Chapter Text
So, death.
It wasn't exactly the kind of thing I expected to be dealing with. I mean, I literally just moved into a new apartment with my partner, ready to live in an entirely new place. Alas, my eyes were truly bigger than my biceps, since the very last thing I could remember was my computer smashing my head into paste when I fell backwards down the stairs. That heavy glass case made sure of that, where a cheaper, lighter case might have just caused some major damage.
Shaking my head, I paused, eyes blinking as I became cognizant of the fact that not only did I have eyes, but I also had a head. Looking down, I nodded sagely to myself. Of course death had done away with all the frivolities of a civilised society, such as clothing.
Raising a hand to my neck, I closed my hand at the place where a necklace should have hung, feeling a yawning coldness in my stomach at knowing that it was gone. And my partner...he was going to come home...and find me on the stairs...dead.
Biting my lip, I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to them, shivering and forcing myself to take a shaky breath. Exhaling unevenly, I forced myself to inhale a second time, holding it in my lungs before releasing that second gust of air.
There would be time a-plenty later on to mourn, both for myself and for my partner, but for now, I needed to figure out what life after death really meant. As if prompted by my fortified will, a sleek white box appeared before me. "Greetings Player, welcome to your introductory guide."
Mental train thoroughly derailed, my lips parted, exhuding a great and verbose response which eloquently conveyed my confusion, minor irritation and slim-but-growing disbelief. "Eh?" The box chimed once, a musical note which set me at ease.
"You have died, and must now create your Playable Character, before being subjected to reincarnation into one of three worlds. Prior achievements from your previous life will now be tallied." Staring at the white box, I watched as a list of white text began to appear, being read off one by one.
"Graduated Primary School, 10 points. Graduated Secondary School, 15 points. Graduated Sixth Form, 20 points. Employment time: 5 years, 3 months, 20 days, Employment tier: 2/3, 200 points. Non-Ceremonial Marriage, 100 points. Pregnancy, 50 points. Charita-"
Everything else the box said to me faded out, my focus fixed entirely on that one word...there was...I couldn't have been...the more my mind raced around in circles, the worse I felt, spiralling out of control until a wave of white washed over me, forcing me to calm down.
So, I was pregnant when I died? That was...if I had known, I wouldn't have even risked carrying my computer, not at all. Shaking a little, I let my eyes fall back to that one word, resting my gaze upon it for a moment before moving on and reading the rest of the list.
Most of it were mediocre achievements that didn't give many points, and by the end, I apparently had 670 'points'. As for what I could do with said points, the white box chimed again the instant I thought about it, forcing my attention onto it once more.
"You may choose starting boons for your player character. This also comes with starting banes that you may use to acquire more points. Do be warned that many starting banes will cause significant disruption and can lead to early deaths."
Rolling my eyes at the obvious spiel, my brain was already ticking over thoughts of Project Zomboid and how many of the negative traits in that game were laughable, especially compared to the points given. Still, I made sure to focus as the white box folded out multiple times, opening itself out into a long column, then folding over into two columns, one of which listed boons, the other one banes.
And, looking at them, I had to admit, they really were no joke, even if a lot of them were definitely ripped from Zomboid.
Banes
Horrible Footing - 50 points - Sneaking around is all but impossible for you when every board squeaks and every movement rustles, -90% to all Stealth Actions
Weakling - 200 points - You're barely able to lift a rock, let alone a weapon, -75% to Melee Damage Dealt, -50% Carry Weight
Visually impaired - 100 points - From birth you've never been able to see properly, -50% to all Perception Actions
Sickly - 50 points - Illness seems practically attracted to you, whilst even weak poisons are death sentences, -80% to all Biological Immunities
Inept - 200 points - Nothing you do seems to come out right, nor do you learn very quickly, -75% to all Intelligence Actions, -25% experience gained
Agoraphobia - 50 points - You have a fear of open spaces, -50% to all stats whilst outdoors
Claustrophobia - 50 points - You have a fear of closed spaces, -50% to all stats whilst indoors
UV-sensitive - 50 points - The sunlight causes you pain and discomfort, -25% to all Perception Actions and -10% Max Health whilst in Sunlight
Cursed - 500 points - A malus of death and darkness surrounds and infuses you, leaving you distrusted, +10% Magic, -25% Max Health, NPCs will default to suspicious reputation
'Big-boned' - 25 points - You will never be able to reduce your weight below a certain BMI, -25% to Stamina, -10% Carry Weight, -25% to all Social Actions
...
Unwanted - 50 points - Your parents didn't want you, and you absorbed much of their hatred until they abandoned you, -20% to all Empathy Actions
...
Audacious - 100 Points - You feel all but compelled to be in the limelight, even if perhaps it wasn't the best of ideas, you are compelled to perform acts openly instead of in private
All in all, it was a pretty impressive list of bad shit.
Already though, I was making myself a build. My eyes lingered for a long time on Horrible Footing, Cursed, Unwanted and Audacious. Horrible Footing just meant I couldn't sneak around, which wasn't a problem, I wasn't the kind of little BITCH that played a sneak archer in Skyrim for the five-billionth time.
Cursed just meant I had less health to work with and people would be suspicious, but why the fuck would I care when that gave me five-hundred points and a goddamn bonus to my Magic? Unwanted was just free points as far as I was concerned, because yes, I did like to be charitable to people, but I simply didn't have time to truly empathize with them.
As for Audacious, that was admittedly what got me to hesitate. Since I fully intended on Magic as my course, there was a chance that it would force me to brazenly wield magic, potentially in a setting where Magic was frowned upon at the very best, and that could get me killed...or re-killed at least.
However, I hadn't gotten to where I was by tucking my head under the covers and hiding what I was doing, so in the end, those four were the Banes I selected. Why not more, or less? Well, the answer was in the Boons, even if that word made me think of Pirates of the Caribbean.
As I looked at said Boons, I mentally demanded to not be sent there, or else heads were going to roll.
Boons
Meathead - 300 Points - Exclusive - Swinging swords was your destiny, which naturally meant other stuff became less important, +75% to all Physical Actions, +50% Max Health, -50% to all Magic Actions
Spellcaster - 300 Points - Exclusive - While others waved silly wands around, you were already mastering the next steps, +75% to all Magic Actions, +50% Max Magic -50% to all Physical Actions
Sneaky-Beaky - 100 Points - You are comfortable in the shadows, and walk atop springed boards like a ghost, +50% to all kinds of Stealth
Poisoner - You are a deft hand at bringing foes low with deadly concoctions, +500% Poison Damage
...
A Mage's Favour - 250 Points - As far as acolytes go, you were particularly good at seeking out favours, begin with a Low-Level Spell, chosen by the Player
...
Mana-blooded - 400 Points - Mana flows through your veins, +10% to Max Health, +75% to Max Magic, Magic may be substituted for Health at a 1:1 ratio
...
Green-finger - 100 Points - Plants respond to your touch freely, giving nature's bounties gladly, +200% to all Botanical Pursuits, +100% to all Alchemical Actions
...
Magic-sense - 200 - Your Magic acts as a sensor, detecting hostile intent towards you or your allies, the more Magic available, the further and stronger the detection
Adaptable - 100 Points - No matter the situation, you will always twist things to your advantage, wherever possible
There were indeed a great many boons to be had, however, I was forced to choose carefully.
Spellcaster was obvious, sacrificing my Physical Actions for Magic ones. If I could have, I would have taken both, but alas, the two were mutually exclusive from each other, only allowing me to take one. next I selected A Mage's Favour, since getting a spell right from the start would be insanely helpful in ensuring I don't meet a rapid end.
Mana-blooded was also obvious, buffing my Magic greatly. Green-finger was a less...required boon, but I enjoyed Alchemy in Skyrim, and being able to create potions of such a magnitude would quite possibly be a life-saver down the line.
Magic-sense was common-sense really, being able to tell if someone harboured hostility towards me could go a hell of a long way to ensuring that my head stays on my shoulders. Finally, adaptable, which played straight into the hands of Audacious.
"Why yes officer, I was indeed casting this delightful little party favour when these ruffians accosted me. Hm, is that a limp I can see? Oh dear me good officer, allow me to help you with that, it's the least I can do for you." I could see it now, offsetting both the being caught doing something, and also assuaging the suspicious negative that Cursed gave me.
Grinning widely as I selected my chosen Boons, I watched the balance level out, leaving just 20 points remaining. Nothing in Boons needed so few, nor did any Bane give a convenient quantity of points to get any of those Boons, which meant I just had to accept the loss of the points.
Shrugging, I went over both lists again, making sure I had what I wanted, before confirming the action. The two columns folded back into one, and three smaller boxes appeared, which after just a moment led me to realise that the boxes were the three worlds I was being offered.
Looking at the first, I cackled loudly in disbelief that this box would dare show me that option. Maybe it thought it was being funny, because the first option was Warhammer, with the added line of The Old World. So not only would I be in Warhammer, I wouldn't even have any Bolters to look forward to. Hard pass.
The second option was RWBY, the mecha-gun-scythe anime with cute girls, evil monsters, and then the Grimm. Snickering, I hummed as I let my eyes slide down to the third option, narrowing my eyes at the box. Was that option always going to appear, or did my earlier thinking prompt it? Because there was The Elder Scrolls, with Skyrim beneath it.
The easily-available magic called my name, and I almost pressed the button on a knee-jerk desire, but then I stopped. In Skyrim, I would be a little tadpole in a fuck-off massive lake, not even the Dragonborn. Whereas RWBY? There were some big fish there, some very big fish indeed, but as long as I was careful, smart and just a bit lucky, I could be a big fish in a small pond given some time.
It really was tough to decide, but, in the end, my desire for safety won out over my desire for power. Yes, Skyrim had many spells, but it was also far more dangerous than Remnant was. Hell, there were so many hyper-dangerous events going on in Skyrim, even discounting Alduin ending the world, that I was pretty sure would end up killing me.
With the press of a finger, I chose Remnant as my destination. The white box chimed, then put a mirror in front of my face. Looking back into my own eyes, I felt...a little funny, as options to change myself appeared. Messing with my face just felt...wrong, it was who I was.
Maybe not the prettiest (though my partner would disagree) or the most striking, but my face made up who I was, and I didn't like to change that. What did catch my eye, however, was the option to become a Faunus. It was a drop-down menu with practically every species imaginable, all of whom had various buffs and debuffs. Chameleon Faunus, for example, didn't handle surprise well at all, whereas being a Wolf Faunus meant I would be weaker when not part of a group.
In the end, my love of foxes won through, which meant now I had a pair of fluffy auburn ears poking out of my hair, which was similarly coloured. The benefit was +10% to max magic, whilst the debuff for being a fox faunus was a -10% to Max Health, which I supposed was because foxes weren't exactly durable creatures.
Looking over all the options available to me, I looked specifically at eye colours. Silver was an option, though it didn't say one was or another if that meant I'd become a Silver-eyed Warrior. My money was on no, since surely that would cost points, which led me to find the active version not far below it, which cost...25 points.
Snarling in aggravation, I closed the menu and slammed the confirm button like it owed me money.
Blinking awake, I frowned up at the ceiling which was far closer than I was used to, momentarily confused.
After a few moments to contemplate that weird-ass dream, I sat up, and immediately realised that no, I was not asleep in our-...my thoughts ground to a halt, my eyes teared up, and a keening noise built up in my throat. My chest heaving, I curled over myself, pulling my knees up and weeping into them, bawling at what I had just lost.
I wept for myself, knowing that my death was fucking stupid and so easily prevented if I hadn't been such a fucking idiot. I wept for my partner, and genuinely couldn't even think about what he was going to find when he came to the apartment looking for me when he couldn't find me at the old place.
My tears refused to stop, my every thought consumed by the world I had left behind, and the way I had left it. My mind wanted to find solace in the chance of returning, but that didn't help when I thought about the anguish he was going to feel, the mere mental image of which sent me deeper into a tear-filled spiral.
I had no idea how long I spent there, crying into my knees. All I knew was that eventually, after what felt both like moments but also hours, my tears ebbed. Just as I knew that he would have to come to live with me being gone, so too would I have to live knowing how I had come to be here.
Swiping at my face, I finally turned my eyes onto the room I was in. It was a studio apartment, and a tiny one at that, a mere 120 square foot, with my sleeping area up on a second level above the tiny kitchen and bathroom. Shuffling to the edge of the bed, I hopped down, stumbling slightly before righting myself and turning to look upon what I owned. In my mind, information of a sort began to slot into place.
I knew each cupboard and where everything was, I knew that the toilet didn't flush properly and the shower was similar in how non-functional it could be. However, the rent was cheap, and they were willing to rent to a Faunus, which was like trying to find a place with a HMO certificate.
Pushing down my emotions before they could overwhelm me again, I gave the place a quick search, confirming to myself that yes, everything was how I remembered it being, before taking a seat on the only chair in the place, exhaling as I acknowledged the information in my head.
Upon doing so, a small white box emerged before my eyes. Unlike previously, this one didn't speak to me, but instead simply displayed information. I read it quickly, basically a prompt telling me to select my chosen magic. Upon acknowledgement, three options appeared. The first was fireball, simple, sweet, and very standard. The second was somehow even more standard, as Magic Missile stood proudly in that spot. As for the third, it was actually a spell simply titled Healing.
Which had me torn in all honesty. If Healing meant I could heal others, I would be absolutely set. If it was just myself however, Mana-blooded meant that anything less than a 1-to-1 radio of Magic-to-Health was actively bad. Magic Missile was entirely dependent on whether it could level up. As for fireball, well that was more just the standard magic caster spell, which wasn't so appealing.
In the end, I picked Magic Missile, feeling in my mind the hours of training required to cast the spell, retaining within my mind both the verbal component, and the somatic component. Right now it was only a level one spell, however, when I looked into the spell within my mind, an interface appeared before me.
It reminded me of Skyrim's perks more than anything, a root-like network of options to pick from. The only option available was at the bottom, which halved the Magic cost of casting Magic Missile. Not surprising, but pretty lame. To the side was the perk that I knew immediately I needed, Tracking Missiles.
it did exactly what I expected it to do based on the name, it made all the missiles track targets, although being able to independently target enemies for the missiles was locked one step behind it. Above the initial choice were two upgrades. One allowed for channelling, which would allow me to continuously cast the spell without using components after the initial cast, and the second doubled the quantity of missiles from 3 to 6, with three levels to it.
To the right was the final option, which buffed the damage inflicted by each missile by 100%. That had five levels, so presumably, my missiles would end up doing 600% their starting damage by the time it was maxed out, which seemed pretty good.
Above the option for doubling the quantity of missiles was an option to imbue them with a shield-pierce, which gave each projectile a 10% chance for penetrating protection of any kind, magical or physical, which was pretty damn good, except for the fact that the majority of things I expected to kill were Grimm, which were primarily either insane swarms, or stupidly massive.
On the other side, beyond channelling came twin-cast, which would allow me to cast Magic Missile from both my hands, doubling my shot output. When I looked above that, or tried to at least, I could only see that there was a line heading up further, but it was blank, the same on the other side.
Still, knowing what the spell was going to be capable of made me grin, a grin that lasted up until I looked out the window. There, the dusty, disgusting, horribly hot Vacuo building opposite this one met my gaze. I cursed whatever saw fit to put me in a fucking desert, because there was no way in hell I was staying in Vacuo.
Except, for the time being, that was exactly what I was doing. From what I knew of things, I had only barely enough lien for rent, utilities and groceries, with very little in the way of luxury. I had no scroll, I had no car, I had nothing but a few sets of clothes, a chair that was left outside a barber's with a 'for free' sign taped to it, and a few other items.
There was no way in hell that I could scrape together enough cash to even get a flight to Vale or Mistral, let alone then rent a place out there. If I wanted out of the fucking desert, it was not going to come easily. Briefly, I considered Shade Academy, but for one, I was, apparently, 16 years and 5 months old, which meant at least 7 months before I could even begin to be a Huntress-in-Training. For two, I had zero combat training, no aura, and while yes, I did have my Magic, how the fuck would I play that off?
And for three, that'd then mean being stuck in the desert for another four fucking years, no thank you. Which meant...not a lot was available. I could barely afford to live where I already was thanks to a meagre trickling of government subsidies, a below-any-possible-minimum-wage job in a warehouse, and scrounging whatever lien I could from scavenging stuff to sell.
It was a shame that the Grimm were only a target for Huntsmen and Huntresses, bounty jobs were bound to be lucrative, but I had no credentials with which to get those bounties. Though, looking at my still-open perk screen, it occurred to me that there was a higher than reasonable chance for the Grimm to, in fact, have item drops.
After all, one of the Boons I hadn't taken, pelt-stripper, meant mob drops were increased by 25%. If that was the case, perhaps I could harvest Grimm for their parts. But that was putting the cart before the horse, I needed to actually hunt some Grimm down first...easier said than done.
Still, it beat shuffling boxes all day.
Glaring at the endless dunes, I re-evaluated my opinion on Vacuo.
In games, I liked deserts, the endless sand rolling in waves like an ocean frozen in time. But when I have to trudge up a massive mass of sand, only to go back down the other side, and then do it again, over and over, it really took the appeal out of it. Plus, that fucking piece of shit sun was endlessly beating heat down upon my body, which was not fun at all.
Still, there was one upside to it, which I quite handily proved by waving a hand and chanting just two words. "Magic Missile." I then got to watch as three amethyst-coloured bolts flew out from my hand and hurtled off into the sand before me, each one impacting with a reasonable degree of force right where I wanted them to go.
Grinning, I checked my menu, having had plenty of time to examine it entirely. Each cast of Magic Missile drained 50 Magic, and in total, from all the buffs I had, that ended up being 245 Magic, a base of 100, and then 145% of additional Magic.
It was a shame that they were only additive, each one working from my base Magic individually, but still, it was good to have. I dared not fire off multiple though, I only cast the spell when my magic filled up again, which, based on the rate of 1 Magic every 5 seconds, would take exactly 1225 seconds to come back from nothing. Halving that cost was going to be amazing for my ability to spam the spell, that was for sure. The reason for that was because I was relying entirely on Magic-sense to alert me of any Grimm approaching. With at minimum 195 magic available, that hopefully gave it a respectable range to work with.
Still, my Health left much to be desired. 85 Health, from the +10% of Mana-blooded, and the -25% of Cursed. It left me feeling...distinctly concerned that I was just a walking archetype of magic casters everywhere, strong magical abilities, but as weak as a reed as soon as something closed the distance.
Regardless of my low Health, there were also other menus tucked into the downright clinical interface I had available to me. Storage was one, where there were both slots and a carry-weight maximum, which was currently a max of 50 kilograms, higher than I'd feared but lower than I'd hoped.
Currently, 1.2 kilograms were taken up by cactus fruits I'd foraged, then another 700 grams for various herbs and plants I had picked with the help of Green-finger, aloe and yucca fruits being the primary contenders, though I'd also found some lavender, poppies and a few penstemons. There was also a stack of cactus thorns I'd taken along to see if they could be used. So far the only thing I had not seen was any Grimm. Seriously, did I need to start broadcasting my fucking depression to get anything to show the fuck up?
The instant I thought that, I felt it, a thrum in my very magic, a warning that something-no, several somethings, harboured hostility towards me, and were approaching me. Shivering despite the intense heat, I oriented myself towards where I could feel the danger, my fingers splayed out and ready to cast, watching as the sense of hostility came closer and closer.
After about a minute, I saw my first hint of a Grimm. Seeing that white and red crest the hill, I bit my lip, watching as a trio of two-legged creatures came over the top of the sand, roaring at me as they approached. Pressing my hand out, I cast my spell. "Magic Missile!" I yelled, fully cognizant that letting those things get close was a death sentence for me with my horribly physical abilities.
The three shots soared out, heading towards where I expected the Grimm, Creeps I vaguely recalled, to be when they landed. True to form, the beast hadn't adjusted course at all. Not true to form, I had utterly misjudged how long it'd take for my shots to arrive, and the harmlessly impacted the sand a good dozen feet ahead of it.
Blinking, I fired again. "Magic Missile!" This time, I had adjusted for the distance the shots would have to cross. I had not however adjusted for the fact that I had just disturbed the sand in front of the group of Grimm, which meant they went down even faster than before for a short while, leaving my shots to be on course to land behind them.
Panicking a little, I watched them hit the bottom of the dune and start to race up towards me. However, this time, I didn't need to time my shots, since they were heading towards me and not going down an opposing dune. "Magic Missile!" This time, the missiles scored a direct hit, each smashing into the lead Creep with unrelenting force, sending it tumbling backwards down the sand, leaking black smoke everywhere.
Adjusting my palm, I cast again. "Magic Missile!" And then again, turning slightly and casting at the third Creep. "Magic Missile!" I yelled, confident in my victory now. only to realise that so far, I'd cast four times. Magic Missile cost 50 Magic, and I had 245 to spend. From my first cast to now, it hadn't yet been 25 seconds, which meant I wasn't able to cast just yet.
I forced my menu to open, looking upon my Magic, and turning a fairly terrified eye on the third Creep as the fourth volley of Magic Missiles hit the second Creep. I had fired off a volley before this group, and evidently, it hadn't refilled fully. There, on my Magic Stat, it read a meagre 39 Magic. That meant 50-55 seconds for my Magic to recover enough for another shot.
If it missed, five minutes until the next cast. I looked down at the Grimm, then at my Magic as it ticked over to 40. Fifty seconds, more than enough time for that Creep to reach me and tear my limbs off. So, I did what any sane, rational, human bei-Faunus, what any Faunus would do in that situation. I turned around, and sprinted like absolute fuck.
Only to be cruelly reminded mere moments later that one, I was sprinting on a declining sand dune, and two, I had a -50% to all Physical Actions. That made itself known quite rapidly as I quickly tumbled head over heels and began to tumble-roll all the way down the dune, spraying sand absolutely everywhere, smashing my head, arms and legs repeatedly, and prompting me with the knowledge that I was in fact losing Health.
Every time something hit the sand hard enough, there was a damage chime, making me aware of the little bits of damage I was taking falling down the dune. When I hit the bottom, I'd lost more than half my health in the fall, my head felt woozy, and several fingers felt dislocated at best.
Shaking my head and blinking sand from my eyes, I tried to stand, only to fall to both knees as my head recoiled from the notion of not being on the floor. Since I'd already fallen, I started to crawl, digging my painful fingers into the sand and scrabbling away from the Grimm that was chasing me.
In my vision, I could see my Magic, it was at 47, which told me...something, my head wasn't quite working right after the fall. Twisting to look back, I could see the Grimm was hopping and scraping through the sand down the dune towards me, which led me to turn and scrabble faster, trying to pull myself up the shifting sand away from the monster.
Hearing a snarl behind me, my ingrained fight-or-flight instincts were all that saved me from a messy end, rolling to the side and avoiding the heavy mass of nightmare fuel slamming into the desert sands. Lacking anything better to do as the Grimm turned to maul me, I continued to roll, watching the monster with wide, fearful eyes as it repeated the previous attack, leaping at where I was, forcing me to roll and making my head swim with dizziness.
I could see my Magic, which just ticked over to that magic, glorious, ever-wonderful number. Lifting up my hand, I watched the Grimm coil up, and lifted my hand. "Magic Miss'le." I slurred, and immediately, I knew it was wrong, the Magic hadn't-
Forcing my body to roll and fighting the darkness in my vision, this time the monster caught me, sharp black claws landing on my left arm, eliciting a scream from my throat at the white-hot pain. As I continued to roll, the pain only became worse as those claws tore a bloody chunk from my arm.
Shaking not just from fear, not just from exertion, but now from pain, I lifted my right arm at the Grimm, and pressed my eyebrows together, forcing my way through my blistering headache. "Magic Missile." I didn't even have the willpower to yell it, merely pushing all of my Magic, every drop, straight into the spell.
This time, mercifully, the spell soared out, and the three projectiles slammed into the Grimm, piercing deeply into it and slaying the beast. Drained entirely of Magic, with a horrendously torn left arm, a head which felt cracked in two, eyes crusted with sand and lungs that felt full of sand, I simply laid there.
And I felt like maybe, just maybe, I'd overestimated my abilities, just a little bit.