Corwyn VI
He yawned idly as he gazed behind him. Bouncing up and down, practically vibrating into another existence from excitement was his fiancée and lover, Ruby, who was…
Currently salivating over all sorts of unique weapons being ported around by the manifold prospective Hunters currently attending the initiation of Beacon.
He smiled at his lovable little cookie monster, restraining the urge to filter about as a cloud of living petals to ask a thousand technical questions that'd likely go right over plenty of these kid's heads. Hell, they'd certainly go over his.
Once again, he was a bit of a dunce regarding Mechashift technology.
Ruby said he wasn't bad, but he certainly was gifted or good. Instead, she said that he was 'stupidly unfairly good' at concept design and proofing an already completed design for overlooked fallacies, holding an eye for detail. He just couldn't make the puzzle pieces that fit together; but he more than well could spot why they wouldn't fit together in the field.
It made them work well together in the workshop, and Corwyn could already smell the scent of oil and steel of many sleepless nights within those workshops, fixing up armor and weapons that he'd be using his newly created Wand of Transmogrification on.
[spoiler=Wand of Transmogrification] Wand of Transmogrification (Elite)
Mundane Quality: A hewn stick that was covered in a lacquer. Nothing special about this stick.
Magical Foci: This stick has been enchanted to be a serviceable magical foci. Too bad all the mages and wizards are dead. Unlocks magic-related enchantments.
Wand of Transmogrification: This wand is specialized to cast the Transmogrification Spell, a unique spell that selects a host item as the 'base' and a 'cosmetic' item as the 'shape'. Turns the base into the cosmetic item's shape, without losing the inherent quality or enchantments of the base. Items that are too different from one another cannot become the shape of an incompatible base.
[/spoiler]
Corwyn was strangely proud of this enchanted item and was seriously curious regarding many of the Magic-Related enchantments that he'd unlocked, however, his curiosity would have to be put on hold.
When he'd first obtained his power, he'd taken up a notebook on a whim and discovered that he could tap into a conceptual repository of knowledge regarding various spell formulas and runic methods of casting magic. He'd had ideas of creating a Grimoire; however, he underestimated the time sink that'd require to achieve.
While he still yearned to apply his hobby of drawing to his enchanting efforts, he was swept up by the number of items and creations he'd needed to produce to create a 'basic kit'. Even now he was still needing to create items for Ruby too, as despite having his Semblance, if he wanted her to have truly quality items -like a theoretical super Cresent Rose 9000- or a present resting inside of Stomach at the moment; he'd need to create them himself.
It'd take likely years of work for Ruby to independently become able to create a Relic Grade Item, and a decade or more to create a Legend, with that being her theoretical limit unless she wanted to spend an unrealistic amount of time trying to play mental gymnastics in inefficiently dumping tons and tons of Aura into an unreceptive concept without knowing it was an unreceptive concept for that specific item.
The higher one built, the more conflicts one ran into and the larger and more grand an enchantment needed to be to keep building higher.
Ruby put it best, Grand Enchantment only made sense when it did.
This left him with making items for two people, he also needed to create support items like his many Exotic and Unique grade items. Those were powerful aspects of his and Ruby's kit, however, each Exotic cost him a good week and a half, maybe two of work.
A Unique cost him a week give or take, and a Relic could cost him a month of work, entirely dependent on how his schedule worked as he couldn't be sitting in a room, meditating, draining Stormplate, while focusing on a conceptual image for the entire day. He needed to train, work, play, have fun, live life. He might have twenty-four hours a day, but those went by fast when one was as industrious as he was.
Said industrial life-style had him creating several Uniques, Exotics, and Elite grade items, while simultaneously chipping away at finishing his drafts for two Uniques and laying the foundation for his future Legendary or Mythical Item.
As much as he subtly yearned to make his base kit, The Thunderers, Malleus, and Stormplate Relic Grade or Legendary; they were fine where they were now. Rather, he was more invested in expanding his kit in creating more exotic items.
This was due to the fact that while much of his gear was powerful as it was, he wanted some more unique and esoteric methods of combat that would allow him to become even more versatile; or an 'oh fuck button'.
Ruby's present was both an 'oh fuck button' and a plain OP against Grimm, while he was making two items that were to give him more versatility and one that was The FUBAR alarm.
'We have years to go anyway. Chip away at the mountain while I can, I'll get there.' He thought as he walked through the Bullhead, scanning the crowds as he went.
Then, a shock of golden hair passed by his vision, and he paused with a frown.
Yang.
She'd been avoiding them ever since it came out that he and Ruby were engaged. Ruby had tried to talk to her sister, but it was obvious something was eating at Yang making her reluctant to sit down and have a real conversation. Nudging his fiancée, both his and Ruby's eyes followed Yang as she walked on, the blonde glancing over to them, only to grimace and snap back and focus on wherever she was headed.
He'd heard from Ruby that Yang was deflecting and generally trying to avoid whatever was bothering her, which was problematic as normally getting engaged was a thing to be celebrated. It was obvious to the both of them that Yang was jealous, and while jealousy was often seen in a negative light, Corwyn in this case honestly found it both funny and cute.
Something that made Ruby pout as she didn't like him taking pleasure in her sister's suffering, but it was hard not to. Yang was someone whose personality that Corwyn was predisposed towards disliking; the brash confidence and sense of importance that had, as time wore on, waned away as she matured.
It wasn't like Yang was acting out in that jealousy, and Corwyn did understand why she was avoiding them. Seeing something that one wanted yet couldn't have; well Tantalus' punishment came to mind.
From what he knew of Yang from anecdotes from Tai and Ruby, along with what he personally knew about the girl; he figured she was likely going through some rough notes in her maturation. Corwyn didn't like Yang because he knew what she was; both lives of him knew what she was. She was Trouble, and both of them could see that plain as day. Interacting with her wasn't worth the trouble it'd bring, put simply; whether at her hands or at others, for as conventionally attractive as she was, Remnant Corwyn knew to stay well away from the unstable emotional raging bonfire at first glance.
The fact that she played with young men's emotions not unlike Professor Brande meant he had yet another reason to avoid and dislike her. Manipulations, as 'playful' and 'harmless' as they were spoken of a girl used to getting what she wanted, because she was what she was; beautiful, strong, athletic, desired, loved; and in his eyes, spoiled.
He'd heard about how she'd gotten a real good talking to by Tai, something about drunk driving. He guessed that she was experiencing a shock to her pride and was being forced to reevaluate herself as a woman, and the confrontation of Ruby's rapidly developing relationship has likely put her in some pit of self-doubt.
That and Ruby confirming to him that Yang was bisexual likely wasn't making the entire ordeal any easier.
"Corwyn!" Ruby whined, trying to shake herself out of his grip. Corwyn had to stifle a hiss as Ruby ground herself against him in a peculiar way, a reaction starting in his pants. "I wanna go look at the weapons." She glanced up at him with a pout.
He let go of her and sighed, sitting up from the seats they were claiming. "Yeah, yeah." He muttered, "C'mon, let's go make some fools of ourselves."
She kicked him lightly in the shin before pulling him along by the arm. With a tug and twist he pulled her to his side, wrapping an arm around her neck as his fingers played with a brooch on her corset. The two walked through the crowds populating the bullhead, Ruby lost in her hobbies, while Corwyn started picking out some unique faces.
He idly spotted a large group of Hunters gathering around a rather statuesque figure, a tall amazonian woman with a fake polite expression on her face as she shook a shorter man's hand who laughed like she was his friend and was telling an amazing joke.
Others around the group were interesting to say the very least, he picked out at least two people who were staring at the woman's assets, others who were just grouping around her innocently and trying to capture a photo of what was undoubtedly a celebrity, and a few who were making networking inroads and failing horrendously.
'Pyrrha, huh.' Corwyn thought as he made his first impression of the celebrity. 'Patient.' That was all he got from her standing there. Who knew what she was like behind that polite mask, but patience was certainly a virtue.
His gaze drifted and he quickly found yet another target of his observations. A tall and thin man with blond hair was leaning over a trash can within the bullhead's floor looking like he was about to up chunk whatever he'd eaten beforehand.
He wore simple armor, jean pants, white plate with golden accents, but otherwise was just a guy in a cheap selection of gear. However, there were a few accents to his outfit that made up for his simplistic appearance. For one, he had a red loose-fitting cloak around his back, a golden wire thread connecting it loosely around his neck. The cloak had a golden lining that complemented his color scheme and further supported the red-sash at his waist.
The teen looked normal enough, puking his guts into the can, but one other object caught his attention. Hanging from gold threaded rope hung a strange triple cross.
https://i.redd.it/s13rd76ti9y71.png
'Triple Cross, Red Cloak…' Corwyn frowned. 'Isn't that the Hierophant's symbology?'
The Hierophant Tarot Card was a card that represented tradition and convention, one that represented many things that Corwyn didn't like, but others that he did. It also represented things like Education, Learning, Marriage, and the seeking of advice or counsel, along with spiritual guidance.
He rubbed the back of his head, a bit embarrassed that he'd just rattled all of that off. He figured he could help the guy out, if anything.
"Hey, I'm going to go see if that guy needs help." Corwyn said to Ruby, who nodded, not really listening to him.
Corwyn sighed, walking over to the puking man.
"Air Sickness?" Corwyn asked as he leaned against the bullhead wall.
The blond blinked and raised his head, "Erm, yeah. Hereditary." He choked out.
Corwyn grunted, glancing to his shield, "A shield user, huh. Got a lot of Aura?" He asked, slowly probing the teen.
He nodded, "Yeah, when my teacher unlocked it for me, she said she nearly ran out." He grinned weakly, "Said I had the most she'd ever seen before."
Corwyn nodded, "Then we'll likely be familiar with one another on the frontlines. I'd shake your hand, but well." He gave a rueful smile towards the trash can.
Jaune laughed, "Yeah, I get you. Why'd we be familiar on the fronts?" He asked.
Corwyn smiled, "I wear a full plate set of armor when on the field, and I too have a ton of Aura. Good for soaking up hits, yeah?"
Jaune nodded, "My armor's been passed down, but full plate…" He frowned in thought. "Doesn't it get a bit hard to maneuver?"
"A bit." Corwyn nodded. "Acrobatics and flips and all that fancy stuff is hard to do, but smaller and more economical movements can get the same effect for less energy and risk in my opinion." Corwyn made a show of inspecting the young man's kit. "Nice blade, sheathed inside the shield, but…I see some Mechashift in there?"
The sick teen nodded, the conversation seeming to keep him distracted from his nausea. "The shield turns into a sheath, but sometimes I keep it extended and on my arm; same mass and all." The teen grimaced, "My…lessons also taught me to always be ready for an attack."
Corwyn raised an eyebrow, "You didn't go to one of the Academies?" Corwyn asked.
He seemed to titter for a moment, "...My family, the men specifically, were traditionally Hunters. I'm the second youngest of my family, and the only boy of seven girls; it seemed the tradition was to die with me as my parents didn't seem to want me to chase the profession. Risky."
Corwyn nodded in agreement, listening to his story.
"I lived in Ansel, know the place?" The blonde asked.
"Farming Settlement, east of Vale." Corwyn recalled.
He nodded, "Remote place, safe though." He pounded his chest with a fist, trying to keep his stomach down before continuing, "I was fifteen when I decided to leave, caught a bullhead, went to Duskvale."
"The North?" Corwyn asked. Duskvale was located on the northern province of the Kingdom of Vale, south of the island of Vytal.
"Yeah…rough place that. I was really just trying to escape from my family, wanting me to become a farmer." He sneered, "Found a girl, had a dowry and everything all ready and set up for me to start a family." The teen grimaced, "That wasn't a life for me. In Duskvale I found work, before meeting my teacher. Old Bat." He chuckled, "Granny Yaga might not look like a Huntress, but I've never seen a person move faster and kill Grimm with such ease."
Corwyn's brow furrowed, 'Yaga? Why does that ring a bell?' He returned his focus quickly, "Trained by a professional? Damn lucky." He commented.
The young man snorted, "Don't I know it." He muttered.
"Lucks a skill in this game." Corwyn chuckled, "Last thing, that staff." He gestured to the golden triple cross. "A semblance support item?" He asked.
The young man blinked and glanced down to the small and short staff tied to his waist. "Oh, uh, yeah. My semblance, I call it Golden Sparkles." He picked the staff off his waist and brought it to his chest. His Aura, a shining gold surrounded him, before the triple cross started to glow with white and golden wisps of energy around it. "It, uh, doesn't really do anything else." The teen said sheepishly. "When I hold things that are gold, it makes fancy lights, but uh, never really saw any effects. Old hag would just cackle whenever I tried asking her."
Corwyn's eyes were wide as he stared at the staff, his jaw slightly hanging. "Holy Jesus." Corwyn muttered.
"Who?" He questioned.
"Dude." Corwyn said with real shock. "You're a fucking White Mage."
"Eh?"
"I felt my Aura regenerate significantly from whatever voodoo juju you just did."
The teen blinked and glanced down at his staff with new eyes. "Huh. Thought she just gave this to me as a joke…" He muttered. "Not a flashlight anymore, I guess?" He grinned with a bit more confidence in his voice and posture then he'd previously demonstrated. He blinked again, "Hey, my air sickness is gone!" He cheered, life coming into his body.
Corwyn shook his head, "Well, hey, name's Corwyn Ambers." He introduced, holding his fist out to which was bumped by the grinning golden retriever.
"Jaune, Jaune Arc." He introduced back, and smiled an admittedly suave grin on his face, "Ladies love it!" He posed, pointing down at his cheeky smile with dorky self-aware energy. Corwyn chuckled and gave him a light sock on the pauldron.
"Wanna join me and my fiancée for training sessions in Beacon? It'd be cool to have someone like you in the Gym."
Jaune blinked, "Fiancée?" He mouthed, "Erm, uh yeah, sure!" He pounced on the offer to maybe make some friends.
The two were alerted when the air cabin suddenly shook and then announcements came on, offloading now in progress.
"Make our way there?" Corwyn offered.
Jaune grinned, "Yeah, sure." He shrugged. The two started to head on their way to the amphitheater to listen to Ozpin's speech.
"So, what were they feeding you up north, you're twiggy my guy." Corwyn elbowed the reedy teen.
Jaune chuckled, "Darkvale was a winter settlement, like, it's always winter there, and we don't have supply lines like Atlas and Mantle. Food supplies were rationed really well and the food that Granny Yaga made…" He grimaced, "Not good. Mainly subsisted off Atlas Military Rations from the Great War."
Corwyn's head snapped over to Jaune, horror on his face. "You poor soul." He whispered. He'd found a few of those circulating around when he was young; horrible.
Jaune's eyes were hollow, "They tasted amazing compared to that foul sludge Baba made." He muttered.
"Comrade, I take pity on your stomach." Jaune found Corwyn's hand on his shoulder and he stared into his blue eyes with a hard commiserating look. "I shall make you plenty of feasts, fit for a gym bro."
Jaune's eyes sparkled, "You cook too!?" He asked with joy.
Corwyn smiled with glee, "Cooking bros?" He asked.
"Yes!" Jaune cheered.
Jaune found an arm slung over his neck as they walked with merriment in their voices, the two falling into a long and flavorful conversation regarding the kitchen and its divine offerings. They found themselves within the amphitheater, their conversation interrupted by a distant bang that sounded like it came from the loading bay.
Corwyn frowned, wondering why he just felt like Ruby was in a bit of danger.
He didn't have to wait long as he spotted a grumpy Rose stalking her way through the crowds, finding Corwyn in a row without seats. She pouted, but Corwyn patted his lap. She grinned and ran over, being scooped up and placed in his lap.
"Ruby, this is Jaune Arc. Jaune, this is Ruby Rose." Corwyn introduced, wagging his left hand's ring finger.
Jaune smiled politely, but a concern came quickly, "Erm, Ruby, you have," He gestured to the soot staining select areas of her face. It was obvious some effort had gone into cleaning her face, but it was for naught.
Ruby sighed and started scrubbing randomly at her face, only smudging it further. Corwyn stopped her and sighed. "Why aren't you wearing the Mr. Clean ring?" Corwyn asked as he inspected her hands.
Ruby blinked, "I forgot to put it on after I took a shower…" She said sheepishly.
Corwyn rolled his eyes. As redundant as that sounded, today was a big day and she wanted to get all styled up for it, so she'd taken a shower to feel like she'd done something for the day. It seemed she forgot something in the process. "Is it at least in your luggage?"
Ruby frowned in thought, before nodding. "I threw all my bathroom stuff in the purple duffle bag. Nothing was on the floor so…"
Corwyn sighed and took his ring off and put it on her finger, the soot magically vanishing much to Jaune's awe. "Woah." He muttered. Corwyn removed the ring and placed it back on his finger.
"What happened?" Corwyn asked.
Ruby pouted, "Some girl, Ice Shh-knee or something was carrying a cart of dust, but some of the bottles were obviously maladjusted! I was trying to help her, but she started waving the bottles around like some maniac! Then I sneezed, and blam!"
Corwyn took a deep breath, 'Lord, give me strength, give me patience, give me courage.' He breathed out and stared dully at Ruby, softly petting her. "As long as you're okay. But, if you see that Ice Shh-knee again, make sure to give her a lesson on how to properly handle volatile explosive ordnance."
Ruby's eyes gleamed and Corwyn was satisfied they'd have their revenge.
The girl then glanced over to Jaune who was watching the byplay like a curious puppy, innocent amusement dancing in his eyes.
Ruby's eyes inspected the boy's weapons, and she giggled, "It's another one of you, Corwyn; although at least his have Mechashift."
Corwyn rolled his eyes, "You love Malleus and The Thunderers."
"Well of course I do, they're such well-made babies." She grinned up at him, making Corwyn's expression shift. Ruby stilled in response, for this was not the time! His hands didn't even do anything obscene or overly inappropriate. They just ghosted along, moving slowly as they wrapped her in a tighter hug.
"Corwyn~!" She cried. "Unfair." She pouted.
"You know what you did." He whispered in her ear.
She pouted in silence, before Jaune asked a question, "Hey, uh, do you guys know how teams are assigned?" He asked.
Corwyn glanced over, "I dunno. Ruby's my partner for life though." He said that in the most immature way he could, arms wrapping around her like a possessive cage. "My treasure…" He hummed contently, eyes lidded, enjoying her warmth.
Ruby rolled her eyes, Corwyn getting sappy. "Corwyn said that we'd get tossed off a cliff and whoever we make eye contact with we're partners with." She responded in his place.
"Cliff?!" Jaune squeaked.
Ruby gave him a pitying smile, "Afraid of heights?" She asked.
Jaune gave her a hesitant nod, holding his staff tightly.
"Erm, well, if what Corwyn says is true, I'll likely be flying over to where he is, but…" She frowned in thought, poking her fiancé's rib.
"Hmm?"
"Jaune's afraid of heights and he doesn't look like he has a 'landing strategy' you talked about."
"Plenty of these kids don't." Corwyn muttered, "Those who do save Aura, those who don't get hit at least halfway down; it's a lesson within an initiation designed to facilitate teamwork, resource management, and unfairly highlights the talents of a select few individuals." Corwyn listed out. "Either fly like a free bird and try to aim yourself at a soft section of dirt and then roll or find someone who can help you."
Jaune looked at them with hopeful eyes.
Ruby scratched her cheek, "I'll be using my semblance to fly over to Corwyn." She answered.
Corwyn's eye glanced over to Jaune, ideas rushing inside his head. "I can throw a deadly sharp javelin at your neck, hoping it pierces through your cloak and nails you to a tree?"
Jaune slowly shook his head negatively.
"Shit out of luck mate." Corwyn gave up.
He sagged dejectedly. Corwyn's hand patted him on the back, "There there, just think, tuck, roll, tuck, roll, tuck, roll. You'll do great."
"You suck at giving consultation." Ruby noted with dull eyes.
Corwyn shrugged. "We love each other for our faults."
She sighed. "This is your revenge for me teasing you on the bullhead, isn't it"
"Channeling my inner child?" He asked, before smiling widely, "Yup."
Ruby went to respond, but the stage darkened, and so out came Ozpin.
And so Corwyn zoned out, because speeches weren't really something he paid attention to. He could give speeches, yeah, but they bored him if he wasn't the one giving one. He blinked…
Eyes are heavy, this is so boring…
Hmm, Ruby's really warm…
He blinked, eyes groggy, before realizing he'd fallen asleep. "What?" He asked, staring up to an unimpressed Ruby and an amused Jaune.
"It was a minute long speech at best, and then Goodwitch gave a seven-minute address." Ruby said with her arms crossed.
"I don't do propaganda." Corwyn said in response to that.
Ruby rolled her eyes while Jaune chuckled. "Where are we going now?"
His fiancée's lip twitched, and she went to answer.
"Maybe I should've listened if I wanted to know that." He mimed, "Yeah, yeah." Then he dove forward and scooped Ruby up, "But that's what I have you for!" He spun her around, laughing at her giggling screams. He set the now dizzy Huntress down, before glancing to Jaune, "Following you, Ser Arc!" Corwyn gave a sloppy salute, to which Jaune firmed up and dramatically placed a foot on a nearby chair, unsheathing his blade from his shield and pointing it towards the exit door where students were filling out of the vomitorium.
"That'a'way!" Jaune called, drawing giggles from Ruby and amused chuffs from Corwyn. Jaune sheathing his blade and the posse of three made their way to the open air sleeping arrangement that the freshmen were allotted.
They entered the bathrooms to change, Corwyn doing so only out of image as he was perfectly clean. With the student body in sleeping clothes, the group found areas to rest, with Corwyn and Ruby pitching up sleeping bags she'd enchanted in a secluded corner.
One that happened to have an annoyed native who wasn't so happy with their imperialist colonization of her private reading space.
Corwyn and Ruby were silent, but the peaking stares were getting a bit annoying. "Watch'a reading?" Corwyn called over.
The black-haired girl peaked over her book with annoyed eyes, to which he deadpanned. 'Don't go acting all annoyed. It was your stares that made me call over.' He snarked in his mind.
The girl sighed before lowering the book. "It's a book about a man with two souls." She answered.
Corwyn made a 'huh'. Ruby's head snapped over to the 'mysterious girl' with wide eyes, "Hey, it's a book about you Corwyn." She pointed with amusement.
Corwyn snorted, "So, what's the main character dealing with? MPD? That's what I got."
Blake stared at the man with strange eyes, before realizing he was serious, "Erm, I guess? He talks to a voice inside his head a lot."
Corwyn gave a dull smile, eyes dead as that hit home a bit too close. "Okay, yeah, realistic so far."
"And he's uniquely critical about all aspects of himself. Very introspective." She added.
"Oi." He muttered.
"He has a mixture of various personality traits, with often mood swings and strange rationalizations of logic. One of his souls is far softer, kinder; while the other is harder, rougher. I wouldn't call it evil though, but less…naive?"
Corwyn's arms crossed.
"So far he's struggling with communicating his full feelings to the romantic interest, and he's already overcome much of the internal dilemmas of identity crisis."
Corwyn stroked his chin, "Has it touched on the topic of identity death?" He asked.
The potential White Fang sleeper cell blinked, "Erm, no? Why?" She asked, intrigued.
He shrugged, "Isn't a problem." He waved his question's origin away.
The cat-girl went back to reading after giving him a strange look.
He turned away from the conversation and glanced over to see Ruby staring at him with worried eyes. "It'll be okay." She whispered.
He froze, and chuckled, "It's fine, Ruby." He shook his head, "It's not a problem. Now, get some rest, okay, hun?"
She pouted, not retorting that she didn't need any, before rolling up and started to try and get to sleep. Corwyn sighed and closed his eyes, centering himself.