Chapter 2

Fourteen. That was the number of living magic users there were at any given time. No more, and no less. And yet, there appeared to be a slight disturbance in the forces of nature. As though someone had rudely jumped into the pool without a care for it over crowdedness.

Calmly lifting up her teacup, Salem stared at the liquid for a moment, watching it slosh around the rim of the vessel before crashing into the other side, her eyes drifting like the ocean waves. Minute as it might have been, she felt it. And she was sure the rest had felt it as well, Ozma in particular.

Humanity had been on the back foot for the longest time. If it wasn't for their silly wars or scuffles with the Faunus, then it was with the Grimm as a whole. At the same time, those very creatures who deemed themselves Gods, were also the chains that bound her from unleashing her army on the general populace, the only reason why she hadn't yet destroyed all of humanity despite having killed Ozma time after time.

It chipped at her, slowly but surely, gradually with each road block that stood in her path. However, the new piece on the board could be the tipping point that changed everything into her favor. Small as it might have been, should the budding mage be trained under the right condition, she could have an apprentice by her side. A chance to fight back against the four and Ozma's ever-expanding network and silver eyed warriors.

For now though, she had to take her time, step by equally slow step. There was no need to rush, especially when her one shot could very easily crumble at a stage like this. Raising the cup to her mouth, Salem downed its contents in a single gulp, returning the cup back on the saucer. Standing up, she left the dining room to wander her manor, all the while holding an expressionless look on her face, managing to hold in her anticipation.

Each step was like a barrel that had reached its maximum capacity, the beat of her cold heart rising for the first time in a while, her hips unconsciously swaying to an unheard tune. Walking into a long, drawn-out hallway, the sound of her heels clacking against the ground echoed far and wide, her eyes drawn and pointed at the massive door ahead of her, its size rivalling that of an alpha Goliath.

And with a flick of her wrist, it opened, revealing a room devoid of any objects or furniture behind it. But to Salem, it was much more than that. Entering the room, shadows swiftly took to her sides as the door behind her shut, a loud boom following it shortly after.

Flexing a bit of her mana, the floor beneath her lit up with a deep shade of vermillion, her surroundings tinted with the color as the darkness scurried behind a nearby curtain. Sweeping her hand out, the blinds followed along with her command, moving out of the way to reveal the shattered moon in the sky, its rays touching her skin as she continued her ritual's preparations.

Manifesting a small knife, Salem created a small slit running along the length of her pointer finger, a pitch-black substance spurting out while she looked on with indifference. Carefully, she drew a circle on the floor, engraving several symbols into it as she went along. It was a meter and a half in diameter, with two more circles traced within it at one meter and half a meter respectively.

With that step complete, she wiped away the bead of sweat trailing down her forehead, while her self-inflicted wound sealed itself completely, as though it weren't even there. The air in her lungs filled, taking in as much as she could in a single breath. Crouching down, the color of the room darkened considerably, the celestial body above her shining, casting its light down on the space in front of her, projecting a map of the world.

It was a scrying spell, built to show all those who had the capacity to wield mana across the entire land of Remnant. In her time, it would have been utterly useless as everyone and their dog was able to throw around spells without a care. But after her little stint with the Gods, that change, bringing the number down considerably.

Naturally, Evernight had the largest concentration of magically empowered beings, with her just one of them. There were still the other four rulers of the Grim, and their respective champions, but outside that, it was much easier to scout who was who. Vale two dots, one stationary, and the other frantically moving as if a Geist had possessed it. Oz was on the move, it would seem.

Vacuo and Mistral both had a single dot, providing no extra information than what was already obvious. And lastly, Atlas, the snow field wasteland held two markers, one to the south, whilst the other was higher north. It didn't take a genius to figure out where the person had awakened to his or her inner potential. Though, it was hard to say which was which. Both stayed in a relatively confined area, but she couldn't rule out one due to their location, more so when the maidens were tasked with protecting their nation.

'No matter' She shrugged, a pool of black sludge spilling forth from the ground. 'The Doctor should have a remedy to fix this.' From the floor, a globe with tentacles emerged, one of her many Seers greeting her with a wave of it's tentacle. Brushing its smooth head, she commanded it send a message to him, receiving a call not even a minute later.

Then, the face of a middle-aged man with a thick mustache came into view, a white lab coat adorning his figure. "Yes, mistress?" He greeted, his tone a tad unsure, the man's expression surprised by the visit. "Is there something that you request of me?"

"Apt." Salem replied simply, slicing a piece of the map out as if it were a simple pie. "I want you to investigate two locations in Atlas and discern which is one of Ozpin's agents or a fresh, completely neutral party with no involvement to the major powers. Ignore whatever plan I had you perform before this. This task takes priority over anything else." Inserting the panel into the Grimm, it flowed into the Seer's head like room-temperature butter, sliding out the other end as the brows on Arthur's face furrowed, before widening in delight.

"My, my. You simply give the most wonderful gifts…" His lips thinned, a hand drifting to his chin. "I assume this will track their every location? Or do they stay static forever?"

"Two weeks." She deftly stated. "It will work for two weeks, and no more. That is all I can give without sabotaging the rest of my plans." His eyes looked slightly apprehensive; the clacking of his mouth just barely heard by the tiny Grimm. "Though, I am sure a man of your talents would be able to take care of such a task, yes?"

Without missing a beat, his shoulders sagged, one of his eyes shutting as he took a deep breath. "Yes, of course, Mistress." He stressed, turning away from the Seer's vision. "I'll be at it in no time. Just give me a moment to collect my things before I run along to dear old Ironwood's home once more."

"Should your position be compromised, your highest priority will be to attempt an escape with a target. Whatever method you use, does not matter to me, as long as he is alive and willing to work with us, then you are free to do as you please." Salem ended, her hands drifting over the Seer's globe-like head. "If there are no other questions, then you are dismissed."

"Yes… my lady."

Sending the Seer off, the little grimm phased into the wall, never to be seen again as the albino woman gracefully sat on the floor, her eyes finding themselves once more on the map, now flickering due to the removal of a whole continent. "Your move, Oz. May the best man win."

…

The air was always laced with some sort of dirt, may it be tiny particles of rocks, elemental dust, or a mix of everything in between. It didn't matter that I had layers of cloth and facemasks to protect my breathing, they still were able to breach past all of that. Every breath was something to be fought over. And with each exhale, I could feel a little piece of myself dying along with it.

In any normal circumstance, none of this would be worth it. From the slave wages of a hundred Lien an hour, to the back breaking labor. That might have seemed like a lot, but after checking the average prices between goods, the rose-tinted glasses that had laid comfortably on my head collapsed.

On a good day, it would take three hours of work to get enough money for a single apple in the cafeteria. Granted, food was supposed to be scarce in the country I now resided in, but damn, I was getting ripped off, hard at that.

Without warning, the thoughts slipped from my head, as the loud crack of a whip sobered me immediately. Not daring to look back, my arms hoisted the pickaxe high before bringing it down hard on the small deposit of dust, excavating chunks at a time before placing them into a small sack attached to my hip.

To nobody's surprise, they filled up quite quickly, resulting in frequent trips to and from the minecart given to me and the other people I was grouped up with. They were all relatively around the same age as this body was, which was concerning to say the least now that I observed myself for longer than a microsecond.

I had been transported into another world, with a face befitting that of a K-pop idol who hadn't showered in days, with a body that looked like it could bench the mythical four-0-five, but that was to be debated.

Depositing the contents of my tiny pouch, I looked over just how much progress we had made over the course of a few hours. With assistance from the demolitions team, long tunnels were made along one of the newer shafts, accelerating our development significantly, if only at the cost of safety with each explosion.

And that was the main issue with mining for Dust, the primary resource taken from these mines. Like coal and its potential for lung cancer, Dust was also just as- if not more- dangerous than the former, having the capability to explode due to its more unstable nature. Coincidentally, this was also the cause of most mining accidents.

Speaking of the magical substance, it apparently fueled every aspect of life in this world, basically an equivalent to Fossil fuel, but with a more varied selection to choose from other than Climate Change. Ranging from the usual fantasy suspects of fire, wind, water, and earth. All the way to less conventional (and substantially rarer) elements like light, gravity, ice, and lightning.

All of this to say, my initial guesses on the timeline were wrong, somewhat, but the thought was still there. Some technology ran parallel to some time around the cold-war, while the rest were sci-fi in nature. Case and point, the mine-

"What in God's name do you think you're doing there?" A commanding voice called out behind me, my train of thought ripped to shreds as I shot back into the real world, the cold metal body of a baton grazing my arm. "You've been standing there for an awful amount of time. I wonder, just what exactly is going on in that little brain of yours… To take this long on a simple task, you must have brought a lot with you. And yet, I can barely see anything here."

If there was something I could rely on, it was that there were few forerunners or guards that cared about the miner's wellbeing. Unless they were a faunus themself or were fairly new to the job, then situations such as this were bound to happen on a regular basis. "I was merely checking if the cart's mechanisms were stable, you see."

Rocking it back and forth, the minecart creaked as the contents within swayed from left to right, a tiny amount of wobble to its movements. Turning to face the man, the lids of my eyes arched, my hand smacking its sides. "Honestly, it would be a shame if it were to malfunction in the end of a shift, where our hard-earned dust could be damaged… Don't you think so as well?"

He thought about it for a moment, his fingers rubbing against his chin before he took a step back. "Well, if there really is nothing to be seen, then I best be on my way." A breath of relief left my lungs… only to be snatched the next moment. "But if I see you slacking off again, you won't be let go so easily. Should have learned not to do this when you were younger."

Finally, he left me be. The conversation was short, lasting hardly a minute or two. Still, the threat of physical violence loomed in the air, something I didn't particularly want afflicted at me. Pushing the though to the side, my arms steadied themselves at the back of the cart, legs moving back while my eyes peaked a little over-head, calculating the distance between my current location and how far I had to move it.

Sucking in deep, I pushed on it with all my might, moving it along a straight path, the sort of thrusters at the bottom keeping it afloat tilting to speed things up. Fortunately, there weren't any more incidents after the first one. Though, there were quite a few roadblocks halting the path.

Raising my pickaxe once more, several pops rung from my back, stifling my momentum as my body fell forward. Hanging on by a thread, my back and shoulders ached, throbbing with pain as each individual muscle strand made itself known.

[Due to the User Over-exerting himself, Endurance and Strength have Gone up by 1]

A green text box popped out of nowhere, notifying me of the obvious. Instantly, the discomfort of moving lessened, my brows parting as my lips gaped through the many layers of protection. The effect it had on me was profound and worked in a snap. Frankly, weren't it not for my stats increasing, I would have fallen flat on my face within the first hour or so.

"Come on, we just got little bit left until the shift ends." Coming to my aid, a dog dem- Faunus- helped me up, slinging my arm over his shoulder. "But I have to say, your stamina's lower than it should be. Usually it's pretty topped off even when things are busy." He mused, slumping me against the wall. "Got no sleep last night? Because that's the only guess I have at this point, nothing else is coming to mind as to why you're more tired than you should be."

Todd was an interesting fellow, and I'd like to leave it at that. He was pretty friendly to me when we had first met, likely something developed by the person whom I 'body snatched'. "Didn't catch a single wink of rest." Shaking my head, air slowly began to filter into my lungs once more, the calmness of our surroundings was a bit unnerving, though, a little bit of tranquility never hurt anyone. "Wouldn't say it was the worst, but I also can't say it was the best. My memories are, let's just say, a bit blurry."

"Huh, so that's why you didn't recognize me earlier. Honestly, I just thought you were just being an ass by not talking" He idly commented, my hand plainly smacking the top of his head, a cloud of dirt flying everywhere with a 'poof'. "Right, right, that was a bit insensitive of me, however, even the people who lost family in the explosion talked to those who are still alive and close to them. Can't say the same for the orphans."

"Dude, how the fuck did you make it worse." Squinting, I stared at him, his once jovial expression gradually darkening as the weight of his words mounted on him. He tried to defend himself, pathetically at that, but, he couldn't take back what he had already said. His stillness bringing me to laughter at his expense. "I mean, as long as you aren't cursing them into damnation at the hands of forces beyond our control, then I think an accidental slip up shouldn't matter all too much."

"I…" He paused, his fist clenching. "I guess so. A-Anyways, we should probably get back to work before the guards make their rounds. Would not want to be caught slacking on the job, after all. Even if it's just for a minute."

"Right." I finished, grabbing my pickaxe and waddling towards the deposit of dust I was digging out. Bit by bit, I was careful not to strike the delicate material, carving out the rock around it before removing the sediments still left on the main crystal.

I couldn't help but marvel at my work, inspecting it from all sides as it shone a deep red at my skin. From the little that I knew, there were apparently people that used this stuff to fire their guns and strengthen their blades. How they actually got it to function, I hadn't a single clue, but it was worth knowing.

Looking over my shoulder, my heartbeat hastened by a beat, as I brought the pickaxe down around an edge where I had messed up, shards of dust falling to the ground, and disappearing in a show of pixelated light. With the system that accompanied me to this world, was a hamper space could store a set number of items based on my current stats.

As of the moment, it was pretty empty, only populated by pocket lint, crushed hopes, dreams, lost aspirations, and inconspicuous shards of- "Woah, looks like you hit the jackpot, dude!" Todd loudly remarked near my ear, the antennae on my head quivering due to the vibrations. Then, he moved closer to whisper into my ear. "Stuff like this doesn't come often… Say, what do you think we should buy with it?"

"Well," I began, my eyes shutting as they tightened. "We should start by not telling everyone first? Really, that much should have ben obvious in all reality."

"Why'd you say that?"

"Because, my dear friend." My hand dramatically swept our surroundings, the interested eyes all around us turning away before they could be seen. "Now, we aren't the only ones interested. A little something you might want to know next time, alright?" Stressing this fact, he seemed to have gotten the message, the dog's head nodding rapidly as the edges of my lips curled. "Well, I'm sure we could afford a few more rations for everyone else."

"R-really? Last I checked, you were running pretty low… Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Doesn't hurt to be charitable, right? Besides, if you can chip in, there should be nothing to worry about, right?" His expression looked apprehensive for a moment, looking down at his feet as his thumbs twiddled. "Oh. Then ignore what I said. Keep your Lien and save up. Never know when the prices of food could suddenly go up due to a shortage."

"No, I can help!" Todd proclaimed, his back straightening as we walked back towards the cart. "Letting you pay for all of it would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Something I would much rather avoid. Then again, a debt paid means one less thing to worry about."

"You could say that again." Without warning, my voice suddenly turned solemn, my brow furrowing as liquid leapt from my eyes. What the?

Deep down in the mines, a chorus of bells rang out loud and clear, a merry chime playing on loop. Its repetitive rhythm was irksome, as though it were made to be annoying. My head shook, the vibrations in the air growing stronger with each passing second, as a beam of light shone from our tunnel's exit. The man who had accosted me earlier peaking out the other end. "Alright, shift's over, clean the place up for the night shift. After that, make sure to clock out, lest you unnecessarily expend the base's resources like a fool."

The line went unsaid, but if the implications were right, then it wouldn't paint a pretty picture. Our group complied to the demands set for us simply enough, exiting out of the cave with nearly a cart full of several kinds of unrefined dust. Once we came to the surface, my eyes glanced at a nearby clock, tiredly drifting my sight over it while my brain slowly processed the new information.

Moments ticked by as the hands rotated with each fleeting instant. The middle-hand struck twelve, and all of the hands moved at once, the short-hand striking six, a bird-like creature popping out of the wall clock's head, followed by what were supposedly its crows. Time slowed, the happenings around me slowing to a crawl, eyes lazily drawn, shoulders slumped as the weight of all of my actions took hold.

However, a thought passed through my mind, a fair few words entering one ear, and staying longer than it should have. My breath stilled, frozen like a lake in winter, the saliva inside feeling as though it were as viscous as honey. 'Somewhere around six-thirty would suffice, don't you think?' The words repeated in my head, one after another, eternally looping.

Snapping out of my thoughts, everything resumed as per usual, my mind working double time to calculate how long it would take me to get the stench of sweat off my body… Only to realize that Erza had given me neither a place or a clue as to where we were supposed to meet. An inhale drew from deep within my lungs, hands unlatching all that was attached to my face as clean air entered through the windpipe. "This is going to be one fun goose chase."

[A/N: Nothing much else to say. I'm going to write a few chapters for Eldritch Roommate, go back to firekeeper for a chapter or two, then write the next chapter for this, should nothing of note happen. Copy and paste below

Anyways, if you find anything wrong in the fic, let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and what I could have done in place of what is present.

Also, join discord server. I have one.: discord . gg / eTb2kPab4z

I now have Kofi and at "kofi-/balls1124" and "pa-treon-/ balls1124" respectively. You can support me for a dollar or more.

Experiment: Sending me any amount of money on Kofi with anything about this fic will boost its priority over anything else I happen to be writing.

With that being said, I'm going to go for a work out.]