《Semblance of Brutality》The New Guy
Advertisement
The walk to Haven was a long one. Though, I did get some insight into the four girls I'd met (whom I now know are named Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang). Ruby is the group's leader who, despite her clumsy and carefree personality, is actually a very competent one. Her sister, Yang, is hotheaded and oftentimes brash, but an incredibly skilled fighter. Weiss and Blake have a small, but noticeable, rift between them, likely stemming from their hugely different personalities. While Weiss is the daughter of an economic titan, Blake has struggled through her life just to attend the same school as her teammates.
When we finally reach Haven, all four of the girls decide as a whole that it's best for me to stay with Ruby and Yang's uncle while they figure out what to do with me. They bring me to a medium-sized house and knock on the door. The man that answers it is about 6'2" with greying black, spiky hair, and is well-dressed. Upon seeing him, Ruby immediately latches onto him.
"Uncle Qrow! I'm so glad I got to visit!" she exclaims.
"Ruby, settle down," Qrow says with a slight chuckle. "You saw me just yesterday, remember?"
"Well, yeah, but..." Ruby trails off and taps her index fingers together embarrassedly.
Meanwhile, Qrow produces a flask of alcohol from inside his jacket and takes a generous swig. He seems completely unfazed by the thickness of the beverage and swallows almost immediately. I silently wonder how long he's been able to drink like that.
"So who's this?" Qrow asks, gesturing towards me.
"We found him in the woods!" Ruby explains, completely unaware of how vague her answer is.
"He said he's from somewhere else, that he was sent here - to Remnant - by a malfunction in some type of machine," Yang steps in, explaining a bit more thoroughly than Ruby had.
Advertisement
"Uh-huh," Qrow replies, a hint of confusion in his voice. "So, why'd you bring him here?"
"We were hoping he could stay with you! Just for a bit while we figure out how to get him home? Pleeeeeeeeeease?"
Ruby is practically pleading with her uncle to let me stay here. Given Qrow's lax demeanor, I get the sense that he would've said yes anyways. Ruby clearly looks up to him, that's for sure. Why else would she treat her uncle more like a father? I notice that, in the time I spent thinking, Ruby has been dramatically groveling at Qrow's feet.
"Alright, alright. Geez. You girls are quite a handful, you know that?" he asks rhetorically before scruffling Ruby's hair. "Why don't you all go do something fun and leave the old man alone for a while?"
He tosses Yang a sack of coins.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby protests, "You're not old!"
"Right now I am," he says lightheartedly. "Buy yourselves some food or something. Yang's got the coins."
With that, the group waves bye to us and shuts the door behind themselves. Qrow is already sitting down on the couch and motions me to sit down as well. As I do so, he takes another swig of alcohol before twisting the cap back on the pocket flask. We sit in silence for a moment before he starts a conversation.
"Not much of a talker, are you?" he chuckles.
"Not really. I don't normally need to be."
"Why would that be?"
"Before I came here - to Remnant - I spent most of my time killing demons. From what I've seen here, though, demons don't seem to be a problem. It's the -"
"Grimm," we say simultaneously.
"Yeah. More of them come around every day, killing more people, causing more fear. What did you mean - you 'used to kill demons'?"
Advertisement
"It's exactly what it sounds like," I laugh. "I killed demons whenever they tried to get out of Hell. Even sometimes while they were still in Hell. I didn't even need any fancy weapons; I could normally make due with my bare hands and a trusty ol' 12-gauge."
Qrow's eyes widen in interest.
"You didn't even need your Semblance?"
"Semblance?" I ask, confused.
"Yeah. It's a special ability you're born with. Some people can absorb electricity, some turn into rose petals, and some are just born unlucky." Qrow became very introspective when he mentioned being born unlucky.
"I don't think I've got one. I'm just a guy with some guns and anger issues," I joke, trying to lighten the mood.
"The more likely scenario is that you haven't unlocked it yet. It takes time and dedication to unlock your semblance. Maybe it just hasn't been long enough yet, or you haven't found what will trigger it."
"Well, what would trigger my semblance to activate?" I ask.
"Honestly, it depends. Some people are able to use theirs from a very early age, while others have to train extensively to even just activate it. Normally, though, emotions or adrenaline will do the trick."
"Well, what better way to find out than to start right now?" I ask rhetorically while standing up.
"You do that. I'm gonna go get some sleep. Just don't let my nieces get you into any trouble," Qrow chuckles.
With that, Qrow, too, stands up and heads towards what I can only assume is his bedroom. A painting falls as soon as he leaves the room, and I hear him mutter "Damn it." I show myself out and close the door behind me. I look around at the peaceful setting of the town and decide I should find the girls. With any luck they'd be able to help me figure this whole semblance thing out.
Advertisement
- In Serial85 Chapters
World Ravaging Serpent
Tens of thousands of creatures have died in order to refine a single drop of a Noble Beast, a beast long since extinct harboring unimaginable power. A crazed scientist has made it his life's ambition to bring them back and unleash unimaginable horrors upon the world. A single snake with the blood of ancients flowing through his body must make his way through a treacherous world trying its best to kill him. Will he be stopped before he can mature, or will he persist through and take revenge on everything, that has once hurt him.
8 319 - In Serial121 Chapters
Quantum Worlds (A LitRPG dark fantasy)
Find the missing VIP in an illegal game world. Kill the monsters. Return home for the paycheck. Decorated Marine commander, Damon Williams, never thought his latest mission would take place in a full-immersion world fighting monsters… but when a high-value VIP disappears after being stealthily transported to a banned MMORPG, he's their only hope. Damon must lead a group of rescuers into an unforgiving world infested with terrifying monsters and worse. Pain is real. Death is permanent. He and his crew must adapt quickly, trust each other, and fight to survive. And if all that's not bad enough, they'll also have to race against time to avoid the realm’s disintegration and mutation effects. Quantum Worlds features race and class designations, unique creatures, dungeon crawling, level progression and Easter eggs that reference video games and pop culture. This a dark fantasy, but it also has sprinklings of humor throughout. It is a multi-cast, multi-pov story. In many ways, it is a melding of one of my favorite novels, “The Stand”, with my favourite genre, LitRPG. I don’t espouse to be anywhere near Stephen King, but I would like to think that I have succeeded in many areas here (you’ll be the judge of that). So, this thriller-style story has a lot of build-up and lots of drama. When it hits the 100-page mark, it starts to take off with some intense action and fight scenes (although there are battles long before that). Nothing comes easy for this group of rescuers. And the dangers are very real. This saga is already over 100 chapters with more to come. I hope you enjoy it and look forward to your reviews, comments, and feedback. Thanks. Chapters are uploaded every day at noon ET. Please do not repost this work anywhere without my written permission. Quantum Worlds is a participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge.
8 134 - In Serial73 Chapters
The Death of Money
After the Second Global Depression, Pak Yeung-Sung works a supermarket job in a world without money. And, like his cash register, he doesn’t believe change is coming anytime soon. After he is caught giving away rations, he is taken away by the enforcers and is convinced that he will die. But then he is given an offer; Join an experimental facility and your family will be taken care of. As it turns out, this an economic experiment by the CEO of one of the biggest tech firms, Jordan. And also, the currency within this colony comes from a game: Airgead. It seems too good to be true. It seems too stupid to work. And Yeung-Sung soon finds out that it is. But in 90 days, the UN will come to authorise the system worldwide. Before that happens, he needs to learn the game, infiltrate the factions and corrupt the economy. All while searching for clues about what Jordan’s true plan is.
8 92 - In Serial6 Chapters
Revived as an Emperor with Three Wives
Nio Tzuya, the current 18th Emperor to the throne of the Tzuya empire, or Kazuo in his previous life, couldn’t have asked for a better new life. Not only is he the Emperor of an entire empire, he also has 3 breathtakingly beautiful and genius-level intellect wives hailing from the races of demon, vampire, and angel respectively. Or so he thought he couldn’t ask for a better life. Turns out that his wives are trying to kill one another, his empire is in famine and chaos, and invading empires are trying to take over. How is he going to tackle all these problems at the same time?! ~rewrite~
8 185 - In Serial24 Chapters
The Arcadia Defect
In the not too distant future, the VR world is the playground of the rich and Liz Milner doesn’t belong. Her good friend, Viv, on the other hand, doesn’t care. Why should she? She was born well off unlike Liz. Problem is the rich girl’s existence on the newly launched MMORPG, Age of Arcadia, is jeopardized shortly after she brings her friends from college along with her online. With Viv effectively brain dead and her attacker on the loose, Liz and the rest of her friends are asked by the comatose young woman’s father to investigate. No one else will. Not when the publisher of the game, Eternia Entertainment, is doing the best it can to squelch the spread of rumors by banning anyone who dares speak out. The Arcadia Defect is a gamelit with litrpg elements written for a mature audience. It contains magical action and fantasy adventure along with adult language and situations.
8 122 - In Serial14 Chapters
Bakugou secret pup ( todobaku)
One day bakugou finds out that he's pregnant with todoroki baby aka pup.bakugou was going to have the pup in secret the only people that know are the teachers Bakugou parents and the bakusquad who promise to keep it a secret. when will bakugou tell todoroki about the pup and the rest of class 1-A
8 144

