Summoning, specifically through Glyphs, was interesting.
Adam's trunk held the magical rod as his right fist tore through a rolling Boarbatusk, his other hand carefully swinging a twin headed King Taijitu serpent. Too fast and the stupid thing would just tear apart. Honestly a terrible weapon, even if the attempts were very fulfilling.
Point was, his Spiritual power set now had blue patterns, 'Glyphs', etched into the white 'Tithe' cards hanging on the white 'Purification' cords on his red spirit Gate. 'Binding', the black cords that wrapped his soul up like a holiday present, now twisted nearly invisibly with 'Purification' ropes like a shadow. That said, the blue 'Glyphs' on the many cards were not identical... and kept shifting as they filled with more information.
The snake split into smaller chunks again after only a few slams into the advancing crowd.
Worthless. At least the gorillas, the Beringel Grimm, were able to hold together long enough to take a few opponents down a limb or two.
He used his now free hands to grip his weapon, the rod's blue magical stone crashing into rocky soil and piercing deep while blue flames swirled around him.
The Grimm screamed.
Anyway, 'Glyphs' could theoretically do a lot, but the reason HE had access to the stupid thing was a combination of picking the most expensive 'Transfer' options and letting Simmy pick how to enter the Realm. Yes, he grabbed the options for the full language package, no higher powers, and other such choices... but he also selected 'Determine Parentage' and 'Inserted into History'. At the time they were just costly choices, but it had certainly been a risk in retrospect.
His arm tore internal muscles and ligaments again, his fault. Tried to change direction too quickly. 'Recovery' helped make the recovered parts adapt to prevent similar issues as he absently used his trunk to tear the embedded fang fragment out of his torn shoulder.
Point was, he was technically a bastard Schnee Faunus from a (hopefully) fictional family branch. Because if they were NOT fictional, then they and an entire town had not only existed but had been wiped out in the wild to a Grimm incursion. Realm insertion needed a story that didn't introduce OTHER people or some such complications to keep things simpler for the user, but he was pretty sure it wasn't spawning people just to kill for a convenient excuse.
After all, that kind of option WAS an option for Transfer, and Squishy had blocked that pile of stupid early on in his career. Thank goodness.
Arms busy, Adam growled and kicked the lunging Beowolf hard. The pieces of meat pierced a gorilla like monster... another Beringel? Point was, two down for one kick. Messed up the footing though, which was frustrating enough with all these corpse pieces scattered. Better start shifting the fight to a less damaged area.
So summoning. No idea how to use Glyphs normally, but Simmy helped hijack the spiritual Summoning function of Glyphs (which were even now being enhanced as they absorbed all his runic knowledge) to allow direct kami to matter conversion. Heck, her new body was damn close to pure organic other than some Shard stuff in her brain, and she was loving how sensitive her 'Faunus' body was compared to Endbringer material. Plus, as a Summon, death just sends her back to Adam's soul.
He frowned, black ooze sliding off his suit. Does that mean if HE dies he would go back into his own soul? Huh.
Anyway, if used normally only defeated foes could be summoned (Hense him being able to call the Simurgh)... but a bit of modification to the pattern by Simmy allowed Adam to summon himself as long as his soul was in the area. Implying that he had defeated himself. Maybe emotionally? Or something.
It was... odd.
He flinched as something tore through his spine and shoulders, his reflex smashing a massive fanged mouth into fragments as 'Recovery' analyzed the acidic spit used. His body shifted as the wound evaporated away, his glare focused on the three bear like Ursa that had helped the recently deceased creature to get that swing in. A stomp hurled his massive form over to the presumptuous bastards, hands clawing for grip.
Making his body this way with summoning did have some downsides. No unicorn bones meant no magic, the biggest flaw so far. Using the Rod was a workaround really, but the change was noticeable by a lot. He also had far weaker flesh than expected, although that was being modified moment to moment as 'Recovery' tested different solutions during combat.
But the upsides?
Creatures in this Realm were half flesh, half spiritual. Soul based abilities used over generations had made biology adapt to unusual energies, and even the most basic of Aura not only protected the physical bodies but helped them to regenerate from harm. And he was beginning to believe that Dust, the materials that saved Humanity and Faunus kind from death to the Grimm in the past, was solidified faith. It would explain why a rock could enhance abilities powered by soul energy.
These Humans and Faunus of Remnant, they evolved with faith as a weapon. That... had potential.
And though Adam's body was mostly a native Faunus, most people in this Realm relied on their Soul, their Aura, to absorb damage, to heal, to fight. Their bodies were fairly standard if they ran out of Aura shielding, and many didn't bother with excessive physical training or whatever when such a convenient method would enable superhuman feats.
Then again, Adam saw an advantage to having a body that could ignore blades and laugh at explosives.
And when it came to adaptation and evolution, to biological enhancement... Adam had significant experience.
His torso twisted, his right fist smashing with the wrath of God into black flesh, the force rippling the meat into liquid even as his hand opened to snag the next victim. The ground here was a bit too unstable, partial collapses forcing him to jump to better advantage during the conflict. Some part inside also winced: Two thirds of this continent of Menagerie was desert, worthless... and his fight was not doing this fairly green terrain any favors. He would have to use 'Growth' and such to fix everything up later on. Anyway.
The summoning method Simmy designed did have an additional cost though, if not a noticeable one energy wise. He had to store beings in his soul to summon first of all, which was simple enough... but he also had to allocate one of his own power sockets for the summon's use when called forth. It wasn't a permanent thing, and dispelling Simmy would have everything back... but it felt ticklish as hell. Still, it was fine. Like all summonings, while physical they HAD to follow any and all orders Adam gave, otherwise past defeated foes summoned would just kill you when called.
Besides, Simmy was really enjoying the Magical Socket. 'Harmony' was fully in use, and she was enthralled.
Adam screamed in glorious anger, the active 'Purification' allowing him to cause serious damage while only equipping 'Recovery' for this battle... for this refinement. His hands clawed through teeth and skin, has trunk absently bashing foes with each smack of the Rod causing a flame flare. His eyes flared as he fought ever more fiercely.
Every twist taught 'Recovery' how to enhance a body with faith. Each injury showed how faith and magic could work together. Each torn muscle and cracked bone explored how to enhance muscles without going beyond biology, how to strengthen bone without losing impact absorption. Changes became cheaper, more optimized, and more rugged.
Every punch taught Adam how to not overbalance, how to not over commit. It wasn't a fighting style, it wasn't something taught by masters of a lifetime to a student in need... it was a more basic, an angry set of intuitive strikes and guards. Barely enough to be considered a street brawling style. What little value this 'style' had grew as he experienced a continuous fight in (sort of) deadly conditions.
Every Grimm death and corpse caused twisted black energies captured by the flesh and blood to be exposed to the air. The constant 'Purification' empowered flames from his weapon was transforming the smog into delicious temptation... the army of Grim even now was being slowly pulled toward the fighting Faunus.
His body was soaked in blood from many healed wounds, liquid that evaporate with the intense blue flames that washed over the area with sinister intentions. Something about the pure violence and lack of moral restrictions helped calm the energy he had been overloaded with for weeks now. Squishy watched closely, modifying power pathways and enhancing her control of the energy source.
And while the initial cost of summoning himself without providing a body first was high, now that it was done he could just store the spiritual bodies of himself and Simmy in his soul until needed again. A permanent project safely tucked away. Finally, there was a target for this raw power from Lung's corpse, one that could handle the strain and benefit from it. No longer would unguided energy build up and begin to pressure his soul.
The convenience of not having to build a body every time he took a trip was just icing on the cake, the real prize was having a set of test form bodies for enhancement that wouldn't need resetting every journey. One that even now, fighting in the outside world, was absorbing the overcharged internal power that had built up in his soul these past days.
Later he could design magical bones reinforced with faith, later he could analyze Grimm for possible use a disposable puppet armies, later he could ask Simmy about why she was making an aircraft currently fleeing the area head towards some very dangerous territory.
His jaw snarled, muscles tensed, as he gripped the rod by the magical rock and stabbed the sharpened black shaft through the skull of another Goliath, the white bone armor snapping loudly as the elephantine scream was cut short.
Blue fire purified the beast from within as Adam turned towards more stress relief monsters.
Right now, he had a fight to enjoy.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Ghira watched technicians try to get the relay communication tower repaired. The spare parts were being modified where needed, but progress was coming along nicely.
Sienna Khan, bouncing next to him, was not nearly as composed. "And then he grabbed an Ursa by the skull, like a pebble or something, and threw it at a Nevermore! Like... Straight in the air, not enough time to even arc, just a massive bear shaped hole in that flying Grimm bastard! I'm not even sure he was AIMING for it, some sort of sixth sense just made him slap some awesome into the death bird!"
He withheld a sigh.
He was grateful, no doubt. Even now, a line of Grimm were desperately consuming each other and tearing black flesh and white bone in a protective circle around the city. A MASSIVE circle. And that Angel (Nude!? WHY!?) was even now randomly grabbing abandoned knives, halberds, spears and other such abandoned weapons and tossing them with terrifying accuracy at various flying Grimm trying to get closer.
But despite his appreciation, he was a bit annoyed that his second in command had gone full fan-girl.
Her orange eyes sparkled against her dark skin, tiger ears twitching. "I didn't even know you COULD suplex a Goliath!"
He heard chuckling from behind before welcomed arms gave a tight hug. "I see Sienna is still enthusiastic over our friendly stranger's ongoing campaign?"
Ghira twisted, pulling his sweet Kali into a deep kiss before nestling against her neck, his arms tightly hugging her close. "I am so glad your division held out."
He felt her chuckle. "Casualties are not only surprisingly light, but we actually have only a few deaths so far. The battle goes beyond well."
Inwardly he sighed. No one fought the Grimm without a price, even if the cost of NOT fighting was far more unimaginable. "I originally hoped the giant could hold the storm for a few minutes... but he may still be battling strong by the time Vale forces arrives."
She pulled back, her black cat ears upright. "You mean we actually DO have reinforcements coming!?"
Ghira's smile was far less stressed. "Not from those Mistral bastards, but Ozpin owed me a drink or two. He got the signal before the tower was assaulted by those Nevermore ranged feather attacks, and I know he will be heading here already."
They blinked as a form dashed close to them. "Ooh! Hey Kali, have you checked out the Grimm blood circle? I don't know art, but I think it's forming some fairly awesome patterns with the splatter!" Sienna suddenly frowned. "Wait... those patterns weren't that clear an hour ago. And... are they starting to glow!?"
Everyone, even the body guards, snapped their attention to the distant corpse line, ignore the blue flames and screams beyond. Black blood was etched into the soil... very unnaturally. Clear shapes where soaked earth bordered untouched land, harsh contrasts that had NOT been apparent originally. Pulsing patterns, with a near black glow that struggled against unseen bonds.
They... sort of looked like Glyphs.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Simmy continued her work. Spirit collection, spirit purification, spirit binding: rune after rune were analyzed, converted into the relevant Glyphs, reviewed more, examined for compatibility, and so forth.
Using telepathy to squish these Grimm or twisting their desires inwards was fine enough, but why waste all this energy filled fluid? If ignored, it would simply evaporate back into nature.
Better to fuel some faith wards.
She couldn't actually activate them, being an extension of Adam's existence at the moment and only having the Magic Socket available to herself, but 'Harmony' DID allow her to bind the rage, the mindless hate, and so forth into the pattern.
She had predictions on what would come from this, but then again magic and belief could mess with those...
So what would happen when raw hate was used to power purification runes? How vicious would the warding system be with the life blood of the foe used for construction? How much Grimm blood could she force into such complicated runes without causing an explosion of negative energy?
It should be interesting to find out.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Commander Travis shuddered, his body twitching.
But he had escaped the chasing Grimm. That massive swarm that came out of nowhere was gone, distracted by his wise choices and quick conviction.
He checked the bandaging on his left arm, the Bullhead jerking in flight due to his lack of attention. It was fine.
Lesser men than he would have gone down in a 'blaze of glory' or whatever, but he knew better.
The bandages were fine. It was fine.
He was very smart. Very smart.
Travis carefully wiped more brain off the window. Very hard to see with the mess. An order to clean the cockpit was ignored again by the body parts near the door. Lazy bastards.
Still, despite his good decisions and command talents, he wished he had killed his men more slowly. The corpses launched from the ship did distract the following Grimm, even if some of the less patriotic assholes had tried to resist his wise... his...
He was very smart. And this was a good idea.
Point was, a lucky shot from one of the soon-to-be-decoy's had made him one handed, and now that the screaming had stopped and it was easier to think... to...
He was very wise. Saved all kinds of time, and he wouldn't have to fill out as much paperwork now. "Squad died." Very quick, and he once he got home he could collect his funds and resources because... because...
He wanted to... donate? To...
Something inside him twitched, and he nodded at how good an idea it was to do certain things. He didn't need all those credits, and his armor was covered in blood and organs anyway, why not sell it? And his squad didn't need those accounts at this point, they were too busy being sorted alphabetically by torso meat length in the cargo bay. At least they knew how to stay on task. Yes, silent majority probably won in this case, and those credits would be needed elsewhere at some point.
This was a good idea. He just knew it.
