Chapter 6: Descent

Author's Note: Here we go again, back with my shitty ass fanfic

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Art 47. Mercenaries

1. A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.2. A mercenary is any person who:

(a) is especially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;

(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;

(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party;(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

If, after a regular trial, a captured soldier is found to be a mercenary, then he can expect treatment as a common criminal and may face execution. As mercenary soldiers may not qualify as PoWs, they cannot expect repatriation at war's end

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I pressed the trigger

One shot, two, three, four. The rhythmic motion was repeated carefully as I took down the remaining Grimm in the radius

With each bullets I fired, the Grimm burst into a mass of shadowy material before dispersing in the air. There were no flesh and bone where they once stood aside from the ashen remains of darkness

The first mercenary contract turned out to be more tedious than I expected

So far the ones I've encountered are small armor-less Beowolf and the occasional Ursa. Under the bushy area, the airborne Nevermore cannot correctly locate me with thier attacks so I made sure to stay under the radar

265/400 enemies left

Goddamn, this area is infested with the things. I grumbled under my breath and moved forward. My combat knife was thrown aside after the first few dozens kills, their edges having been dulled after slicing apart so many of them

Now my patience is running out. This mission is going a lot slower than I thought it'd be

I'll just have to make it faster

[Assault] clas has been selected

Assault third skill: [Explosive Cluster] has been equipped

I pulled out the mines and set them against the ground.

The skill chosen will expand the area of effect on my explosives, while I could purchase extra mines from the store with points. If I just spread them inconspicouously on the ground, the resulting explosion will multiply in power

First I ran through the clearing. The detonator was settled in my hand as I lured as many Beowolf as I can toward the set area planted with numerous explosives of my choosing

Second, I set the timing to aggro the Nevermores above by blindfiring them with my rifle

Their growling black forms soon formed into a small crowd. From the crowd more join in, resulting in a horde chasing me down across the forest...right toward the trap I had set out for them

Unfortunately, I would also be caught inside the bomb's range with them. Fortunately, death is not a new experience for me. In the end, it's simply fair trading one of my many deaths for one of my many inconveniences  

"Boom"

I pressed the button, and light filled my vision

An explosion rocked the clearing, followed by multiple others that burst forward as they leveled the grounds beneath us apart.

The heat incinerated the Grimm inside the radius, with the others standing at far back turned to mush at the shockwave that slammed to them miliseconds later. For a moment the sky flashed a dome of red, then just as sudden as it has appeared, the explosion died down

The revival system kicked in. When I opened my eyes, I was left amidst a field of smoking dirts and lingering ashes

Not a Grimm was left standing. Those that did perish to nothingness before my eyes

"Hell yeah!" I screamed. Just as I thought, explosives do really get the job done

Maybe I should have been a demoman instead of a sniper. Who knows I have a knack for it?

Contract fulfilled. The outpost has been cleared of Grimm

Reward:

- 5,000 points

"Bloody hell. Now to return to Vale" I closed my eyes and shut off the window. The Fast Travel feature activated as that same feeling of weightlessness overtook my senses again

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the grass where I last took off. The horse lied by my side, having ingested it's fill of food around here and contend to rest by me. Checking myself sees that I am still in one piece, I let out a sigh

So this is what combats with Grimm feels like

It was surprisingly...easy

They are beasts. Fighting them makes me feel less like a mercenary and more like a cleaner whose job is to flush out the trash from one's abode. Their mindless moves almost bore me, and tearing through their numbers yields the same interest as repeatedly punching a bag of banana over and over

On the battlefield, where you fight agaisnt actual human, there tends to be struggle and violence. You know you're not fighting something supernatural, but an extension of your kin. People that speaks like you, love like you, have a culture of their own just like you. That's what makes fighting them harder

That's what makes killing them more interesting

For each kill you know you're taking away someone's life from the people around them. The satisfaction of knowing your efforts are rewarded by the value of the ones you eliminated - like defeating a high-leveled NPC in Dark Souls instead of those mindless slasher game

It does not stop at only that. Even if I were to headshot a Nevermore mid-flight or execute a quickscope to the charging Beowolf I'd never be able to earn points. With a human, however, just doing either of them is enough to be rewarded for the potential to get stronger

I stopped. For a moment, my mind blanked

Did I just compare murdering people to playing games?

A basin of cold water was poured on my psyche, cooling off the turmoil inside. Instantly I calmed down, mind whirring to thoughts to analyze this sudden revelation

That...even in my past life I can't even shoot a man without crying rivers of tears

But I clearly didn't, not even when I massacred entire units of soldiers in the most brutal way posiible

For all the people I've killed until now, I've stayed collected through it all. How can a normal person like me remain calm after doing such blood-wrenching deeds? I just saw the game system and immediately assume it's a game I'm playing. It is only until now I realize something was mentally affecting me

And then it clicked. I sat straighter. Of course

The Gamer power. Though this is an altered version of it, some basis still stays the same in under different form. [Gamer's Mind] is no different from it.

A skill that let people sees the world around them as a game, preventing mental effects that may hinder their thought processing such as fear, hesitation, anger, and unnecessary emotions. A hack bullshit skill that ramp up one's efficiency on par with a cyborg while still maintaining their humanity. If I am reborn with a game system, chances are I have this secretly added into my skill list at one point in time

Surprising. How interesting

How should I use this power to my advantage? Considering I still retains normal social responses, is there an emotional trigger to this skill? A threshold to which it will be activated if crossed? It won't be a surprise if there are any side effect from this emotional suppressor that may affect my fighting ability

At the moment, I decied to look at this as a plus rather than an inconvenience. I'm in the middle of a war and not to keen on catching some of that good old world war PTSD, so the emotional check is somewhat appreciated

So, the question is...is this process a passive one, or can I freely control my emotions?

So many possibilities....

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I awoke to a rising sun

Thankfully, it was not Japan's rising sun

Memories of last night came up. I wiped my eyes and yawned, feeling the sleepiness go away at the flick of command. Like a pull of a trigger, all the fatigue in my body shattered away

I should find myself a town to rest in, or a way into the Kingdom without getting noticed. If all else fails I'd have spent myself outdoor once again, which is something I'm not keen on doing

Thinking so, I reached toward my bag

The map unfoldded in front of my eyes, five main continents and seven different red marks circling around them greeted me back. I traced through possible places where I could hide out for the time being

"As expected, it's too far from here to any of the other Kingdoms" I muttered "The barriers both natural and manmade are going to be a problem too. my best option is here in Vale"

That's ridiculous in itself, considering I technically killed a squad of military officials and supposedly stole enemy information from them, that would clasify me as a traitor. Remaining here and gettting caught would be...bad to say the least

Thankfully, I realized security would be somewhat less tight in sub-urban areas. That means there are several available locations for me to stay and establish a base of my own

Now only to find the most secured place out of these seven

Three is too close to Northern border for my taste. Two is on active grounds with groups of bandits migrating from Mistral. One is marked out because apparently some sort of military campaign is going on there, which mean their force will mostly be concentrated in that same location

That leaves out one single option

I narrowed my eyes at the red circle in front of me. On it, a single name lies as if to remind me of this world I found myself in

Patch

The island of Patch is my only choice

A sigh escaped my lip. There's no escaping this is there?

I stood up from my spot and walked up to the horse. He neighed upon seeing me

Come to think of it, despite having travelled with him for more than a week, I haven't got him a proper name, have I? Maybe it's now time to do that to make him my official companion

My hand reached out and placed upon his nose. I affectionately rubbed it

"What will I name you?" I asked myself as I stared into his eyes. Those eyes of an animal created by the system.

It is supposed to be just a system purchase, but the emotions inside the horse felt as though they contain nothing short of loyalty and devotion to their master. To me this is a living being worthy of attention, and so I need something to remember it by

Finally, I decided on a name. It's a meaningless jumble of words, but it sounds good so I will name it so

"Juan. Your name will be Juan"

Juan neighed

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"You call for me, great leader Salem?"

The smell of smoke filled the room, courtesy of the cigarette pressed between the woman's teeth

Twin crimson eyes narrowed at her. Cinder stood ramrod straight, her emotionless face not giving out the tension underneath. Even the soldiers behind her found themselves unconsciously straightening their backs at her stare

Salem slowly set the rolled up cigarette on the ashtray beside her. The woman tapped her finger on the grand desk in front of her as she took a sip of whiskey

"Standard Atlesian beverage" She breathed in "It is said that all good drinks comes in this place. Did you know, before the fall of Mantle's society as a whole, it would be considered normal for a man to be drunk on Vodka 24/7?"

"No, mein Chancellor, I do not"

"That it is, Cinder. When I first reentered this forbidden sanctuary, it is not to a paradise of the people, but rather the capitalistic greed of corporate materialized into a Kingdom itself" She laughed "Oh, how times have changed"

"Please elaborate as to your intent on summoning me here"

"Ah, yes. I assume you heard of the situation regarding Vale's Northern Pine front last week?"

"Yes, my Chancellor, I have" Cinder bowed "Rest assured that our intelligence departments are searching carefully in any leaks of information, as well as conducting investigations into the case itself"

It is an event that had puzzled the army on both side

9/21/1913. Due to political reasons Mistralian forces stormed the border of Vale in a declaration of war. The tree huggers returned in kind with fierce counterattacks, setting up camps along the North to reinforce their positions. The two sides, over long period of time across the barren wasteland, had resulted in trench warfare being initiated with neither of them backing down

On that day, over hundreds of kilometers of dirt were dug up to form fortified dug-out. Two parallels that faced each other in a battle that stretched to miles - of which lined with soldiers, and mortal rains death upon them

The conflicts raged on for a few months with little progress being made. Thousands of lives were drained away, with the rest slowly bleeding out on the mortal trenches. It would seem as though the two fronts have entered a stalemate

That is, until Atlas secretly offered them a solution

"The tanks we've sent is transparrently a success. In less than 30 hours of arrival we've successfully sieged the trenches using tactics adopted from Atlesian's pre-GW warfare"

"I see. Then would you kindly re-explain to me how we managed to lose half those tanks within the next 12 hours, and a majority off our forces situated on the sieged front?"

"That is what we're working on...Ma'am" She hesitated. The subtle squirming did not escape her leader's attention "Though we have encountered some rather tight ends as of late"

"Ah. Then tell me what you have found, dear Cinder"

It was not a request. It was a subtle order laced with a hint of dark promises in it

Cinder and the rest of the guards tensed

Salem is not a kind leader, as contrary to her public image would make you believe. This is one of the rare instance she'd shown her true nature to the world

A monster if nothing else.

"Of course, main Chancellor" She glanced away and back, tugging at her collar "Our accomplices on the enemy's front reports no activities being conducted to warrant such a huge collapse in mobile unit. However, we have our own reasons to believe this is the work of one man"

"One man?"

A raised eyebrow

"you mean to tell me , Cinder, that the combined effort of our technology and Mistral's ground forces failed to stop the attack of one man, and suffered for it?"

"Yes, Ma'am" She swallowed "It is the hypothesis we came up with based on the evidence we found"

The file on Salem's table has been a compressed version of it. Several observational notes attached to a series of evidence obtained from real life eyewitnesses

Having read through them, the thing laid open. The commander's eyes narrowed

"Suppose that I do believe you, what countermeasures have been laid out in light of this discovery? How would you deal with a man who is seemingly unkillable?"

"Doctor Watts's division have been notified of the problem and is working on preventative counters, but they are purely hypothetical in nature considering we does not know how the soldier's ability works" She reported the news cordially "Logistics suggest us to put the matter on hold until matters on Mistralian naval front have been resolved. Once that happens, the administration power will be freed up enough for use"

"That may take some time. For now we'll just focus with our little ptoject in Vale" Salem ordered. She nodded "How have matters pertaining to the other Kingdom progressed? I trust that everything is going well?"

"Of course, great leader. Things are transiting smoothly. Vacuo is on the fence about joining another Great War, but has shown an inclination to make allies with our side if we win  the Vale fronts that are crucial to their national defense"

"And Menagerie?"

"Chaos. They split between supporting our war effort and taking arms of their own. I reckon they'd have their own agenda in this world war, but it is too soon to determine the outcome with perfect consistency" She reported "We are working to come to a consensus. It is important to put ourself ahead of the other Kingdoms in our effort to win this war and establish domination across the world"

Salem uncrossed her arm and poured herself another glass of Whisky. Instead of stopping, she took out another glass and filled them

"Acceptable" She brought the glass to her lips, a bright cherry pink color with the scent of alcohol lingered on them as she smile

"Join me for a drink, Cinder?"

"Gladly, my chancellor" She took a seat opposite to her leader and carefully raise the glass, carefully not to drink too much so as to embarass herself "If I may ask you a question?"

"Lucky for you, I am in what you would call a good mood. Proceed with your question"

"Is this soldier" She shifted in her seat, coughing "Is the reason you're focused on this individual, is because they are somehow related to the Wizard?"

Salem stopped. She mulled the question over

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the room, making Cinder squirmed in her seat as she was reminded of how much of a landmine this topic can be for her leader

In her eyes, Cinder could see the contemplation of not the charismatic supreme leader of Atlas, but a cruel witch who just wants to see the world burn

Of course, the correlation between calling the woman a "witch" while talking to her about the "wizard" is enough to make a connection to their real identities, and only through his name did her trigger came loose

"Ah, old Ozpin" She smiled, relaxing into her seat. A lone sweat trickled down Cinder's brow

"The last time we saw him, I shot the man thirty six times didn't I?"

"Thirty seven, mein Chancellor. You then descrate his body in dog feces before hanging him in front of the tower of Vale in the middle of a television braodcast"

"It's been two years and I'm still regretting not making his death a little bit slower...more agonizing" The witch took a sip from her glass "But that is of the past, and this is of the present. I believe there are no connection between this soldier and the greatest thorn in my side throughout much of history"

"How can you be so sure?

"Simply put, Ozpin's immortality is of a different kind.  His body can be destroyed, but he will find a new host to possess" Salem hummed "Think of it like this: He has a soul that is everlasting, but the shell, that is the human bodies he reside in, are ultimately disposable vessel"

"The second point, it takes time to properly intergrate one'a soul into a foreign body. The process take weeks, months, or even years to manifest and become usable"

No, rather than that, it is best if she did not jump to the worst case scenario

"From the file you sent me, it seems more possible for the soldier to be an exceptional Specialist with regenerative Semblance. Those are rare, but ultimately not unique throughout much of the pre-World War era"

"I see" Nodding, Cinder quickly finish the glass of alcohol in her hand and set it on the table. She stood up and salute

"Well then, mein chancellor. Since our primary conversation have ended may I excuse myself to perform my duty?"

"Of course, commander Fall, dismissed"

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Meanwhile on the ciast of Vale, a lone soldier receive a shocking news in the form of a forgotten newspaper picked on the bench

"THE FUCK?!"

I yelled, ignoring the shocked stare sent my way in favor of quickly scamming through the rest of the news article

The papers in my hand wrinkled due to the force I am gripping them with. Calm as I am, it still couldn't contain the dread filling in my stomach

Culprit in Assassination of Prominent Politician Ozpin Still Unclear

After 10 months of continuous searching, national authority have encountered a dead end in the investigation of...

It was a simple thing that caught his eye, but this will ultinately change the course of direction for (Y/n)'s new mission in this new world

"What the fuck am I suppose to do now?!"

I groaned, tossing the paper to a nearby trashcan