RWBY: Curses? They Curse, Duh?

CHAPTER 5

-

Obsidian X.L. Rose's POV

Yawning deeply, Obsidian decided to just shove the whole luggage into his closet for now, thinking to delay arranging everything he brought to Beacon tomorrow. After their team coronation ceremony, Miss Goodwitch had sent each team leader the dormitory rooms that they'd be staying in. It's a coincidence that Team RWBY and JNPR are side by side while his, Team ORQX, was just across to Team RWBY's dorm room.

Sending a quick message to his family group chat in his Scroll a goodnight, Obsidian fell face first into the comfy bed, intending to sleep through this exhaustion of his. Today was just so tiring; from waking up early to Initiation, he was mentally and physically drained.

"Finally! My turn!"

Q said excitedly from his soul as Obsidian groaned at the volume.

'Just make sure to finish exercising legs today...'

"Yeah, yeah. But you're doing legs next!"

'Whatever man, goodnight...'

The exhaustion finally caught up to him as he suddenly felt another wave of tiredness hit him like a truck, eventually falling asleep.

=

=

=

Quartz R. Xiao-Long's POV

His body, however, had other plans as it rose up from his bed. Obsidian went to sleep, and now it's time for him to play! His raven hair suddenly turned snow white from the roots up. He opened his eyes, darkening from sky blue to sea blue, and grinned.

The Binding Vow worked as usual. It was a light one; Quartz can possess their body for an unlimited amount of time, and in exchange, he will reside the control once Obsidian wants it back. He would immediately give back Obby's body when he was asked anyways, but a Binding Vow was the only way they both could share the body.

He got out of their bed and stretched his sore body, ignoring the exhaustion with a wave of pearl-colored Cursed Energy flooding his muscles. Ah, the perks of negative energy! Screw Aura, that positive energy and forcefield stuff is for chumps! Be like them, vulnerable and able to be one-shotted with a single attack!

Unless it's Reverse Cursed Energy, that'll be a boon to both him and Sid.

"Cursed Energy levels, replenished and full to the brim. Body condition is suboptimal, so I'll just work on theory instead of practical. Cursed Technique, ready to fire at any time. And system transfer, successful!"

He exclaimed, looking at the system interface in front of him. Oh, note to self: claim the rewards for Initiation, Obby forgot to before he went to bed. Rolling his shoulders, he nods to himself.

Yep, their body is working as intended. Quartz R. Xiao-Long is combat ready! Good thing Sorcerers don't require much sleep physically, or else he would have crashed any moment! Opening their shared luggage, he took out his own combat uniform that he made purposefully inversed to Obby's version.

Snow-white sleeveless hoodie with black and red streaks imitating claw slashes, a pair of black cargo shorts, and his black and white jays! Can never forget those, especially! Grabbing their glove claws mecha-shift weapon, he raises the hoodie's hood over his head before exiting his room. It's currently before 9 in the evening, so the gym should still be open for the gains!

=

=

=

x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x

COMPLETED QUEST: Survive Initiation!

Survive Initiation. (X)

Clear the Initiation in under 30 minutes. (X)

Kill 50 Grimm while surviving the Initiation. (X)

QUEST REWARD:

Title: Grimm Hunter; Body, Dexterity, Stamina, Mind, Curse Increase (Greater); +1 Skill Tree Point (Rare)

x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x

"Huh, greater increase? Haven't seen that one before."

Quartz muttered as he looked at the rewards Obsidian had gained earlier from clearing Initiation. Usually the quests give lesser and minor increases; this was the first time there was a greater increase after many years with the nurturing system.

The title seems promising, so he opened his status page to see the effects of the title.

x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x

[STATUS]

Name: Obsidian X.L. Rose / Quartz R. Xiao-Long

Age: 15 / 15

Title: 

• Beacon Student (+0.5% Additional Increase per Reward While Operating as Students)

• Sorcerer Apprentice (+0.5% Additional Increase per Reward While Operating as Apprentices)

• Grimm Hunter (+10% DMG Boost while in Combat Against Grimm)

• Vessel of Possession (+200% Curse Energy Generation)

• #^&*!@#@&$@#! (Access to Nurturing System)

Class: 

• Huntsman-in-Training (+5% BODY, DEX, and STA Boost while in Combat)

• Sorcerer-in-Training (+5% CURSE Boost while in Combat)

Status:  

• BODY: Grade 2

• DEX: Semi-Grade 1

• STA: Semi-Grade 2

• MIND: Semi-Grade 2

• CURSE: Grade 2

• TECH: Semi-Grade 1

Average Grade: Grade 2

x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x

[SKILLS]

Sorcerer:

• Cursed Energy Manipulation (IV)

• Cursed Technique: [???] (III)

• Cursed Technique: Combo Star (III)

• Binding Vow [1 ACTIVE] (I)

• Barrier Techniques (I)

Self:

• Martial Arts (III)

• Rapid Casting (I)

• Rapid Processing (I)

• Cooking (I)

SKILL TREE POINTS: 2
x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x

A 10% boost against fighting Grimm? That's huge! That'll increase their usefulness against the Grimm drastically. Looking down the status page, he sighed at the question marks above his own Cursed Technique; they both already know each other's Cursed Techniques; there's no need to cover Obsidian's one.

"What a weird system."

No grade promotions in any of his stats, though any one of the stats should be close to promotion since he had been stuck in these grades for almost a year now. Of course, he could normally train his stats on his own without the need for artificial increases from the system, but using only pure training will take years to be promoted. He had a system, so he'd better exploit it!

So, two Skill Tree Points. He'd like to increase Binding Vow and Barrier Techniques, especially the latter since it transitions to Domain Techniques once it reaches a high enough level. A Domain Expansion or even a Simple Domain would be damn useful in combat, especially its sure-hit aspect.

Martial Arts and the Rapid Processing skills are a good investment too. Martial Arts is easy to understand; it increases his proficiency with Martial Arts one level above what he's currently capable of performing. If he's an expert Martial Arts practitioner with level 3, then he would become a master at Martial Arts with level 4. Meanwhile, Rapid Processing increases his comprehension and processing power by a significant degree, useful for understanding and processing information faster and better in or out of combat.

Two points... What to spend on...?

A few seconds of thinking later, he decided to just increase Barrier Techniques to level 2 while saving the other point for Obsidian's own choice. Tapping on the specific technique he wanted to upgrade and confirming his choice by tapping on the YES prompt, in an instant, he felt new knowledge of Barrier Techniques flow into his mind.

The system only gave them the knowledge theoretically on how to use newly upgraded skills, so they'd have to train them on their own for their practical applications. So far he had learned how to construct a simple Curtain, a barrier that hides the inside of the barrier and stops normal people who didn't have mastery over Cursed Energy and Aura from entering, but with the upgrade that he just got, he now knew how to strengthen the Curtain to resist Cursed Energy and Aura users to a certain degree.

It can tank a good amount of hits now depending on how much Cursed Energy is stored into the creation of the barrier, but it will shatter if too much damage is sustained. This was good though; he could theoretically construct a quick Curtain to block attacks now, even if it used quite a bit of Cursed Energy at the moment due to his inexperienced mastery over the technique.

This is big in terms of combat, since he was as vulnerable as a baby against the Grimm and other Aura users due to not having a forcefield like energy that would mitigate every attack. But with the Curtain, he could technically imitate Aura, even if it was expensive to cast every time, to block undodgeable attacks, which was a win in his opinion.

And he knew just the place to train this ability; the backyard behind Beacon seemed like the perfect place to experiment with his new Curtain. He did pause for a moment before going to the Emerald Forest, though, looking at a camera that's stationed in the hallway that he's in.

"Yo, Ozpin. I'm going to the Emerald Forest to train, so if you need me, you know where."

He's a cool guy, this Ozpin. Mysterious like Dumbledore, yet chill when he himself does stuff that is sometimes questionable, a bro if you'd will. He made sure to tell him where he was before, since the man could, you know, expel him for breaking the late curfew.

=

=

=

Obsidian X.L. Rose's POV

Classes are random in terms of days and classes. As an example, this semester they were in classes for four days, from Tuesday to Monday at random times. Today, Tuesday, had a few classes that spanned over a good 4 hours.

There were a total of 6 subjects that were mandatory to take for this semester. Grimm Studies, Huntsmen Law and Regulations, Combat Class, Tactic and Strategies, Emergency First Aid, and Outdoor Survival are the subjects, though Grimm Studies, Huntsmen Law and Regulations, and Combat Class are the major subjects with more classes while the latter are minor ones with the fewer classes.

He received the schedule last night before he went to sleep by the school, so he already knew what time he had to wake up and prepare for classes. It is a harsh schedule though, needing to wake up at 8 in the morning today and on Friday.

Rubbing his eyes, he gave a yawn as he walked out of his room, entering the living room of his soul, where there was a large 85" TV playing. Laying on the sofa just opposite the TV, he greeted the person that's currently in control of the engine.

"Morning, what'd I miss?"

"Nothing too much. We got an extra Skill Tree Point, so I used it to upgrade our Barrier Techniques." 

Quartz' voice rang from an unseen speaker as he showed the technique off, raising his free hand into the air.

"[Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure.]"

Shooting a condensed pearl-colored hue of Cursed Energy out into the air, the both of them waited for a few seconds before the Cursed Energy, turned liquid-like matter, started to drip down from the sky in the shape of a dome, creating a barrier wall that was like a tint, hiding the inside of the barrier from outside surveillance.

"That took a chunk of Cursed Energy."

Obsidian muttered, analyzing and processing the copious amount of data that's flowing into his head, courtesy of Quartz, who did some experimenting earlier this morning against the residents in the Emerald Forest.

"True, but theoretically we can adjust its size if we train it enough. Imagine finally having a forcefield that surrounds our body. We can finally be confident in a fight without the worries of getting stabbed and jabbed."

"Well, that is useful once we get a hang of it... Good choice then, though the cost of creating and maintaining this is quite high."

Waving his hand to dismiss the Curtain, Quartz took out their Scroll and looked at the time, whistling at how much time had passed, the clock nearly reaching 6 in the morning.

"Seriously, time just goes by so fast. You want control back?"

"Eh, take your time; it's not like anyone's awake at the moment."

Shrugging, Obsidian adjusts his posture into a more relaxed one and waves his hand, summoning a pack of chips from nowhere. The soul was a complicated mess, but the good thing is that one can create things out of nothing in here, though eating doesn't gain physical nutrients for the body. A shame really; the food that Quartz made over the past decade was nonexistent in the outside world, like that weird red fermented cabbage dish he recalled a while back.

"Bitch, you just want to take over without doing all the hiking back to Beacon's Cliff!"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that accusation."

"Tsk, you damn son of a..."

Knowing defeat, sighing, Quartz stopped midsentence and swiped the air with his hand to the side, shrugging off the black blood dripping from his claws before making his way back to their dorms with the mechanisms in his weapons reverting themselves back to their initial state, grumbling the whole time during the journey while Obsidian watched with a smirk.

=

=

=

Grabbing one of the many bacon sandwiches that were on one of the buffet trays, Obsidian made his way to an empty space in the cafeteria with his tray in hand, biting on the sandwich in the meantime.

'Seriously, this food is good.'

"I wonder what kind of spices are in this; I can taste the paprika and a touch of siracha, but what is this overwhelming sweetness?"

Quartz, ever the cook of the house, was questioned with a confused look at the sandwich when Obsidian's vision suddenly noted that there was a leg that's extending outwards from a nearby seat in his intended direction. Guessing that the guy or gal was getting out of their table, he easily raised his leg in time to dodge an event on the first day alone before making his way to the table that caught his eye —

A sudden tug on his hoodie's hood caused him to stop abruptly, almost dropping the tray filled with food on his hand. Looking back after taking a bite of the sandwich, he was confronted by a group of Huntsmen-in-Training.

His eyes glanced at the arm tugging on his hood and then at the perpetrator, who had a smirk. This was... Cardin Winchester, same year as him, no? From the Team CRDL. Did he do something?

"Yes?"

"You almost hit my leg earlier, dude. I just want to talk about it, right, guys?"

Hearing a herd of agreements from the other gentlemen, Obsidian took a moment to register what he just said before taking another bite from his sandwich.

"Sorry, if that's what you want me to say."

"Say, aren't you a little too young to be here, kid? Shorter than most guys our age."

One member voiced out with a grin; that was Sky Lard, if he remembered correctly. And he wasn't that short. He's at least 5'6". That's near the average, mind you! A sudden arm landed on his shoulder and slung it to the other shoulder. Another voice, Russel Thrush, permeated from behind.

"Yeah, surprised that Beacon's allowing a kid to even attend."

"Must be connections; I heard from a guy that he faked his Initiation video."

Dove Bronzewing said with a stern look as Obsidian watched everything that's going on without saying anything, feeling confused on how to act. Feeling something heading towards his head, he instinctively ducked, dodging a slap by Sky, who went for a light strike to the back of his head.

"... Oh. OHHHH... Dude, you're getting bullied."

Quartz connected the dots with a snap of his fingers; Obsidian, however, looked conflicted, ignoring the looks that he was currently subjected to as he continued his conversation with Quartz.

'Really? I mean, this may be some kind of friend stuff.'

"I don't know, maybe? This might be some kind of banter in this current generation; I don't really have a basis to go off since you didn't make any friends in Signal."

'Haha, blame me for everything, huh? But seriously, it could be something else too. It's not like there'll be a bullying group on day one of school, right?'

A sudden fist appeared in front of his face, causing Obsidian to react instantly, moving his free arm that's not being held and letting the fist move along his forearm, letting it redirect to another direction. His body moved in conjunction, spinning in place to push all the people surrounding him.

Clicking his tongue, Cardin, who was pushed a few steps back, cracked his fingers ominously and walked towards him with a sneer painting his face.

"Seems like you don't know the pecking order around here, you damn brat!"

"Definitely bullying."

Taking the last bite of the sandwich, he placed his tray on the table next to him gently before squaring his shoulders. Eyeing at his four now-relegated enemies, he raised his arms up and got into a boxing orthodox stance, using his lead arm to give a finger gesture to come and get it.

The sneer turned into rage as Cardin reeled his backarm with the intention of punching the snot out of Obsidian, only to stop and walk away with his hands in his pockets. Confused, he lowered his guard before the doors of the cafeteria opened, revealing to be the school's faculty teachers entering for their breakfast.

Cardin's eyes met his, and the guy simply glared at him before walking away with the group hurrying to his side. Obsidian's eyes lingered on the retreating figures of Team CRDL before taking a seat at the table next to him, where he placed his tray and started eating his breakfast.

"Congratulations. I think you just made four enemies in the first day alone. That's a world record, alright."

"Correction, it's more of a "definitely" instead of a "just." Ugh, what a headache."

He suppressed the urge to facepalm, looking at the time on the large clock on the ceiling wall. It was already near 7:40. Classes start at 8, so he should hurry up with his breakfast. He dug into his chicken hash and eggs, savoring the taste with a groan of pleasure. 

Holy cow, the flavors just mesh together so damn well; the chicken was perfect, juicy yet tender, while the hash was just exquisite with the amount of spices it packed. Don't get him started with the scrambled eggs; they just send fireworks onto his tongue; it was as if he were in foodie wonderland. 

"By the Gods, what were the lunch ladies cooking with this?"

'Perfection, Q. Perfection.'

Sipping his morning coffee, he sighed in relaxation before going back to his meal. Eating the hearty breakfast in front of him with joy, he soon forgot about the encounter that just happened, along with the missing siblings that he usually accompanies during breakfast.