章 51: Now the hunt begins

"Mhmmn..." With a groan, the previously unconscious body on the ground starts to stir back awake.

With eye lids still closed, he starts feeling what's around with his hands, as if trying to find out where he is and while his brain is restarting.

And then, he finally got off from the ground and could look around him, seeing only sand dunes and a wrecked caravan.

That's when his brain finally put together the pieces and started to review what had just happened.

"Trade caravan, bandit attack, fainted, got caught, about to become Grimm bait and then..."

"..." His mind started to shudder at the memories that come after, but it continued to recall them nonetheless.

"Then the Grimm started to attack, the bandit started to shoot the Grimm while I stood frozen in fear, he was eventually overrun and was torn apart piece by piece by the worms while those birds started to spit acid that melted his clothes and skin, the man streamed and wailed and then..."

"Nothing, that's the last thing I remember."

The boy then looked at his own hands and mumbled in confusion. "Am I dead?" Before noticing the hot sands that clung to his body, the dryness of his throat, the strong sunlight on his skin and also the wetness in his pants and concluded that he was likely still in the world of the living.

He should have passed out, this time not voluntarily but out of sheer fright after seeing that haunting scene and that may have been the responsible for his survival.

But the 'How' is still a mystery to him, he doesn't believe that it is due to his luck, which has been rotten up to that point.

But he was then brought back to reality as he heard movement coming from behind and still having bad memories of being sneaked on by a bandit, he immediately backed off before only then turning around.

But despite those efforts, it seemed that it wasn't enough to spare his already bruised face, as soon as he turned around he felt something approaching his face and he could only close his eyes and brace himself for it.

But instead of the sharp pain he's already experienced, he just felt something pressing his nose, harmlessly deforming it.

But after a moment of utter confusion, he then found himself completely unable to focus on that, as something else took away all his attention.

"An angel" He muttered as he lost his breath, that was the image he saw as he looked towards the person holding the object poking his nose.

Holding a umbrella, was a girl a bit younger than himself, she had long brown and pink colored hair, a pale skin that was quite rare on this parts which was particularly clear and free from any marks and a pair of very exotic heterochromatic eyes.

If before he thought he was still alive, now he's not so sure.

He was baffled, through his whole life, he can count in the fingers on one hand the number of girls that are not family he ever had contact with, especially considering that he started working very young instead of attending schoole, so he's spent most of his time around older man instead of other children.

That maintained itself for the 15 years he has lived, so it's safe to say that he's now experiencing his 'teen's first crush' a bit later than most people.

"Have you come to take me to heaven?" Honestly, had he heard someone else say this words, he would've had the urge to slap them and tell them to shut up before they embarrassed themselves any further. But the words had already left his mouth, before he could consider the consequences.

And hearing all of this, the girl didn't seem to feel offended or repulsed, just... Amused.

But her gaze seem to lingering at one place, following her eyes he stares downwards and what greets him is his pants, or to be more specific the large wet area around his crotch.

"..?"

"..."

"..!"

"!!!"

And then the realization finally comes to him, arriving at his head like a sledgehammer and allowing him to remember what the moment of infatuation has presented him.

As it did so, only one thought could be found on his mind.

'Maybe having been eaten by the Grimm, wouldn't have been so bad.' Suffice it to say, he really wished he could dig a whole on the sand and bury himself right now.

And this newfound sobriety has allowed him to look around himself and get a better picture of the situation at hand.

Nearby, he could see and smell the mangled corpse of the bandit. Stirring the memories of what happened before.

So just as he felt his stomach churning, he glanced away in order to not damage his image any further. Not that it changed much, his confidence was already at a all time low as it is.

But there was another fact that seemed much more alarming.

Returning his gaze to the girl that he still didn't know the name or heard a single word from, his eyes unconsciously went to her face, which was as clean and spotless as before.

The only change being that now she didn't even bother to hide the mischievous grin that was on her face. Which just rubbed salt on the wound.

But looking downwards shows a much more distressing picture. Her clothes were stained in blood, or it could also be said to be drenched in it. People's blood.

This allowed him to remember a few more important information that he was momentarily incapable of doing while his mind was distracted.

Like where have all the Grimm gone? Where did this girl come from? And why is she standing next to him?

As he continued to think on these questions, the girl seemed to have gotten enough amusement at his expense and finally started moving.

But what the boy didn't know is that unintentionally, he saved himself a lot of troubles by giving Neo some entertainment at the cost of most of his dignity. Before she was very tempted to use some more forceful methods of 'persuasion', but now she's much more inclined to use gentler methods.

Even his clumsy compliments helped that, normally she wouldn't want or pay any mind to compliments that aren't coming from Jaune, but receiving a sincere compliment still serves to boost her ego.

So taking a notebook to her hand, she starts writing something, then she looks towards him and frowns, quickly changing what she was writing.

And when she finished, she finally showed to him what she was writing.

{Can you read?} Is what was written.

"Ah? W-What? I-I mean yes, yes I can!" He is initially confused with the purpose of it, but he still eagerly answers the question.

At this, Neo's expression eases and she continues what she was writing before. The boy finds this method of communication strange, but continues cooperative nonetheless.

{Do you know how to reach the nearest city?}

"Mmhmn, we're just two and a half days from there by camel, less if we go by car." He hums and nods his head affirmatively.

{Are you confident that you could reach it without getting lost?}

"If I had a compass with me, then yes, otherwise I could only give 50% odds." He says, choosing to be sincere in regards to his skill.

By now, he can already guess that they want to use him as a guide. And he's going to do whatever it takes to grasp this opportunity.

He isn't sure what happened while he was out, but if she's standing so leisurely after a Grimm attack then she must surely be confident in her ability, if he accompanies her, then his chances of survival may greatly increase.

So having made his mind, he then decided to describe his own advantages, in hope of tipping the scales further in favor of him being chosen.

"You know, I do have a semblance that allows me to predict the weather to some extent, not wanting to brag but it's thanks to me that the caravan has been traveling only on clear weather so far."

Hearing his words, Neo adopts a thoughtful stance. She doesn't consider herself a very trusting person, but coming from a boy which so far has been an open book, she can't help but believe the boastful words.

{Then how did a you as a civilian managed to have your Aura unlocked and discover your semblance on top of that?} But she soon switched her focus to another doubt that she had from the first time she saw him.

And in response to that question, the boy shows some clear discomfort, but he eventually gives in to the pressure and starts telling his story.

"Well, it was thanks to an incident 2 years ago. I was working in a construction site as a helper to earn some extra income. But considering how rotten my luck is, it's no surprise I got involved in an accident in my first day. Some steel beams fell on me, causing me to have most of my bones broken and my limbs mangled. Which was a surprise since it should have totally killed me, after I was taken to the hospital they discovered my body was recovering at a unusual speed. It was then that I was discovered to have awakened Aura right before being hit, saving my life." He started recounting his story, his body sometimes shuddering as he recalled, showing how traumatic it had been.

"And regarding my semblance, it was discovered naturally, as time passed I started to have a hunch, a strange feeling a few days before any changes in the weather, as time passed the predictions started becoming more accurate and precise, eventually word got out that I had this gift, one that would be highly valued by treading caravans, so here I am." He then finishes, reflecting on the life decisions that brought him to the place he currently is standing.

And it seemed that his story was somewhat effective, as the girl seemed to have made up her mind.

{Follow me.} Was what she wrote before turning towards the caravan and returning.

And so, feeling relief on his mind, he hurriedly followed while keeping some distance and avoiding staring directly at her. He hasn't forgotten that she's drenched in blood that is not her own.

...

And as the two returned, another scene was happening between Jaune and the bandit leader.

Though the context and the general direction of their interaction couldn't be more different.

"So I'm going to ask one more time, who do you work for?" Jaune asks in a very calm and plain manner.

"I've already told you, I work for no one. I'm the one in charge of this operati-*Hisss*." But before the man can continue, he was forced to sharply exhale as he felt a sharp pain.

And Jaune meanwhile, was doing nothing more than holding a single finger to the bandit's chest while watching coldly as he winces and squirms on the ground.

The pain was coming from a small amount of Aura that Jaune injected inside the bandit's body and has been using it to assail his insides while avoiding any vital parts.

"You've got a brain I must admit, and a loud mouth apparently. But you simply lack the charisma to lead that much manpower, you're just a middleman, who is the leader of this band of bandits?" Jaune remains firm in his questioning and cuts right through the bandit's bullshit.

"*Huff* You know *Huff*, if you really wanted to interrogate me, you should've done so before that crazy girl did this to me. With my current wounds I won't survive long even with Aura and even if I did, I would be killed if I returned having failed so badly. Your threats and interrogation techniques are all useless, I've got nothing to lose." The man says between long inhales and exhales, showing a mocking smile as he does so.

"Oh? So you do have someone you must report to. So then tell me, what is the point of protecting their identity when you're already doomed. It would be much more advantageous for you to simply tell me what I want and I can give you a quick send-off." Jaune pays no heed to the taunt and continues picking the words apart for more information.

"Well, you could say that's thanks to something like 'honour amongst thieves' and the like." He continues deflecting.

But as Jaune looked at the bandit's tired and half lidded eyes, he could still pick apart one strong emotion that that currently surpassed all others, even fear.

"So it's spite. You're keeping silence, not to protect your boss but to inconvenience me the only way you can before dying." Jaune says plainly, showing no particular surprise or worry at that discovery.

"..." And the man's silence offered all the confirmation he needed.

Jaune takes back the hand that has been injecting aura, giving the man some respite.

"You know, this might seem a bit to optimistic for the situation, but I believe that someone's life is only truly over after they took their last breath." Jaune suddenly says.

The dying man shows no response, intending to stay silent until death.

"You're fearless because you think that there's nothing to lose and your death is certain, but you'll soon realize that even death is out of your reach. I do respect your commitment to your choice, but I'm afraid the repercussions are greater than you're thinking" Jaune then says in a somber tone, showing showing an emotion that has been so far absent.

Even he can lose his patience when there's someone so intent on wasting him damn time.

*Squelch* With a sickening crunch, Jaune's fist caves in the man's torso, breaking all his ribs and just barely avoiding the heart.

The bandit's body starts spasming as his lungs are pierced by bone fragments and blood starts leaking from all his orifices. Further expediting his death.

But even with a hazy consciousness and pain assaulting every corner of his brain, he could still feel something strange acting on his body.

And as the seconds passed, a horrifying realization came to him.

His lungs were filled with blood but he was only becoming more awake. He was bleeding both internally and externally but he's slowly regaining feeling on his body, his internal organs are all a mess, but his heartbeat was getting louder and louder.

This attack should've killed him, but he's becoming further and further from death each second that passes, only the pain remains completely unchanged.

And in just a few minutes, his vitals returned to something that can be called alive, if just barely.

And then, he felt something climbing up his throat, mustering some strength to get his torso up, he started vomiting blood along with a few small bone fragments.

*Blergh*

*Gasp* *Huff* *Huff*

And just like that, he managed to take his first breath in what seemed like an eternity, though the pain would increase as he did so, but his body paid no mind to it and just kept doing everything it could to survive.

So horrified, he turned to look at the only person that could've been the responsible for it.

"You should be very confused right now, after all, you aren't dead. That's my doing." Jaune then resumes his plain tone.

"I won't go into the specifics, but all you need to know is that you won't die from now on, you can't die, unless I allow you to do so that is."

While saying so, he assesses in his mind the results of his first experiment with the new form of using his semblance.

'The Aura consumption just now was substantial, I don't think I can run another experiment with the amount I have left.'

'As I thought, Just as I can target the amplification at the destructive aspect of Aura, it can also do the same with the healing capabilities, increasing it tremendously, but the result is not quite as shocking as Soul fire, as I can observe a few limitations to this healing.'

'First is that I can't regrow anything that has been lost, just as Aura can't do that normally, I can only enhance aura's capabilities, not give it completely new ones. Second is that the healing itself doesn't seem to be perfect, maybe that's because my test subject only recently unlocked his Aura and has no control over, but the healing observed was very erratic, further increasing his suffering rather than relieving him.'

'Mostly a result of his innards having healed around the bone fragments without actually removing them, that has compromised the functionality of several organs, like his lungs, which its contractions and retractions promp the embedded objects to move around and scrape against the surroundings causing further damage.'

'That doesn't matter now, but it's something I must take into consideration when using it on someone else.'

Feeling satisfied with the new discoveries he made, he conceals the smile that threatens to appear and continues addressing the man.

"From now on, I will bring you to the brink of death and then heal you just so I can do it all over again. I'll make you experience death over and over and over and over and over again. Until I get what I want from you." As he says this he stares straight into the men's eyes, showing no empathy or discomfort for what he'd done.

"I'll break your body like a vase and then glue the pieces together, not quite fixing you perfectly. This process will be repeated until what's left doesn't resemble a human anymore, be it physically or mentally."

"So I am going to ask one last time."

"Who are you working for?"

After a brief moment of silence, the bandit leader finally opens his mouth.

"I-I'll talk."

...

|Jaune's P.O.V|

It took a bit more effort than I expected, but I managed to get a lot of information from him, especially about how things are run here on Vacuo.

The organized crime and how it's run, the most recent news and more importantly, a lot of information about the gang he belongs to and where its influence is concentrated.

The 'blood Vultures' are actually not a gang situated on this parts or nowhere near where we currently are. They are currently invading another gang's territory, I guess this is their way to say that they want to fight.

But back to what's important, his gang is currently being led by 'red-eyes', their leader ever since the gang was founded. From what he described, a shrewd and very influential businessman that always presents himself wearing lavish clothes and accessories, looks very friendly and approachable to his men, leaving the intimidating and keeping rest in line to his enforcers and apparently has some ties to politics, knowing a few people in the council.

That might all seem irrelevant, but when it comes to tracking someone in this place, which could be compared to finding a needle in a haystack, their manpower and contacts might be useful if it comes to that.

But regardless, my destination remains the same, I'll see if this is worth pursuing later.

And right on time, Neo returns accompanied by the boy we saw passed out.

Turning towards her, I notice that her mood seem to have improved somewhat while the boy seemed a bit jittery.

{How were things on your end}" I signal to her using hand gestures.

{He's cooperative.} She responds using the same.

{Can he take us to where we need?}

{At least to the nearest settlement.}

{Any reason for the better mood?}

{None at all.}

{Fine, everything is ready on my end, just go change your clothes and we'll be ready to go.}

{Finally!}

Neo moves along and enters our cart to deal with the bloody clothes, leaving just me and the boy still around.

"What's your name?" I then speak, finally breaking the silence.

"Hum? I-I mean... It's Cobalt. Pleased to meet you." He says, showing some weariness towards me.

"I'm going to make you a proposition, take us to where we need to go and I'm going to pay you what I've given the caravan in full and protect you during the trip. Is my offer of interest to you?" After saying this, I pay close attention to his expression.

"Of course! I'll guide you right away, I'm no expert but I learned a thing or two while working on the business, I can take you wherever you need." He eagerly answers.

But surprisingly, he didn't seem all that moved when he heard about the payment, which is enough for someone to live lavishly for months, or more frugally for years. But became very interested when I offered protection, he should've guessed who is responsible for clearing out the Grimm.

'It seems that he's someone that is very clear about his priorities when it comes to it, so that's why Neo of all people is so relaxed around him.'

But I had one final warning to give him.

"I don't think I need to say this, but for your own sake, it's better to keep silent about everything that happened here, if someone asks then your caravan was destroyed by a Grimm attack, got that?"

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed."

"Oh and..." I trail off as I glance downwards "You should go change your clothes as well."

Hearing this, the boy covers his crotch area and runs off.

And so the journey continues.

...

"Here we are, Vacuo city, 'the crown jewel of the desert', I brought you just like I said I would." A cheerful yet somewhat melancholic introduction comes from Cobalt, that was driving the carriage.

"So you did, I've taken the liberty to transfer the payment to your account, it shouldn't be so empty now." I respond from the inside.

"You know, I didn't mean to pry or anything, but I heard you two talking about needing to go somewhere else after this, if you want I could be your guide."

"No need, I think it's best we both go our separate ways from this point on, trust me. Getting more involved could bring troubles beyond a civilian's capability to solve." I cut him off and make very clear that he would be better keeping away.

"Oh... Ok then, stay safe!" He replies down cast, but in the end he accepted my reasons for doing so.

'He isn't a bad kid, it's just that once his initial meekness wore off and he got a bit more comfortable, he just wouldn't stop talking.' Neo seemed to share this opinion, but in her case it was more of a case of her wanting for the two of us to continue the journey without a third party getting in the way.

So the two of us get off into the outside and start making our way to the entrance of the city, as we pass by the boy, he shows a confused expression as he looks at us and rubs his eyes, and with good reason.

Since the figures he's seeing are two young adults with dark skin, hair and eyes along with the appropriate outfit for this region, two figures that could easily fit in anywhere in this parts and not the previous two figures that would stick out like a sore thumb.

A product of Neo's semblance with mine amplifying it to increase its effect and duration on top of compensating for the cost in Aura of its constant activation, something that will be essential when safely navigating a large city such as this.

Arriving at the entrance, which had a large checkpoint which the vehicles and caravan carts were passing through and a smaller entrance at the side for the pedestrians.

Going through the latter, they ended up in a check up room with a receptionist and a few guards not far, all possessing Aura from what I could sense, thankfully the opposite wasn't true and they didn't detect ours.

"Papers, please." The receptionist speaks in a polite yet hollow tone.

So I simply hand in two documents, forged of course.

"Reason for your stay." She proceeds with the protocol.

"Work." I say very plainly.

"Well, good luck to you on that." She says with a pinch of sarcasm as she gives back our documents and signal us to move along.

And just like that, we were inside Vacuo city and I don't know which is most worrying, that we entered the city so easily with falsified identities or that we did so while being in possession of weapons hidden in our luggage, no need to go out of our way to snuggle them in.

But honestly, even if they did have a metal detector and more thorough identity checks, we could still get easy passage using what I learned from the bandits and borrowed the name of their gang to make them look the other way.

Vacuo is truly one of a kind when it comes to the kingdoms, where the written laws are suggestions and the true set of rules the people follow is survival of the fittest.

Arriving inside, Neo then signals me.

{What now?}

"I'm going to access their CCTS network through the tower in this coty, might as well when we're here, then we'll stock up on supplies before searching for rumors to where our target might be hidden."

So she nods and immediately gets to looking around for clues.

Now, the hunt begins.