Playing For Keeps - Ch 56 (Adv) - SSSNburst (Patreon)

“–and so it is my great delight to announce, in cooperation with the Roma Familia, that I will be escorting young Jaune to Yakushi General Hospital tomorrow to provide healing to as many patients as we are able!” Leonardo’s voice carried easily across the refectory, and the assembled students broke into applause.

This was not what I thought he meant by ‘making an announcement’! I resisted the urge to grimace, keeping a pleasant smile on my face by the grace of [Eagle’s Splendor] as I got to my feet and waved from the seat on Leonardo’s right.

[Eagle’s Splendor has increased by 1!]

Fortunately, I was also assisted by something I’d earned last night, but had decided to sleep on.

[You have maxed out [Deception Acting]! Please select a Mastery Bonus for [Deception Acting]:]

ConfabulatorEven when caught in falsehoods, you pile lie upon lie.Repeated lies are more convincing.

The Show Must Go OnNo matter how bad things look, you always appear poised.Immunity to performance anxiety.

Well, that’s easy enough, for once. ‘Come rain, come shine, come snow, come sleet… [The Show Must Go On]’.

[Acting (Passive) LV MAX][An ability to lead others to believe what you want them to believe. There are many ways to deceive others, but your preference is to embody your own truth for the purpose of convincing or inspiring others.][Passively increases CHA by 50%][50% increased chance to deceive a skeptical target.][Mastery Bonus – The Show Must Go On: Immunity to performance anxiety. Physical and mental stress and maluses cannot break your façade.]

Finally got rid of the struck-through ‘Deception’, huh? Considering the changes to the description, I guess I really have fully developed the skill into [Acting].

While I was eating with the teachers as the Headmaster’s guest, it seemed Haven students took their meals at long tables with benches, apparently arranged by year to judge by the level spreads I could see. I caught Neptune’s eye at the leftmost table and gave a wink as he politely applauded.

Halfway down the table, I also spied the back of a familiar mint-green head.

‹The Thief›LV 51Emerald Sustrai

Hmm, she’s gone up slightly since October. Guess that’s not a huge surprise in sevenish months.

Mercury was nowhere to be seen, but right across from Emerald was someone whose attention I’d have preferred to avoid.

‹Ashes To Ashes›LV 106Cinder Fall

She was clapping sedately, one eyebrow raised in curiosity, and I forced myself to continue looking around the room. That’s not the biggest level gulf I’ve fought across — Tyrian must be higher but it’s still enough to make me nervous… and that’s if she’s not hiding her power like the big shots seem to be able to do. Which is entirely possible, because I still don’t understand how that works.

Cinder is presenting higher than Ozpin, after all; I need to take that seriously. Even if we consider him an outlier, she’s also presenting higher than Glynda, and I genuinely don’t think I could step to Glynda if she got serious.

“In addition,” Leonardo went on once the clapping finished. “To demonstrate Haven’s continuing commitment to the people of Mistral, I have requested our own Team SSSN to accompany Jaune — please join me after breakfast for the details, gentlemen.”

The applause was far louder this time, rent with cheers and whistles. The students nearest to Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet clapped them on the shoulders, and at the sophomore table a girl even held up a poster with their faces on it. Man, I thought that was a joke for the tournament.

“As Hunters, being friendly, approachable, and trustworthy to those we protect is every bit as important as combating the enemy we protect them from,” Leonardo finished. “While we do not wish to swarm the hospital en masse, I encourage you all to keep this responsibility in mind as you move about the city. Now, back to your meals!”

I suppose I’ll be keeping [Eagle’s Splendor] running nonstop today, just like at Beacon, I decided, cutting into the same cheesy pancake, apparently called tyriipanyaki, or just tyriipan. Really want this recipe. Mental note.

[Mental note added!]

“–glad to have you guys along for the humanitarian part of this, because that’s very much real. But the other part is also real, so when I give the signal, you three are to fall back,” I emphasized to SSN as they stood in Lionheart’s office twenty minutes later. “We have the sting operation in hand; your only task is to protect the closest patients.”

“This is not an aspersion on your abilities, gentlemen,” Leonardo assured them, easily playing conciliator to my overbearing. “You are one of our most promising first-year teams and I expect great things from you in the future. I would not have recommended you for this role if I didn’t believe you were mature enough to follow orders meant for your own and others’ protection.”

“Seriously, you guys are not ready for combat on this level,” I said, shaking my head.

“But you are?” Sage demanded, looking between me and Lionheart with a mutinous expression.

“I stopped your wound-up punch cold, without Aura,” I reminded him. “Not to put too fine a point on it, but how many Named Grimm have you Hunted and killed?”

“I am ashamed to admit, I myself was not a match for our target,” said Lionheart, drawing all of their attention back to himself. “Look there.” He pointed behind them, at the series of scorches still visible on the walls where the wallpaper was burnt away, leaving blackened stone beneath. “The man we’re discussing approached me here, in my own office, and nearly killed me. I wasn’t able to even touch his Aura.”

“I also have a professional license, a documented history of punching well above my weight class, and both a Master Huntsman and an Atlesian Specialist directly backing me up,” I ticked my advantages off on my fingers.

“You have been taught the importance of filling your assigned role by Professor Diamantopoulou,” Leonardo tried. “Direct engagement is not always the highest priority. I cannot in good conscience approve of you fighting this enemy.”

Sage was still furious. Neptune and Scarlet didn’t speak up, but they also looked disgruntled at the order.

“This isn’t going to convince them,” I sighed. “We’ve already pulled them out of class; is there an open arena we can use, Sir?” I asked Leonardo, addressing him politely as Headmaster. Then, knowing it would piss them off, I looked back at SSN. “I’ll take you all on.”

Rather than ask if I was sure, Leonardo gauged SSN’s reactions for himself, let out a sigh of his own, and sat down at his desk to use his computer. “Yes, Gamma is free,” he said after a moment. “Let’s–” He stopped talking as his Scroll rang. Glancing at it, he clicked his tongue. “I have to take this if we are to execute the plan. Gentlemen, please show Mr Arc down to Gamma. Come back here when you’re done; if you cannot come to an agreement after your spar, I will review the footage and render a final decision.”

“Yessir,” said Neptune, filling in as deputy leader.

Team SSSN seemed to be local celebrities within the school, because traversing the halls with them had drawn attention. Heads turned to follow us, and by the time we found the specified arena I could hear rumors flying about me ‘auditioning’ to fill in for Sun. Have to ask what that’s about… presumably the reason Leonardo tapped them in the first place?

Ten minutes later, SSN was geared up and rejoined me in a circular room with a domed ceiling that looked a lot like Glynda’s classroom, right down to the seats rising in levels like bleachers. A few students, presumably those with a free period after breakfast, were sitting in little clumps, chattering excitedly. Just like at breakfast, there were actually a couple students holding up signs and posters of the team or its members. Someone even pulled out a speaker to provide a musical track, with several members of the crowd singing along, drawing smiles from SSN.

You are my star, you are the one,You make me smile when the world's come undone;You are the one who sweeps me off my feet~!You totally rock, you're crazy and cool,Everything's all that I love about you.Girl of my dreams, you would make my life complete~!

[BGM Unlocked! – “Not Fall in Love with You” by SSSNburst (composed by Jeff Williams)]

SSSNburst? Are they actually a boyband; that’s not just a character design trivia? I concealed a grimace, glancing over their heads.

‹Steadfast As The Tide›LV 25Neptune Vasilias

‹All Goes If Courage Goes›LV 21Scarlet David

‹A Man Alone Hath Lost›LV 26Sage Ayana

Hell, I just wanted to prove a point, not chump them in front of fans… Maybe I should make a show of it, let them strut their stuff a little. I’ve got forty levels on Scarlet; I can still make my point without crushing them.

I was already wearing my Combat armor set: the cuirass Wayland had made to replace my breastplate covering me from neck to waist; along with pauldrons, rerebraces, vambraces, fingerless gloves, reinforced jeans, poleyns, greaves, and boots. The only thing I’d had to change was pulling out my helmet, which I usually skipped when sparring.

I really need to pick up some cuisses for my thighs, I mused as Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet took their places. It’s just about the only major point I’ve left uncovered. I was worried about the bulk, but at this point I should probably just commission a complete suit of plate and be done with it.

“You sure you wanna do this with a crowd, man?” Neptune called. Knowing him, he was probably being genuine… but his pride was stung, and it was clearly also a taunt. I could hear the audience laughing and swooning. …Still shouldn’t crush them outright, I reminded myself. I’m gonna heal them regardless, but no need to tell them up front.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” I smirked, drawing jeers and mutters from the audience. Using my black scroll again, I used Leonardo’s secretary’s access to cue up a timer in Arena Gamma. “We’ll start on the bell,” I said. “You want to stop at yellow or red? Bearing in mind you’ll have to go to class afterward.”

“Red,” they all said at once. Neptune was off to one side, his weapon in the form of a gun, while Scarlet was directly behind Sage, using his teammate’s bulk to screen him from sight.

“Suit yourselves,” I shrugged, programming the arena for the specified conditions. Once it was set, I drew the the Family Sword and attached the Scroll to the back of the shield. My Aura needs to be as full as possible; this has to look effortless.

[Duel Alert!]

[Combatants: Jaune Arc vs. Sage Ayana, Scarlet David, and Neptune Vasilias]

[Victory Conditions: Reduce all opponents’ HP to 25% or obtain a surrender.]

[Loss Conditions: Surrender, be reduced to 25% HP]

[Victory: 3000 EXP, Team SSSN will accept your temporary leadership, increased closeness with Team SSSN, increased reputation with Haven Academy, increased reputation with Mistral, increased reputation with Roma Familia.]

[Loss: 300 EXP, Team SSSN may disregard your orders, decreased reputation with Team SSSN, decreased reputation with Haven Academy, decreased reputation with Mistral, decreased reputation with Roma Familia.]

As the clock ticked down from :10 to :00, I switched to my [Initiate] title for the extended buff duration and activated my buffs one by one. [Reinforcement], [Bull’s Strength], [Bear’s Endurance], and [Cat’s Grace] joined the already-active [Eagle’s Splendor], which I decided to leave running in light of us having drawn an audience. That’s 158 MP/min, I calculated with :05 left on the countdown. Buffs are fiftyish percent longer with this title. Red Aura is at 25%, so once [Aura] disables my regen I’ll have a bit over thirty minutes assuming I don’t spend MP on anything else.

The timer hit zero with a sharp buzz, and I activated [Aura]. The usual white-gold shimmer enveloped me, and I didn’t so much as blink when Neptune’s spray of covering fire plinked off it, failing to penetrate [Steadfast] after [Bludgeoning Resistance] and therefore not even depleting my MP.

Calculated risk paid off, Neptune’s bullets can be ignored with everything active, I thought as Sage charged, heaving his greatsword overhead for a massive downward slash. Now that would probably break through the hardening and hit my Aura, so let’s just– Planting my feet, I brought my shield up to catch the blow, bracing with the Family Sword’s pommel just as the huge sword connected to angle the strike down past me.

To his credit, Sage followed through with his blow after deflection, bending at the waist to allow Scarlet to hop up on his back and slash at my head with their cutlass. I caught it on my sword’s inverted blade, then lifted a foot and kicked Sage’s hand. His Aura flared to keep his fingerbones from breaking against my boot’s steel toecap, but his sword was jarred loose all the same. First ‘blood’ to me.

Keeping Scarlet’s sword locked against mine, I brought my shield back down and rammed Sage with it. Putting my shoulder behind it let me apply all near-500 points of STR, knocking him ass over elbows and sending Scarlet tumbling to the ground as a consequence…

Except Scarlet didn’t fall as expected; instead they turned a frontflip and slashed at my back as they drifted downward, gliding behind me just as Neptune slid forward with his weapon shifted into a trident, Shock Dust-generated electricity crackling between the prongs.

Lips pursed in approval, I nodded. Not bad.

Half-turning, I brought the Family Sword around to engage Scarlet again and caught the trident on my shield at the same time. [Shield Mastery] and the poise from [Steadfast] let me hold my ground against Neptune, and while shocks crackled along the metal and my arm, the [Defender] mastery bonus and [Shock Resistance] cut the damage by two-thirds, reducing it to a tingle that couldn’t break through [Steadfast] any more than his bullets had.

I exchanged a few strokes with Scarlet, blocking two more jabs from Neptune who wasn’t anywhere close to hitting as hard or as fast as Indigo. At the same time, [Detect Aura] told me Sage was five meters from my location and approaching rapidly, presumably having recovered his weapon, so I decided, That’s enough of playing defense.

Tightening my grip on the Family Sword, I met Scarlet’s next attack with a [Parry], sending his swing wide. Then I let go of the shield’s hand grip, letting it hang from the strap as I took a step backward and grabbed Neptune’s trident just under the head. Faster than he could react, I yanked Neptune off-balance, pivoting on my heel to toss him into Scarlet in a move I had shamelessly stolen from Qrow. Continuing that motion, I threw the trident like a javelin at Sage, who had to break off his charge to deflect it.

Twirling the Family Sword ostentatiously, I rushed at Sage myself, forcing him onto the back foot. He was surprisingly solid on defense, reliably getting his greatsword between us as I slashed and circled him. Didn’t make any move to stop me from repositioning though… I wonder if he’s not used to an opponent with higher STR?

Shrugging mentally, I lashed out at Sage’s head. When he blocked it, I planted a thrust kick in his stomach instead, driving him backward in time for Neptune and Scarlet to have to juke around him. This time Neptune engaged me, shifting his weapon into a guandao that once again crackled with Spark Dust. My Shield handled it fine, and just a few return slashes dropped him into the yellow. Scarlet drew their pistol, taking several potshots which I ignored just like Neptune’s gun. Why is it so hard to get an even fight? I’m constantly either punching way up or way down…

Growling, Sage came at me again, but couldn’t get a clear swing as I circled to my left, constantly putting Neptune between us and relying on [Shield Mastery] to make sure the latter’s shocks didn’t break through [Steadfast]. Scarlet had given up firing and was trying to get behind me. Not getting closer though…

There was a chunk! sound from that direction, but I couldn’t turn to deal with whatever Scarlet was doing as Sage suddenly leapt clear over Neptune’s head with his blade positioned for a downward stab. I dropped to a knee and held my shield over my head, deflecting Neptune’s attempted slash by planting my own sword against the floor.

A cable and hook wrapped around my upraised arm, extending in Scarlet’s direction, and I remembered, That’s right, there’s a grapnel in the pistol! Thinking fast, I let go of the Family Sword, leaving it stabbed into the floor, and grabbed the cable with my freed hand just as they tried to yank my shield aside to leave me wide open for Sage. Damn, that’s a pretty solid combo. Okay, they’ve shown off enough, I need to finish this before they come up with something I can’t brush off.

Sage landed on my shield, and before he could jump off, I bent at the waist and snapped both my shield and Scarlet’s grapple forward. As I’d hoped, Scarlet had wrapped the cable around their own wrist for leverage, meaning that instead of the gun flying out of their hand, they were dragged forward with all my STR. My shield tilting and lowering all but flung Sage in an unsuspecting Neptune’s direction, and a moment later Scarlet sailed over my head to land on top of their teammates.

Hopping back to my feet, I ran a quick circle around them on the ground, using the cable still wrapped around my wrist to tangle the three of them up. Making a second revolution, I snatched up the Family Sword again on the way past. By now most of the cord was wound around them, so I just hauled back and started whacking them.

Neptune’s Aura dropped into the red after two hits, and Scarlet’s after three. Sage took six, but since none of them could get away he gave up struggling after four. The buzzer sounded immediately afterward, echoing around the arena, and the audience was dead silent.

[Duel Alert!: Jaune Arc vs. Sage Ayana, Scarlet David, and Neptune Vasilias]

[Result: Victory!]

[You have gained 4200 EXP! Temporary leadership of Team SSSN established. Increased closeness with Sage Ayana. Increased closeness with Scarlet David. Increased closeness with Neptune Vasilias. Increased reputation with Haven Academy. Increased reputation with Mistral. Increased reputation with Roma Familia.]

No way to condense those alerts, huh? I guess they’re all individually important…

I cut off my buffs as I disentangled Scarlet’s grapple from first my wrist, then from SSN. I offered Sage a hand, and he stared at it for a moment before grabbing my wrist so I could haul him to his feet.

As I helped Scarlet and Neptune up as well, though, someone started clapping.

“Pretty impressive.” I looked up and had to hold in a curse. I’d sensed Cinder joining the crowd — her magic was impossible to miss, and her Aura also dwarfed almost everyone in the school — but I didn’t recognize the feel of her companions yet.

‹The Butcher›LV 61Mercury Black

“Your Aura seems to be in pretty decent shape still,” he said, glancing between the jumbotron and me with a cocky smirk. “You up for another round?”

Name: Jaune ArcLevel: 61 (Next: 74.91%)Title: InitiateRace: HumanAge: 18Job: Journeyman HuntsmanClass: PaladinSemblance: The GamerHP: 8301/8301MP: 3987/4461STR: 223 (100)CON: 279 (102)DEX: 162 (54)INT: 136 (51)WIS: 110 (52)CHA: 156 (53)Points: 112Money: 1,008,990LStatus: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]

A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server at https://discord.gg/H6V854Fvbg

The name of Yakushi Hospital comes from Yakushi Nyorai (薬師如来), which is the Japanese name for Bhaiṣajyaguru (Sanskrit: भैषज्यगुरु), the Buddha of medicine. He is also associated strongly with a precious stone called vaiḍūrya (Sanskrit: वैडूर्य) which is generally held to be lapis lazuli, so I’ll probably make sure there’s blue decorations everywhere on the hospital.

Tyriipanyaki is a frankensteining of tyrí (Greek: τυρί, ‘cheese’), pan (Japanese: パン, ‘bread, pastry’), and yaki (Japanese: 焼き, ‘grilled, toasted’); a Remnan name for the same Sfakianópita (Greek: Σφακιανόπιτα) from Chapter 45.

Diamantopoulou (Greek: Διαμαντοπούλου) is the feminine patronymic of Diamantis (Διαμάντης), a given name derived from diamanti (διαμάντι, ‘diamond’) — so Professor Diamontopolou is ‘daughter of diamond’. Haven gotta have teachers too.