(Kaelith POV)
I stood there, amongst the many soon to be students of Beacon, on Beacon Cliff, which I will allow this time. Because it was the name of a place in Beacon, not the name of the City, based on the Kingdom's name.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin spoke, a coffee mug in hand, looking at us. His gaze landed on me for a stretch longer than the others.
Glynda took over for Ozpin. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Her voice stern, yet calm as she elucidated this fact.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." I smirked, realising what would be said next, would crush the hopes of Weiss and Ruby, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." He clarified.
I could not wait, too. After all...
This was where I'd take the Main Characters coolest moment in Volume 1 from her.
Although, having memorised the Energy Signatures of everyone around me, I wondered about who should join my 'Team'. Maybe someone the Author could make an OC for. Someone who would replace Pyrrha, because of her poor ass taste in men.
Hmm, I guess Pyrrha could also work. If only because what ever team name that comes out of that would be funny as all fucking hell. Team Knapper, Krippen, and the like. Honestly, I should deal with this myself.
Or maybe, they'd make a 3 person team. Nora, Ren, and I all ending up on the same team? No fourth person.
Nah, they wouldn't let us get away with that.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."
My Saiyan blood rushed at the idea of destroying everything in my path.
My grin got wider as I thought about it.
"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one relic and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately." Ozpin explained clearly, and then simply said. "Are there any questions?"
"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question." I heard Jaune say,
"Good! Now, take your positions."
"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question." Jaune asks, completely missing the springboard. "So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"
"No. You will be falling and using your own landing strategy." He says calmly.
I didn't really care.
[DING! Quest Generated: Get the Relic and return to Ozpin.
Rewards:
2500 EXP
Bonus: Destroy Jaune Arc's Dreams
Rewards:
5000 EXP
Bonus 2: ?
Rewards:
?]
I dismissed the notification. Sure Bonus 2 interested me, but I felt as if I didn't need to do much yet.
Since I could fly already, my landing strategy was obvious. As soon as the launch pad was activated, I focused my Ki to fly, but not yet doing so. After the machine had launched me a couple of miles, only then did I start flying.
I scanned the signatures. Pyrrha. Locked.
From five miles up, I moved. To the naked eye, I might as well have teleported. One moment, empty air. The next—me, hovering inches in front of the redhead golden girl herself.
"Hello there," I said, Obi-Wan style.
She startled mid-flight, flaring her aura on instinct. I didn't flinch.
"Wha—who are—"
"Partnered. Congratulations."
Jaune was gonna cry. And I was gonna enjoy every second of it.
Pyrrha hadn't even gotten her bearings before I hit the forest floor beside her like a meteor with manners. Leaves and debris kicked up in every direction, but not a scratch on me, of course.
She landed in a practiced roll, elegant as ever, like a flaming ballerina with a combat degree. Her aura shimmered as she caught her breath, eyes locked on me with a wary tilt of the head.
"Who… are you?" she asked again, more composed this time.
"Kaelith," I replied with a grin, cracking my neck. "Your new partner. Slayer of tropes. Saboteur of shitty love interests. And today, you're plus-one for apocalypse prep class."
Pyrrha took out the Hunting Rifle part of her weapon, to find someone. "That's… oddly specific."
"I'm a girl of specific talents."
"AAAHHHH!" Jaune was screaming, and Pyrrha being the ever good person would try to save him. I put a hand on her spear, stopping her from using it.
"Don't." I said.
Pyrrha's face twisted with confusion, even a bit of horror, as I snatched her weapon like it was a damn souvenir. "Excuse me?" she said, aghast, reaching for it. "He's falling—he needs help!"
I shook my head slowly, holding the spear away from her like a disapproving older sister with a wine glass. "No, he needs a refund on that entrance application. You stay here."
And then I was gone.
To her, it must've looked like a flicker—like I'd been there and then wasn't. One second I was arguing about saving a screaming marshmallow, the next I had him bridal style like a cursed Disney princess in my arms, dropping slowly from the air like the world's most sarcastic angel.
Jaune blinked up at me, completely forgetting he'd almost died.
"Wow... you're really strong," he said, grinning like he thought I'd find that charming. "I mean, beautiful and strong. That's rare. Are you—uh, do you have a scroll number, or...?"
And just like with Sun, "Sorry, lesbian."
There was a pause. He blinked.
"Oh," he said, recovering way too fast. "That's cool! I—I respect that. Uh."
I dropped him. Not from the sky. Gently. Like setting a trash bag down and then realizing the trash bag's trying to talk to you.
"Stop," I said. "Just… stop."
Jaune looked wounded, like I'd just killed his puppy and blamed it for being born.
Pyrrha asked, "Is he alright?"
"He's alive," I said. "Unfortunately."
She frowned. "That's… not a very kind thing to say."
"I wasn't aiming for kind," I shot back, folding my arms. "I was aiming for true."
Jaune, still on the ground, finally gathered the courage—or the stupidity—to sit up. "Okay, look, I get it. You're tough. You're cool. But I belong here too. I'm a student, just like you."
"No, you're not." I turned to face him fully, my voice flat, sharp. "You shouldn't be here."
He blinked at me again. "W-What? Why?"
"Because you lied," I said, eyes narrowing. "Because you cheated your way into a place people bled to reach. People trained for years. You? You got in by stealing a letter and thinking you could fake it until someone like me got you killed."
The words hit him like a slap. Maybe three.
"I—wait, how do you even know that?" he stammered.
"I can sense when people have their Aura's Unlocked through my Semblance." I told a lie. "Do you know what Aura is?"
"N-No..."
"Then you should pack the fuck up, and go the fuck home. Aura is unlocked for everyone in the Academies such as Signal. Want to know why?" My eyes locked onto his. "Because they want to prepare you for when you enter an actual Huntsman Academy and fight Grimm."
"Kaelith, stop—"
I turned my glare to her, "No Pyrrha, he needs this fucking lesson. Because..."
My gaze landed on him, with a cold glare that could freeze mountains. "I know your type. That dumb bravado. The overconfidence. That constant need to flirt with girls. All of it is to hide how scared you truly are, that shaky grip on your weapon like it's going to explode if you press the wrong button. You are not cut out for this, JAUNE!" I did not stop my verbal lashing there. "You're not a warrior. You're not a hero. You're just a boy playing pretend because he's too afraid to be ordinary."
He looked like he'd been stabbed. Not by a sword, but by the truth. And the worst part?
He knew I was right.
"I thought I—"
Jaune tries to say in his defence but I cut him off before he could say a thing.
"You thought you could what? Grow into it? Jaune you'd get eaten while trying to remember which end of your sword goes into the monster or how to properly use that shield. And even then AURA should have been unlocked before you even considered this."
Pyrrha stepped between us—not with force, but with presence. That kind of poised grace that could calm a storm if the storm gave a damn about manners. Her eyes were locked onto mine, emeralds gleaming not with anger... but with a deep, aching sort of sympathy.
"Kaelith," she said softly, "I understand you're angry. And maybe he does need a lesson. But not like this."
Her voice wasn't a reprimand. It was a lifeline thrown to two people in different kinds of drowning.
I stared at her, arms still crossed, expression unreadable. "You're defending him?"
"I'm not defending what he did," she clarified immediately. "But I know what it's like to be thrown into something bigger than yourself. He's wrong, yes. And maybe he's not ready. But I wasn't ready when I started either."
"Maybe, but you trained. You went to a School. Him? He didn't. No formal training. And he still thinks he can sprint before he can walk. He's gonna put himself and everyone else around him in danger because of it. And you know what, he's selfish because of it."
Pyrrha's brow furrowed slightly, her gaze flickering between Jaune, who was still looking utterly devastated on the forest floor, and me. "But… everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves, don't they? Maybe he'll surprise us. Maybe he's a late bloomer."
"Late bloomer?" I scoffed, a harsh laugh escaping me. "Pyrrha, this isn't about being a late bloomer. This is about skipping the entire damn gardening process and expecting a fully grown tree to magically appear. He hasn't put in the work. He doesn't have the foundation. And in this world, that lack of foundation gets you killed." My voice was hard, uncompromising. "Empathy is admirable, Pyrrha, but it doesn't stop a Grimm from tearing you apart."
"But we're supposed to be learning here," she countered, her tone still gentle but firm. "Isn't that the point of Beacon? To help us grow, even if we start from different places?"
"Grow, yes. But not from absolute zero when lives are on the line! This isn't a classroom exercise, Pyrrha. This is the real world, or as close to it as we're going to get in an initiation. Grimm don't care."
Jaune finally pushed himself up, dusting off his clothes with shaky hands. He avoided my gaze, looking at Pyrrha with a flicker of hope. "She… she doesn't understand. I can do this."
"You can do this?" I repeated. "You faked your entire way in! You stole someone else's chance! Someone who actually earned it, who probably bled and sweat for that invitation."
Pyrrha stepped a little closer to Jaune, her presence a silent shield. "Kaelith, he made a mistake. A serious one, yes. But maybe he can still learn. Maybe being here will be his wake-up call."
"And what if his 'wake-up call' is a Beowulf tearing him apart?" I retorted, my eyes locking onto hers. "What then, Pyrrha? Will your empathy piece him back together? Will your understanding deflect claws and teeth? Emotions are a weakness. Kindness is weakness when it is idealistic, Pyrrha. He needs to be anywhere else but here."
Suddenly, a guttural snarl ripped through the quiet forest. A large, black wolf-like creature with glowing red eyes burst from the trees, its teeth bared in a vicious snarl. A Beowulf.
Jaune yelped, stumbling backward, his sword clattering uselessly against a rock. Pyrrha instinctively reached for her spear.
The Beowulf lunged, claws extended aimed at Jaune. Without a word, I moved. Faster than either of them could track. In the blink of an eye, I was in front of Jaune, my Aura shield blocking the attack before it could be made.
I spun around, and my heel connected with its face taking its head off with one spinning hook kick.
As it was dissolving, I looked at my MP bar.
So a Beowulf takes 5MP. That's.... geez, they truly are fucking weak. I regain 1% of my MP every 5 seconds after all.
[DING! Beowulf has been defeated!
EXP Gained: 100]
Dismissing my system, I turned to Jaune, my gaze unwavering. "That," I said, my voice low and devoid of any triumph, "is what happens when you're not ready." I then turned to Pyrrha. "Logic, Pyrrha. Having empathy to this extent will get him killed too, you know?"
Pyrrha's shoulders slumped slightly, a flicker of something unreadable crossing her features. She looked to Jaune, then back to me. "Fine," she repeated, her voice barely a whisper.
"Alright then. Jaune," I said, my tone leaving no room for argument. "I am sorry, but you are going back to Professor Ozpin. You will explain everything, and I mean everything. Then you are leaving."
Jaune's face crumpled. "But… but I can still try! I can train harder! Please, just give me a chance!"
"You had your chance when you decided to lie and steal your way in here," I said flatly. "Every moment you stay here is a risk to yourself and everyone else. You're not equipped for this, Jaune. It's not about a lack of trying; it's about a fundamental lack of preparation," I picked him up, "Pyrrha, I'll be back soon. I'm dropping him off by the cliff."
I carried him over my shoulder.
Pyrrha watched us go, her expression a mix of concern and resignation. As I flew Jaune back towards the cliff, he kept pleading, but my mind was made up.
Outside of hating him from the show... his actions had seriously endangered everyone else.
When we reached the edge of the cliff, Professor Ozpin was there, observing the students through his scroll. I set Jaune down gently, but firmly.
"Professor," I said, my voice clear and respectful. "This student... he needs to speak with you. He has something important to confess."
Jaune looked up at Ozpin, his face pale and etched with fear. He hesitated for a moment, then took a shaky breath. The truth, however difficult, needed to come out.
"I... I wasn't supposed to get in," Jaune began, his voice barely above a whisper. "I... I faked my transcripts. I'm not really trained."
Ozpin's gaze, usually so calm, held a hint of something unreadable as he looked at Jaune, then at me. He nodded slowly. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Kaelith. Mr. Arc, we will have a discussion. Now."
I nodded to Professor Ozpin, a sense of satisfaction settling within me. Justice, however swift and harsh, had been served. Turning, I launched myself back into the Emerald Forest, the wind whistling past my ears. I didn't care for the Bonus 1 completion notification.
Pyrrha was where I had left her, her posture still and thoughtful. As I landed softly beside her, she looked up, her emerald eyes holding a complicated mix of emotions.
"He's gone?" she asked, her voice quiet.
"He's talking to Ozpin," I confirmed. "He won't be participating in the initiation further."
A sigh escaped her lips. "I... I suppose that was the right thing to do. Logically."
"There is no other right thing to do," I stated firmly. "His presence here was a danger to everyone. Sentimentality has no place when lives are at risk."
Pyrrha was silent for a moment, her gaze drifting towards the dense foliage. "Even if it means crushing someone's dream?"
"His dream was built on a lie," I countered. "It would have crumbled eventually, likely with far more painful consequences. Better to face reality now than in the middle of a Grimm attack."
The area became silent as I looked at her. Of course, destroying Jaune's dreams might have been part of my Quest, but also... I didn't want the pathetic faker to somehow live and get into Beacon.
"We still need to find a relic," I said, breaking the silence and shifting the focus back to the task at hand. "The temple is to the north, correct?"
Pyrrha nodded, a flicker of her usual determination returning to her eyes. "Yes. We should go."
Together, we began to move through the forest. Pyrrha walked with her usual grace, her senses alert. I scanned the area with my Ki sense, easily detecting the energy signatures of the remaining students and any potential Grimm.
As we walked, the sounds of distant skirmishes echoed through the trees–the clash of weapons, the growls of Grimm, the occasional shout. The initiation was well underway for everyone else.
"What kind of relic do you think we'll find?" Pyrrha asked, her voice tentative.
"Does it matter?" I replied, my focus on our surroundings. "The objective is to retrieve one and return to the cliff. The item itself is irrelevant."
"I suppose," she said, but I could sense a hint of curiosity in her tone. Perhaps she hoped the relic would offer some deeper meaning, some symbolic connection to our partnership.
We continued in silence for a while longer, our contrasting approaches to the task already evident. Pyrrha seemed to be observing, analysing, perhaps even hoping to encounter other students. I was focused solely on efficiency, on reaching the objective with minimal wasted effort.
Eventually, the dilapidated stone structure of the abandoned ruins came into view through the trees. Vines hanging from the stone as the chess pieces came into view. It was a random structure, in the middle of nowhere.
Yang and Blake were here, good. And we had avoided the Deathstalker Cave. Fantastic.
Oh, Ruby was already falling.
Within an instant, I flew up, catching her. "Hey Rubes." I landed down on the ground.
I then saw the Beowulf appear, only to die as a pink explosion ran off its back, as I heard Nora go, "Yee-haw!" Nora rolls off of it, and goes, "Awwww... It's broken."
This was an inconsistency by the way, Grimm bodies don't lurk, they become dust instantly.
"Nora! Please... Don't ever do that again." He looks at me. "Kaelith." He greeted me with a polite nod.
"Hey Ren, Nora's there by the way." I pointed to where Nora was grabbing a piece.
A rook. I too grabbed the same exact piece. The White Rook rested nicely in my palm but then I looked up.
Alright, time to grab Weiss.
As Nora sang the Queen of the Castle thing, I flew up, the wind rushed past me, as the air was through. I then caught Weiss mid-air, but also saw an opportunity to look cool.
I switched my angle mid-flight, speeding past and around the Nevermore, getting behind it. I outstretched my 2 legs, as I gathered Ki to my feet. Unleashing a new technique I decided to make just now. I really needed to stop making new techniques on the fly like this.
As I flew down towards the back midsection of the Giant Nevermore I called out.
"COMET DIVER!" I called out. The attack was simple, I dived downwards into a kick that was enhanced with Ki. Ki spiralled around me from my feet in a memorising bluish purplish energy, almost like a drill. I descended upon its midsection, fully piercing through it cleanly. Severing its body diagonally.
The Soulless Creature turned to black smoke behind me as I flew down to the ground, the Ki dissipating alongside it.
I had successfully stolen Ruby's kill from Canon in an even more badass way and I got 1200 EXP for the Giant Nevermore kill.
"Whoa!" Ruby exclaimed, her silver eyes wide as she watched my attack.
I put Weiss on the ground soon after I landed, near Nora. "What in the world was that?" she demanded, her usual composure shaken. "You just... obliterated it!"
"Something I invented mid way through that. Anyways," I smirked, wrapping my tail around my waist as I looked into her ice blue eyes, "how does it feel to get saved by the Faunus girl who punched you in the face yesterday, princess?"
Weiss looked like she'd just been yanked out of a metaphorical teacup ride and drop kicked into a rollercoaster.
"You what?" she snapped, brushing off imaginary dirt from her uniform like dignity came in silk and starch. "That was my moment! I was—!"
"Falling?" I offered helpfully.
Her mouth opened, closed, recalibrated like she'd just had to reboot her entire ego. "I had it under control."
"Sure, princess. You were in freefall. And unless your plan was to negotiate with gravity, I'd say you were about five seconds from being Nevermore sushi."
Weiss huffed, tugging her hair behind her ear like she could tuck her embarrassment away with it. "Well, regardless, thank you. I suppose."
Oh wow. Was that grudging gratitude? Character development already?
"Don't get too comfy," I added. "I'm still the girl who decked you yesterday. No take-backsies."
"Unfortunately," Weiss muttered.
Nora popped up between us like an enthusiastic confetti bomb, holding up her chess piece. "I got a Rook! I'm queen of the castle, queen of the castle!"
Yang had chosen the White Knight, and Ruby chose the White Knight.
Nora and I got the White Rooks.
And it seems Team CRDL would be formed soon.
"It appears we are done here. Let's head back." I heard Ren say.
"Yep, let's head back before the world decides to fuck with us..."
The second the words left my lips, I saw something in the sky.
The same thing I saw in Kaelith's Memories. Time and Space seemed to bend, creating a massive crack in reality, which is torn, and a portal opened soon after.
And from it, a girl stepped outside. A girl who's Ki signature felt so much different from everyone else's. It was dark, malicious... malevolent. It felt suffocating... like it was sucking the life away from just feeling it. She floated down, her eyes locked on mine.
Her hair cascaded down to her hips in soft, snowy waves, like moonlight caught in a winter breeze. Her eyes were piercing, luminous gold, like molten sunlight.
She stood draped in a long, flowing white dress that shimmered with threads of silver and delicate, soft pink. It had a really unique vibe, almost like something a pop star priestess from another world. Which she was. And if one looked closely at the edges of her dress, you could see intricate, glowing symbols woven in they looked like a mix of ancient runes and futuristic tech.
A scarf-like sash drifted around her like a gentle current, and delicate silver chains circled her ankles and wrists, catching the light with every subtle movement. And right at her throat, a simple choker with a single, softly glowing dot pulsed with a mysterious blue light.
"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice low. "And what do you want?"
"Want? Oh, my dear, I simply observe. A fascinating little world you've found." Her golden eyes flicked over the scene before settling back on me. "So much… fragility."
"You're the one who ripped a hole in the sky?" I scoffed, ready to fight.
She chuckled softly, but it didn't sound happy. "Reality, my dear, is far more… pliable than you might imagine. Especially when certain… anomalies… begin to resonate." Her gaze locked onto mine, and it felt like she was looking right through me. "You carry a song that echoes in realms beyond this one. A song that… attracts attention."
"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied. Something told me this was all about my System.
Based on her wording, it seemed that someone, or something wanted me dead. No. It was likely to be more than one being.
"Oh, I think you do," she whispered, her voice like the chime of creepy little bells. "A song of power… of worlds left behind… of a destiny yet unwritten. A song that others… with less friendly ears… might also hear." Her golden eyes flickered upwards, like she could see something miles away. "I simply wished to… introduce myself. Before the real show begins."
Her smile returned, soft and serene, but now it felt like a predator's smile. "I am Nevara. And it seems our paths are now… intertwined."
Ren and Nora might have figured out that this was a being from another dimension. They were the only 2 here who knew about my extradimensional origins.
I told them, "You 2, get the others and run."
My words hung in the air, a stark command that sliced through the bewildered silence.
"Kaelith, what—?" Pyrrha started, her voice laced with concern.
"No time to explain," I cut her off, my gaze locked on Nevara. "This is something I need to handle. Alone."
Ren, ever the pragmatist, was already moving. "She's right. We need to get the others back to the cliff."
Nora's eyes darted between Nevara and me, her usual exuberance replaced by a rare moment of serious understanding. "But Kaelith—"
"Just go!" I snapped, pushing a burst of Ki into my stance, ready for whatever this "Nevara" was going to throw at me.
Ruby, bless her earnest heart, took a step forward. "But we can help!"
"No, Ruby," Pyrrha said firmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Kaelith is right. This feels… different. We need to trust her judgment."
Pyrrha's eyes met mine, a silent message of worry and trust passing between us.
Weiss, surprisingly, didn't argue. The sheer suddenness of how Nevara appeared seemed to have momentarily overridden her usual arrogance. She simply nodded, her hand resting on the hilt of Myrtenaster.
"Come on!" Ren urged, pulling Nora along. Ruby hesitated for another moment, her silver eyes filled with concern, before Pyrrha gently steered her and Weiss towards the treeline.
My focus narrowed to Nevara. The others were moving, their energy signatures fading into the distance. Good. Whatever this woman was, whatever "song" I was apparently singing, I wasn't going to let her hurt my almost-friend in Pyrrha, and maybe Ruby alongside my actual friends in Ren and Nora.
"So," I said, my voice low and challenging, my tail lashing slightly behind me. "You gonna tell me why you let them escape?"
I entered into a stance.
My feet were shoulder-width apart, my left foot slightly more forward then the right with my knees slightly bent distributing weight evenly between them. My arms raised up one hand extended slightly more forward the other staying close to my torso. My stance remained low and flexible whilst the centre of my gravity stayed close to the ground, ready for combat.
This stance takes advantage of balance and economy of motion and allows me fluidly move between a wide variety of techniques while keeping one's self guarded and prepared for both strikes and grapples. It incorporates the principles of adaptability and awareness while allowing room for the intricate kicks and grappling finesse.
In essence, this is the combination of several styles that allows for highly responsive movements against the opponent where one can flow between different forms of combat with ease.
This was simply called, The Integrated Martial Arts System.
"I am only here for you, everyone else is irrelevant." Nevara stated calmly.
She raised her arm into a stance—and the sword formed in her hands from nothing. It wasn't forged or drawn. It manifested, as if the very air bent to her will.
An energy blade, radiant and dangerous, shimmered into existence—its edge a dark magenta-purple glow that flared outward in a sharp, sprawling design. The crossguard was jagged and angular, forged in deep violet hues that pulsed faintly with power.
The hilt, wrapped in dark purple, was streaked with glowing cyan accents that pulsed like veins. Above the guard sat a radiant cyan gem, burning like a captured star. Just below it, a smaller orange gem glowed with a subtler warmth—mirrored again in the circular pommel, where the same orange stone rested, cradled in violet metal.
I had recognised the weapon as she entered into a combat stance.
"So, I assume there's a malicious group of Evil Reincarnators after me? For what I assume is the Gamer System. And you were sent to kill me because you're a bit stronger than most of their... disposable pawns. Let me guess, it's the same reason Frieza wiped my kind out. They fear the potential of the Gamer. Oh, wait I think I know. Almost all of you were wiped out by 1 Gamer, and that scared your leaders shitless, right? So now you go after every Gamer that appears, as soon as possible to kill them before they can grow too much."
Seeing her genuinely shocked expression, gave me the answer I required.
"Very well, let us dance." I smirked.
[Bonus 2: Defeat Nevara
Rewards:
50,000 EXP
?]
The reveal of my Bonus Quest made it clear that this was no ordinary foe. 50,000 EXP was a lot. Granted with how much EXP it takes me to reach my next level, it was barely half of what I required but compared to everything else? This was massive.
It just meant I had to try for this.
And if all else fails, I had the cheese of Senzu-Zenkai in my back pocket. Or inventory in this case. But also, I had Mana Burst too.
But first, I began analysing my opponent.
Her posture gave a lot away. She wasn't some brute force berserker. No, Nevara's stance was precise. Deliberate. Her centre of gravity was low, yet she didn't seem like she was guarding anything—until you realized she was guarding everything. That stance wasn't just for show. It was Noire's stance from Hyperdimension Neptunia, mirrored perfectly.
Gehaburn's presence confirmed it. That cursed CPU-slayer from the Conquest Ending was not just for aesthetics. I could feel the blade's hunger, and that told me it still had its original capabilities—soul-draining, it manipulates anyone into using it, and curses those that use it.
Her scarf floated in a non-existent breeze, a tell-tale sign of passive energy emissions. That probably meant spatial displacement or some kind of Manipulation ability. Either way, I needed to be wary of teleportation, afterimages, or even worse—temporal dilation. If she could mess with time, even briefly, I'd need to bait it out and avoid relying on reaction speed.
There were too many unknowns, so I began cataloguing what was known:
1, Likely knows my tactics if she's from a meta-aware multiverse.
2, From point 1, she may aim for my tail. More than likely is aware of it being a massive weak spot. Even if I mastered Oozaru now, cutting it off would greatly depower me. I'll keep it wrapped around my waist like a belt—if she wants it, she'll have to earn it. But that took away my Oozaru form too.
3, She has HDD. I cannot discount the possibility of her using it.
4, From the 3rd on that list, she might have a NEXT form. And that would be far worse for me. HDD was basically Super Saiyan on crack and NEXT was what God was to Super Saiyan 3. Don't let her reach that point. Even if she goes HDD, you can use Mana Burst to catch up, but the second she goes NEXT...
5, Gehaburn might deal percentages off of my health, don't get hit. And even then, don't get hit. We have to assume upwards of hundreds of CPU empowering that thing. Might have to take to long range.
She's calm. Overconfident? Or just that dangerous?
I couldn't afford to throw out my best moves first. No—this fight would be layered. I'd start slow, make her see me as lesser whilst I tested the waters. Then drown her before she can transform.
But for that I needed one solid hit to start off. Apply pressure.
I calmed my mind, and readied myself.
I really hated doing this. But time for the classic Dragon Ball powering up yell.
"HAAAAA!" I yelled out pebbles raising, as my the Aura from my Ki formed, releasing my suppressions. I was surprised at how easily my suppressions were released. I only had to yell for 10 seconds, but in that time, trees leaves fluttered harshly, and clouds split just from the feel of me powering up. But I did not care.
I had made sure to constantly get used to my new full power by the end of the day. But this... this would be the first time I would use all my power in a fight.