The Hollow Void of Remnant

[Krak-Quinn]

This is the previous version of: Remnant's Void
I had a lot of ideas and I rushed this story.
I also made the system OP by mistake.

 

[Krak-Quinn]

[Your Soul is empty, absent of hopes and dreams, devoid of passion and drive.]

[Transmigration complete!]

[Assimilation of previous occupant complete!]

[Initiating consciousness.]​

A veil of static was slowly receding from his mind, seconds crawled for minutes, then like a crack of lightning, everything snapped into place. A night sky framed by tree tops filled his sight, and pain flooded his body, but those didn't matter at the moment; the entirety of Blake Nightshade's life ran through his mind in less than a moment.

Born January 19th on the planet of Remnant, to the parents Ghira and Kali Nightshade, he had black hair and heterochromia, his left was a golden amber and right was a striking blue, he was a feline Faunus possessing a set of cat ears on his head, and he was raised in a mansion without worry of anything.

At age fourteen he encountered a crimson haired bull Faunus by the name Eve Taurus. With the hopes of meeting her again, he studied and trained relentlessly, hoping to join the White Fang, all for Eve, but as he learned more about the history of Faunus mistreatment, and compared his life to those less fortunate, a righteous fury and underlying guilt drove him to train harder.

At fifteen, Blake was finally allowed to go on a real mission instead of moving boxes, but on that mission he came to conflict with the team leader of his squad over the cruel treatment they displayed towards a human child. Blake held the view that they were supposed to be helping Faunus and showing humans that they weren't monsters.

Confronted with Blake's ideology and lectured from a new recruit, the team leader wanted to slap Blake silly, but was forced to hold back; Blake's father was the previous chief of the White Fang, one word from him and the team leader could say goodbye to his wonderful job and all the benefits that came with it.

However, that night while everyone slept and Blake was taking his watchmen shift, a sharp pain ran through his back, somebody had stabbed him with a dagger. Although confused and enraged, Blake couldn't do anything as he fell to the ground limp, the paralytic poison affecting his body.

The last thing Blake witnessed before passing out was the malicious grin that stretched the limits of his team leader's face and the sharp fangs that gave him the qualification of a snake Faunus.

Then he woke up, not Blake Nightshade, but the one inhabiting his body. He was born April 4th at around 4am, without the sensation of touch and lacking empathy, as he grew up he learned just how flawed he was. Thankfully, depending on how you viewed it, puberty introduced new emotions and the want for companionship, with a new purpose, he dove deep into learning empathy and forming bonds.

At age seventeen he could pass himself off as a regular person, but there was no need anymore; a horrific incident left him a social outcast. Guessing the pressure he was putting on those close to him and the burden he was being, combined with his inability to discern sarcasm from the internet, led him to take his own life.

Now he was in the body of Blake Nightshade and had all of Blake's memories. With simple mathematics, he was more Blake than himself, but there was one problem that stopped him from accepting that; Blake Nightshade was a rip-off of Blake Belladonna.

His entire backstory was exactly the same, the only difference was that he was male and had heterochromia. He would sooner believe his suicide attempt had failed and left him in a dream coma that snatched a character from the web show RWBY. Of course that fact that he could actually feel things physically and emotionally was stopping him from believing that.

So as he stared at the broken moon, he reluctantly accepted his identity as a young freedom fighter/confused terrorist. Then Blake looked down towards his legs, where a small hand gripped his ankle and was slowly dragging him deeper into the woods. Using his new memories, he recalled that this man was a gopher Faunus who obeyed the team leader like a dog.

Blake guessed and felt that he was going to be left to the wolves, beowolves, so that his mangled body will hide the true cause of death. Even with his newly recalled training, Blake didn't think he could defeat the buck tooth Faunus, they had a Rank 3 Aura.

Which left him confused, apparently this world ranked Aura. He delved into his mind and searched for an explanation. He found a collection of lectures and books that gave vague descriptions of harnessing and strengthening the core of self and connecting to the world, stuff about breakthroughs and bottlenecks. The more he mentally reviewed his memories, the more he was reminded of Chinese Cultivation Novels.

On the topic of Chinese novels, he suddenly remembered the transmigration genre, and it perfectly fit his current situation. Confronted with the reality of being transmigrated into a gender swapped Blake Belladonna in an alternate Remnant, he decided to take a swing in the dark.

'System.' He thought like he was calling out to someone.

[Hello.]​

'Status.' He called out.

[There are a few things you could call up, here are a few.]

[Status: Weakened, Poisoned.] [Health: 60/100 (Rank 2).]

[Identity: Blake Nightshade.] [Bloodline: Feline Faunus (Grade: 1).]

[Abilities: Aura: 30/100 (Rank: 2), Semblance: [Hollow: [Assimilated: [Shadow Decoy.].].]

[Techniques: Aura Skin (Rank: 1), Aura Empowerment (Rank: 2), Aura Health Recovery (Rank: 1).]

[Skills: Dagger Wielding (Rank: 2), Marksmanship (Rank: 2), Stealth (Rank: 4), Parkour (Rank: 5), Night Vision (Rank: 2), Enhanced Hearing (Rank: 2).]​

While reading, Blake was dragged over a big rock, his head hit the ground and a small rock hard, he watched his Health drop by one point. He needed to find a way to escape, and the only thing on this list that he didn't understand was his listed Semblance. 'Hollow?' He called out.

[Hollow (Rank: X). It is the Semblance of the Host, formed from the emptiness deep inside him and his desire to fill it with things other people naturally have. It is capable of absorbing spiritual and magical energy in all forms. In the case of Aura, once enough has been absorbed the Host can temporarily produce a copy of the original's Semblance, should they have one.]

[In the case of Blake Nightshade, although his Semblance hadn't been discovered, it was already beginning to form when the Host assimilated his Soul whole, gaining his entire being.]

[Assimilated Semblances: [Shadow Decoy (Rank: 1): Shadows form a incorporeal three dimensional Silhouette that can be pre-programmed to act in a certain way.].]​

 

[Krak-Quinn]

'That's helpful, now I have a plan-A. Let's see about getting a plan-B.' Blake thought and called out, 'Shop?'

[Insufficient funds to operate the stores.]

[Wait for Quests to gather funds.]

[Quest issued!]​

'Thank you.'

[Quest: Survive the Black Forest!

Mandatory Goal: Escape the Black Forest with your life. Reward: 10 Store Points.

Optional Goal: Kill the one that dragged you here. Reward: [Ability: Observe.].

Optional Goal: Kill Grimm. Reward: Dependent on performance.

Time Limit: Sunrise. Difficulty: D. Failure: Death.]​

After thanking the System again, Blake put plan-A into action. He closed his eyes and focused on his leg, on the hand holding him, and on the emptiness inside his Soul, slowly he could feel something warm begin to trickle into the void.

A few minutes passed in silence, until the gopher Faunus stopped. They dropped Blake's leg and leaned against a tree, panting in exhaustion, their stamina depleted.

"This is far enough." They muttered under their breath.

As they stand over Blake, they give him his first real look at the man. He was relatively short with no discernible features aside from his overgrown teeth, his short cut dirt brown hair, and his beady eyes. It matched what Blake remembered. As the man took a moment to recover, Blake sprung into action.

A formless shadow decoy leaped at the gopher man, as he startled and tried to defend himself against an intangible foe, Blake took the opportunity to grab a hefty rock and sneak around the man, he took a moment to line up, then swung his foot up towards the man's groin.

A howl of pain echoed throughout the woods, and as the man clutched his wounded area he fell prone on the ground, Blake silenced him by smashing a rock against his head.

After a few more hits, he got what he wanted.

[Optional Goal accomplished! Please complete the Mandatory Goal for your rewards.]​

'Bummer.' Blake thought, then he felt the urge to vomit, his breathing quickened and his vision blurred. 'I-i just killed someone, oh fuck.' The thought ran through his mind, and yet he didn't care, but Blake did.

Using a breathing technique to calm down, he managed to calm the unrest in his mind by rationalizing his actions. It felt stupid to have to deal with, but he accept the identity of Blake, so it was his responsibility to deal with it, the reason he panicked was because he didn't act like Blake afterall.

Looting the corpse of his fallen comrade, he found Blake's dagger and gun in a small sack, luckily his clip was still full. After hooking the dagger sheath back on his hip, he holstered his pistol and jumped up a tree. He didn't bother looking around, the loud howl and the fear of death should be attracting Grimm to this location.

A few moments later and a Beowolf lunged into the scene, it sniffed the corpse and looked around, before it could spot Blake, he leaped down and drove his dagger through the faceplate of the monster.

The Grimm fell limp and Blake focused on opening his Soul, as the Grimm broke down into black and red specks, a swirling vortex formed around Blake. Slowly but surely, he absorbed the dark energy that made up the Grimm, he leaped back into a tree and climbed up, after getting fairly high up, he took a seat. 'Hollow.'

[Hollow: Absorbed Energy: Gopher Faunus Aura (159), Aether (4), Grimm (86), Mana (2).]​

'Aether is probably the world's ambient power, and Mana is just residue energy left over from the Gods. Aura. Health.' After analyzing his energies, he called forth his counts.

[Aura: 21/100.] [Health: 55/100.]​

Blake had felt his Aura drop every time he used it to strengthen himself, so he wasn't surprised at the low count, instead he closed his eyes, and focused inwards.

Inside the void he saw five lights, he pulled the biggest light upwards and hooked on to, using Blake's memories, he found knowledge of using Aura Health Recovery, and activated the Technique. The bright light slowly faded, until it was all gone. Blake opened his eyes and reread his Health.

[Health: 70/100.]​

Doing the math, he found that it took ten Aura for a single Health, which didn't look good on paper, but it was still faster than natural regeneration and the Technique was still just Rank 1. As he was consoling himself, his Health ticked up by one. He smiled and then looked at his Aura, and found that it also ticked up by one. And as a bonus he received a nice alert.

[Status Ailments: Weakened and Poisoned have been removed!]

[Status: Resting, Hungry.]​

He wasn't until he read that message, now aware of his hunger, it was a little bit harder to focus inward, but he managed to enter his void. Finding the second smallest light, he brought it forth and pushed it towards the second biggest light.

An odd sensation filled the void as the lights collided. An instinctual connection told him that the Aether was consumed three times, but the fourth time it simply broke apart. Blake checked his Aura count.

[Aura: 37/101.]​

His math told him that a single Aether was worth five of his Aura, and simple guesswork said that the broken Aether was absorbed by the max capacity. Blake wondered if this was how Aura naturally Ranked up.

Finishing up, Blake descended the tree to kill some more Grimm. Eventually he found the edge of the forest, but he didn't leave yet, he stayed and hunted down Grimm until light peaked over the horizon then he dashed out of the forest.

[Quest: Survive the Black Forest! Accomplished!]

[As a reward for escaping the Black Forest: 10 points have been added to your Store account.]

[As a reward for killing the one that dragged you there: Observe has been added to your abilities.]​

The rewards were exactly what was promised, and although the knowledge that Blake could open the store was good, he was looking forward to the last reward the most.

[As a reward for killing 35 Grimm, please select two of the following options: [Grimm Helmet., [Grimm Mask., [Grimm Gloves., [Grimm Shirt., [Grimm Jacket., [Grimm Cloak., [Grimm Pants., [Grimm Boots., [Grimm Dagger.].]​

Blake took the time to read into each one, they all had different effects that could be useful, but he felt good about the ones he selected.

[Grimm Mask: Obscure your Identity.]

[Grimm Cloak: Conceal your Presence.]​

The other options had more combat oriented effects, but Blake felt like he didn't need help on that front.

After confirming his choices, the two pieces of equipment materialized on his body, they felt both warm and cold. He removed the mask that had appeared and looked down at the cloak made of pitch black fur that hung over his head and shoulders, then he used his new Ability 'Observe' on his new cloak and mask.

 

[Krak-Quinn]

[Grimm Cloak (Grade 2): It has the Ability to obscure the existence of whoever is wearing it. They won't be seen by any means. However it doesn't mask sound or smell.]

[Grimm Mask (Grade 2): It has the Ability to interfere with the recognition of people and animals gazing upon it. It also comes with an Identity Slot.]​

The information was slightly more than he already knew, but he didn't dwell on it, he did check out the last bit for himself as he covered his face with the ivory mask.

[Identity: Mind, Soul and Body, three things required to have a single Identity.]

[Identity (#1): Blake Nightshade.] [Identity (#2): _.]​

Although he would like to go further into this topic, he had more important things to do.

'Store.'

[Categories: [Health.] [Bloodlines.] [Abilities.] [Techniques.] [Skills.].]​

'Food?' Blake asked with hunger.

[Food Store: [Fruits.] [Vegetables.] [Grains.] [Meats.] [Sweets.] [Snacks.] [Meals.] [Drinks.].]​

"Tuna! Tuna! Buy big tuna!" Blake immediately said.

[Purchase: [Longfin Tuna.] For 3 Store points?]​

"Yes!" Blake shouted. A fish about four feet long materialized in his hands, the next few seconds blurred together, all he could remember was chomping. Before he realized it, Blake ordered another one. The soft meat and the tasty juice were exquisite, and gone too soon. He managed to regain control before Blake could purchase another one. He opened the other stores and saw a great selection of things to choose from, but now that he only had four points, he had to buy scraps.

[Purchase: [Treasure Map (Grade O): A map that claims to lead to treasure, the quality of the treasure varies.] For 3 Store points?]​

This seemed like the best option to Blake, he had almost no points so relying on chance, might be better than trash. He confirmed his decision and a scroll appeared in his hand. After unrolling it, and grabbing the mask that had gotten knocked off in hunger, he started off in search of the treasure.

Although the trek was tedious, it was also uneventful, about three hours passed, and he regained eighteen points to his Aura and Health, he also spent the time getting used to his new Mask.

Looking around, he found himself on a mountain, and checking the map revealed the location of the treasure was at the peak, a little bored. Blake used Aura to empower his body and scaled the mountainside.

Near the summit, he found an ancient pedestal surrounded by flowers of bizarre designs, he used Observe on the pedestal.

[Altar to the Dark One: Previously used to give gifts to, and receive them from, the Dark One, has since been abandoned. A Malevolent Spirit has been sealed inside by a passing Holy Being.]​

Blake took a moment to digest the information, then he approached the Altar. He placed his hands on top of it and opened the void, it drank everything up, and after a few dozen minutes, a dark chuckle escaped the pedestal, but that quickly turned into screams as the dark energy was also swallowed up. After the pedestal was relieved of all its energy, the aged Stone crumbled.

[Hollow: Absorbed Energy: Old Holy Magic (3679), Old Dark Spirit (3568), Grimm (2291), Aether (7), Mana (5).]​

Before Blake could ponder what to do with the energies.

[Bloodline: Feline Faunus (Grade: 1) can be Upgraded to Feline Faunus (Grade: 4), For 3,500 Old Holy Magic.]

[Semblance: Shadow Decoy (Rank: 1) can be Ranked Up to Shadow Clones (Rank: 5), For 3,568 Old Dark Spirit and 32 Old Holy Magic.]

[Would the Host like to proceed?]​

Blake wanted to question it, gather more information, but he didn't, he thought needlessly investigating stuff was pointless, he thought that the system existed for him alone, and that it would never give him bad deals. So, he accepted the charges, and immediately felt the effects, a shifting pain came from every cell in his body.

He collapsed to the ground as his spine shook, a pressure built up at his tailbone, and slowly expanded outwards, into his new tail.

A sharp pain came from the tips of his fingers and toes as thin claws jutted out from beneath his fingernails.

He had to open his mouth wide as his tongue fell out and a new set of teeth ejected his old set.

He couldn't see or hear, but he felt his eyes melt, and his cat ears tumble off.

His hair fell out from the roots as his skin peeled off in layers.

Bones sundered and reformed.

Muscles riven and mended.

The pain had engulfed his entire body and he could no longer tell what was happening.

By the time the pain had vanished and everything was back in place and better than ever, Blake had gone numb, and he had felt a mixture of joy and regret. In his past life he had lacked the sensation of touch and never understood it, he couldn't comprehend nerves sending physical stimuli as information to the brain.

Since arriving in this world, he had been numb after dying and not quite in sync with everything Blake had felt: the forest ground, the warm Aura, the hefty rock, the cracking skull, the rough tree bark, the gentle wind, the bothersome leaves and branches, exhaustion, hunger, joy, confusion, and so much more little things. He had Blake's memory, and most of those things could be found in there, and none of those things had connected with him, they were Blake's, and he could only faintly recall them, they had not reached him.

However, the excruciating pain of having his body breakdown at the cellular level and reconstruct itself, that had surpassed anything Blake had ever experienced, and he had never felt so alive. He wished it hadn't ended, he wanted to be in the state forever. Crawling to his hands and knees, he felt the remains of Blake's old body shift around in his clothes. Looking down, he could see the bloody soup that used to be a body, and then in front of his eyes.

[Health: 60/100 (Rank 2) Ranked up by 3!]

[The Bloodline: Feline Faunus (Grade: 1) Upgraded by 3!]

[The Ability: Aura: 43/101 (Rank: 2) Ranked up by 2!]

[The Semblance: Shadow Decoy (Rank: 1) Ranked up by 4!]

[The Technique: Aura Slash (Rank: 1) has been Learned!]

[The Skills: Stealth (Rank: 4) and Parkour (Rank: 5) Ranked Up by 1!]

[The Skills: Night Vision (Rank: 2) and Enhanced Hearing (Rank: 2) Ranked up by 3!]​

As Blake read his notifications, he extracted himself from the puddle of his remains and undressed himself. Blake stretched as he got used to the changes, he was stronger, more agile and durable, and his hair was unbelievably soft. Blake flicked his new cat ears about, he was able to fine tune how much he could hear as well as filter what he heard. He opened his new pupils wide enough to nearly blind himself, he decided they would probably show they're worth in the dead of the night rather than on top of a bright summit.

He flexed his hands and claws emerged, they were relatively sharp, enough so that his dagger was redundant. He wasn't so sure how to feel about his new tongue, if anything it felt a little uncomfortable, but well he'll see what it can do before judging it. His new sharp teeth were a slightly different story, they were probably useless unless he decided to bite and sink his teeth into people or Grimm, but he immediately thought they were cool.

He moved on to his final change, or first, his new tail. It was covered in black fur and was surprisingly prehensile, Blake didn't complain as he moved it around, finding his limits, it had about the same grip strength as his hands, so in time and with practiced use he would be able to wield a weapon with it, but for now he'll stick to his hands.

Overall he was pretty happy with his new Faunus features, and after cleaning off his body of blood, he began to wonder if he was going to wear this blood soaked outfit or go out in his birthday suit. As he contemplated making pants out of the surrounding flora, he got more notifications.

 

[Krak-Quinn]

[As a reward for your progress: 150 points have been added to your Store account.]

[As a reward for your progress: 5 Lucky points have been added to your Lottery account.]​

Blake abandoned trying to clean his clothes, and went off in search of water. While he searched, he found and read through the clothing selection in the Store. After finding a modest set of combat clothes, he examined the Lottery because he hadn't found any water to wash off his body yet. He skipped past the first box, it had only explained the Lottery but he couldn't be sure whether he would get tricked or not. He had met a wide variety of people in his past life, but swindlers and con-men were the worst. Somehow they always managed to pick him out of a crowd and scam him. Since he didn't understand how exactly they worked, he made a vow to never trust the words of strangers and gamblers.

[Lottery: 1 Draw per Lucky point.]​

It was simple enough for him, so he put all five points in.

[Lottery Results: [Gambol Shroud.] [Blake Belladonna's Ribbon.] [Blake Belladonna's Memories (14-17).] [Large Cardboard Box.] [Blake Belladonna's Outfit (V1).].]​

Blake had to hold his head as three years of Belladonna's life was crammed in, as he was occupied, a large Cardboard Box appeared next to him, inside it was the rest of his rewards. As the uncomfortable sensation passed, he examined the rest of his new things. With his new memories, he was now capable of wielding the complicated weapon that was Gambol Shroud. As he moved to the last two items of value, he thought it was odd that he had gotten two ribbons. So he used his Ability on it.

[The Bow of Blake Belladonna (Grade: 2): Although it was just a piece of cloth fashioned into a hair bow, to Blake Belladonna it was comfort and then a curse, used to hide who she was and then to hide what she was. When worn as a hair bow it transforms the wearer's appearance to that of Blake Belladonna's.]​

Curious as to how that would work, he used Belladonna's memory to tie the bow around his car ears, unfortunately it didn't cause his body to break and reform, there was just a smooth shift as everything melted and morphed. Although uncomfortable, it wasn't anything new. He looked down at his new body and tried to test it out, but as he moved his clothes felt baggy on her body.

A few seconds later and she was dressed in her clothes, Blake felt very uncomfortable, but he didn't mind as much. After taking a single step, he received something.

[Identity (#3): Blake Belladonna (Unstable) created!]

[Although it has met the requirements, it lacks some of the core elements but those are being supplemented by Blake Nightshade's Identity.]​

Nightshade relaxed, and Belladonna did a twirl, as she tested out her body, Blake had an idea. Taking off the bow and the now dirty clothes, he returned to Nightshade's body, he used his new Semblance to form a Shadow Clone. Instinctive knowledge guiding him along until another Blake Nightshade popped into existence, it had required quite the amount of Aura, but in the long run that was negligible. Immediately the clone grabbed Belladonna's Bow and outfit, and a second later, she was dressed.

Nightshade felt weird, so did Belladonna, but Blake was too occupied with jumping into a newly discovered lake to care.

As he was washing up, the Belladonna clone was cleaning her clothes. He spent a few moments catching fish before getting out. When he was dry, he purchased a decent outfit for thirty points, it was very plain, with no detail or design, just black. He shared his fish with his clone and thought about what he should do next. He decided to Observe his clone for now.

[Status: Fed.] [Health: 50/50 (Rank 1).]

[Identity(Clone): Blake Belladonna.] [Bloodline: Feline Faunus (Grade: 1).]

[Abilities: Aura: 51/50 (Rank: 1). Semblance: [Hollow, Shadow Copy.]. Observe.]

[Techniques: Aura Skin (Rank: 2), Aura Empowerment (Rank: 3), Aura Health Recovery (Rank: 1).]

[Skills: Dagger Wielding (Rank: 3), Marksmanship (Rank: 2), Stealth (Rank: 4), Parkour (Rank: 5), Night Vision (Rank: 2), Enhanced Hearing (Rank: 2), Katana Wielding (Rank: 2), Cleaver Wielding (Rank: 2), Kusarigama Wielding (Rank: 2).]​

Seeing the Techniques and Skills that Belladonna had, he messed around in her memories until he got katana, cleaver and kusarigama wielding, but they were Rank 1 for some reason, and he got Aura Skin and Aura Empowerment to both Rank up by 1. When he was done with that, he recalled his new Technique. He raised his claws into the air, and swiped down, a black blur shot out mid swipe and shot forward, it collided with a big tree, and four claw marks appeared on its bark. The marks weren't that impressive, doing only slightly more than a normal cut without any Aura behind it, but the tree was twenty feet away, so the range was decent.

Done testing Aura Slash, he sat back down to plan. With his Semblance, Hollow, it might be possible to absorb Salem's curse and Ozma's boon. Maybe he could absorb all the Grimm in the world. Or maybe he could summon the Gods just to devour them, but he didn't know if he was capable of that.

[Main Quest: Happily Ever After!

Mandatory Goals (1-100): ? Reward: ?

Optional Goals (1-10000): ? Reward: ?

Time Limit: Six Years. Difficulty: ? Failure: ?]​

Okay, so he still didn't know what to do, but with his memories of the show, he knew the basics of the near future, avoiding those outcomes should accomplish something that might clue him into the bigger picture. He's currently fifteen, he has two years before Volume One starts, in his mind, just killing Cinder before she does anything should be good, but he had ten thousand side goals, and his gaming instinct was telling him he would have a lot of chances to defeat her and get rewards every time he did.

Blake didn't know a lot about what happened two years prior to the start of Volume One, most of the past that he had seen had already happened, the only important thing that would occur before the start of the show was Cinder's acquiring the Fall Maiden's power and her recruitment of her followers, but he still had two years until that would happen. So until then he was free to build up his strength, and do as he wished.

Blake looked over at his clone. "You got any ideas?"

Belladonna had just finished drying herself off when Blake asked her, she shrugged and responded. "How about revenge?"

Thinking about it, Blake realized that Nightshade had basically been murdered by his team leader, the Snake Faunus known as Mamba Moss. While on the topic, Blake thought about the White Fang as a whole and his place in it. Nightshade joined to get closer to the passionate Eve Taurus, and because he wanted the world to be more fair to Faunuskind. Blake normally wouldn't care, but inside this body, he felt a longing and a strong determination. "The quest is called 'Happily Ever After', so ending Faunus discrimination might be somewhere on the agenda."

 

[Krak-Quinn]

Before heading back to the White Fang camp, Blake decided that since he still had 120 store points to spend, he might as well buy some stuff. He saw some very interesting things, but they were either too expensive or exotic for him, eventually he managed to find a few things he wanted and could afford.

[Purchase: [Storage Pouch (Grade 1): A pouch with a small pocket dimension for storage.] For 20 Store points?]

[Purchase: [Pill Cooking System (Grade 1): A System that can cook pills.] For 50 Store points?]

[Purchase: [Weapon Crafting System (Grade 1): A System that can craft weapons.] For 50 Store points?]​

After confirming his purchase, a small pouch materialized in his hand, and two windows opened up in front of him. Both of them had the same basic layout, so he assumed they worked the same.

Belladonna had finished her fish and was performing a few stretches to limber up her body as Blake was reading the tutorials. "I'm off to Vale, stay safe." And then she dashed away.

He gave her a small wave as she left, and then started walking back up the mountain. The reason he had picked the Pill Cooking System was because he had seen those bizarre plants near the pedestal. In the novels he remembered reading, there was only so much a person could do by themselves to advance their energies without supplementary help, he was pretty sure he wouldn't need them at his level, but they might still be worth a pretty penny.

Blake hadn't bought footwear, so he felt the ground with his feet when he got into position, and then he started running on all fours. His feet and arms blurred as he ran between sparse trees and scaled the stone face of the mountain. He reached the summit without so much as a drop of sweat on his brow, and was surprised to find that someone else had beaten him here.

A girl with silky white hair was kneeling down on the ground, and in her hands was a clump of soil with a flower sprouting out of it. She probably had the same thoughts he did, or at least close enough. Blake took a careful step towards the girl, his cloak only prevented visual detection, he could still be heard. If he needed to, he might kill the girl, but there was probably no need, he didn't even really want the plants, if she wanted a fight then that would be a different story.

As Blake approached the girl, he felt something halt his progress, a purple array lit up around his foot when he stopped. Blake stared at the man whose hand grasped his neck, cutting off his breathing.

"State your intentions, if I sense anything else, you can kiss this world goodbye." The man spoke with a tone laced with steel, his eyes were shade of orange-ish brown and his skin was lightly tanned, he was wearing brown and red robes, the same as what the girl was wearing.

The girl had jumped up in shock at the sudden threat and she had nearly dropped the unique flower she was holding. She had looked at the man, but then she looked around, seemingly confused. "Honorable Brother, who are you talking to?"

His cloak was still working at least. Blake had thought that his cloak might've had a time limit he didn't know about, or perhaps it might've only hid what was being covered by it, he was relieved to find out that it still worked. As he was being choked, he thought about what to do.

The scene was obvious, these two were here to collect the flora, the girl was the harvester and the man was her guard or at least her chaperone. Blake had tried to sneak up on the girl, at which point the man had suddenly appeared in front of him without him even noticing. The man hadn't even disturbed the wind around Blake, he also had time to set a trap by Blake's feet before he even realized that he was spotted.

So, the man was well trained, yet he wasn't kneeling on the ground plucking out flowers, so maybe the girl had skill in that field. It's unlikely that these two just stumbled across this spot a few minutes after Blake had left it. They had probably come up here with the intention to harvest.

Basically Blake had intruded on an area that, at least in their eyes, belonged to them. "I deeply apologize, I wasn't aware someone else had laid claim here."

The girl panicked at his answer and still tried searching for him with her eyes, the man reacted differently. His grip around Blake's throat tightened, finally cutting off his air supply. "You didn't think that Jin Shan belonged to the Jin Shan Sect?" He had a hiss trailing his question.

Blake questioned the name internally, and he used his memories to decipher the meaning behind what he assumed were Chinese words. He eventually came to the conclusion that Jin Shan meant Gold Mountain, of if it was reversed then it would mean Mountain of Gold, either way it was obviously the name of this mountain and the Sect that used the mountain.

As Blake was slowly being deprived of oxygen, he thought about what he should do. He had already played a bit into a role by apologizing, but what else should he do, he couldn't exactly grovel because the man was holding him up. It was interesting though, there were actual Sects in this RWBY world.

While he was being choked out, he risked using his skill, Observe, on them.

[Health: 450/450 (Rank 9).] [Health: 300/300 (Rank 3).]

[Identity: Qing Tong.] [Identity: Li Ling.]

[Disciples of the Jin Shan Sect.]​

The results weren't that great, but it did inform him of their health, and he did notice the inconsistency with Li Ling's health, so maybe she had something special about her, which was good information but really unnecessary for his current predicament. More importantly if Qing Tong managed to reach Rank 9 health, then his Aura was probably also well trained, and he probably had some skills to complement his Rank, he was able to catch Blake after all.

Since his head was still on after using his skill, he decided that it wasn't being detected, so he used it again.

[Diffusion Array (Grade 4): Prevents anybody inside the array from gathering or manipulating spiritual energy.]​

Blake decided to believe his skill, if he tested it then he might really be killed. As he was settling on his new role, he finally was able to decipher the names of the two in front of him, Qing Tong meant Bronze and Li Ling meant White Jasmine.

 

[Krak-Quinn]

After saying her farewell, Belladonna was hopping from tree to tree at a leisurely pace. Shortly after putting on the bow, Blake had been thinking closer along the lines of Belladonna compared to Nightshade or himself, however that came with a set of difficulties. This was truly a different world, and Aura didn't work exactly the same, sure it was close enough that she wasn't having a lot of trouble, but it still tripped her up every now and then.

Another difficulty was that her mindset was grating against both her original's and Nightshade's. She had already seen and experienced the horrors that laid ahead on the path to vengeance, but her other identities either didn't care or wanted to keep trying within the White Fang.

An almost dead part of her screaming at her to save Adam, or Eve in this world, Nightshade was urging her to do so, and Blake wasn't putting up much of a fight against it. However, she had left him because she had lost hope in saving him, he was too far gone into the darkness. With new memories courtesy of a previous life on the world of earth, Belladonna also knew what would happen in her future, from Adam's attack on Beacon, to her killing him, she had to heavily lean on her other identities to even be able to operate right now.

At least she knew that the White Fang could be saved, but that was only if she let it become exactly what she had run away from, once it was at its lowest point, then Faunus would finally stand up and fight back. Blake was fine with that, but Belladonna and Nightshade weren't, they both wanted to save the White Fang, but how to do that when the majority of Faunus still believed in them, they didn't know.

Even if she wanted to, she didn't know how to make sure the White Fang didn't devolve into what she feared they would become. This was a different world, looking back on Nightshade's memories, she could hardly recognize anything. Even her parents had changed, sure she couldn't exactly remember them, but she had otherworldly memories to compare them to. Ghira Belladonna was a silent man, most of the time Nightshade had tried talking to him, he would just sit there and offer short words of help. At least her mother, Kali, had just grown out her hair, but she also seemed to smother Nightshade with love, almost to the point of coddling.

In this new world, she would have to utilize her new memories in order to save the world. Actually, she scaled down the scope of what she was trying to save, she'll leave the whole Ozpin, Salem, and Relics thing to her real self, she wasn't ready to deal with that emotionally.

And more importantly, as a clone she didn't have a System, so she couldn't be as laid back as her real self. She was still somewhat nonchalant, trying to decide if she should view herself as just a clone of the original, or perhaps a sister or daughter, she was leaning towards sister since she was playing the role of Belladonna and he would be playing Nightshade most of the time.

After landing on a rather tall tree, she scaled it and sought a better view of her surroundings. She didn't have a particular destination in mind, but any point of interest would do. Her brother was supposed to be returning to the White Fang camp, Belladonna was against it, but she wouldn't be fighting him over the life of his murderer.

She was supposed to be headed to Vale, so she'll probably hitch a ride there from a boat or airship. What exactly she would do there, she wanted to leave that alone for now. She didn't have a lot of new memories of the underworld there, sure she now knew about Roman and Junior, but there wasn't anything she could do to help with that knowledge right now and in this world.

Even high above the treeline, she couldn't spot any nearby villages, but she did notice a row of trees shaking violently, so she hopped down and went to investigate. She found a wall of crystal white scales, it was well over 30 feet tall, and was constantly moving. Belladonna used her Observe skill on the wall.

[Identity: Bashe.] [Ancient Snake Grimm.]​

Belladonna and Nightshade were both big advocates for turning tail and running far away from this beast, but fear wasn't something that motivated Blake, who had surfaced with a different idea. She wasn't thinking of fighting such a beast yet, she'll probably be back in the future to show just how far she's grown in terms of strength, but right now she was more interested in the crystal scales of this beast.

The worries of Belladonna took a backseat as Blake tried to think of a way to retrieve a scale. She didn't have a lot of tools at hand, eventually she decided on a suicidal way in the lack of other options.

She climbed a nearby tree and jumped onto the massive Grimm, after finding a comfortable place to sit down, she placed her hands at the tip of the scale and opened up her Soul. As she slowly ate away at the Grimm, she moved her fingers along the rim of the scale, and then underneath it. Her hands moved like she was scraping sand.

Soon, she had almost completely dislodged it, then an impending sense of danger shook her body. She could feel the skin she was sitting on become taut, with an Aura enhanced strength, she ripped out the scale and jumped away. The moment she left the snake, it began to roll in place. The speed it was going at was shredding up the ground and shaking the forest.

Blake saw flocks of birds take to the sky, which she took as her sign to leave. She continued going east, where the sun rose and where Vale was relative to Anima.

As she returned to her journey, Blake settled back down, letting Belladonna steer once more. She hoped that her brother wasn't doing something as stupid right now, but considering who the main pilot for both of their bodies were, she didn't expect much.

 

[Krak-Quinn]

As his brain was being deprived of oxygen, his lungs felt like they were about to collapse, and his vision clouded over, he suddenly recalled his death. After considering himself a burden on those around him and searching for a reason to keep living, he had received a message telling him to kill himself to solve his problems. Thinking it over, he concluded that they were correct. He wrote his final message telling people to donate or sell his body and hung himself. Compared to his current experience, the rope had felt sharper but it was also weaker overall.

While Blake was mulling about his first death, he was slowly dying. When he first arrived in this world he was also on his way to die, but at that time he had some unanswered questions regarding the whole thing, but now he didn't mind dying again.

However, Nightshade and Belladonna were currently drowning out his apathy with panic, fear and desperation. If Blake thought about it, then two thirds of him wanted to live, so he should allow them.

Blake slowly raised a hand and lightly tapped against the stiff arm of the man strangling him. Qing Tong blinked and his eyes lost their blind rage.

When Qing Tong loosened his grip on his neck.

Blake gasped in oxygen. "F-forgive my ignorance, please! I had no knowledge of your Sect." And spoke in something resembling a whimper.

"I-is it the Shaitan?" The girl, Li Ling, asked with a quiver in her voice.

Qing Tong narrowed his eyes. "Reveal your form or die." His voice had lost the hiss, but the steel remained.

'Shaitan?' Blake wondered, aside from sounding like Satan, he didn't know what that was. He looked into his memories, Belladonna had nothing but Nightshade did. One of the stories he was taught about was a Shaitan tricking an old man into eating an immortality granting fruit, they were invisible demons that tempted mortals to sin and tricked them away from the grace of the heavens.

Blake recalled that the most common way to deal with them was to seal them away. So it was likely that he had absorbed one when he swallowed that malevolent spirit earlier. He also realized that the pedestal probably was also their property.

Blake didn't have to worry about being mistaken for a demon, so he slowly lowered the hood of his cloak. His form shimmered into existence, and Li Ling gasped at the display while Qing Tong just quirked an eyebrow.

"What is a runt like you doing with treasure like that?" Qing Tong asked as he eyed the black cloak with greed.

Although Blake was playing the role of a sniveling coward, he wasn't willing to part with his belongings. Since things have progressed this way, Blake finally decided on a story. "It was a gift from my Master, and he's the reason I'm here. He told me that he vanquished an evil spirit that was in his way and that there might be some herbs to help me Cultivate growing here." Blake whined. "I'm truly sorry for trespassing."

Li Ling's face grew skeptical. "He's lying! No one could break through our seals in less than a full week! It really is the Shaitan! Quick Honorable Brother, seal it away before it can corrupt your mind!"

Qing Tong didn't seem to pay attention to the screaming girl behind him as he spoke to Blake. "Who is your Master and what Sect does he belong to?"

"His name is Hei Tianlong, and he's the head of our Hei Kong Xu Sect." The moments he was captured by Cultivators, he's been thinking of his own Sect. He settled on Hei Tianlong or Black Heavenly Dragon as the leader of the Hei Kong Xu Sect or Black Void Sect.

"I've never heard of him or his Sect before."

"I'll make sure he reimburses you for anything he's damaged. He's a strict believer in settling his karmas." Blake hoped he wasn't too vague with his implied threat.

Qing Tong's eyes lingered on his cloak once more, then they flashed over to the pile of crumbled stone that used to be a pedestal. Finally they landed somewhere unexpected, Blake followed his eyes and saw scorched stone, where he had shedded his old body. Blake had forgotten to clean up his remains, and for some reason these two Cultivators had burned up every drop of blood.

Qing Tong suddenly smiled, removed his grip on Blake's neck and erased his array in a quick second. "That's a relief. I'm sorry for my rough treatment, I was just worried about the life of my Honorable Sister." He patted Blake on the back, his fingers rubbing against the smooth black fur of his cloak.

As the array was broken, Blake felt his internal energies resume moving throughout his body.

"Are you sure he isn't the Shaitan?" Li Ling asked as her eyes scanned over Blake.

Blake was a little worried that she would notice that she couldn't recognize any of his features, but she quickly shifted her attention away and resumed harvesting the magical plants.

"Ah, where are my manners? I'm Qing Tong, a warrior of the Jin Shan Sect." He gave a light bow with his introduction.

Blake returned the bow. "Hei Shu of the Hei Kong Xu Sect, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." His fake name meant Black Rat. "If you don't mind me asking, is my cloak truly such a valuable treasure?" Since it had affected Qing Tong so much, Blake should at least know why it had done that.

A conflicted expression flickered across Qing Tong's face before he answered. "Of course, it take quite the talented craftsmen to be able to weave Tarriaksuk fur so finely, and to retain their special properties in their new design."

"Tarriaksuk?" None of Blake's memories knew what he was talking about.

"Hmm, I guess it is a rather rare Grimm. The Tarriaksuk are invisible Grimm Caribous, they can't be seen by the mortal eye unless they are dead, the only way to spot a living one is to look for its shadow."

"Was mine visible?" Blake wondered as he also felt the small antlers on the corners of his mask.

Qing Tong nodded. "Yes it was, however I also felt your spiritual presence and the air flow around you did change too. If I were you, I would look into a few techniques to help with that. You have a very useful gift, it would be a shame if you couldn't use it."

"Thank you, Brother Qing Tong. Again I'm sorry for trespassing and I'll inform my Master about your Sect, it was nice meeting you."

"Of course, oh and if you wouldn't mind waiting for just a moment." Qing Tong went over to Li Ling for a second, and then he came back with his hands full. "Please take these as a parting gift." He said and handed Blake a bunch of useful materials.

Blake deposited them in his storage pouch, something else Qing Tong eyed. "I hope the heavens let us meet again." He gave a parting bow, then he jumped down the cliff.

As he walked back to the river he had washed himself in, he read over the pop ups he had gotten while talking with Qing Tong.

[Main Optional Goals accomplished! Differing from normal Quests, once accomplishing a Main Optional Goal you can immediately collect the reward.]

[As a reward for befriending someone in the Jin Shan Sect: [Iron Body (Rank: 1).] has been added to Techniques.]

[As a reward for ending a fight non-violently: 1 Lucky point has been added to your Lottery account.]

[As a reward for surviving a fight with someone stronger than you: 1 Lucky point has been added to your Lottery account.]

[As a reward for acquiring Spiritual Grass: 1 point has been added to your Store account.]

[As a reward for acquiring Freezing Dew Grass: 5 points have been added to your Store account.]

[As a reward for acquiring Yin-Yang Flower: 10 points have been added to your Store account.]

[As a reward for acquiring Divine Soil: 5 points have been added to your Store account.]

[As a reward for acquiring Burning Demon Root: 15 points have been added to your Store account.]

[As a reward for acquiring Spiritual Wood: 1 point has been added to your Store account.]

[As a reward for acquiring Black Poison Thorn Vine: 20 points have been added to your Store account.]​

Blake appreciated that he could collect his rewards. He was also very glad that he had gotten some Store points. After buying the Pill Cooking System and the Weapon Crafting System, he learned that in order to use them he would need to spend points. Not that he was in a rush to create anything, because at the moment he didn't have any discovered recipes or blueprints.

He checked the Store and found beginner Skill books related to them, but both were priced at 100. Nearly double what he currently had in his account.

'Might as well test it out.' He opened both Systems. Both of them had a few submenus to help him prepare his materials before he could actually use them.

Blake tossed a few pieces of Spiritual Grass and a few handfuls of river water into his Pill System to cook. It had cost him 5 points and it would take an entire day before it was done cooking.

Afterwards he tossed in his only Yin-Yang Flower, a Burning Demon Root and the Black Poison Thorn Vine into his Weapon System, he also tossed in his old dagger so at the very least he'll get some kind of weapon when it was all done. It had cost him 50 points, and would take ten days before it was done.

For both of the Systems he used logs of Spiritual Wood as the fuel. Now done with the first stage of his experimenting, he still had 3 Store points to spend. He also had 2 Lucky points. Before spending them though, he decided to test out his new Technique, Iron Body. As he tried to feel for it, he found that he couldn't understand it, so he used Observe on the words.

[Iron Body (Rank: 1): This Technique is taught to the followers of the Five He Jin Sects. Through brutal means the body is tempered into hard Iron.]​

Blake flexed his arms and stretched his legs. He knew that his bones, muscles and skin were better than before because he had upgraded his Faunus Bloodline, and right now he suspected that the Iron Body didn't offer him any noticeable improvement.

With that out of the way, he went shopping again, but his options were limited by his measly 3 Store points. Luckily found something he considered to be undervalued.

[Purchase: [Concentrated Breathing (Rank: 1): A Technique taught to children who follow the path of Cultivation, it allows them to become one with their breathing.] For 3 Store points?]​

When Nightshade was young, he was supposed to learn this, but he was too easily distracted. When he grew up, he didn't let anyone know that he wasn't skilled at the most basic step of Cultivating.

If Blake had more points, then he wouldn't have even glanced at this Technique, it's the equivalent of buying training wheels in a world with jet propulsion bikes. Now that he was looking to spend his spare points, he didn't mind. Blake also hoped that with this he could Rank it up quickly.

Before he tried it out, he spun the Lottery two more times.

[Light Adapting Cloak (Grade: 2): A cloak made from light absorbing and refracting fibers, allows the wearer to become invisible to the naked eye.]

[Aura Propulsion (Rank: 1): This Technique allows the user to propel themselves by expelling Aura at a fast rate.]​

The clock was a translucent white on one side and completely transparent on the other. Blake shrugged, placed it into his pouch and tried out his new Technique.

He focused Aura into his feet, and then he forced it to leave his body. His body didn't even leave a foot off the ground at it had taken an exorbitant amount of Aura to use, it was currently worthless. But Blake knew that it would have great capabilities if it was a higher Rank.

He yawned as he sat down to meditate.

He hasn't been ignoring it per se, but he also hadn't been paying it enough attention.

Cultivation was a complex thing, and he just didn't want to deal with it for a while.

Blake surfed through his memories, both his experience reading about it and Nightshades experiences living with it.

Internal and External Qi.

Yuan, Gu, Zong, Zhen, Wei, and Ying Qi.

Spiritual Roots and Veins.

Inner Core.

Blake used his Breathing Technique, opened up his Hollow Soul as he cleared his mind and Cultivated.