaliation the rocket launcher holding bandits raised their weapons up and fired at the town's closed gate. The rockets reached the gates long before we did and exploded, causing the gate to come crashing down in shattered splinters. A couple of guards managed to form a line where the destroyed gate was and began firing in our general direction. Most of the bullets either missed entirely or pinged off the side of a truck.

The drivers didn't even slow down, and once they finally reached the gates the town guards had to dive away lest they be crushed by vehicular manslaughter. The trucks came to a sliding stop inside the gate and every single bandit jumped out of the trucks and began spreading out to commence the attack on the town. I jumped out alongside Neo, my cane appearing in my hand as I fired the rounds at the town's guards. They were strong enough that even with aura the headshots I was aiming for managed to knock them out. Critical hits are not to be messed with.

I silently activated my Aura and Power of Aura in preparation. I followed Neo as we went down one of the side streets, attacking anything that attacked us. We largely ignored the screaming and running civilians that all looked to be running towards the town center, probably where a safe shelter was located and the location of the final push in taking the town.

One of the defenders tried to ambush me from an alley, I stepped back and let the man sail past me. I stuck a foot out and watched as he tripped over it, not wasting a second I sent a Power Strike with my cane into the back of his head. The heavy blow knocked him out, Aura can only do so much to protect you from blunt force and the head was the weakest area to strike to the unprepared. I glanced over to see how Neo was doing and from the way she was eyeing the town Neo didn't look like she was interested in looting, she just seemed interested in seeing someplace new.

"I don't think we're going to find many of the fighters over here," I commented. Neo seemed to snap out of sightseeing mode and glanced over at me, nodding in agreement.

[You sense danger!]

I widened my eyes as my danger sense went off and jumped to the side to avoid the surprise attack. The weapon of my assailant just missed me by a hair's breadth and slammed into the street, a large metal club caused the street to crack and fissure. If that had hit me you could kiss most of my Aura goodbye. I came to a sliding stop a few meters from Neo, who was eyeing the newcomer warily.

He was a beast of a man, easily seven feet tall and every inch of him was corded muscle. If he didn't have a large metal club in his hand, and an Observe told me it mecha shifted into a cannon, I could have mistaken him for a bodybuilder. The man picked the hammer from the ground like it weighed no more than a stick and rolled his massive shoulders, making the cape like looked suspiciously like a lion's pelt bounce.

"You know, it's way too early for this kind of shit. Do you bastard bandits even know what time of the day it is? By the brothers…" he grumbled past his thick black beard as he rested his weapon on a shoulder.

The one whose Strength can move mountains

Lv92 Iraklis Eracle

"Oh, joy. A hunter," I thought to myself. "And he has a silver Grimm Dragon next to his name as well."

You have entered a boss battle!

You can win this encounter by:

Killing

Knockout

Or Iraklis flees

"This is going to be a pain, this guy's strength is off the charts for someone of his level, this can't be something he got through training. His vitality is not unrealistically massive and, while it not be as high as mine, his dexterity is nothing to sneeze at either. Neo and I need to be careful here."

I glanced over at Neo and she nodded at me, she has my back.

I flung several Far Strike attacks at him as a distraction, his club caught each of them in a surprising display of speed and precision. But it was enough as Neo appeared behind him and slammed a boot into the back of his shin, he grunted and went down for a second but still swung his club to try and knock Neo away. Her body shattered into pieces and I got my first glimpse at her semblance.

I didn't have time to gawk, I was already firing my cane as I ran towards the larger man. The shots that hit him made him grimace, the damage from my cane's range attack was no joke. Iraklis got back up from Neo's hit and swung down at my head, I shifted my body to the side and moved just enough to let the club miss. I rode the shockwave from the club slamming into the ground, rising into the air and hitting the hand that held the club with my cane. He just grunted and swung the club back at me.

I held my cane by the handle and base and guarded his retaliation, I didn't even try to completely block the attack and instead just deflected it a bit and let it fling me away. I flipped in the air and landed on my feet while taking a look at my status screen, I still took a whopping five-hundred damage from that, but it was better than the full hit. Neo suddenly shattered into reality and slammed her knees into the side of his face, making him reel back in surprise.

Iraklis spat some blood into the ground, "That semblance of yours is mighty annoying little lady."

His club sliced through the air and attempted to brain Neo, she leaned back away from the strike like she was playing limbo and back flipped out of his range. I fired more shots from my cane at the beast of a man while he was focusing on Neo, Iraklis growled in annoyance and leaped straight at me. I dove forward in a roll as he came crashing down in the spot I was just at and used Power Jump to get on top of a nearby house.

I continued to fire my cane down at him a few more time before he leaped back at me again, this time his club sheared off part of the house's roof in a explosion of wood. I grunted in annoyance and threw a Burn Dust crystal into his face before firing my cane at it, I could see his eyes widen when the round hit the crystal and the whole thing exploded in an inferno. The explosion launched me off the current building and on to the neighboring one, taking a large chunk of Aura off of me.

I picked myself up and warily watched the burning house in front of me, making sure to replenish my Aura. When the flames parted and the large form of Iraklis shot out of it with a roar I stumbled back in surprise, my hastily raised defense was easily battered aside and I found myself across the street and through a store's window. That hit took half my Aura in one blow, I had a feeling that he was pissed at me.

I ducked behind some shelves to keep out of sight and rushed to one of the shop's unbroken windows to get a glimpse of what was going on. Seems that Neo was dueling him on top of the building I was just launched from. I grunted, restored my Aura once again, and moved to go help Neo from this tank of a man. I burst through the door and began flinging Far Strike after Far Strike at the man, I could hear him swear up a storm with each hit.

His club swung into Neo and she shattered once again. When she appeared behind his head I was shocked to see that he caught her by a leg. "Using the same trick again?! I'm not an idiot!" Iraklis shouted as he slammed her into the roof and flung her down at me.

I had enough sense to brace myself before catching her, I still slid and made dust and dirt fly everywhere but I made sure she avoided too much damage. I could tell her Aura has taken a bit of a hit from that, she was down to two thirds while our opponent was down to half. Neo slid from my grasp and gave me a look of thanks, we didn't have much more time to bond as Iraklis slammed into the ground in front of us.

"Not too bad, I gotta admit," Iraklis commented. "For a bunch of bandit scum that is. Makes me kinda wonder why people with your skills would turn to a life of crime like this, then again I honestly don't care that much."

"I'd say that this bandit scum has a good enough chance of beating you," I replied, mockingly. "Makes me kinda wonder why you're sticking around like this, then again I don't think there's much in that head."

His eyes narrowed at me, "Quite the mouth on you, try taking from the lady's example and keep it shut."

Iraklis reached into a pouch on his hip and pulled out a brown crystal, earth Dust. He slammed it into his weapon, I watched as the weapon glowed brown as he raised it into the air and slammed it down on the ground. We weren't even near enough for the debris to hit us so I wondered why he even did that. Then, I recalled that we were standing on the ground and jerked Neo and myself away from our spot. Large, jagged rock spears shot out of the ground and into the sky, they stood proudly and menacingly.

I didn't want to have to reveal this to anyone yet, but I didn't have much of a choice right now. I pulled a random Dust crystal from my inventory and used it to replenish Neo's Aura, I saw her eyes widen as she must've felt the rush of regained energy. She briefly glanced at me in surprise before her training took over and focused back on our opponent. I narrowed my eyes at the man in front of us and went into a ready stance as I called out to Rumble, summoning him invisibly.

I'm going to need him for this…

(A/N) Ahaha, a cliffhanger! Ain't I a stinker?

Name: Roman Torchwick

Age: 25

Class: The Gamer

Level: 46 (Next Level: 30,480/107,100)

Title: Kingpin

Bounty: 38,000 Lien

HP: 3,014

HP Regen: 60.3/min

MP: 5,778 [3,728 + 186.4(5%) + 1,864(50%)]

MP Regen: 607/min [289(base) + 289(100%) + (28.9(10%)]

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), Wind (10), Fire (10), Ice (10), Lightning (10)

Attribute Points: 50

Lien: 2,419,620

Status Effects: Inactive Aura (Toggled Off, default)