No knowledge of any of these stories is required beforehand.
For anybody who hasn't read the Korean Manhwa Solo Leveling please note that this will spoil the entire story to some degree. This features the main character, Sung Jin-Woo, many years after the end of the story. In this AU, he never fell in love with Cha Hae-In. Makes things easier for this story. Everything else is canon.
This is a RWBY AU. Specifically, mostly AU elements being stolen directly from the fanfiction on FF.net and AO3 called 'The Name of the Game'.
The story itself is a 'Gamer Fic' but that's not the important bit for me. The AU pulls the gender imbalance card after the Great War, and Jaunes dad has two wives. As the insert learns about the family, it becomes clear something is really wrong at home, which comes to a head near the end of the fic (its not complete, or even close, and hasn't been updated in 4 years, RIP) where the MC finally meets dad and moms, and they do a tournament sort of thing to check on their kids strength and whatnot.
Before that point, even though Jaune literally died and forgot all his memories (replaced by SI) they never came to check on him, and aren't home except for maybe 1 or 2 days a month. And holidays.
Dad is an asshole cunt, Moms are marginally better but don't do anything to stop said asshole, and at that point the Dad fires his ultralaserbeam finger gun at Jaune and he lives because of several reasons, but it pisses everyone off blah blah. Still Moms won't do anything about it, so he's like 'Peace!'
Anyway, I've always imagined a character coming in who takes over Jaune in that sense... and Just stomps the everloving shit out of the dad.
That's it.
Then I re-read Solo Leveling, because I got to 160 (at the time it was current) or around there, then waited a while, and I didn't know it finished til I came back and was like :O
No way.
Anyway, the MC from Solo Leveling could clown on literally everyone and their moms and the Grimm and their mom at the same time. With ease.
AND to top it all off, he is devoted to his family. Its a point strongly made several times.
I decided it was perfect, and here we are.
If you haven't read Solo Leveling, and don't care, read on. If you want to know why I recommend it, read below.
Solo Leveling is a Korean Manhwa, which is like Japanese Manga, except in color.
Solo Leveling is a gamer story that lends itself to epic battles, overcoming significant odds, and amazing moments of revelation.
The story, as told through a comic format, is good. I enjoyed it, and though its hardly the craziest story with a billion twists and turns, it doesn't suffer from that fact.
The art is amazingly good, and is a significant part of the reason this story is so epic.
If you like action its a great Manhwa. Basically, if you don't want it spoiled, read it first. As this character variant is one way past the end of the story.
'The Name of the Game' is a smutty gamer story. This includes, at the end of the story as it stands, something like 4/7 of the dudes sisters.
That is not the case here. This is mostly going to be focused on the family and Jin-Woo's efforts to help them all out. That said, Joan is a special case. She's a little crazy.
Also, I'm going to write Sung Jin-Woo's name as 'Jinwoo' to preserve my poor little fingers. Makes it easier for people to pronounce. Sung is his last name.
Chapter 1:
When he first heard the plea drop into the realm of Death like a drop of water falling into a placid lake, Jinwoo nearly did what he always did. After all, this was hardly the first time such a thing had happened - the dying thoughts and memories of people were frequently strong enough to leave an impression or 'residue' as to what they were doing.
For some reason, whether it be mere chance or idle curiosity, he took a glance in its metaphorical direction rather than ignore it as he always did. For all his strength, he couldn't help everyone, nor did he want to. Family came first - always.
But… His mother and sister are gone now. Sure, Jinah had married and had children, and then they too had children of their own, but it wasn't the same. He loved them and cared for them, but in a world that was no longer in danger he wasn't needed like he was before. They didn't need him.
Orcs weren't going to suddenly appear in their school, and while his shadows followed all members of the family, they weren't needed for anything. He snorted - his shadow's got more use as manual laborers than protectors these days. Not that they minded, or could mind, but it felt mildly disrespectful to him.
His army, his soldiers who fought and died countless times to save humanity, were now used to bring in the groceries. Or to help move appliances. Or to reach something in a high cupboard.
They'd helped him gather crystals and other materials before, but that was always in the name of earning money to advance their cause and, though he didn't know it at the time, protecting the world itself from the Monarch of Destruction. It had a purpose, an end goal that pushed his progress forward and helped him protect everyone. Now they were like a tool of convenience, and it didn't sit right with him.
So, whether by cosmic luck, boredom, or some other incalculable factor, Sung Jinwoo listened to the plea of a dying boy.
=-=
He stood, and though he had no tears left to cry anymore he felt like he would have if he'd heard such a thing a few years prior. Such an earnest request… They didn't want to be saved. Not for themselves, anyway. They didn't want a Deus Ex Machina to come right their terrible decision, no second chance, they only wanted one thing.
To make sure they died without regret, for they loved their family and they would exist in the afterlife with eternal remorse if they didn't at least tell them that one last time.
Jinwoo could remember it, as crystal clear as the day it had happened, the feelings wrought by the attack on his sister. His high orcs weren't strong enough to fend off the more numerous orcs, and especially not the boss monster who left the gate looking to satisfy the message pounding through his head. Kill the humans.
Kaisel, the wyvern mount of the once-Demon King Baran, had flown him there with barely a moment to spare and he saved Jinah from certain death. The twisted feeling in his gut and iron weight that was born from the moment he realized what was happening and only dispersed once she was safe in his arms was all too memorable to him, even now.
Perhaps it was on a whim, perhaps it was because Jinwoo was the type of person to reverse time and throw himself into an impossible fight just to spare the world, but primarily his family, from sadness and grief. After all, if it was in his power to do something for his family, then it was done.
Perhaps he was tired, and wanted to see what would happen.
Regardless of the reason why, he acknowledged the boy's plea, and vanished from his castle as his spirit was sucked through what felt like a straw and into the realm of Death and was sent blasting through it.
Jaune Arc felt the small amount of lifeblood he had left slipping through his fingers, clenched against the gushing puncture wound in his abdomen. The Grimm circled him and prepared to finish off its prey with one last attack, ending their charade of a fight. What had he been thinking?
Oh right, he hadn't been. Take the sword Jaune, it'll be fine. Oh, you have no training? Doesn't matter, you're armed and dangerous Jaune!
No aura? Who needs that, you're and Arc after all, you were born for this!
What bullshit. Now he was going to die and go down in the annals of history as the Arc that died young and left all seven of his sisters to fend for themselves. Not that they need my help anyway.
Even Jun was stronger than him. The youngest sister. And she could kick his ass seven ways from Sunday if the mood struck her.
What use was he to them? He could fetch things for them, he supposed. Get them a nice glass of water. Maybe cook them a delicious meal. But fight for them? Please.
What a joke.
And now, regardless of that fact, he knew one thing with an absolute certainty in his mind - he might have been useless, he might have been utterly idiotic and rude and brash, but they loved him.
They were his sisters, so of course he loved them right back, though he wasn't always the best at showing it. And now… and now he was going to die. Without a reason. For no good cause.
They would find his body, chewed up and mangled, rotting in the damned forest, and be horrified. Both at his fate and for the terrible, no-good, Brothers-forsaken reason he was out here!
Because there wasn't a damn reason for him to be out here risking his life at all.
Please, he prayed. Don't let my decisions hurt my family. They don't deserve it… He pictured his cute little sister's face when she learned what happened to him and it ripped his heart in two. Or the eldest, Joan, who had been a mother to him in the absence of his actual parents and had doted on him endlessly. Or any of the other's, who'd taken their own turns at playing parent when Joan was busy.
Sure, he might have been an ass, but they all cared, just like he did.
So he continued praying, since there was no way in hell he was going to be able to block the damned Beowolf that was about to eat him for lunch. This has nothing to do with them… so please help me. Even if I die, I at least want them to know I love them. That Jun is the best little sister a brother could ask for, that this isn't Joan's fault… That Lily would forgive him the pain he would bring to their family.
He wished that Jane and Jean, the redheaded twins, would learn they are worth their weight in gold, and that they didn't have to take him to the school dance - any boy, or girl, would be the luckiest person alive to be with them.
Even the rest… I might not be as close with them but they deserve happiness. Please… Just tell them they're cared for and loved. That they deserve happiness. That… I'll greet them all with a smile and love in my heart when I see them again, whenever that might be.
Please.
Anything.
Take of me everything, I beg of you.
Just don't let this be the end.
As Jaune slumped over, no longer having the energy to hold himself up, he waited for the pain that would undoubtedly come shortly after his weakness was exposed, as Grimm fangs sunk into his flesh.
He continued waiting, but the pain never came. Keeled over, he forced an eye open, if only to learn why he wasn't dead yet. From his sideways point of view, he could have sworn he saw a giant bipedal ant single-handedly lifting the Beowolf into the air. As his mind grew foggier and his vision dimmed, the ant-creature crushed the Grimm's head with a loud crunch as its white mask disintegrated from the force, and it turned a many-faceted eye in his direction.
"Be grateful my liege has answered your call, human. Witness his glory! He comes!"
Jaune's fading mind processed those words, and was unprepared for the deafening screech the strange ant unleashed, howling its victory to the sky.
As the last vestiges of life fled the Arc's body, he felt something enter his mind, his very soul. It was infinite in depth and size, yet somehow able to fit his form. His vision swam and crystallized for a brief moment, and it was as if he was looking through a million pairs of eyes at once. Jaune fell into an endless abyss and witnessed an army of infinite size, composed of creatures of every shape and size, all made of shadows of the purest black, colored with purples and blues that shone with brilliant intensity.
Knights, mages, orcs, giants, angels, massive bears… What were they? No, that was the wrong question. Where was he, and why was he here? Did he die?
He could still feel his tenuous grasp on life, if barely. Was he still dying?
Before he could contemplate further, his vision shifted, appearing in front of a man dressed in black. Jaune's eyes met the other man's sharply glowing purple ones and he was at once impressed by the feeling of a great weight behind his gaze, and unspeakable power.
"I have heard your call, and I have answered. Your desire to love and protect your family will be fulfilled, if you wish."
Jaune answered without needing to think about it.
"Of course." For all Jaune was a fool, a complete and utter bumbling idiot, he knew in his heart of hearts that he wouldn't get away unscathed, or free. "What will it cost?"
The man in black smiled ever so slightly. "From you? Everything. I am too late to save your soul from departing to the afterlife, sadly. From here I cannot raise you as a shadow soldier, and the only way for me to manifest myself into your reality is by creating a massive gate and undoubtedly causing quite a scene. I doubt your family would want a caricature of what you once were… Which leaves us with the only other option I can think of, though it is up to you."
He paused for a moment, and Jaune could have sworn he saw a hint of sadness in his glowing eyes. "I can do what was done to me originally, after a fashion. I can subsume your body and for a time, I will be Jaune Arc, the brother to your sisters. I cannot pretend to be you, but I will do my utmost to earn their trust and protect them anyway."
He grimaced slightly, before smoothing out his features. "Truth be told I'd much rather have just healed you and been done with it… But as it is I was too late, so we're left with all the undesirable options. What would you have me do, within my power, to help you, Jaune Arc?"
Jaune pondered and thought about what would be best for his sisters. Although he didn't entirely understand the true ramifications of either, and his inability to determine if the man in black was telling him the truth or not made it all the harder, he knew which he would prefer.
After all, the man said he could arrive into the world without his permission or not, so it's not like he was allowing some great evil into the world. The man was already here, and could arrive whether Jaune did anything or not. Plus he'd shown up for him, and had somehow heard his desperate prayer. Was he a god?
Maybe.
Even if he wasn't, if he could protect those he loved… That was all that mattered.
"Take my body. Use it well, and protect my family. If they learn the truth about my death… Tell them I'll be waiting for them on the other side. Tell them I don't expect to see them for many, many years. And lastly, make sure they know I loved them. Love them when I cannot. Care for them, ensure their health and happiness. Do that, and I will be eternally grateful."
His piece said, Jaune's spirit, soul, or whatever he might be, used the last of its energy and faded away into the ether.
The man in black bowed solemnly where Jaune once floated. "For such an earnest request… I can do nothing but my utmost to fulfill it. So be it, Jaune Arc."
The brief words said were enough for him, and Sung Jinwoo finalized the connection between the dying warmth of Jaune's body and his own spirit form, and utilized a customized version of the System that the Architect had left behind to ensure his new form didn't simply collapse under the weight of its new existence. It would facilitate its growth rapidly, allowing it to endure his full self in just a few days.
Jinwoo's consciousness rose to enter Jaune's old body, and felt the System initialize.
Jinwoo opened his eyes, immediately adapting to the light shining in from the open window. The drab white aesthetic and smells immediately brought him back to the two times he'd awoken in the hospital during the Monarch war. This time, however, he was still at the peak of his power, rather than still powerless and utterly drained, respectively. And he actually had some idea of what was going on. That made a significant difference, he found.
Beside the window, he noticed what was most likely one of Jaune's - his - sisters. She had long blond hair and radiant features, and wore a comfy looking blue sweater, jeans, and a nice pair of heeled boots. She was also snoring and her head looked like it was bent at an uncomfortable angle, sleeping in a chair that looked in no way shape or form fit for resting in.
A gentle smile was born on his face as he took in the scene. This was most likely one of the people he was sent to protect and care for, so he drank in their features and memorized their appearance. Several shadows split off from his own and merged with hers, watchful eyes to ensure she never became endangered.
His shifting in the bed seemed to wake her up, as she slowly shifted into an upright position. Blinking several times, she finally acknowledged his presence, brilliant blue eyes checking over him, as if to ensure he remained unchanged since she'd last been awake.
"You're awake. How are you feeling, Jaune?" She spoke gently, as though she was trying to comfort him or keep him calm. Which was fair, he supposed. He'd just woken up after… How long was he out for anyway?
Not only that, but how did he want to approach this? He could tell the truth… or he could feign amnesia. Which would be all too easy to do, since he really didn't know anything about her or this world. Not only that, but they were much more likely to trust him if they still thought he was their brother that couldn't remember them, rather than the Shadow Monarch, God of Death that happened to take an interest in him and took his body as Jaune himself perished.
It was also much harder to explain. Well, Jinwoo could never be called lazy, but that didn't mean he liked working harder than he had to.
"Physically, I'm feeling totally fine. Mentally, I don't know who you are and have absolutely no memories of… Anyone. I'm sorry, what's your name?"
He sincerely doubted there was anything in existence on this planet that could actually hurt him anyway. The same creature that had killed Jaune would much sooner break its teeth on his skin than puncture it.
A pained look crossed the blonde's face, though she smothered it quickly. She stood and approached him, wrapping him in a tight hug. It stretched a little further than the range in which Jinwoo considered 'normal' but he was newly awakened, so it was fair. She held him at arm's length and spoke.
"Well, first things first, your name is Jaune Arc. I'm your oldest sister, Joan Arc. You have six other sisters who you'll eventually meet, including the youngest, Jun, who's home right now. Let me go talk to the doctor, now that you're up. We'll see what we can do to make things right."
'Jaune' merely gave her a pained smile that wasn't terribly far from a grimace. Mainly because he knew they wouldn't be able to do anything. Jaune Arc was well and truly dead and only Jinwoo was left. Speaking of, how was he speaking their language? Maybe certain things remained…
He had learned how to speak in the tongue the monster's used thanks to the System and wasn't even conscious he was speaking a different language at the time. Maybe this was the same.
"Before I leave… Are you sure you don't remember anything? Like why you were hospitalized in the first place?" Jinwoo opted to raise his hand and wiggle it in a 'so-so' motion.
"Flashes and snippets. Nothing before that though. I think there was some kind of creature? And a forest. I don't remember anything at all past that." Technically the truth, Beru, the ultimate superweapon of the S-Tier Jeju Island raid, had been there and reported to him the scene he'd arrived to, before promptly dispatching the creatures attacking Jaune. He'd also starting going on about how pitifully weak they were, and how he hoped 'his liege' never acquired shadow soldiers as worthless as they were. Not that Jinwoo felt he needed more, what he had was more than enough to dominate an entire world single-handedly.
Joan nodded. "You… Were attacked by Grimm, Jaune. Based on the wounds you'd received it was Beowolves, but Jun didn't find anything when she came across you."
Jinwoo nodded. "That fits what little I can remember. Thank you for your help, Joan. I appreciate it very much." He gave her a light bow of the head and a smile, hoping to convey his thanks.
The barest tinge of pink dusted her cheeks for an unknown reason. Perhaps like some people he knew, she wasn't great at receiving thanks or praise for a job well done, and got embarrassed when offered them. "Of course, Jaune. I'll be back."
In the end, he was forced to listen to his sister worriedly discuss what little she knew about 'Jaunes' new status. Options for amnesia were virtually non-existent. Any of the more advanced technology that was available and related to brain-scanning in any way was located in Atlas, and would have cost an arm and a leg to pursue. Jinwoo shot them down immediately, citing a desire to not burden his family and since he could still function normally (outside of not remembering the names or faces of his 'family' or many things about the world), but the simple reason was, of course, he knew that they wouldn't do anything.
The hospital discharged him with instructions to monitor himself for any signs of further issues such as light-headedness, dizziness, headaches, or unexpected changes. Their journey home consisted mostly of a train ride due to the distance they had to cover. The hospital he was admitted to was in Vale proper, whereas their home was further out and near the outskirts of regularly patrolled areas.
Not that the Arc's needed much help, according to Joan the stronger Grimm (the overarching classification of the creature Beru had slain) never appeared in their area and the smaller variants (such as the Beowolf) were easily taken out even by Jun, the youngest Arc. Regardless, they typically had no issues.
They reached the end of the train line and walked for a couple miles before reaching their home. Far larger than the apartment he, his mother, and his sister had once stayed in, it was a two-story house that looked fairly idyllic and comfortable. Jinwoo tried to imagine having seven sisters at once, but his brain fizzled out merely by beginning to think about such a thing.
Although he knew only one other was home at the moment, the mere thought of such a thing sent shivers down his spine. Well, maybe if they weren't all like Jinah he would be fine… Surely they would be different, right?
Shaking his head, Joan opened the front door and they entered the house together. Cool tile filled the entryway, turning into a lushly carpeted living room. They took their shoes off and Jinwoo couldn't help but revel in the sensation of his toes sinking into the carpet, having lived with hardwood floors for most of his life.
Joan was content to watch him for the moment, as he explored the space his body had previously known quite well. The hallway to the kitchen was covered in mounted photos which he began examining. The sisters were all obvious, the only problem they presented was the nearly 50/50 split between red hair and blonde hair. That didn't really make sense unless…
Looking at the 'parents' section in the back, behind all of the children, Jinwoo spotted a tall blond man he assumed was his father. He had his arms around two women, one with long, braided blond hair, and the other with dark red hair that cascaded down her back.
Joan must have seen his look of intense confusion because she stepped in to see which photo he was looking at, gently bumping into his side and maintaining contact as they stared at the small photo.
"You really don't remember anything, do you?" He shook his head in the negative.
"Not a thing." Hopefully that question would be followed by why their father apparently was… Well, he assumed not cheating since they were ALL together in the same photo. "Is this normal?"
Joan puffed some golden hair that had fallen into her face out of the way. "Not necessarily, if only because he didn't marry at least once more. Or, that he didn't at least take on a mistress."
Jinwoo merely cocked an eyebrow, demanding she continue. "It's actually pretty simple, at the end of the day. The Great War took place some 80 years ago, and the end results left humanity in a precarious position. Women now outnumber men four to one, more if Faunus are included in that number. As I said, three wives is likely more common that two at this point."
It was fairly incomprehensible to Jinwoo, but this was his new reality so it'd be better to adjust than freak out. During the Monarch War men and women were empowered in equal quantities, and consequently died in equal numbers. When he convinced the Rulers to use the Cup of Reincarnation to turn back time, the original battles' terrible losses were all undone.
Of course, he'd then spent over twenty years fighting in the crack's between dimensions, slaughtering countless monsters and every other Monarch, but that was a small price to pay to save the countless human lives that would have been lost otherwise.
So while it made no sense to him, if the mana that empowered his original world had targeted men instead of women, and nearly all of them died in the final battle, then maybe his world would have reflected this one. It was impossible to tell, and really he had no right to judge them, as he simply had no knowledge of the world or why it was the way it was.
Which simply meant he would have to learn.
"I see." Was all he said. "And how do you feel about such a thing, as a woman yourself. Have you accepted sharing your future husband with up to two other women?" Jinwoo was genuinely curious.
Joan merely shrugged. "It's been this way my entire life. I'm not a particularly stingy person, and I'm not lesbian. So if I ever want to be with someone… Well, there's not much other choice. But it's not bad. There's support for large families and everyone is more or less used to the situation by now - I wouldn't say it's ideal, but it's what we have. What can we do about it anyway? I'd rather just be happy than worry about the details that I can't do anything about."
That was certainly true. This was their reality now and there wasn't anything they could necessarily do about it - technically what they were doing (re-establishing a normal gender ratio by having lots of babies) was exactly what they needed to do. In fact, in terms of which gender was better to lose a large portion of, men were easily the better choice. Thinking of the scenario that would play out with females suddenly losing ⅔'s of their population was not worth thinking about - Jinwoo was all too familiar with the depravity of the human mind.
"That is probably the best outlook one can hope for. Where is everyone else now?" There was a brief pause which caused him to look over at her. A slight look of consternation crossed her face, but she banished it and began to speak.
"The other sisters are all either graduated from or attending huntsman academies. As a matter of fact we have at least one sister in each school, Haven, Shade, and Atlas. You were going to be attending Beacon soon, and Jun will eventually go there as well. As for the parents… Once Jun was born, they started taking up missions again. They're not home a lot, so raising the kids fell to the older sisters. We took up a kind of schedule, normally rotating about once a week so that the others can do what they need to do with their lives. The parents drop by about once a month and for holidays, but their work keeps them busy."
If Jinwoo was being particularly politically correct, he would describe that situation as 'not ideal'. When he wasn't, he would simply say 'incredibly fucked up'. Forcing your older children to literally play mom to your brood because you were busy with work? Shit, even if their work is vitally important you don't just have a family and then walk away and only come visit every once in a while. And she said it'd been that way since they had Jun?
Everyone suffered in that arrangement. The older sisters who were forced to take care of their family, the younger ones who didn't get to know their parents outside of the incredibly limited visits they get. Personally, he had no memories of it. But his anger was slowly building towards these so-called 'parents' of his.
His father had been trapped in a dungeon and had to make the impossible choice between accepting the power of the Ruler's to save the entire world or his family. Jinwoo couldn't fault him because in the end, he accepted the ultimate risk and undid their costly victory to try and get a victimless one instead.
His mother, who'd been trapped in the Eternal Slumber for years, was, from the moment he saved her, immediately back to being the most doting and caring mom she could be. Even more so, actually, as though she was trying to make up for lost time. The only reason she was ever willing to part from her children and force them to be self-sufficient before they were ready was because she had no choice.
Jinwoo might have struggled greatly as an E-Rank hunter trying to support Jinah and himself and pay the medical bills to keep their mom alive, but he kept on doing it, every single day of every week for months, then years.
He loved his family. The world could burn down around him and as long as his family was safe, he would accept that. Jinwoo was strong enough now to keep his family safe and make sure nothing like that ever happened, however.
So for these 'parents' to up and leave their kids? Sure, they probably didn't struggle monetarily, but that was a very small slice of a large pie-chart of problems lacking a proper parental figure brought on! Shit, if they'd been doing this since Jun was born, how many days has Jun even seen her parents for?
He did some rough math in his head, and didn't like the number he came up with. One day a month, plus holidays, add in a few extra surprises (he was going to assume there weren't any surprises where they didn't show up for multiple months, but he wouldn't be shocked if that was the case either). Assuming they showed up once a month, plus about 10 days each year for holidays and others… That meant Jun had seen her parents for a total of 264 days. Roughly.
Probably more, but the fact that there was a possibility it was less made Jinwoo sick to his stomach. That also didn't include the years where Jun was a baby and lacked the faculties to even know what was going on. He also didn't know exactly how old she was, so he was guesstimating a decent amount of that.
Altogether, the situation lit a fire under the Shadow Monarch and he reaffirmed Jaune's dying wish in his head. He would let them know they were loved… And he would make sure they were happy. After all, Jinwoo had already accomplished everything he'd set out for in life. He didn't have any aspirations anymore, outside of his family. So if he had to become the father figure for Jun, he would happily take that role so that the others didn't have to worry themselves.
Before all that though, he would need to learn more about the situation. Without specifics, he couldn't do anything. A general goal in mind, Jinwoo asked the pressing question that came up now that they were home. "What now?"
Joan grinned at him, unaware of the turmoil her words had generated. "The only way you could have survived your attack was by unlocking your aura, and possibly your semblance. So, now we get to train you. The parents might have refused, but now that you have it there's no more excuses."
Her smile dropped slightly. "One thing I wanted to ask about was your sudden increase in size. I didn't mention it to the doctors as we were leaving because I wanted to ask you, but you're suddenly taller than me. Do you know how that happened? I thought it might have been part of your semblance, but physical changes normally don't happen… I can't actually think of a recorded case where that happened."
Jinwoo shrugged. "I certainly feel fine physically." He rolled a shoulder and hopped on his toes to indicate that. "I'm not sure exactly what happened though, so I don't know what to tell you otherwise." Technically true, he had no idea how the System specifically worked, only that it did. He also didn't know what to tell her that wouldn't evoke a billion other questions he didn't feel like answering.
"That's fine. That's what both training and testing is for. Regardless, I don't think your old armor is going to fit comfortably… Well, go get changed… Damn, your clothes probably don't fit either. Maybe…" Joan muttered to herself for a few moments, apparently trying to figure out 'Jaunes' new clothing dilemma. "Go on up to your room and see if anything is salvageable, then come on out to the back."
He stared blankly at her for a few moments. "Where is my room, exactly?"
"Upstairs, third door on the left." Joan turned to walk away with a wave, and Jinwoo left to explore his new room.
Upon entering said room, I learned that Jaune was most certainly a teenage boy. Dirty clothes were strewn about the room, uncaring of their placement and obstruction in the room. The sheets on the bed were askew, rumpled and unused for several days. The room had a slight odor to it, undoubtedly caused by said dirty clothes.
Jinwoo sighed. Even when he was an E-Rank hunter, titled as literally the world's weakest hunter, and regardless of his struggle to do both school and partake in raids he still managed to keep his room clean. Maybe that was because he more often than not only had time to come home and collapse onto the couch or bed to rest and frantically do his laundry once he found the energy to get up again.
Then he'd go to school, attend a raid and repeat the process. Thinking back, he really didn't use his room for much of anything other than sleeping.
The Shadow Monarch, now turned back to a teenage boy, dug into his closet in search of clothes that might still fit his new frame. He couldn't be sure exactly what size the boy was before the transition, but based on the clothing sizes he'd grown at least five inches, maybe more.
Jinwoo was able to find enough clothes that fit to be serviceable in the short term, and he assumed they would go shopping later. He found himself already missing the black ensemble he normally wore. His waist size hadn't really changed, but some of the jeans had a longer length than Jaune probably needed originally. Were they bought with expectations of him growing into them? He may never know, but Jinwoo was profiting from their decision now.
The shirts were easier, as Jaune had owned several large, baggy shirts that fit him and his new build well enough. None of it was perfect, but he didn't need it to be. He didn't have an image to maintain like he did when he was young. Jaune had called him here for a specific reason, and Jinwoo wasn't going to forget it. He had sister's to protect and make happy, after all.
He made his way downstairs and to the backyard, passing by the wall of photos again with a distinct lack of Jaune appearing in most. Joan was there, talking with a smaller, red haired girl that he assumed was Jun. The wooden deck creaked as he stepped off of it and onto the grass, alerting them to his presence. Shortly after he did, said red-haired child transformed into a J.J.B.M., or a Joan to Jaun Ballistic Missile. Jinwoo was fairly confident her feet didn't touch the ground in her flight towards him.
He made sure to catch her and rapidly bled off her momentum by spinning her in an iconic 'long lost family member's reuniting' catch so she didn't break her face on his new body. The sheer exuberance and joy the girl was exuding made him laugh, before slowly swinging her back around and onto her feet in front of him. "Hey little one, you happy to see me?"
She bobbed her head excitedly. At first, Jinwoo wasn't certain exactly what to say, but thinking back again to the time Jinah nearly lost her life and the trauma that followed that, he asked the only question that mattered at the time. He made sure he made eye contact before speaking so he knew her focus was on him.
"Most important to me, besides your happiness, is are you ok?" For a brief moment, Jun (at least who he assumed was Jun) was still, before tears slowly started leaking from her eyes.
"I found you lying in the forest, bleeding Onii-chan! There was so much blood… I thought you were gonna die! And then you had to go to the hospital and you didn't wake up… and Onee-sama told me you don't remember anyone!" Jinwoo couldn't help but glance at Joan as he held the now sobbing girl at the Japanese honorifics, but she merely mouthed for him to go along with it.
Well, if he was going to be called anything…
"Jun, right?" He got one rapid nod.
"Well Jun, I'm very happy you found me. That means you saved me, you know? And yes, I might not remember much, but I promise you one thing. It might be nothing, it might mean something, I don't know, but somewhere in the back of my head, something tells me that family is the most important thing in the world to me. So sure, I might not remember much, but…"
He raised a hand and cupped it to her face. "I promise I'll learn everything I can about you all once again so I can be the best big brother in the entire world!"
Jinwoo booped her nose with his index finger. "Also if you're going to be a nerd I'd prefer to be Oppa, rather than Onii-chan."
Jun had calmed down throughout my little speech and merely sniffled every once and a while, and nodded in agreement and happiness. "Ok On… Oppa! Whatever that means."
He laughed, happy to have a cute little sister once again to play with. It had been far too long since Jinah was a cute and precocious little child. Granted, he wasn't that much older than her, but still. It was enough for him to legitimately play the big, older, protective older brother.
The Shadow Monarch glanced over Jun's shoulder and made eye contact with Joan, who held his gaze for a second before glancing away, a blush beginning to spread across her cheeks. Well, it was a pretty embarrassing thing to say out loud to both his youngest and oldest sister, so that was fair.
"Oppa means a girl's older brother! And that's what I am, so that's what you shall call me. So I decree." He snorted in amusement and ruffled Jun's hair before releasing her. "Ok, now what are we doing out here? You mentioned aura and semblance but I'm not sure what that is exactly."
Joan pulled herself together from the second-hand embarrassment he'd inflicted on her and answered. "Our goal is to verify that your aura has been unlocked, and secondly to find your semblance. Hunters, which most of our family are, go out on missions and kill Grimm, protect towns, investigate Grimm buildups and more. The Grimm are creatures theorized to be born from the hatred and ill-feelings of humanity, and are attracted to negative feelings. The stronger they are, the more delicious they appear to those monsters."
Jinwoo nodded, he remembered the wolf-like creature Beru had told him of. "They all have white masks and glowing red eyes, so they're fairly easy to identify, though they come in many different shapes and forms. Giant snakes, hunting cats, wolves, boars, bears, you name it, it probably has a Grimm form that just hasn't been seen yet. Well, as long as it's capable of hunting and killing things that is."
Maybe he could help out the local humans and assist with the Grimm problem they had. Though, if they reformed after he slaughtered them all, it would be awkward and his shadows would effectively have to cover the entire world. Not impossible, just… Not something he particularly felt like managing. As powerful and intelligent as some of his shadows were…
Tank would undoubtedly find his way back to Jinwoo just to present him with the largest Grimm head he could find, and he didn't think he would earn any points with the local population if they witnessed his ant swarm eating and swallowing whole every single Grimm in sight. He'd learned from the last time he'd left them alone in a dungeon with another party.
Plus the truth was he didn't know any of the history, facts, or other important details about the Grimm or why they existed. After all, if his own story had taught him anything, it was that surprises are a never ending constant in life. And those surprises could shatter world-views or upend everything you thought you knew.
Fucking Architect.
So Jinwoo decided to hold off on murdering the Grimm as a species if only because he still had no idea what was going on.
"Aura is the light of your soul, your very source of strength, will, and power. It enables the use of your semblance, heals damage you take, and more. Semblances themselves are unique powers that everyone with an aura has access to. Some people don't discover them for some time, others immediately. Regardless, every single one is unique to the individual. My own, for example, is technically a large shield. It has a central point and seven 'petals' as they were, that can detach and move independently of the others, and can be used offensively in that regard."
Joan walked over and placed a hand on Jun's head. "Little Jun over here can boost… Just about everything about herself with her semblance. If her aura dips too low, however, it starts to consume her fat stores and extraneous body mass, which is why she's so tiny. When she first unlocked her semblance it ran for too long."
Jinwoo took a second look at Jun with the new information Joan had given him. At first glance, she looked like your average precocious… maybe nine year old? But if what she said is true… "So how old are you Jun?"
The hyperactive ball of red hair and energy practically vibrated in place under Joan's hand before spouting out her answer. "I'm turning 13 this year Oppa! Which means I'm one step closer to being able to marry you and protect you forever!"
Jinwoo's careful control over his facial expressions, which had, in his humble opinion, up to this point been the picture of serene grace, shattered like a pretty porcelain bowl being knocked onto the ground.
Jun stomped over to Jinwoo and gave him the most determined stare he'd ever seen. He was sure his own face looked the same moments before him and Antares, the Monarch of Destruction, had faced each other down for their final fight to decide the fate of Earth.
"I promise that I'm going to be the one to marry you, Oppa, that way you never have to worry about anything ever again. And that's an Arc's promise - we never go back on our word! That's the family motto!" While Jinwoo, Monarch of Shadows, God of Death, slayer of all other Monarchs and savior of the Earth, sat utterly dumbstruck, the few higher brain functions still remaining in operation processed the fact that at least he knew the family motto now.
He paused for a moment, before he decided how he wanted to approach this situation.
"Jun… Take it from an older brother, that while I'm incredibly honored and pleased that my little sister would think soooo highly of me, and I of course am happy no other boys have caught your eye, that doesn't mean I want you to be alone forever pursuing something that's not going to be possible. Someday, you're going to meet somebody, get to know them, and decide to spend the rest of your long life with them."
He let out a deep sigh and reached out to play with her hair, gently applying pressure to the top of her head.
"You could do a lot better than an old geezer like me anyway Jun. Give it some time and you'll see."
There, an excellent, well-reasoned argument for why she shouldn't marry him. Beyond being related and all that. Any moment now, she'll calm down and reali- What's that look for? No, that's not the look of resigned acceptance on her face thats -
"No, Oppa! I found you bleeding out in the forest, nearly dead because you're an idiot! You're untrustworthy and can't take care of yourself, so I'm going to do it for you the moment I can! Hmph!" With her carefully thought out and equally well-reasoned rebuttal delivered to me, she crossed her arms and turned her head away from me and closed her eyes.
"I see… Ok Jun. I look forward to seeing your efforts." Vaguely neutral and Jinwoo can now just pray to… himself? Is there another God he can pray to in this world? Either way, he'll just have to pray she moves on and forgets about the whole thing as she gets older. Her diminished size absolutely doesn't help because he just wants to treat her like the adorable little cinnamon roll she is, but if she's nearly 13 that means she might act childish, and certainly can be, but generally kids start to grow more and more serious from that age. Hopefully this is something that doesn't stick. Please. For him? Pretty please?
Joan, the traitor, was just muffling her choking laughs from behind Jun, nearly keeling over from a sudden deprivation of oxygen. "Moving on, what do we need to do exactly? To test this?"
He was also faced with the important decision - feigning his shadow army as his semblance seemed like the best choice. That way he could use it and have people not be surprised. Either that or the ability he'd inherited from Ashborn, the Greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light, and his status as a Ruler before he became the first Shadow Monarch. Which is Ruler's Authority, or telekinesis in layman's terms. It was a great skill, with numerous applications, and one he used to great effect many times. Not only that, but it was completely free in terms of energy/mana consumption.
Which… would have been more important if his energy reserves weren't closer to infinite than not. But they were, so that aspect didn't really matter.
Much as he loved the skill, however, shadow soldiers would offer more utility. It also helped that using his more powerful soldiers would deflect questions about how strong he was. After all, if the world's weakest hunter went from nothing to something and raised the amount of questions and interest that he did, he could only imagine the questions going from someone who couldn't fight a single Grimm to being capable of subjugating the entirety of them all at once by himself would raise.
Since toppling the local government if they got handsy with him and his power would probably make his sisters sad, he'd prefer not to take any additional attention please and thank you.
His decision was made. Shadow soldiers were to be his semblance.
"First things first we'll have Jun have a go at you to see what your base speed and strength look like. Aura awakenings aren't all equal, but time and training equalize everything in the end. Let me get you a wooden sword and shield for you to try out, I know that was always your favorite to play with as a kid and even into your older years."
He raised a hand to pause that thought. "Actually… Do you have a dagger equivalent? I think I'd like to try that first. Before moving onto larger weapons." Joan gave him a small look before acquiescing. Maybe because he seemed so certain? He tried to play it off but… Jinwoo was much more of a threats and intimidation and I'll murder you and raise you into my invincible shadow army for eternity and you'll be happy about it sort of guy. Bluffing wasn't really his style.
The eldest Arc departed to a shed nearby to retrieve the weapon in question. Jun herself, apparently to be his opponent, retrieved her own wooden sword and stood ready. When Joan came back, he was presented with a slim wooden dagger that looked fairly sturdy. It wasn't as long as his normal ones were, but he could work with it. Thinking back, his daggers probably fell just shy if not directly into the 'shortsword' category. "Thanks."
She nodded back. "Ok Jun, half speed please. Let's see how he does."
"Got it, Onee-sama! Get ready Oppa, because here I come!" Without much in the way of warning, Jun rocketed towards him, sword prepared to strike. As he tracked her path, traveling just above the ground, he forced down a small smile. It reminded him of when he'd very first started - back when he was doing his daily quest to get 'fit'. When he first discovered the changes adding points into 'strength' had made to his body, and the speed he had then. Of course, he was so much faster now it was nearly incomprehensible, but seeing the smaller figure charging towards him brought back memories. Well, it was more likely his enemies saw what he was looking at right now, but still.
The time for rumination came to an end as Jun reached him. She likely wasn't trying particularly hard to actually hurt him if the basic swing she used to try and attack his side - the side holding his weapon - was any indication.
Jinwoo took a small step to his right and deflected the strike of the sword up and into the air just over his head, which he helped by crouching slightly. Without the expected resistance of both striking something or body-checking him, Jun was ill prepared to land and took a few stumbling steps to regain her balance after she flew past him.
"Whoa Oppa, that was really good! I always knew you were the coolest, you just hid your talents to make everyone think you sucked!" That… was a blow to the pride of the old Jaune, Jinwoo was sure, but… Having one sister who apparently always believed in him made him happy, even if he wasn't the same person anymore.
The gleaming red aura, or at least Jinwoo assumed it was aura, that suddenly appeared around Jun told him she was ramping up. He glanced at Joan, unsure if she was going to let it keep going or not. All he'd done was a slight deflection after all. Nothing complicated. Joan, however, had a focused look on her face and was staring at him as though trying to dissect an particularly interesting specimen she'd found.
Jun came back around, flying at him once again, faster than she was before. This time she swung her sword from his off-hand side, so he couldn't easily do what he'd done the first time. Of course, they assumed he was a novice fighter who'd never been trained. Well, technically he hadn't ever been trained, but years of experience made a most excellent teacher.
Jinwoo deflected the sword again, and since they were coming at each other with weapons in opposing hands, he also sidestepped to the right while maintaining his deflection. This meant Jun's little body traveled straight through the air where he was standing, and with him able to maintain his block, her sword arm was thrown out of balance as it was dragged up and backwards.
This time, she actually fell and ate dirt as she practically skipped across the ground like a stone across water, all of her forward momentum that was to be delivered into the strike turned into an uncontrolled bounce off the ground.
Of course, watching her do that made Jinwoo feel incredibly guilty, so he rushed after her to check on the littlest Arc sister. "Oh shit, are you okay Jun?!"
He rapidly caught up to the girl after she landed face first in the grass. His fears were quickly allayed when she popped up straight onto her feet and rounded on him with an expression of amazement. "YOU'RE SO AWESOME OPPA! Train me! Train Me! You were just like Bam and swoosh and suddenly I was going BOING!"
Jinwoo rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled awkwardly at the childish reenactment of their little bout. "While I appreciate your adoration the main problem is your feet aren't on the ground when you are taking a swing at me. All I have to do after that is… Get out of the way and make sure you don't chop me in half and your initial momentum does the rest. So maybe next time just come at me normally, eh?"
Jun's eyes were practically sparkling. "That makes a lot of sense Oppa! I always knew you were the best! Yay!"
With that said, she began skipping around the yard chanting nonsensical things under her breath. The snippets Jinwoo could catch sounded suspiciously like 'Oppa' and some variation of 'the best'.
The eldest Arc approached him while Jun had her happy fit. "That was unexpectedly good, Jaune. Did losing your memories unlock your killer instincts? Because Jun might be young, but she's fast. And quite talented for her age. Compared to your lack of training… I expected things to go very differently."
Jinwoo snorted. She wasn't wrong, that was for certain. "This situation is certainly not something I expected either, dear sister." Her cheeks were tinged with red again, but Jinwoo ignored it. "Ever since I woke up… things feel different." A drastic understatement. He would make a joke about feeling like a 'whole new man' but… It felt like it would be in bad taste since Jaune had died for this. "I'm more aware… Stronger… Faster… I feel more alive. In fact, I keep feeling something… Behind me. Based off what you said, I suspect my semblance, but I'm not sure."
With bullshit spewing forth profusely, Jinwoo marched forward. "In fact… I've noticed it moving… around me? But only as the light changes. It might have something to do with my shadow?"
Joan paused in contemplation before sneaking a glance to his side, where his shadow stretched across the ground. A quick fluctuation of his shadow soldiers ensured his shadow stretched and moved in a very unnatural way, since he was standing perfectly still.
"I'm going to have to agree with you on that one Jaune. Unless something's taken up living in your shadow, it's definitely moving on its own. That's actually really good! Being able to feel and detect your semblance already is a great sign." Under her breath he could hear her mutter. "Makes sense it's the opposite of most of ours…"
"What was that?"
"Oh, just… Most of the families, at least the childrens, semblances are tied to light somehow, like Dad. I was just musing that it made sense that of all peoples yours would go the polar opposite direction. That was all." That was a fair anecdote. Though the reason why it was the opposite was totally wrong, as Joan seemed to assume it was because Jaune was rebelling? Or something along those lines.
"I'm not too worried about it. It'll come with time. Just like my relationship to all of you guys, it'll all come back with time. Maybe not the memories themselves, but… We'll move forward. Together. I'll fight and die for my family, that much I know. What did Jun say earlier? An Arc's promise?"
Joan approached and pulled Jinwoo into a tight hug, meshing their bodies together as tightly as possible. Which was quite a bit when you are a strong huntress, apparently. If there was a little hitch in her voice, neither of them commented on it. "It seems you didn't only grow up in the physical sense, little brother. I'm so glad you're back with us. Promise you won't go and do something incredibly stupid? I wouldn't be able to bear losing you ever again."
Instead of immediately commenting, Jinwoo simply laughed and hugged her back even tighter before lifting her into the air and twirling her around as though she was the little sister. Which, to him, they all would be no matter what.
Gently setting her back down after a few moments, he held the back of her head as it was tucked up against his shoulder. This woman had cared for the entire rest of the family for her entire life. Played the mother to all of their sisters and to him. Jinwoo was hardly an expert on the matter, but he knew that children growing up without a solid support structure and rules, as well as parents to enforce them and help them grow, didn't always wind up with a healthy mindset. He didn't doubt it was possible to turn out fine in such a situation, but why take the risk?
He also wasn't doubting his sister's abilities to care for children - though what that meant to people could vary. Maybe one sister was a great mother figure, involved in the children's lives and ensuring they grew up to become intelligent and well-rounded, whereas another could be much more hands off. Still a mother figure, but different. Maybe they encouraged them in different ways, or supported them from the background.
The problem was, changing who that was every week was going to cause friction. What if one of the kids really likes one sister but another not as much? And they were forced to take the role of both mother and older sister.
It was too much.
"I'll never leave you alone again, Joan. Don't worry about a thing. I can't promise to be the Jaune you knew before… But I'll try my hardest for you guys. You're my family, and I don't know it yet but I'll love you all, I'm sure of it. You, Jun, the other sisters… I can't wait to meet them and see the fruits of you and the older sister's parenting skills. I know things will be difficult, but I'm strong now. I'll help you carry this burden that has been wrongfully set upon your shoulders. Arc's promise."
If there was a hitch before, the loud sniffles he now heard told him he'd succeeded in making her cry. Jinwoo pulled back a little ways, which Joan responded to by gripping her hands around him even tighter. He wasn't trying to get away, however, and instead stood on the tips of his toes and pulled her head against his chest, so he could properly give her a bigger, older brother's hug.
He stroked her hair in long, calming motions. "It's alright Joan, I'm not leaving anytime soon. We're in this together, alright?" She nodded against his chest.
They stood like that for several minutes, not that Jinwoo's legs needed a rest. Honestly, he could hold this pose for years without strain. Eventually, however, Joan's arms retracted from around his chest and he loosened his own grip on her head and back. Pulling away, Jinwoo was finally able to see her face dyed a lovely crimson that practically stretched down to her neck. It seemed Joan was easily embarrassed by displays of affection, which was quite cute, he found. The oldest sister who… Might unsurprisingly be unused to affection if their parents were as bad as he suspected they were. Bastards. All three parents, which he was still getting used to.
In the dying light of dusk, her golden hair wreathed by the setting sun, it was impossible to not note how absolutely stunning Joan was. Her heart-shaped face and earnest eyes made him think he would have a very hard time denying her anything she wanted in the future. As her not-actual brother, Jinwoo figured that it was fair for his brain to think that and find her attractive, but also made sure to pointedly disregard such thoughts.
This was his family now, after all.
They stood there for a few brief moments, staring into one another's eyes. Jinwoo also realized this probably looked incredibly romantic from the outside, and acknowledged that maybe Joan's embarrassment was more his fault than not.
Before he could disengage further and save them both from further awkwardness, a steely look of determination that spoke of decisions made and damnable consequences ignored appeared in her bright blue eyes. Both of her hands came up to cup his face before she leaned in and gave him a quick, chaste kiss upon his lips.
Jinwoo's mind temporarily halted yet again, and he momentarily stopped moving away as he'd started to initially. Joan's blush had gone into full nuclear meltdown, her skin starting to look more like one of his high orc's than not. When she spoke, it came as a quick babble that he only vaguely understood.
"Go ahead and practice and try and see if you can find your semblance, I'm gonna take Jun inside and check on… Things real quick. Jun! Come on, lets go!" With that, she bolted away.
Huh. Well, that happened. Even though she seemed so flustered maybe that's just how they do things on this planet? Hell, he wouldn't have been surprised to learn that some families greeted each other like that in his own world. Definitely nothing wrong here in the family where the parents just left and forced the kids to raise the others… No mental damage, problems, or issues here officer! None at all…
Deciding to shove the whole situation into a tiny box and stuff it into a long-ignored corner of his mind, Jinwoo moved on. Time to 'discover' his semblance and ignore his problems!
Making sure that neither Jun nor Joan were peaking through a window at him, he called up one of his first shadow soldiers, the knight's he'd fought when he first earned his 'class'. It materialized without even a whisper of noise and stood at attention. "Alright, Mr. Knight, we're gonna need to polish off some acting skills for a bit. Just long enough for it to make sense that I'm 'used' to my semblance. I have the utmost faith in you. Let's do this!"
He held out his hand and got an enthusiastic high five. Ya, when he said he had faith in his knights, that was an utter lie. They were better than Tank, at least, but not by much. Oh, in combat they were just fine. Looked the part of the imposing, powerful armored knight who was gonna kick some ass and take names. And they did. But outside of combat… Honestly, they acted like a giant band of hooligans. Get more than one knight in the near vicinity of each other with no other instructions and they reverted back to their mana-crystal gathering days and began stealing everything of value not nailed to the ground.
Was this his fault for using some of his soldiers as manual laborers? Maybe.
Did he find it incredibly amusing most of the time to see other's reactions to their antics? Most definitely.
Would he be summoning more than one knight for a few days at least? Definitely not.
He needed his semblance to seem like it was 'new' to him. If he was all chummy with his knight immediately then he could play it off, but it might raise some questions. So, as he said earlier, time to brush up on his non-existent acting skills. After all, the knight just had to stand there and do what he said. Jinwoo's role required slightly more.
"Well, no time like the present, I guess. Let's see what they're up to, shall we?" Sharing in the senses of the shadows he'd assigned to Joan, he realized they were in the dining room, or at least what looked like the dining room, and she was talking on the phone.
" - yes he changed for the better but that doesn't mean your decisions didn't KILL Jaune! He's not the same person he was before at all, mom! He's confident and strong, if his little bout with Jun is any indication, but none of us know him anymore. He doesn't even know himself - he just has general feelings of things that he wants to do… I will take whatever tone I damn well please when your decisions are the ones that hurt him! As a matter of fact, I'm more of his mother than you are at this point! I knew him far better than you ever did, and he's gone now… No, it is too much to expect the same results from him when you don't treat him the same as the other siblings! In what world did you expect someone who you're practically trying to exile from the family to stick around once they gained power, huh? What if he did keep his memories? What if he decided now that he could make money on his own, he would just leave and do exactly that, without your help since he wouldn't need it anymore."
Apparently he decided to listen in on a juicy conversation. While he normally didn't stoop to the level of eavesdropping on his friends and family, he really wanted to hear what they had to say.
"I don't want Oppa to leave! He just got here and he actually lets me hug him. Can't we just keep him the way he is now?" Jun was sitting in the room as well. Since he'd forgotten to earlier, he had a shadow split off to watch over her.
Joan groaned in irritation. "Jun I think this is how he is now, but don't worry about that ok? Ugh, no mom, I was just talking to Jun. Jaune is incredibly motivated now, and keeps talking about sticking around and helping us out… But even though he's only been home for a few hours I think he already dislikes you guys… Why? The few times he's mentioned looking forward to meeting 'the family' it's only ever in regards to the sisters. He's never once mentioned 'the family' in its entirety or mentioned 'parents' at all. He was also talking about helping me and taking the weight that was unfairly put on me, I think. He's already gotten a good read on the family and didn't necessarily like what he saw, mom. When you see him… Don't expect him to be happy if you can't answer his questions… You don't understand how he is now. He's different, and not in the sense he lost his memory. The way he carries himself, his confidence, everything."
There was a brief pause as Joan's mother spoke for a time.
"No, NO! You don't get to say that! You aren't here, you don't plan on coming back or changing your plans at all, and this is all your fault! Yes he's stronger! Yes he grew up and broke out of his shell just like the other seven sisters, and guess what mom? It only cost him everything. And you don't care. You don't get a say anymore! Jaune's mine to protect from your decisions, whether you think they're for his benefit or not and I won't let him go. Not that you're here enough to do anything about it even if you wanted to."
There was a resounding crack as a phone was dropped onto a table. That was… Unfortunate. But it was also enlightening. The situation was as bad as he feared. But it was also good - it meant he could begin helping out as soon as possible, rather than dithering back and forth. The more he could help his sisters, the better.
Releasing the shadow from his attention, he motioned his head forward and began to walk inside. The knight trailed dutifully behind him.
They walked through the hall full of pictures of six sisters and three parents, and made their way to the dining room.
All he had to do was introduce his shadow soldiers as his semblance, convince his oldest sister to let him take over some responsibility around the house, hopefully convince Jun not to marry him when she's old enough, and kick the asses of their parents. No big deal.
Wait, didn't Joan also say he was going to Beacon soon?
And he somehow had to get some shadows attached to all of his sisters who were a world away so he could truly protect them all.
'Jaune' let out a loud yawn, stretching his arms to the sky with several satisfying pops, before plants his hands on the bathroom counter and blearily blinking his eyes.
He got a good look at his new face, his new blond hair…
Jinwoo leaned in. Was that... No. It couldn't be.
He frantically flipped through his hair trying to find what he prayed was merely his imagination.
Nope, there it is. A singular black strand of hair, threaded in amongst the other golden locks.
Jinwoo wasn't a betting man, but he would have bet everything on the fact that 'Jaune' didn't have that hair the day before.
Thanks lol! Took a while to get approved then I hopped on a flight or I'd have responded quicker, hope you enjoy the next chapter! Won't be long, Tuesday I think.
Brief AN: I feel its important to note that despite the serious overtones that are apparent from this AU, no incest will be happening. Technically. Also, per the rules, nothing steamy is going to appear here, but on Questionable Questing there is likely to appear some additional content to the main story, that will technically be AU to this AU, but I will also note when and if an extra scene appears that can only appear on QQ but is canon to this story.
That is all. Enjoy.
Jinwoo decided making breakfast would be an excellent start to helping out Joan and Jun, and whichever sister in particular was there to take care of the rambunctious redhead in the future. Which meant he had to get over his morning freakout and the ticking clock that had appeared in the of his head. Not that he had time to freak out about it anyway.
Or rather, he did, but since the inevitable conclusion of the issue was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not, and time spent freaking out could instead be spent getting close to his sisters and setting himself up to not be lynched. That would be ideal.
In fact, so far things had gone fairly well. He'd introduced a single shadow soldier, one of the knights from his class-selection dungeon when he very first gained the ability to store and raise shadow warriors. Jun and Joan had been receptive to it and accepted it fairly quickly, not that they really had a choice. What were they going to do, accuse him of lying and actually being the inheritor of an ancient beings power that was able to summon the dead? Right.
He'd also laid the groundwork for them accepting his future summons. Jinwoo had explained to them he could feel more, but only wanted to try the one and that he would explore it more over the coming days. Of course, he would then proceed to illustrate his ability to summon more and more shadow soldiers, followed (one at a time) by his commanders and more unique choices.
Imagining the chaos raising even a single giant would cause was amusing, but probably not worth the trouble. Igris would be a great start, the crimson knight was big but leaned more towards 'peak of human development' than 'bigger than a motherfucking building'.
The others were all either too big, too intimidating… or were Beru, the talking ant superweapon… He was going to have to make sure Beru was off on independent missions with no opportunity to talk to anyone. Ever.
Every single one of Jinwoo's nieces and nephews would chortle and bow to him, saying 'My liege, how grateful I am you've blessed us with your presence' the moment they saw him. All because of that damned insect. Jinwoo had left him to watch over his sister, and later his mother when she awakened from the Eternal Slumber. As a being who didn't need to sleep, Beru would stay awake and watch period dramas featuring ancient samurai or knights who all worshiped their king, their 'liege', and raised him onto an untouchable pedestal and insisted everyone else treat him the same.
Beru had literally conscripted his knights and ants from the Jeju colony raid to build him an entire castle on the island they'd taken over without him even noticing.
His oddities aside, Beru was also an adaptive killing machine that was the only one of his shadow soldiers that could heal people. If only Min Byung-Gyu had been willing to stick around… While Jinwoo was many things, he was not an soulless monster, however, so forcing the weary spirit of the S-Rank healer to stay would have been far more cruel than he ever wanted to be. It would have been in especially bad taste, since his good friend and fellow S-Rank guildmaster was standing right next to him, begging him to let him rest.
Although… Now that he thought about it, he'd never actually needed to heal anybody when Beru wasn't around to do it. He'd also literally gained thousands of new shadow soldiers that he hadn't taken the time… ever… to properly sort through. Sure, while it was a pleasant surprise when the colossal gate over Korea actually spewed out reinforcements in the entirety of the 1st Shadow Monarch's shadow army, he was always too busy to personally see exactly what those forces entailed.
Leaving Bellion, the Grand-Marshal grade shadow who'd been leading the shadow army for far longer than Jinwoo had been alive, in charge was far more expedient.
Maybe he should actually ask him if they had more healers… That seemed like important information. It wasn't like his army could actually use them since they just regenerated from his mana, so they wouldn't have been a priority in his 27 year long crusade against the other Monarchs.
Well, that was certainly something to look into later.
The main point being, Beru was going to stay away from anyone who could possibly hear him speak unless absolutely necessary. The knights were already corrupted and bad enough…
Enough about the antics of his 'loyal' shadow army however, there was breakfast to be made. Even when he was the world's weakest hunter, he could cook. He'd been supporting Jinah and himself and she certainly wasn't going to cook. In fact, thinking about it, the only thing he remembered her actually learning to make was hot wings, the fiend. It was a good thing her husband was actually competent in the kitchen or their entire family would have had to subside on wings and takeout. Probably consisting of more wings.
[Family Matters]
Jinwoo was fairly confident he was the first one awake, because any normal human who decided to wake up at the hour he was up was somebody he didn't want to know. His current body needed some sleep, but since the spiritual conversion appeared to have already started that likely wouldn't be the case for long.
A quick checkthrough of the kitchen yielded plenty of results. All the usual suspects were present, such as eggs, bacon, orange juice, and toastable bread. Unfortunately it was so early he didn't think cooking everything right now was a good idea. It wasn't a school day, not that he knew when Jun started school anyway, and he didn't know their normal habits. Instead, he opted to have his shadow soldier's notify him when one or the other started stirring so he could begin.
Jinwoo spent some time familiarizing himself with the house and its layout before heading out to the backyard. With time to spare and little else to do, he decided it was time for his soldiers to begin exploring and learning everything they could about the world. He'd gotten access to a map and it seemed so small. The populated areas of the world were… So small. The Grimm were a more serious threat (to everyone else) than he'd originally thought.
As he'd done a million times before, Jinwoo reached into the abyss within and pulled.
"Arise."
They emerged from the ground in a torrent of inky blackness, his champions of darkness. He'd chosen to call many of his varying types of shadows that weren't obscenely large for this task - he had no doubts they would all be up to the task of slaughtering Grimm, but some would likely be better than others. He also needed to see how his weakest units fared against strong Grimm so he could get a more accurate read on their individual power levels.
The ground was no longer visible, instead turned into an ocean of blue and purple shadows. He didn't particularly feel like getting discovered on his first day, so he was swift to give them their task. "Go forth and explore. Fight the Grimm, and report to me what you've learned. Find the other continents and do the same. Protect humanity when you can. I look forward to hearing back from you."
The colossal army that had appeared from the nothing bowed in unison before vanishing into their shadow forms and rapidly traversing away from him in all directions, like an endless tide of darkness spreading itself to cover the world in its protective clutches. Which sounded a lot more ominous if one didn't know what they were doing…
Oh well. It's not like he was letting Beru roam free yet, what was the worst that could happen?
[Family Matters]
One thing Jinwoo had become curious about upon learning the fact that Grimm just… dissolve when killed, is whether he can do anything to raise one into his service. Truth be told, they didn't really seem strong enough to be worth it, and already acted like an extremely discounted version of his own power, just uncontrolled across the continents instead of focused on one person. Was there reconstitution based on mana? Or something different?
He was in an entirely new world. Maybe they had something new and never before seen (by him at least).
He was also immensely curious as to whether or not he could even have an aura. Monarchs like him (now the only one) took over their host's body in its entirety, essentially using it to tie themselves to the mortal plain and wreak havoc. In their cases, doing so also gave them the ability to die for good, which Jinwoo been grateful for when he murdered them all. He'd read enough stories about enemies that when killed just returned to their place of origin and kept on respawning and he did not want to deal with that.
Granted, he could also find them in such a place since he was one of them and murderize them there too, so it wouldn't have actually been too much of a problem but he liked to keep things simple whenever possible.
That said, if the size of one's spirit or 'soul' correlated to how much aura one has, and the difficulty in awakening it, Jinwoo was fairly confident his 'aura' either already counted as being 'activated' or was simply impossible to do so. He didn't feel like he was missing out, he was just really curious what his semblance would be if it could be awakened.
After letting his idle curiosity run away from him for a bit, the Shadow Monarch finally pulled his attention back to the present when the first of his sister's began to stir. He cracked his knuckles in preparation. "Time to get to work."
[Family Matters]
"Breakfast was so good Oppa! Where did you learn how to do that?" Joan was looking at him expectantly as well.
"Well it turns out it's really not that hard when you have a perfectly obedient second pair of hands. Shadow Knight was able to check on things and make sure nothing burned while I was handling other parts of breakfast, so I wouldn't say I'm good, I just have an unfair advantage in the kitchen." Hopefully they would buy that. Jinwoo didn't exactly try to make a Michelin star status meal but it was undoubtedly of a higher quality than Jaune would ever have been able to make.
He simply never had the need to, and was bratty enough he never offered to help his sisters. For Jinwoo, this was simply the first and easiest step in alleviating some of the burden of responsibility from his sister's shoulders. Jun obviously didn't really worry about such things, but for Joan at the moment, and whoever came to take over for her, it would be a boon. Whether they used the extra time in the mornings to just sleep, relax, or hang out with him didn't really matter, so long as they weren't working and got to decide what to do for themselves.
After all, at least one week of time was carved out of their lives to dedicate to watching a precocious little 12 year old. Sure, they were nearly young enough to leave alone, but in a world where the grim merely existed that wasn't particularly safe. Jinwoo had done some reading, and though the Grim tended to merely exist, and place pressure on anywhere that didn't have frequent cullings and hunters/huntresses watching over them, they also sometimes made moves, implying they weren't just simple beasts. At least, some of their activities seemed just pointed enough to push the edge of his disbelief.
Perhaps he was simply reading into things. He had no evidence that any sort of guiding intelligence presided over the Grimm, but after his own experiences with unending hordes of monsters and their seeming lack of leadership he'd learned things like that weren't always obvious.
He had a veritable armada of shadow soldiers scouring the land now so maybe he would learn in time.
Either way, his curiosity wouldn't be sated until he found the source of the Grimm, if only to further ensure the safety of his sisters. Even if he put them out of work. Not that he expected his soldiers to find anything soon - fast as they were, exploring multiple continents is a time consuming task. If only it turned out there was a primary controller of all the Grimm who lived in an evil castle in the middle of a barren wasteland just to stand out as much as possible…
But he didn't live in fantasyland, so he'd wait for more details before assuming the solution would be easy to come by.
That was the long term plan Jinwoo was implementing to help out his sisters, to make sure they didn't have to live in a world under siege. Short term was much simpler, as seen by the breakfast making plan.
Joan simply looked pleased at having a good lie-in. Although he had gotten the stink-eye because he'd made her scream first thing in the morning. Apparently being notified by a shadow knight appearing in her room she'd just met the day before that breakfast was ready was rather alarming. Who knew?
Jinwoo could hardly pretend to be innocent since that was exactly the reaction he was hoping for… He definitely didn't do the exact same thing to Jinah's at-the-time new date and eventual husband. It turned into a running joke that still got laughs many years later, but that first reaction was utterly priceless.
His nieces and nephews' dates were all also subjected to the same scare-tactics, much to his great amusement. Although one of them in particular never forgave him because he let Beru do the scaring… That wasn't going to happen ever again.
"I agree with Jun, brother. Even with a second pair of hands you've outdone yourself." He merely grinned at her in response.
"Speaking of outdoing oneself, would you mind telling me how exactly I supposedly got into Beacon Academy? Before I woke up with some actual combat potential?" Joan flushed and chuckled in embarrassment.
"You see, you might not remember this but you really, really wanted to become a hunter just like the rest of your sisters, and that was totally fair! Just because we weren't allowed to train you or do anything doesn't mean I wanted you to give up on your dream. Even Jun is in Signal, at least, and is preparing herself for Beacon someday, though we're trying to make sure she doesn't get snagged up early so she actually has a chance to make some friends." She ruffled the littlest sister's hair affectionately, to which she grumbled and pretended to be affronted but actually was just trying to hide the fact she was leaning into Joan's hand.
"So I may or may not have… Kind of sort of gotten your transcripts forged? And submitted them for you? And what do you know, we got an acceptance letter while you were in the hospital! Kind of funny… The timing on that." She didn't look all too pleased at it, which made sense.
After all, she'd been doing the best she could under the restrictions and idiocy of their parents, and had finally done something Jaune would have been ecstatic about. Instead of him being around to celebrate in their circumvention of the parents' rules, however, he ran out and got himself killed. To top it all off, while he was in the hospital, allowing the system to upgrade his body to withstand his full presence, Joan had received the letter. It would have been like a smack in the face, at that point.
"Allow me to thank you for doing your best to fulfill my dreams, in that case. Though I don't share that dream in the same way anymore it still fills my heart with joy to know you went to such lengths for me. I won't let you down, sis." What he wasn't saying was that he still intended to be home each and every single day. It had been a long time since Shadow Exchange had forced him to wait hours in between each swap.
Mainly, however, a hunter school would be the best place to learn about the Grimm. If his access as a student didn't reveal anything, then he would simply plunder as much knowledge as he could gather with his shadows and leave. He would explain to Joan that it simply wasn't for him and he'd changed - graduating and becoming a hunter simply wasn't his dream anymore.
On a superficial level, Jaune's dream was to become a hunter to earn the respect and love of his parents, if Jinwoo was to guess, and to be a hero. Everyone wanted to be a hero until they actually became one and learned the truth. Underneath that veneer of shallow reasons was truth, if one wanted to dig deep enough. Jaune wanted to help people - He wanted to find people who weren't as lucky as him, and lift them up.
Jinwoo knew this on a fundamental level. Jaune's dying plea was filled with far more than words; his emotions and feelings were intertwined with the last gasp of a dying boy, and as the acceptor of his request, Jinwoo had gained a fundamental understanding of the regrets the boy had held and realized in his final moments.
Though Jaune might have been a bit of an ass it seemed, deep down he'd loved his family and simply wanted the power to help people. Constantly stymied by his parents and the others' inability to help him, he'd grown more and more frustrated and upset as time had passed.
The final culmination of the frustration resulted in his death. But Jinwoo was here now, and he would make sure that his death was not in vain.
Joan gave him a warm smile of appreciation. "Of course Jaune, anything for our little brother. Besides school, what are you planning on doing? You've got about a month before it starts so Jun and I would be happy to train with you and try and help you get your semblance fully figured out, do limit testing things like that. Maybe see how strong your shadows are exactly? Or we can just hang out. I wouldn't mind having a movie night with the three of us cuddled up on the couch."
Jinwoo pondered the question carefully. He knew what his goal in general was, much like how 'making sure the Grimm don't make my sisters sad' was a goal and a project he started but had no idea how long it would take to actually accomplish. Another objective was to help his sisters, which meant things like taking care of Jun, picking her up from school, making breakfast for everyone, and probably cleaning up around the house. Unfortunately for them, his shadow knights were his best 'manual laborers' including mining crystals, being cannon fodder, dusting, doing dishes, and other menial tasks his other shadows were either too large to accomplish or simply didn't have the hands to pull off.
As amusing as it would be to watch Tusk try and do such pedestrian chores, Jinwoo imagined it would only end with him getting upset and 'Hymn of the Fire Dragon'ing the house down, so he wasn't even going to go there.
He decided on his path and answered. "Why not both? I can work out with Jun outside while you do whatever you want, you can watch us or relax, anything at all, and tonight we can all watch something. We've got all day, don't we?"
Joan nodded in agreement, a pleased smile on her face. "And what about you, Jun? Does that sound fun to you?"
The littlest redheaded sister was, once again, practically vibrating in place. "Practice with Oppa and Onee-sama? And a movie? I love it! I can't wait! Let's get started right away!" She leapt away from the table, leaving her dirty dishes at the table. Joan and Jinwoo shared an amused look before he began to pull all the dirtied plates and glasses towards himself.
"Go on and get started with her, I'll only be a second Joan. Don't want her to knock herself out because she ran face-first into a tree or something. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest with what I just saw." She snorted in agreement.
"Having you around and… present and accepting of her is perhaps the greatest thing in the world she could have imagined. I'm not sure if you quite figured it out from her declaration of her intent to marry you the other day, but she kind of looks up to and likes you. Only a little bit though."
Jinwoo rolled his eyes, still amused and only partially worried about said declaration. "I'm sure. What did she see in me anyway? From what both you and her have indicated I was kind of a butthead before… You know. Why did she like me so much?"
Joan took a moment to think, her fingers beginning to drum the table as she prepared her thoughts. "Well, for starters, she's spent a significant amount of time with you, probably more than any of the other sisters because you two were the closest in age. I think, even though she's young, she saw the difference in how you were treated and saw your never ending attempts at getting what you wanted as something to look up to. Not only that, but even though you were a brat, you still loved your sisters. And this is weird talking about you as though you're… Like two different people."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "That is the correct way of thinking about it, Joan. I am two very different people. Mainly because I have no idea what Jaune was like before. I feel differently, and though I have some things that I feel are intrinsically us, both me and Jaune of before, they are more… generalities. I love my family. I want to protect my family. Things like that. The hows and the whys of how that's shown and done are going to be irreversibly different however, because the other Jaune? He doesn't exist anymore. It's hard, I know, but it's better to know the truth than hope for something that simply can't be."
Joan's eyes were misty and her shoulders had tensed up by the time he was done speaking. Undoubtedly, this topic would never be easy, but it was important for him to drive home that point. It would make what happened later easier to accept. The Shadow Monarch approached his sister, much like in his previous life, and wrapped her in his arms to offer her comfort and protection from the evils of the world. One such evil being the sudden loss of her brother. Even though 'he' was still here.
He didn't say anything, however. There was a time and place for more words, but now was not that time. He would offer her what comfort he could, in whatever way he could. In time this wound would heal. It might scar, but that was an unavoidable fact of life - and that was that life fucking hurts. It's impossible to go through the time on earth allotted to humans and escape completely unscathed. Maybe a friend dies, maybe someone gets ruthlessly shoved down and abused in any number of ways, maybe someone grows up an orphan. So many things that can happen.
Luckily for the Arc family, 'Jaune' was still here. He might be different now… But he was here to help.
Joan clutched his arms around her where he'd hugged her from behind, and leaned her head against his chest before seeming to just… Deflate. They sat that way for a minute, basking in the comfort and warmth being offered between the pair. Jinwoo did his best to project happy, uplifting thoughts. His words were never the best. After all, he hadn't needed them to climb the impossible tower to godhood, but comforting his sister was something he knew how to do even if he didn't speak.
It was something he had practiced in and it was something he enjoyed doing thanks to his time spent being the sole caretaker of Jinah for several years. It was a miracle that he'd been allowed custody of her - he was still in school at the time it had occurred. It was purely due to his status as an adventurer - even one as poor as he was then - that allowed him to keep her from the clutches of the government systems.
That, and the empathy of their social worker. At the time, he was relatively close to graduating and being of a proper age to care for his younger sibling since she wasn't a young child and could reasonably take care of herself if left alone for a day or two. All that compounded to allow him to keep her home and safe with him, something he was eternally grateful for.
After a few minutes of deriving comfort from one another's arms, Jinwoo and Joan separated. "I know you might not be the same person anymore, Jaune… But you'll always be my little brother, and I'll always care for you and protect you." She hesitated and took a breath before adding. "I love you."
Jinwoo smiled down at her and gently wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye and traced its way down her cheek. Even having known her for no time at all, he still returned the feelings she'd offered to him. The want, the desire, the need to take care of his family burned like an unquenchable fire deep within him. Even before he was powerful, before he held all the card, he'd given his all for his sister. Maybe it was the leftover impression of Jaune that had been passed on to him, but he was able to respond with ease.
"And I love you, Joan. I'll be there for you too, anytime you need me. Now scram, Jun's been waiting for you and I have no doubt she'll come bursting through that door again if she doesn't see you soon!" That got a slightly watery laugh from his eldest sister, but she agreed and stole a quick yet powerful hug from him before escaping outside, leaving a trio of plates and cups for him to deal with.
Humming an old, forgotten tune he finished collecting all the dishes and made quick work of the aftermath of breakfast.
[Family Matters]
Jinwoo spent time observing the training measures Joan put Jun through. Occasionally he would get an explanation for some terminology or reasonings behind why they did something - for example, though she didn't yet have one, Jun would someday wield a sword capable of channeling her aura through. Not just her aura, however, but specifically her semblance.
As it turned out, though the process was virtually the same (at least, according to Jun's best explanation) aura metal reacted slightly differently when she used her semblance instead of aura. This led to fluctuations in the stream of energy, causing hiccups and other issues where her sword would suddenly stop being empowered.
This was rather important because Hunter and Huntress weapons, even when made with incredibly high quality and durable materials, simply wouldn't stand up to day to day usage and would likely snap or break in some terrible fashion, if not for the fact they could enhance it further by empowering it themselves.
According to Joan, Signal (where Jun attended) had been working with them to help create a new blend of metals that would properly accept her semblance enhancement without the sudden drops in coverage she was currently experiencing. They were nearly done, too, it seemed. Joan had opened up a box to reveal a sphere of dark gray metal that fit perfectly into Jun's little palm. From there she tried to channel first her aura through it, then her semblance.
The feisty red-head did both for upwards of 15 minutes to ensure there wasn't a single issue with either method of empowering her soon-to-be weapon, as she didn't always want to just use her semblance for empowerment, but lacking the option to do so would have limited her true potential.
Jinwoo was happy to hear her school was supporting her as thoroughly as possible, because his family was much larger than it had once been and hunting down incompetent administrators (or lazy ones) would have been a waste of time, and he would have done it regardless for the sake of his little sister.
Once their testing was concluded with satisfactory results, they moved onto sparring and drills. That was when Jinwoo was given his second shock of the day.
From a young age, it was clear Jinwoo would be rather small for his age and rather unlikely to become a muscle bound hunk, even if he exercised every single day and had perfect nutrition intake. Gaining the System had changed all that, in preparation for his body to accept the full power of the Shadow Monarch. But before that, his size generally meant he leaned away from sports and physical activities due to his disadvantages, and thus had more time to spend towards furthering his academic career. In his limited downtime, mainly before his Awakening and the E-Rank Hunter, he had found few hobbies he could truly get into.
Before his Mother fell into the Eternal Slumber, he'd mainly spent time with his family, knowing how hard the loss of their Father was, even six years after the fact. After she'd been taken by that cursed sleep, him and Jinah had to save every bit of money they had to make sure they kept their childhood apartment. Jinah had offered to get a job, and later on had threatened to drop out of school just to help him support the pair if he ever got so seriously injured again after going into a dungeon.
Of course, that particular incident was when he'd gained the System, and things had rapidly changed after that.
But until then, they'd had to find cheap ways to distract themselves. So sharing things like books and second-hand manhwas or mangas had been fairly common. They were easy to set down in case of emergency and could be read together or separately, and discussed later for further involvement.
One such story they'd taken a shining to was an older piece of work titled 'Fate/Stay Night'.
It was derived from an even older Visual Novel of the same name. In particular, the series had a dedicated set of volumes for each route that had been possible in the original VN. The series hadn't been as popular as it could have been, suffering from the same thing any super-powered series did - the fact the superpowers actually existed. Their world had become 'supernatural' the moment the first gate had opened, and the first Awakened realized their power.
Still, the series held a special place in his sister's and his hearts. The world it described was different than the one they lived in and had different rules, and though it was filled with callous and uncaring monsters, in equal measure there existed heroes who stood against the darkness. It held tales of the weak standing against impossible odds, and not only surviving but overcoming their opposition. It gave them hope in a world where Jinah's older brother was forced to risk his life and limb every single day just to support them.
It was one ability, or legendary shield, that was of particular interest to Jinwoo at this particular moment. Because Joan began to use her semblance to give Jun obstacles to either dash around, spring off of, or otherwise evade.
The problem was, its resemblance was identical to that of one he'd seen illustrated before - Rho Aias, the shield of Ajax. The shield was originally bronze and layered with oxhide, specifically seven layers. Per the story, it had entered into legend and became Rho Aias, a shield composed of a central core and seven flowering petals that looked very much like a flower.
Its appearance was certainly a shock to him, though this one appeared to have a different function than that of the one he knew. It still held seven 'petals' and a central disc in the center. Everything else was different, however. Though they had started out connected, all 8 pieces of the shield had separated into individual pieces and began floating on their own independent paths and trajectories, and even changed in size.
Its maneuverability was what allowed Joan to use it as a training tool, as she effectively had 8 different barriers or walls to throw up in Jun's direction, and based on how hard the little red-head slammed into one they were quite durable. Jinwoo got the impression that Joan was quite a talented Huntress, with many years of experience and power to back it up, and her current multitasking of the separate pieces and the advice she was throwing out to Jun seemed to reinforce that idea.
Eventually the shield pieces took on a more aggressive role, attempting to bat Jun out of the air when she springboarded off of another one to bypass the shimmering pink barrier in her original path. Jun took quite a few tumbles from their swipes, but was also successfully pulling off difficult aerial maneuvers that spoke of long practice and effort.
Joan explained to him the reasoning behind their training before he even had to ask, seemingly content to let Jun have a breather after a while. "Training the ability to move around in the air and not be utterly defenseless is an incredibly important tactic for Hunters and Huntresses - while there are mainly nevermore as the only aerial threat posed by the Grimm, learning to fall and actually land from compromised positions is also a very important skill. Not only that, but nevermore not only appear in large flocks but also vary in size by quite a large margin. Most are the size you'd expect, but they can become nearly as large as a bus."
The Shadow Monarch nodded. "I can see how that would be vital to know and learn. It's good that your semblance is so helpful in that regard, as well! I can only imagine how much harder it would be to properly teach someone these tricks and skills without some rather advanced equipment. Even then, I doubt anything is quite as dynamic as your shields - short of throwing someone into a flock of nevermore and hoping they learn fast, anyway."
Joan laughed at that idea. "We are quite lucky in that regard, dear brother. What about you? Do you want to have a try? I'll go easy on you for your first time."
He briefly contemplated his options, before deciding that he wasn't that good of a liar and to simply evade. "I would say yes, but I'm still getting used to these changes. Give me some time and I'll do some exercises and take time to get used to my body again, then I'll see about your offer." Jinwoo gave her a smile of thanks.
"Makes sense. I only have a couple more days of staying here before work draws me back in, so maybe after you get to meet another of your sisters we can try again. Likely next weekend, I wind up working pretty late and rarely have the energy to do much of anything once I get home, though you'll still see me each night." Being a huntress must be hard work when one's enemies were eternal and her energy was not. Hopefully the hunting trip his shadows were currently embarked on would be fruitful.
"Works for me. In the meantime, if you want to try using them as a teaching aid, my shadows could help act like a pack of Grimm? Just more focused on stabbing than biting. Also they're not really in any danger of being hurt because they just kinda regenerate when they get hurt."
Joan gave him a look with one eyebrow arched. "Just how many of them can you summon? And what were you doing with them to find out what happens when they get hurt?" Jinwoo could only chuckle awkwardly in response and make up a believable fib on the spot.
"Well, it turns out to be quite a few. There are more than just knights I can call forth as well, and uh, I kinda wanted to know what they could do so I had them attack a tree. The tree's resistance was… meager. So I had them fight each other! Safely at first, then one of them got an arm lopped off and it just kinda regrew. It was pretty cool, honestly."
Hopefully that makes enough sense that she believes the time he'd been awake in the morning had been used 'productively'. Which, it was, just not in the way he was implying. "Would you like to see?"
Joan nodded her head, and Jun, the little red-headed human missile, was abruptly in front of both of them. "They're soooo cool Oppa! Show us all the shadow soldiers you can!" The merry cheer and excitement that lit up her face couldn't be met with anything other than a smile.
"Of course Jun, anything for you! How could I possibly resist such a cute little face!" Jinwoo promptly began tugging on her cheeks, which dimpled and got his hands smacked away in indignation.
She huffed and turned away, but kept stealing glances towards the yard where the shadows were supposed to appear, a hopeful glint in her eye. Jinwoo couldn't help but laugh and ruffle her hair. "Alright, alright. I'm on it, one army of shadows coming right up."
He gestured with a hand, as though raising something into the air from the nothingness around it. "Arise."
Immediately, numerous knights and their mage counterparts formed into existence, the once normal shadows that dotted the ground elongating and transforming into new, deadly creations before reverting back to their original shape.
To keep things both impressive yet not totally ridiculous, he started with 20 knights, and 3 mages. Jun immediately let out a yell of excitement and ran over to begin poking and prodding them, trying to see if the shadows forming wisps and trailing off their forms could be caught with her hands. They were mostly black, with the indicator that they were his being the glowing blue visor where their helmet's once were worn, in addition to a flickering blue flames of the same shade that emerged from their shoulders. Before he'd fully become one with the Shadow Monarch's power, those flames hadn't existed, but the now overflowing strength their connection to him provided them formed the blaze, as an indicator of their new strength.
Of course, he also didn't want people to realize just how scary even one of his shadows could be, so they were silently ordered to act more like they did when he very first summoned them.
"Why don't you attack one, Jun? Just so we can see what it looks like when they regenerate. Maybe use an aura sword, though. You don't have to worry about being safe with them." Jun, the little hellion, was quick to scamper off and come back armed and dangerous. Without using her semblance, she should be able to cut through the weakest of his shadow's durability.
It's not like the armor they wore actually did anything - their 'body' and 'armor' was made of the exact same material. They were as durable on their head as they were on their armored chest, or even their pinky toe. Regardless, Jun should be able to punch through them with a large amount of effort. "Just swing as hard as you can Jun, I'm not sure exactly how strong you are but I know that they're definitely not weak. Think of them like an Ursa, I think. Gotta hit'em hard to get through."
Jun merely nodded, focusing on her target. One of the shadow knights stepped forward as the sacrificial lamb. The red aura of her semblance surrounding her, Jun took off at an incredibly fast (for her age) speed and with her aura-charged sword and a perfect swing, carved into the armored knight. The blade stopped about halfway through the shadow, looking quite odd since said knight wasn't swayed at all by having a sword poking through him and out his back. At least, to those who hadn't interacted with and known Jinwoo's shadows inside and out for many years.
"See? He's totally fine. Now Jun, take the sword out and you'll see how their regeneration works!" A swift yoink later and Jun's sword popped free. The light surrounding the damaged knight seemed to darken the moment the sword was freed as the shadows coalesced. Several wisps appeared around the knight and rapidly streamed towards the damaged area before combining and leaving the area unblemished, as though nothing had happened.
"Wow! Oppa that's crazy! What happens if he gets an entire leg chopped off? What about his head? What if he gets totally obliterated!?!" The last sentence got its own visual effects as Jun mimed an explosion. Joan nodded in agreement, content to watch him and wait for his response.
"Well, from what I've seen that same regeneration you saw is applicable to literally any wound or level of 'death' as it were. Limbs can be regenerated easily, and one of the mages was able to completely blow up one of the knights and he came back the exact same way. Just, you know, the process looked more shadowy because it had more to fill back in." Joan glanced back and forth between the knights and him, looking rather impressed.
"Does it cost you aura to regenerate them, I assume? How draining is it? For example, how many soldiers could be completely destroyed and revived, you think, before you were drained?" Jinwoo wasn't surprised Joan could see the tactical implications of the bare minimum bit of his 'semblance' he was showing. Having a tireless foe meant having a tireless army to fight them back was an excellent counter, and could save many lives if applied correctly. Time to spread some more technical truths sprinkled with small lies for flavor, he thought.
"I can tell there is a small drain taking place, but for these knights and mages I feel like I could go on for a very long time even if they were getting destroyed frequently. Not only that, but I think… I think there is a leader of the knights. I can feel more shadows, but I'm just trying to work on this slowly while I get a feel for this power. One stands out above the rest, though, and is markedly different to my senses. I want to try bringing him out in a day or two, but… Messing around with these guys is enough for me for now." And hopefully his bullshit spewing would continue to go undetected because the level his 'power' was currently operating at what was the equivalent, to him at least, of dipping just the end of a fingernail into the well of untapped energy inside of him.
If Joan only knew what he was capable of… He wasn't sure what she'd think. Or do.
While he was willing to live with his abilities 'limited' to a certain extent, this was way to much. He'd introduce her to Igris soon, and she'd see how cool he was. Then he'd move on to Tank and Iron, and maybe Beru if the damned ant was lucky…
The other variants of shadow creatures he controlled would also come out in waves before the named shadows. Hopefully it would seem like his 'semblance' was growing and becoming more powerful as he understood it further. They might comment on how absurd it was but… He was trying to dance the delicate line between his power being believable, and being strong enough to openly protect his family without repercussions.
Having the shadows suddenly appear would be terrible and likely cause a significant number of problems, but if he could slowly introduce them to the whole family, use them at the Hunter school he was supposed to attend… Then everyone would know what he could do, and acknowledge him as 'normal' if maybe incredibly gifted.
That was fine. Attention on him was no big deal. He'd lived with it for parts of his previous life in the extreme - he doubted it could possibly be worse here.
The eldest Arc sister smiled broadly at him. "Well little brother, you seem to have lucked out on the power you've gained. If the starting point is already this strong, I can't wait to see what the ending will look like!" Oh, Joan, dearest sister, you have no idea.
With his newest increase in semblance power introduced, Jun began training in earnest with the shadows. They were able to emulate a pack of Grimm fairly well, with their ability to take what would be suicidal risks to anyone else as well as display pack tactics and strategies to take down their prey.
Jun had the time of her life, though she wasn't quite strong enough to 'kill' them without a direct decapitation yet, she was having the time of her life just letting loose while dodging strikes and dancing past her enemies.
Jinwoo could help but smile at the sight - there truly was a difference between beating back thinking, intelligent enemies than there was beating on a dummy or something otherwise unthinking. The rush one got when they won, when they conquered their foe, it was like no other. It was also not something one could get easily without access to either the Grimm, something like the monsters from the dungeons of his old world, or something like his shadows, without devolving to murder and other heinous acts.
He also learned that Joan's Rho Aias was an absolute terror in combat. The moment it separated again into its 8 composite pieces and became whirling blades of mono-molecular death to his shadow soldiers is when he upped her threat rating in his head and could no longer rightly call her semblance a mere 'shield'.
And though he could hardly shatter one to see just how strong it was (since that would give away the game) he assumed they were quite durable.
Jinwoo spent the rest of the training session laughing with Joan at Jun's antics, in addition to the shadow soldier's occasionally funny moment. They spent a couple hours with rest breaks in between, and he successfully escaped from having to try and fake a less-than-competent level of physical conditioning and talent.
For now.
[Family Matters]
Later that night, after showers and lunch were had, and the sun that had beaten down upon them was slowly eaten by the horizon, they settled down to watch a couple movies. Some of the names sounded familiar, but Jinwoo could never quite place them.
They popped popcorn and got some finger-food and plopped onto the couches in the living room to prepare to watch the chosen films. Jun, always having been close with Jinah, didn't consider it odd when Jun plopped into his lap and wiggled into place, leaning her head back once to meet his eyes and smile at him before looking back at the TV.
He also didn't find it odd that Joan sat as close as physically possible to him and wrapped both her arms around his and gently leaned her head onto his shoulder. Even if he had been able to pointedly ignore the fact before, Joan was a beautiful woman, only made more so by the fact she was competent and strong - all hard muscle and soft curves, driven home by the copious amounts of skin contact he had with her arms, and the unavoidable (and noticeably large) swell of her chest that was currently also pressing into his arm.
But none of that mattered, because Joan was his sister, who he would love and protect till her dying day, just as Jaune had requested. If that sounded oddly like marriage, he ignored that too.
Just like he ignored the fact that Jun was almost 13, not the eight that she appeared to be. And that she was, if not already well into, beginning puberty and had declared her intention to marry him. And was sitting directly on his lap. And had grabbed his remaining arm and snaked it across her belly, accidentally touching the exposed skin of her stomach as she forced him to hold her tightly against him.
This is just like when Jinah was younger and we would cuddle up to watch movies together. Absolutely nothing is wrong.
Jinwoo, by sheer force of will, banished all thoughts except for those of the movies they were currently watching from his head, and mentally categorized this experience as 'family bonding and reparation'. After all, Jaune had been an ass and basically died, so they needed to be close for comfort that he was safe, back with them, and loved them all.
Satisfied with his conclusion, Jinwoo allowed himself to fully focus on the movie and enjoy the action flick that had been chosen. Was that Bruce Willis? Huh, he'd have to read the credits to see what their name was. How curious.
The popcorn and finger-foods went sadly forgotten and untouched through the rest of the afternoon.
[Family Matters]
The next morning Jinwoo found two more black hairs in his otherwise golden-blond strands. "Well fuck."
As more and more of his power leaked through the connection, finalizing this body as the Shadow Monarch, and the rate continued to double… Doing math with hair was likely to be inaccurate, but based on the average number of hairs humans had and an increased flow of conversion… He had half a month at worst, and depending on factors he couldn't really determine, might have as long as a month.
"Here's to hoping I meet all the sisters first… Otherwise things are gonna be real awkward when we first meet."
I love this kind of transmigration story, where an OP character is so powerful that their very essence slowly starts to degrade their new vessel into their previous appearence.
I feel sorry for the first hunters that have to encounter the army of shadows, they are gonna get a heart attack.
I love this kind of transmigration story, where an OP character is so powerful that their very essence slowly starts to degrade their new vessel into their previous appearence.
I feel sorry for the first hunters that have to encounter the army of shadows, they are gonna get a heart attack.
If you haven't read solo leveling then I'll explain where this effect comes from, since its actually a canon thing.
Also if you don't know about the nature of the issue, it also spoils whats going to happen in the future of this story, so read if you want to know the origin of the takeover lol.
While that would definitely be the kind of thing that happens with the level of power Jinwoo has, this is actually a thing from Solo Leveling.
Essentially, there once was a creator, or 'God' and he made great creatures of light and great monsters of darkness, and basically set them loose on each other and watched for his own amusement.
The dark monsters were called 'Monarchs' which is what Jinwoo is, and because of the nature of their existence, they exist as a Spiritual body unless they bind themselves to a mortal host, at which point they typically dominate their much weaker host and replace their body with something closer to their own.
In Solo leveling, a sort of symbiosis is achieved and Jinwoo isn't utterly dominated, and instead the original Shadow Monarch decides to let him take the reigns.
In this case, Jaune died and there is nobody to share symbiosis with, so the spiritual takeover is just gradually happening, regardless of Jinwoo's desires.
And I agree, there's several of the Shadows would be incredibly terrifying to just see. And though they lack the Grimm mask, they are creatures of shadow and could be easily mistaken as a new thing.
If you haven't read solo leveling then I'll explain where this effect comes from, since its actually a canon thing.
Also if you don't know about the nature of the issue, it also spoils whats going to happen in the future of this story, so read if you want to know the origin of the takeover lol.
While that would definitely be the kind of thing that happens with the level of power Jinwoo has, this is actually a thing from Solo Leveling.
Essentially, there once was a creator, or 'God' and he made great creatures of light and great monsters of darkness, and basically set them loose on each other and watched for his own amusement.
The dark monsters were called 'Monarchs' which is what Jinwoo is, and because of the nature of their existence, they exist as a Spiritual body unless they bind themselves to a mortal host, at which point they typically dominate their much weaker host and replace their body with something closer to their own.
In Solo leveling, a sort of symbiosis is achieved and Jinwoo isn't utterly dominated, and instead the original Shadow Monarch decides to let him take the reigns.
In this case, Jaune died and there is nobody to share symbiosis with, so the spiritual takeover is just gradually happening, regardless of Jinwoo's desires.
And I agree, there's several of the Shadows would be incredibly terrifying to just see. And though they lack the Grimm mask, they are creatures of shadow and could be easily mistaken as a new thing.
I've read solo leveling, no need to worry. It's one of my favorite Korean webcomics. I prefer it over The Gamer since I find Jin Woo's gamer system much more interesting.
Huh..
Really not a fan of the weird incest-y themes, but this seems interesting enough. I haven't seen any fanfiction of Solo Leveling before
One thing I will say is that Jin-Woo's characterisation feels just a little off. Maybe the years mellowed him out but he feels a tiny bit too casual with, well, everything
Also I can't wait to see what original shadows you've come up with. (Since Jin-woo basically went and killed every monster ever, he should've probably expanded his army with new and interesting commanders. )
I've read solo leveling, no need to worry. It's one of my favorite Korean webcomics. I prefer it over The Gamer since I find Jin Woo's gamer system much more interesting.
I stopped reading it for a while after I caught up to let it build up some chapters, then accidentally left it too long and got a very happy surprise because it was finished when I came back to read it again lol!
Huh..
Really not a fan of the weird incest-y themes, but this seems interesting enough. I haven't seen any fanfiction of Solo Leveling before
One thing I will say is that Jin-Woo's characterisation feels just a little off. Maybe the years mellowed him out but he feels a tiny bit too casual with, well, everything
Also I can't wait to see what original shadows you've come up with. (Since Jin-woo basically went and killed every monster ever, he should've probably expanded his army with new and interesting commanders. )
It's namely from the original AU because their family is more than a little broken. Jun really is just a little cutie so she is just trying to help out her brother and will eventually be talked around it.
Joan, on the other hand, has a lot of issues. And at some point, fundamentally, she was broken but had to keep on surviving and working and helping the family and everything else - so she's more like on the level of Fate/Stay's Shiro these days, where its less that she's crazy, more that she simply broke and now sees the world in a slightly different way. Not necessarily for the better, or even has as broad of a change as Shiro did, but nonetheless she's not the same and not healthy in the mind when it comes to one specific thing.
For the OOC thing, its hard for me to say, mainly because when you read a manga, manhwa, or comic, the main character get's to talk significantly less than in a book. And in this one in particular, its often his thoughts and he doesn't really talk all that often.
Which leaves many great big gaping holes in how he's supposed to act. So instead I just kinda took some generalities from the manhwa and applied them - he doesn't bow to threats anymore, he simply crushes those who even dare. He protects and cares for his family, always. He tries to solve problems and does want to help people, just not at the cost of his family.
Now this is future-Jinwoo as well, so he's done all that, seen all that, and will react differently than the one from the manhwa would have.
In regards to shadows, I'll have to think of something! It wasn't really a thought in my mind since he already has so many that have actual pictures of them I normally find it preferable to just use one that I can reference with some cool art, but I'll try and think of new ones!
Any ideas you have would be welcome of course, but I'll try and brainstorm at least a couple on my own lol...
Shadow Ant was once of the many ants that had formed part of the S-Tier Gate and raid known as Jeju Island. Even the smallest and weakest of their colony could take on a B-Rank hunter with ease, and their fighting variants easily stood toe to toe with A-Rank hunters. That time has long since passed for Shadow Ant, but now it is merely part of a larger, more powerful colony, centering around their King.
Many of its brethren are still around, including their King's Guard, Beru, though that was not his name until they joined the Monarch. While its brain wasn't exactly powerful enough to form tactics or strategies or overly complex thoughts, it was plenty smart for a 'mere insect'.
When their Monarch gave them orders, his voice was unneeded to transfer his intent, but he tended to use it anyway. So when Shadow Ant and his fellow shadows were ordered to go forth and explore, there were many hidden meanings in the seemingly simple instructions.
[Investigate the Grimm] was the first and merely the simplest.
[Explore the lands] was also easy to do and interpret from his words alone.
The following ones after that were not so easily understood unless one was a part of their Monarch's glorious legion.
[Investigate places and people of interest] was more like a subset of 'explore the land' used to learn even more about the people and history that already resided on the continents. It was the final command that Shadow Ant was most proud of fulfilling, however.
[Kill those worth killing, and save those worth saving]
Normally giving such broad orders to what amounted to intelligent drones was a bad idea, but the Shadow Monarch's instructions imparted far more than any mere words could do, such was the power of their ruler, further providing proof of his supremacy over all.
A simulacrum of the Shadow Monarch's morality was imprinted into the shadow's to execute the more complex commands that required intelligence and perception they simply lacked. In addition, they couldn't fail to fulfill their Monarch's orders if it was his very sense of right and wrong that told them what to do, and when to act in these situations.
Which was why Shadow Ant was pleased.
It had found her wandering around a road in Vale, around a desolate looking village that had definitely seen better days. While it would be investigated, as it was a place humans and the other humanoid creatures gathered, it was a low priority. That was until she was spotted.
In their brief time scouring the lands and spreading across Vale after bridging the ocean, they'd seen much of human nature that they'd expected to see - bandits, brigands, plain rude humans, the ones who ignored the cruel deeds happening right before their eyes. So many who simply did nothing. Didn't reach out a hand to help the fallen stand up. Didn't share their food with any others, no matter how much they had and how much the others lacked.
The shadows didn't find this surprising - oh no, they expected it. Which is why Shadow Ant was so thrilled to have discovered her.
The one who picked up the farmer who'd tripped, made sure he was ok, dusted his shoulders off and sent him on his way. The one who traveled from town to town, as they later learned, and simply gave because she could.
Certain miraculous events began to occur around her - and a comparison with the other shadows in their network proved that nothing similar was seen to have occurred anywhere else, and they covered a wide area. In combination with their other observations, and the strange things the woman did that had no matching output that they could see closeby, it was determined she brought good tidings and help in many ways wherever she went.
This, this was one of the rare ones the Shadow Monarch would appreciate. But she was alone - without her shadow full of allies waiting to emerge, she was defenseless in the face of many more powerful foes, or numerous ones. She would easily die if left unattended, and the Monarch would be upset that such a pleasant light in this world of darkness and Grimm was extinguished.
She was no Ant Queen, who had others to serve her, nor no Monarch, who's strength stood above all.
She wasn't in a situation that she actively needed saving from, but she might encounter one.
Shadow Ant made its decision.
A call was placed - its thoughts were reviewed, and its surrounding brethren agreed.
She must be protected.
Hundreds of shadows merged into one, the shape of it condensing and solidifying far more than any mere lack of light could. More of Shadow Ant's kin, many knights and smaller humanoid forms, a giant and even a dragon joined the still form and followed its lead. They raced along the ground, leaping from a darkened corner to a hidden nook with ease, latching onto the next shadow and rapidly moving with seemingly no effort.
Shadow Ant found her, of course, providing food for a waifish child. It knew it picked her for a good reason.
They danced along the ground, tracing through the child's shadow where it merged with hers and becoming one. There they sat, content and patient to follow their orders as though they were the single most important thing in their entire world, which they were.
The few kind ones in the world that they could find would be saved, even from their own stupidity if need be.
[Family Matters]
Destiny wasn't something Jinwoo believed in - not anymore. If he'd been asked when he was younger, he might have agreed. Maybe even after he'd gained the system.
But after conquering Death and trapping Antares, the Monarch of Destruction, into unleashing enough energy to pierce dimensions and bring the Ruler's forth, then turning back time to single-handedly save every single person's life that had fought in that terrible battle, he'd determined destiny was utter shit.
The Rulers had turned back time in an endless number of attempts, trying to get it right, to not lose Earth to the Monarchs and all of humanity in the process. If destiny existed… It was a malleable thing. And if destiny was malleable, then why did it exist?
Jinwoo simply decided it did not. It was a tool to help or hinder, wielded by some as a weapon, and others as an excuse. In his family's case, it seemed that, whether purposefully or not, Joan's destiny had been decreed to be a caretaker. A child-rearer. A replacement mother for when their own spent all of their time away.
For all her wonderful qualities, including being an excellent maternal figure despite the young age at which she'd started caring for the little ones, Joan was meant to be a warrior. It hadn't taken much watching for Jinwoo to determine that, as his sensory and analysis abilities were above and beyond most living beings.
The ease with which she wielded her semblance, the confident gait and near instant reaction speed she had to surprises all told him a story. Sure, she was a huntress, nearly full-time. She got normal weekends off. But in addition to that, one week out of the month was spent taking care of Jun (and making sure Jaune was happy as one can be with missing parental figures in their lives).
If it was not in his power as the Shadow Monarch, God of Death, and best big brother in the entire world (now little brother) to help her out, then why did he even have his power? Granted, taking care of younger siblings didn't require power, but it certainly helped his peace of mind knowing he could always keep them safe.
Beyond that, however, it wasn't exactly hard for him to start inquiring about how exactly Jun got to school, once it was back in session. She took a bullhead to Patch to attend Signal, and because of the combat school's location there were several primary hub points that served as 'busses' to ferry children to and from the island. All that the parents had to do was drop them off and pick them up.
It was deceptively easy, and if he understood the schedules he'd looked up online correctly, then he could drop her off and thanks to [Shadow Exchange] in addition to his ability to simply warp through shadows, easily make it back to Beacon in time for classes. For however long he decided to go there, he highly doubted his patience would survive terribly long after trying to return to a school of all places.
But he would try, since it was his sister who went through all the effort to forge his transcripts and get him in.
Alas, the things he did for family.
Perhaps his arrangement, if it worked out, would help out his other sisters since it would ease off their need to be there every single day - they might not actually change their schedule (he wouldn't blame them for that) but at least they would get to sleep in.
Maybe after some time had passed and his method had proven to be reliable they could eventually shift back to a more normal life. After all, Jun would be old enough to take care of herself in just a few years, if not less, and if he dropped out of hunter school like he guessed he would, then he would have nothing better to do, outside of protecting the other sisters.
Speaking of his other sisters, Joan would be returning to work shortly, and another sister would be arriving to care for Jun. If he was being honest, Jinwoo was terrible with names and had simply decided that learning them all before meeting them was never going to work out. Instead, he opted to meet them face to face when he could at least have a chance to remember what one looked like in addition to their name.
Granted, they all looked fairly similar due to the fact they were all siblings, but even still if he could at least split up the names between redheads and blondes he at least stood a chance.
But he digressed. His shadows had gathered some useful combat data thus far, it having been a few days since they'd been unleashed upon the world. Since his promotion to full Shadow Monarch, his shadows have all grown in strength. His numbers were large, but not unlimited, hence his reluctance to try and manually send his shadows across the world to keep Grimm contained.
On average, comparing his weakest shadows to the weakest Grimm, he came out on top. Well, that is if he completely disregarded the fact his units could regenerate endlessly. With enough time, even a single knight could fight through entire hordes of enemies and achieve victory.
Discounting that tidbit, however, his knights, dragon-men, goblins, and other small units were perfectly capable of fighting off the average beowolf. The goblins struggled, but were generally wily enough to come out on top even without their poisons doing anything to the strange bodies of the Grimm.
Knights and his other humanoid basic units were much stronger than they looked, and they frequently surprised the Grimm by smashing straight through their bone-mask and ending their life with a single swipe of a claw or sword. Ursa's were included in that category, but the Alpha variants or elder Grimm often proved their worth by fighting for hours on end, and unless some of his superior shadows arrived he only came out on top due to the fact his soldiers couldn't die.
So far, no Grimm had even stood a chance at facing Iron or Tank, let alone his other commanders. Granted, they hadn't really gotten too far away from civilization yet. The strongest Grimm were likely in the outer wilds. The fact that Grimm could face even his lowest shadows was actually quite impressive.
He would learn it all, in time, and find the truth.
[Family Matters]
Jun was left in his care when Joan had to leave for work slightly earlier than expected. "Don't worry Joan, we've got things handled here, I promise." Jinwoo gave her his most winsome smile. "Jane will be here in less than an hour, right?"
She returned him a rather ragged looking smile in exchange. "Yes, she will. Thank you so much for doing this Jaune, I really appreciate it. It's only for today and they said it was really important…"
He shooed her out the door, cradling Jun in between his legs like he was some sort of daddy penguin as she stood on his feet. "Stop fretting and being a worrywort and get going already! We'll be just fine."
Letting out a quick sigh, she acquiesced, thanking him once more before departing. "Now we've got the house all to ourselves, kid." He gave her a conspiratorial glance. "What should we do now?"
The little rapscallion's eyes gleamed with malicious glee. "Well, sometimes Oppa used to play a few games with me on my console… And I'd always leave you crying in the dust! Last one to my room is a Grimm snack!"
While that was a little dark, Jinwoo couldn't help but smile at the playful banter. Of course, he would win, regardless of just how speedy the little red meteor flew up the stairs. The moment she was out of sight, a hole opened up below him and spat him back out in the center of Jun's room. An instant later, the door flew open, the cackling laugh she was emitting abruptly dying as she spotted him. "Buh… Wuh… You were just downstairs Oppa! You hadn't moved! How did you get here?! You cheated! You're a dirty cheater-pants! I'm gonna tell Jane how much of a dirty, good for nothing cheater you are once she's here!"
Jinwoo mimed gasping and grabbing an imaginary dagger that was plunged into his heart. "Such painful words! I am not a cheater Jun! Just because you didn't know I had a way of getting up here faster than you when you clearly expected to win doesn't make me a cheater, but it does make you a sore loser! Now, are we gonna play these games of yours or not? Or are you afraid I'll trounce you a second time in this little challenge?"
Jun, precocious little redhead she was, crossed her arms and growled. Jinwoo nearly laughed at the put-out expression on her face before crossing the few feet between them and kneeling down next to her. "Ahh, I didn't mean to upset you little sis. How can I possibly make things up to you?"
She stole several glances with just her eyes, trying and failing to be discreet, attempting to hold out against her desire to play the game more than likely. The distinct sound of her growling returned with a vengeance, before tapering off in what seemed like resignation. "Fine, I'll forgive you Oppa, but… On one condition!"
Jinwoo honestly expected, after the multiple declarations of marriage, to be asked for something like a kiss. Of course, being the greatest big brother in the entire world, he'd oblige her wish and give her a big 'ole sloppy one - right on the cheek, naturally. "And what exactly is your condition, oh cutest little sister of the entire world?"
"That you promise to never run off and die like an idiot again!"
Jun was a monster, going straight for the throat. That fake dagger was feeling a little bit more real after that comment. Despite the pain felt, Jinwoo knew there could only be one possible response.
"Of course Jun. I promise to never do such an idiotic thing again." The little look of determination on her face was absolutely adorable. He would never tell Jinah if he saw her again, but Jun was possibly outdoing even her frustrated yet determined to get what they want face. Which was quite the feat, as Jinah had practiced it regularly.
"Pinky Promise?"
"Pinky Promise."
They sealed the deal, never to be broken with a linking of their smallest fingers.
"Ok, now lets play so I can show you who's the best!"
"Keep on dreaming little sis, the only thing you're gonna see is my butt as you get left in the dust." She growled at him again.
"We'll see, Oppa… We'll see." That also didn't sound ominous at all.
They proceeded to actually play the game Jun had been excited about.
[Investigate the Grimm] was the first and merely the simplest.
[Explore the lands] was also easy to do and interpret from his words alone.
The following ones after that were not so easily understood unless one was a part of their Monarch's glorious legion.
[Investigate places and people of interest] was more like a subset of 'explore the land' used to learn even more about the people and history that already resided on the continents. It was the final command that Shadow Ant was most proud of fulfilling, however.
[Kill those worth killing, and save those worth saving]
"Go forth and explore. Fight the Grimm, and report to me what you've learned. Find the other continents and do the same. Protect humanity when you can. I look forward to hearing back from you."
Alright. The only where they twisted the meaning was one sentence. I mean yes. Often when you protect someone you kill someone else in monster speak. I gotta blame this on mc, not being more specific. On the other hand this could lead to hilarious situations.
The shadows didn't find this surprising - oh no, they expected it. Which is why Shadow Ant was so thrilled to have discovered her.
The one who picked up the farmer who'd tripped, made sure he was ok, dusted his shoulders off and sent him on his way. The one who traveled from town to town, as they later learned, and simply gave because she could.
Alright. The only where they twisted the meaning was one sentence. I mean yes. Often when you protect someone you kill someone else in monster speak. I gotta blame this on mc, not being more specific. On the other hand this could lead to hilarious situations.
So I take it they discovered someone that fit worthy to be protected. Dunno who it is. It's a child or a teenager though.
I'm kinda assuming this whole communication thing from Solo Leveling, because he sends out his shadow's multiple times without really saying anything and they go out to protect his neighborhood and things like that, but for the more complex orders, you start getting things like this lol...
Some days just sucked worse than others. The sun didn't seem to shine as bright, everything was just a little bit louder, enough to go from normal to mildly irritating. She'd spilled her coffee in the morning - not all of it, but just enough to splash off the counter and mist her previously white shirt, forcing her to change.
Jane decided today was simply not her day. And she had to watch her little sister. Slapping herself with slightly more force than necessary, she let the sting of her cheeks serve as a focal point while she did her best to reset her mood. She let the intense feeling of irritation she'd been holding onto for the past few minutes slip away, refusing to let Jun know that the world wasn't entirely peaches and cream.
Well, she knew that already, but her enthusiastic and incredibly optimistic outlook wasn't something Jane was willing to even think about compromising.
The welcoming sight of a familiar lawn with the missing patch of grass in the corner and the worn but solid walls of the home that didn't quite feel like home appeared before her as her feet ate up the ground between her and it. Sure, her semblance could have gotten her there in the blink of an eye, but apparently, like unleashing the entirety of their aura, using their semblances without reason was frowned upon.
It didn't make much sense to her but she did strive to be a law-abiding citizen (for the most part). The red headed twin of the Arc family didn't really count the odd deliveries she did for the anonymous members of Vale's underground society to be 'illegal' per se. After all, she didn't know what was in the packages, and she never found out.
Not that she would ever be caught, anyway. Being able to teleport had its uses.
Shaking her head to clear the distractions away, she took out her key and opened the door, swiftly stepping inside the familiar entryway. Unexpectedly, it seemed Joan's shoes were already gone. Had the oldest Arc sister just left Jun unattended?
Technically the little one was old enough to be left alone, but she often acted more like her physical appearance of age rather than her actual number of years lived. Actually, wasn't Jaune supposed to be home too? But after his injuries was he fit to watch her? And wasn't he supposed to have amnesia?
All she knew was what Joan had seen fit to tell her, and it seemed the bare minimum was what she thought was necessary, something Jane was slightly irritated by now.
The sudden peal of laughter from upstairs caught her off-guard, and she swiftly turned to face the stairs. Two voices rang down, one the immediately recognizable high-pitched squealing of Jun, and another the recognizable yet not-quite the same as before voice of Jaune. "I won't let you get away with this betrayal! Get back here and accept your punishment at once little lady."
"You'll never catch me Oppa! Your tickle attacks won't work on me anymore, I've leveled up since the last time you tried that!"
Steps rapidly thumped across the ceiling above her, quickly followed by another heavier set of sounds as though chasing the other.
"Oh really? Your reaction from before tells me that's not quite the case, but if you want to prove your claims…"
The steps left whatever room they were in and thundered into the hallway above her, still out of sight.
"Nice try Oppa, that trick won't work on me! Take THIS!"
A loud THWACK emanated from the upper reaches of the home.
"Oh? So aggressive, little sister. And if we're resorting to using our semblances…"
The sudden silence seemed ominous to Jane.
"No! THAT'S CHEATING OPPA! STOP IT!"
Suddenly the footsteps multiplied into what sounded like a small army marching across the ceiling.
"HAHA! Your evil plan has failed! I AM FREE! I'm not getting tickled today!"
The pitter-patter of feet came closer to the landing of the stairs.
"Accept your defeat with grace, Jun! You can't escape from me!"
The little red headed ball of energy suddenly appeared, her hair disheveled and clothes rumpled. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw Jane. "Onee-chan! Save me!"
With that said, she rocketed down the stairs and dove through Jane's legs, immediately standing and peaking around her side to watch the staircase like a hawk. The tumultuous army of steps appeared at the top of the stairs, in quick pursuit, finally revealing… Several knights made of wispy black and purple shadows?
There was even a weird lizard-man who was down on all fours, eyes gleaming with purple light. In fact, despite the creatures being clearly different races (the knights didn't have digitigrade legs) they seemed to be made of the exact same material, with purple glowing wisps of light where their eyes would be.
"Are you ok Jun?" She couldn't help but ask. It all seemed to be like good-natured fun, but she'd never seen anything that looked like the creatures before, outside of the Grimm. They lacked the traditional white masks and red eyes, however, so she didn't think that's what they were.
The beaming smile on her little sister's face also disinclined her to believe they were an actual threat. "Of course Onee-chan! I just used my semblance to get away from Oppa and so he used his to get me back. I still won though!" She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at the shadowy monsters.
The strange monsters suddenly parted and formed a path for what could only be Jaune to walk through with perfect synchronicity. "Oh? You think you've escaped from me so easily? No, dearest little sister, I've only allowed your escape that your hopes would rise up, only for me to destroy them once and for all in one fell swoop! Behold!"
Squealing laughter informed Jane that something had happened to Jun, causing her to swiftly turn around, only to find her being carried upside down, a shadowy hand gripping her about the ankle. The shadow knight, rather than moving away from them, instead began to vigorously dig its fingers into Jun's side, causing the already high-pitched noise to rise even higher as she started to gasp for breath, having laughed herself silly.
Jane let out a long sigh, before turning to face Jaune who had begun walking down the steps. "So Joan left the little one in your care? She have to leave early or something?"
Her little brother nodded and hummed in agreement. "Got called in or something. Jun and I were just playing some video games and things got a little… heated. There may or may not have been some name calling and accusations of cheating, but we've managed to resolve our differences amicably."
The elder red head turned to see her little sister, who had managed to get free, riding on the shoulders of the shadow knight, and was attempting to choke him out if the strained grip around its neck was any indication.
The knight merely shrugged at them, showing a rather remarkable indifference to the rather aggressive piece of Arc jewelry he was wearing.
"... I can see that." Deciding to ignore her sister, since she was obviously fine, she focused on Jaune. "And how are you Jaune? Joan explained some of what happened, but I couldn't get many details out of her. All I really know is that you have amnesia and don't really know any of us?"
Jaune let out a sigh before gesturing for her to follow and moving to sit down on a couch in the living room. Jane followed, curious as to how exactly he went from having amnesia to… All this. After all, the last time Jane had seen him, he'd seemed particularly upset at the utter lack of progress he'd made either convincing a family member to help him, or at accomplishing his goal of becoming a huntsman on his own.
He'd been so downcast, Jane had actually been worried he might do something stupid… And it turned out she was completely right. While she felt some level of guilt, she'd also tried her best without inciting the wrath of their parents, since she wasn't anywhere near strong enough to resist even one of them, let alone all three.
Maybe she could have done more? But it seemed to have worked out to some extent so… Ugh, her family was so fucking irritating sometimes! This is why she retired too… Huntresses and huntsmen were just too much. The games, the idiocy… She was so exhausted of losing and losing and never making any tangible progress against the Grimm.
The shadow knight that Jun was still attempting to murder sat down beside Jaune, his rider continuing her utmost to… Rip his head off? She wasn't sure what Jun's goal was anymore, but the tugging and pulling seemed to indicate something rather violent (more so than strangulation, anyway).
"To start, I retained basic knowledge at least. Enough to speak, write, all that good stuff, but basic history, any memories of our family… All gone. I sometimes get impressions, maybe, or leftover feelings that pop up, but nothing concrete. So yeah, for all intents and purposes I remember nothing. But, as I've told Joan and Jun, one thing I do know is that family is incredibly important, and I'm going to be happy getting to know all my sisters again. Plus I get to help with this little munchkin and make sure she doesn't eat up all of your free time either!"
With that he reached out and pinched Jun's cheek. "Oppa! Stop it!" She started flailing her hand to try and bat him away. He just laughed and gave her a fond look, throwing Jane for a loop with the unexpected warmth on display.
It wasn't that the sisters weren't close or anything, and all the siblings loved one another, it was more that Jaune of all people always had the most trouble showing it. He wanted to… Had wanted to prove himself, and being too cuddly with his sisters wasn't going to help him do that, especially the ones who refused to train him or help him in any meaningful way. Which was all of them.
Jun might have tried in her own way, but she was still too young to really make an impact, and Jaune had tolerated her because he understood that to some extent. But now… It was like despite utterly losing all of his memories, this new Jaune had completely lost his dream and instead been replaced with a family man. Jane had seen that very same look before, most often on her own face, Jean, her twin, or Joan. The three eldest sisters who had taken care of and watched all the others grow up. It was the look only an older sibling could have, as they watched over their younger one with care and love.
Again, it wasn't a surprise that Jaune loved his sisters, or Jun in particular, but showing that and just being happy to play around with them was so far outside of his character that it caused Jane to briefly shut down.
And though it wasn't something that she immediately identified, now that she was paying closer attention Jaune's entire body just screamed 'confidence' and 'assurance'. His steps before had been filled with a fluid grace only seasoned warriors had, the kind that was earned after fighting and proving one's mettle countless times and coming out on top despite overwhelming odds.
Perhaps it was her overactive imagination, but Jaune simply seemed… More. More present, more purposeful, more involved. More everything, really.
Less like a teen who'd lost most of their hope of ever doing the one thing they wanted, and more like a man who'd accomplished exactly what they wanted in life and was content to simply enjoy it.
Perhaps it was just her, but the difference seemed greater than if he had merely forgotten his family.
"I suppose I'll be glad for the help then. What's this about your semblance, as well? It seems a little odd…"
Jaune laughed at her question. "It is quite unique, from what I know. I have multiple types of shadows that I can call up, and that reside in my own shadow and can move through them as though they were solid ground. Quite useful for doing chores, too, it turns out. Their strength isn't anything to sneeze at, either. The very first ones I was able to summon, the ones that look like medieval knights, are already stronger than Jun, or at least roughly equivalent. Not as talented of fighters, though."
Briefly picturing the image of the shadowy soldiers doing something as mundane as washing dishes, or wearing a frilly apron and cooking, or casually vacuuming the house like they weren't tools of war forced a laugh out of her.
"Well it sounds like you got quite the useful semblance. In the interest of fairness, since you don't know it anymore, I can teleport myself and objects with my own. It's fast enough to be used in combat as well, making it quite deadly when it comes to surprise attacks."
Jaune nodded his head in acknowledgement. "I can see that! The one who holds the tactical advantage and element of surprise is often the victor in any fight. Strength disparity can only get you so far, after all."
It wasn't necessarily the fact that her little brother could say such a thing, as it wasn't a particularly difficult concept to grasp, but previously he'd been so hard-headed that acknowledging that anything outside of raw strength was important, or that it wasn't necessarily the most important thing to possess in a fight, was downright impossible. It was an obsession he seemed to pick up because it was the biggest thing he lacked - without his aura unlocked, and without training, he'd always been the 'weakest' of the family. In the physical sense, even attempting to arm-wrestle Jun would have been laughable because he would have lost - horribly.
Once again, Jane was forced to think about Jaune's changes and how unlike pure amnesia it was. If anything, it seemed like Jaune's memories had been deleted while simultaneously having his personality replaced by someone older, wiser, and more experienced.
It was quite strange, but the eldest redhead couldn't find it in herself to complain. Even if he was changed, their Jaune still loved his sisters and was doing his utmost to help them out. Not only that, but he was actually strong now - and while Jane was generally trusting of her siblings, it seemed nobody had nailed down exactly how strong or how many shadow's Jaune could summon or have out at once.
Once again, the old Jaune would have likely been spouting off all the cool things his power could do, trying to take on most of his siblings, and thoroughly touting how epic it was - the new Jaune, as far as she had been told, had simply said he'd 'found his semblance' and then started helping Jun practice fighting multiple opponents with it.
Not only that, but they had proof he could summon something other than the shadow knights, which defaulted to being as strong as Jun. Jun was still incredibly young, not even a teenager yet, and likely was no match for most adult hunters. But she wasn't weak by any definition either. In fact, the Arc's were somewhat known for the quality of huntresses and huntsman they produced, which most certainly included the littlest Arc.
Now, at a glance, that didn't seem particularly important. And maybe it wasn't.
But on the other hand, what if his semblance had a colossal amount of shadow's it could support at once? Quantity has a quality all of its own, as the Grimm had shown time and time again. Not only that, but they had no idea what else he could summon. What if there was stronger shadows?
Jane shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts - idle speculation on the newfound semblance of her younger brother wasn't going to get her anywhere. He was proving to be even more dedicated to the family than he was before, so if anything, it was a good thing. Hopefully his semblance was crazy powerful, that he could help protect Jun all the better with it.
Regardless of her stray thoughts and suspicions, Jane opted to simply enjoy the time they had together. They were there to watch Jun, after all, and she would get a much clearer image of Jaune as time passed and they were able to interact.
It wasn't that she was worried per se, but the changes in him were concerning. Jun and Joan were also literally the worst people to detect and either care or do anything about them as well. Jun, because while she was smart, possessed a blind spot a mile wide in concern to her only brother. Joan, because being the primary mother figure for most of their siblings and caring for them like her own to her own self-detriment had finally broken something inside of her somewhere along the line, and the lack of care or attention from their actual parents meant Jaune became her sole 'baby' that she needed to worry over.
That focus had become decidedly unhealthy at some point, but Jane wasn't entirely sure what that actually entailed or what would happen now that Jaune wasn't utterly helpless.
"Well, little brother, I look forward to spending some time with you. Maybe we can jostle a few memories loose, and if not, I suppose we'll just have to make some new ones, won't we?"
Jun, who finally decided trying to strangle something that didn't breathe was a losing proposition, hopped onto the couch and let out a loud exclamation of excitement. "Let's make all the memories! Starting now!"
She then immediately tackled Jaune from the side, causing him to animatedly and loudly fall to the side, his arms swinging above his head as he pretended to be taken out. "Oh no! I've been taken out by the most fearsome of foes!" Jun then tried to dig her fingers into his ribs in an attempt to tickle him, which he failed utterly to react to.
"Aha! You've left yourself open to a counterattack! TAKE THIS!" Jun's squeals and loud laughter once again rang throughout the house as Jaune brought his hands back down and began tickling her instead, to much greater effect than her earlier efforts.
Jane couldn't help but laugh and admire the scene before her. The sheer, unadulterated laughter and joy they were sharing was infectious, and she couldn't stop herself from joining in. Jun, who had almost freed herself from the clutches of her brother, found her only escape route blocked as her older sister's questing fingers found the soles of her feet and began a second tickling campaign against her.
They all laughed, for different reasons, and Jane couldn't help but think that maybe things would turn out alright at the end of the day.
Or, at least, that they would get better, despite the trauma they'd all gone through.
With not much else to do, Jun and Jane were happy to just lounge around and watch some shows while cuddling on the couch. Well, he didn't cuddle with Jane, that would have been weird, but Jun was perfectly content to snuggle with him. Not because cuddling with beautiful women was weird, but because Jaune had effectively just met Jane for the first time that day, and they were family.
He'd gotten used to rather needy children coming to him for their daily snuggling requirements purely because he had nothing better to do. He certainly didn't have a normal job after all he'd done, and while mundane life called to him, mundane jobs most certainly did not.
So he was perfectly happy having another younger sibling who wanted some basic physical comfort. Although it had been a long time since he'd had a lover, having another warm body to hold close to oneself was always a nice feeling - whether that be a lover or a dear family member. Both offered comfort and a rush of dopamine, knowing someone he loved and trusted was close by and wanted to be close to him.
Being totally honest, Jinwoo hardly paid any attention to the movie. Watching the two redheaded sisters out of the corner of his eye took up some of his time, but they were both fairly engrossed in the movie. The rest was used sharing his senses with his shadows. Watching the land flow by as his various shadows swarmed from spot to spot was cathartic - he hadn't had a chance to fly on Kaisel recently, and it was something he missed.
It was something he was known for, back home. His near daily trips out on the old wyvern often had people standing by, waiting just to take a photo or a video of him as he flew by. He never quite understood it, after the first several times at least. It wasn't like Jinwoo showed off, each video looked virtually the same - it was just him flying away.
Ironically, despite all the power he'd gained, and all the creatures in his possession that could fly, Jinwoo himself could not. Perhaps he could alter his shadow armor to have wings? At that point he might as well just keep using either his dragons or Kaisel, since his ability to just jump around a battlefield would far outstrip his flight speed.
Refocusing on the senses of his various minions, he listened to Bellion recount a summary of what had been done so far. Persons of interest they were watching, landmarks they'd discovered, Grimm they'd fought.
Nothing off hand required his attention, so he left his commander to continue his oversight. Beru was sad he hadn't been allowed to explore, but ironically, the perfect killing machine ant of Jeju Island was his best healer, so he was kept close at hand in case something happened.
That was his excuse and he would die on his hill.
Thus far, everything was panning out. Nothing unexpected had been discovered, at least nothing so unexpected it required his personal attention. Jinwoo allowed his focus to return to the movie, which was wrapping up. Which also meant it was nearly time for dinner!
If he hadn't learned to appreciate the little things in life, Jinwoo expected gaining immortality would have been more of a curse than a gift. Of course, he was fairly young in his new unending life, but he thought he was doing alright so far.
Plus, it turned out there were entire other worlds! Which he vaguely knew about before, but actually visiting one was a nice confirmation to have. The original Monarchs had to get their monster armies from somewhere, and Ashborn's memories plus the outright statements from the Rulers indicated that what happened to his world was hardly the first incident.
Unfortunately his method of worldly transportation would tend to default to a colossal gate, likely startling the local population something fierce, unless someone actually chose to host him. Or something like Jaune's situation happened again.
But those were thoughts for the future - he had mouths to feed in the now.
[Family Matters]
Talking with Jane had been interesting, in the fact that whether she intended to or not, Jinwoo could practically taste the exhaustion and deep-seated malaise that seemed to be affecting her. It was never one thing in and of itself, but the occasional reference she would use regarding huntsmen and huntresses and the work they did was never done with any sort of enthusiasm. It was hardly like she was screaming out her dissatisfaction, but it was also different than simply merely being tired of work.
There was something more, and Jinwoo wouldn't have found it surprising in the least that she didn't want to say anything about being done with huntress work when that was all their entire family did. That and the lack of parental presence would have made things either better or worse, depending on what said parents actually implied or did when they were around.
It's a lot harder to say 'Hey, I'd like to do something other than our familial career' when the only times she sees the parents they mostly acknowledge her work and how good she's doing. He obviously didn't know what the case actually was, seeing as to how he'd just arrived recently and had no memories, but what else would they talk about after not seeing each other for a month at a time?
Humans tend to discuss commonalities between them, as they have the most to actually talk about rather than listen to. Being frank, he had no clue what else they would talk about anyway. Did they share hobbies? Likely not, since the parents were so enamored with working. Would they talk about the family? Maybe, but that was more along the lines of catching up.
'Oh, what have you done lately?' 'How's school been?' 'How's work going?'
And then they get into the whole work thing since it's the only thing they all actually share outside of being related. Sadly, shared blood did not make a great conversation starter. Jinwoo would have had many significantly less awkward and stunted conversations if that was the case.
Which meant that if she was having problems, was tired of the job, or a million other things pertaining to not being a huntress, she likely would never, ever approach the family about it. The sisters included, since they were all invested in the same thing.
Hive mind was unfortunately a thing, whether people intended to ostracize those different from them or not, it happened, and it hurt when its family.
He still had several days to observe her, so he would decide what to do before she left.
Jinwoo let out a sigh as he stretched, letting several of his muscles extend to their maximum reach before slowly releasing them and repeating the process until his body was properly loosened from his daily rigors. Since he didn't sleep, he was prepared to play around on his scroll all night and interact with his shadows during their exploration.
As he walked over to his desk lamp to turn it off, however, his door slowly creaked as it was gently pushed open from the outside. Of the two sisters in the house, Jinwoo couldn't have guessed who would be entering his room, but the lack of a knock had him leaning towards the younger redhead.
His guess turned out to be accurate as the much smaller profile of Jun slid into his room, dressed in her cute chibi-grimm pajamas, clutching a pillow to her chest. Jinwoo observed her as she glanced around his room, not having spent much time in it after he cleaned the whole thing out and decontaminated it. Teenage boys were gross, who knew?
Jun's shadowed eyes and dark look gave him a few guesses as to what had happened.
"Nightmare?" It was a look he'd seen many times before, and even if he wasn't the closest, for some reason knowing that their uncle was the biggest baddest man around often meant he was the target for receiving comfort after a particularly nasty dream.
The sleepy redhead nodded. "Can I…" She stopped and started a couple times, but she couldn't seem to force the rest of the words out. Instead, Jinwoo decided to do what he always did. Turning her away was simply not an option.
Walking over to his carefully made bed, he untucked one corner of his sheets and held them up, before nodding his head as if to say, 'Well, what are you waiting for?'.
Jun understood and plodded over before throwing her pillow down and crawling in. She shimmied over to the far side before rearranging their pillows to be 'just right'. Which meant as close as physically possible, with some overlap of pillows included just to be safe. Jinwoo wasn't surprised.
He'd already changed into what counted as his pajamas these days, namely a pair of comfortable shorts. In his experience, sharing skin contact often made people feel even more comfortable than not. More heat was shared and it felt closer together, even if the only thing that would separate them was a slip of fabric.
As he went to lay down, he decided to adjust their arrangement for maximum cuddle potential, since clearly Jun had yet to experience the most optimum position for being glomped on for sleep. Jinwoo blamed the old Jaune, who undoubtedly wouldn't have been as much of an ass as he supposedly was if he knew the joys of holding one's family tight and the light and warmth and love he would get back if he did.
If there was one thing Jinwoo was going to achieve with the Arc's, it was getting the sisters to love again. Sure, they undoubtedly felt love for their family, but Jinwoo, having never been married or in a serious long term relationship, had learned to subsist on making his family happy. Sure, it was a different kind of love, but… It made him happy and it made his family happy, so he couldn't find it in himself to complain. Part of that was physically and verbally expressing that love. Want to know why communication was so important?
Well, excluding the million and one reasons including battlefield awareness, tactical advantage, and combat-related issues, expressing how one feels so that nobody is confused on the matter was just as vitally important for a whole slew of reasons. Obviously there are times where just spouting off how one is feeling is a mistake, but when it comes to family… Honesty and communication are some of those things that are absolutely vital.
Case in point - Jaune was confident that the mothers of the Arc family at least expressed the fact that they loved their children. However, turning around and leaving them for up to months at a time sends the exact opposite message. After all, one of the important things about being a family is simply being there for your family. Sad to say, it's not really possible to 'be there' if the family members are gone for most of the year. Especially when they still have children growing up!
Jinwoo tamped down on the fiery rage that thoughts of the inconsiderate and utter failure of parents his new family had. There was a time to deal and vent those thoughts… All in good time.
Now, he was here to support Jun, in place of the parents who weren't.
Shifting her pillow down, and getting a giggle when he simply lifted her entirely to move her and the pillow at the same time, he bumped his up a tiny bit, so he was going to be laying with one heads-worth of space above her. He lifted the sheets again and laid down behind Jun, taking care to move her hair out of the way so she didn't get any of it pulled.
She hadn't questioned his decision to move her, implying a certain level of trust which Jinwoo took an inordinate amount of pride in, so he gently scooted towards her. Once he was settled and in position for optimum cuddling potential, he reached out with both arms to wrap around her stomach, earning himself a soft squeak, before quickly reeling her in like a fisherman who'd just gotten the catch of a lifetime.
Pulled flush against his frame, Jun seemed to relax and melt into a puddle of goo the moment she realized what was happening, shifting only to ensure they shared as much contact as possible. He curled his legs up slightly because of their significant height difference, and she immediately molded hers against his, matching positions.
When they finally stopped moving, they ended up with her effectively sleeping on his arm with a mere few inches of pillow remaining to support her head, which was tucked up directly under his. Jinwoo's other arm was still curled around her protectively, keeping her pressed against him while their legs shared space, his knees tucking roughly into the area where hers were thanks to the difference in position.
Jun let out a sigh of utter contentment before closing her eyes and 'turning out the lights' as it were.
Damn, and he'd meant to ask her if she wanted to talk about the nightmare! Oh well.
Happy as it made him to see his littlest and cutest sister this satisfied, the slight flinch, squeak, and general air of unpreparedness for the sudden cuddles implied that this really wasn't a usual occurrence, yet another strike against their family. Likely more Jaune, in this case, but also attributable to the lack of parents in the picture.
Fucking Arc parents. What were their names even? Bah, it didn't matter. The ass-reaming he was going to give them whenever the hell he saw them was going to be so legendary names weren't going to be required. It would simply be victims one, two and three.
Oh well. As the only brother in the entire family, regardless of their physical ages, if it wasn't already the case it most certainly was now, he would simply have to be everyone's big brother, whether they realized they needed one or not.
He settled in, gently resting his chin atop Jun's head, and let his conscious control go as he focused on his shadows.
[Family Matters]
Jinwoo heard Joan arrive at some point late in the night, huntress work apparently keeping her schedule incredibly busy, far more than a traditional job would ever be allowed to do. Did making sure his sister's working hours were reasonable count as a reason to eliminate the Grimm? He would use it even if they weren't murderous creatures hellbent on ending humanity, just to make sure they got enough time off, if it was too much, he decided.
More importantly, he had an interesting thought while he was observing his shadows throughout the night. While he was no Architect, he'd learned over the many years of time he'd had to experiment, and his own personal experience with a System, to use it to a limited extent (as shown by Jaune's bodies rapid development).
Just as he'd used it to enhance Jaune's ability to hold his true self, and just as his original body had grown significantly in size and muscle mass mere weeks into having a System of his own, he could use it to bolster others by effectively 'giving' them a fraction of his power. The reason for his tremendous growth, going from E-Rank to well past S-Rank in such a short period of time was because he was inheriting the entirety of Ashborn's power.
Hell, even then, it was far from all of it - it was only once the Architect was slain and the System was effectively unchained that his fastest development occurred, followed shortly by the time he actually died and met Ashborn and fully merged to become the second Shadow Monarch.
Based on his original bodies growth, it would be fairly easy to implement a small system with an infinitesimal portion of his power and allow Jun to regain her diminished size through strenuous effort, to at least make it appear that he wasn't merely giving her something, but that she earned it through blood, sweat, and tears. It seemed fitting, in this family, to make it something earned, but Jinwoo thought she would appreciate it more if that was the case.
Although she seemed to like acting younger than her actual true age was, so maybe she wanted to stay small? Well, all he could do was ask. After making sure such a thing was properly feasible. Working with the System was never easy… Kind of like trying to mold wet sand into a solid, durable structure then turning it into a mechanical system that needed to move to function.
Or, that's what happened when he tried recreating something anywhere near as complicated as the original System had been. Doing simple things like a straight up infusion of power into a body was more like working with particularly obstinate legos that didn't quite fit right together.
Speaking of the little devil, the mass of red hair that had shifted around throughout the course of the night to be facing him began to stir. A particularly cute sigh escaped from her lips, until she briefly tensed. Glancing up, Jinwoo shifted some of her hair out of the way so she could actually see his face, and gave her a wide smile. "Morning sleepyhead."
The tension melted from her body like water down the drain, and she promptly glomped back onto him, her once loose arms rapidly encircling and pulling her as close to him as possible. Their legs were already entwined from all her shifting and moving during the night, but he felt her thighs clamp down on the leg of his they were wrapped around regardless.
He felt like a giant teddy bear, to be honest. Not that he minded, it just wasn't the expected reaction.
A few moments passed and she finally released her death grip from his midsection, opting to look back up at him and make eye contact. "Good morning Oppa! Thanks for letting me sleep with you!"
… Sometimes he couldn't tell if Jun's affectation of being younger than she actually was was all simply a ruse so she could say things like that and have it all be chalked up to 'Oh, she just doesn't understand what she's saying yet!' or something like that. Jinwoo lightly bopped her on the head with his one free arm. "Don't say things like that."
She gave him a painfully innocent look. "I'm not sure what you mean, Oppa?" The slight twitches of her mouth told him a different story.
"Yeah yeah, you know exactly what I mean you little minx. Now, why don't you tell me what scared you in here last night?" Jun's mirth fell away quickly at the reminder of her actual reason for waking up in his bed.
"Do I have to talk about it?"
"I'd like it if you did, Jun, but you don't have to if you really don't want to." He wasn't a monster, but he couldn't murder the demon's that were scaring Jun if he didn't know what they were.
She paused for a bit, seemingly deciding on what exactly to say. Her mouth opened and closed a couple times, as the words fought to come out and failed, until they didn't. "It was a nightmare. I… It was the day you went missing. You'd been a bit mean to me, but you also gave me a hug. You almost never hugged me before, at least in front of the others. I could tell something was wrong from that moment onward… But I didn't know enough to guess what was going to happen."
Jinwoo could only nod, not having actually been there but doing his best to understand what that situation had been like. "You were shiftier than usual the entire morning. I didn't know what was wrong with you, but it was pretty obvious you were stressed out. I decided I'd try and talk to you about it later at night, when the others were busy or in bed. Right after everyone ate lunch, though, you went to your room and didn't come back out. You were trying so hard to become a huntsman, you would come down and at least try and train each day since you were kicked out of Signal… But you never appeared. I waited and waited for you, but after a while I decided to check on you."
Jun's eyes were shadowed as she recalled what was undoubtedly both a nightmare, and partially something that had actually happened. Which was the worst - a nightmare born from the truth.
"You weren't there. You'd left the window open though, so I figured you'd run off to do some kind of training and were embarrassed or something." Based on what he'd heard, it didn't surprise him that Jaune was weird about… Well, literally everything. "But… I didn't try to find you right away. Instead, I waited. I played around with Jean for a while. When nobody saw you after a while longer, I went out to try and find you. This time though…"
Tears bloomed in her eyes, giving them a watery sheen, and her breath started to come out in choked hiccups. The sheer despair he saw reflected in her blue eyes hit him like a punch to the gut and inflicted more damage than Antares had ever managed to do to him. It was one thing to understand how important someone is to another - it's entirely another to be that person and see their reactions.
She really didn't need to say more for him to know either - in fact, what became her nightmares was likely what would have happened if Jinwoo had ignored Jaune's plea. Instead of his new System integrating and saving his body before preparing it for his entrance, Jaune would have simply perished.
Jinwoo chose to reverse the glomp and attack her instead. He sat up, pulling Jun with him, shifting her around until he was sitting with his back against his headboard, and Jun was in between his legs, her back flush with his chest. His arms encircled her waist pulling her tight against him, after which he released one to come up and begin gently stroking her hair.
Though she was old enough that, on average, she shouldn't like being treated like a small child that needed comforting, but then he couldn't think of many people who would mind being cared for in such a way when they were distraught, so maybe that was an incorrect assumption. It was more a matter of being close enough to someone to have them share physical comforts in such a way. He supposed it was more like a case by case basis per relationship, to see if it would help or just make someone uncomfortable.
To add yet another tally against the Arc parents, Jun's more child-like personality was very like a carryover from her (by his guess) poor childhood. Not in terms of intentional harm, or abuse, but as the saying went about the road to hell and good intentions… Love didn't necessarily mean neglect wasn't happening. Family was not an invincible aegis that being a member of one protected someone from being hurt or damaged by their fellows.
But if Jun had missed all of those important moments children share with their parents as they grew up… It would make sense why she clung to a child-like persona to try and reclaim something of what she'd missed out on. Worse still, the Arc parents were still effectively missing from the picture, so she wasn't really getting the experiences she was looking for. Was it a call for attention? He didn't know.
He wasn't even entirely sure how to fix it. He wasn't a psychologist or a therapist or anybody remotely trained to heal wounds of the mental variety. His only redeeming quality in this front was being the indestructible bastion which they could rely on, forever and without fail. Jinwoo would still try his utmost to help - whether that was hugs or being the step-in patriarch for a family whose current one was… unworthy of the title.
Her sniffles grew into sobs, her small frame racked with cries of anguish for a future that almost was. He did everything in his power to offer her what comfort he could, gently rocking her in their close position and stroking her hair while whispering calming nothings into her ear. Things like 'I'm right here' and 'I'm not going anywhere'.
His own sister, even after nearly dying to the orc gate that spawned in her school, had remained stoic to the best of her ability, choosing to express her emotions by asking him to stay and just be with her. He hadn't held her, and didn't need to comfort her beyond providing his presence, which he'd done his utmost to deliver until the next cataclysmic gate appeared… and he'd been forced to choose between saving countless lives, or staying to protect his traumatized sister.
It was one of the many things he would never forgive the Monarchs for. Though the Ruler's were responsible for the normal gates that appeared, they didn't seek to end the world, merely to give humans a fighting chance. They would not have caused a gate of such power to appear, that was certain.
Jun held onto his hand like a lifeline, as she slowly calmed herself, the gentle back and forth motions hopefully bringing her racing heart to a more normal tempo. Eventually she separated from him, her face an absolute wreck of snot, tears and red-rimmed eyes, before launching herself at him with a fierce hug.
She thanked him, and though they remained like that for a short while, they both eventually agreed they needed to get up and begin their day, much to Jun's grumblings.
Jinwoo's mental tally book for Arc parent's sins increased yet again, and his fury grew slightly more.
He also spent some time that day figuring out how to configure a system to do what he'd thought of earlier - buffing her 'Strength Stat' without going overboard. Also, he'd have to make some sort of pseudo-dungeon and have her fight some shadows there. The Architect had somehow built life-like versions of Ashborns old commanders and foes for some of his System-based dungeons, but that was beyond him as far as he was aware. Awarding her for combat was simple enough, however, so simply placing her in increasingly difficult scenarios with either numbers or stronger monsters was his next best option.
She'd likely agree to silence, if he asked her as the best Big Brother in the whole wide world. Jinwoo also assumed she'd agree to his proposed plan, but also acknowledged he didn't really know the mind of a 12 year old girl who'd grown up with the Arc-style parenting. Which is to say, none at all.
It was still something nice to do, and the system could be adapted for others if need be. He doubted he'd encounter such a unique situation as this again, but he never knew. If he ever encountered something that Beru couldn't heal, then he could certainly use it. After all, the combat wasn't strictly necessary, just easier to parse for normal humans, and made it less likely for their mind to reject the sudden changes to their physical form.
Jun began training after breakfast, Jane was content to watch her and give her some advice as she saw things that could be improved on. Shadow-based combat training was once again a very useful tool to train with, as the Grimm often swarmed in large numbers and had various different types of combat style that needed to adjust to.
The nearly identical pack-hunter behavior of the beowolves, the walking tank ursa, and the shield-breaking boarbatusk charge were all fairly predictable, but in combination could be deadly.
Especially when you account for their varying sizes and intelligence - it could be a nasty surprise to find an alpha hidden amongst the rabble that slips through a huntsman or huntresses guard in a fatal moment. The shadows had no such issue - while his basic units weren't the most intelligent, they displayed something akin to a human's ability to adapt and learn, so they actively discouraged using the same trick over and over again, while encouraging creativity and the need to always be on the lookout for danger, even when in the midst of combat, or especially so, as it happened.
Jun had already improved remarkably against a decent number of shadow soldiers, and just as she learned and adapted, they too changed tactics to better suit their foe. Not anywhere near as fast as she did, but enough to ensure combat never grew stale, like fighting a robot who only knew certain tricks.
It would hopefully ingrain the idea to never underestimate the enemy, and to always be wary, as Jun had 'lost' many times. Jinwoo ensured the challenge she faced ranged from 'fairly winnable' to 'barely winnable' to 'get incredibly lucky and you might win'. Far from doing it to make sure she knew what eating dirt tasted like, he ensured each situation she encountered was unique enough to require a new assessment each time, which he had her give him.
He would correct her thought process if she did something wrong, like dismissing certain foes as unimportant, or overly prioritizing something meant as a distraction, all with the end goal of making sure she could dynamically assess threats and strategies on the fly in any situation she happened to find herself in.
It was, amongst the shadows that lived in her own, his own way of helping her gain independence. Sure, she was training at a combat school and her sisters helped her, but fighting the Grimm their entire lives left them with an… Odd disposition. It was sort of like a… Everyone does this kind of thing so it should be obvious? Maybe they all learned through osmosis by watching others? In the end, certain things simply weren't explicitly stated that were vitally important for any combatant.
Namely, utilizing a strategic mind to its maximum potential. Sure, his sisters were great fighters and they could likely annihilate just about anybody else in a one versus one. But if he asked them to, at a glance, determine the threat of a group of people they'd never met or seen before, then figure out how to take them out in the most economic way possible, they'd simply laugh and opt to charge straight in.
Obviously they weren't idiots (most of the time) but fighting the Grimm for as long as they had had stained a certain amount of their perception of how fighting goes. It wasn't even necessarily a terrible thing - maybe it helped them keep themselves sharp while grinding themselves on the unending stone otherwise called the Grimm.
Despite the massive amount of combat experience he had, Joan could very well have faced as much, if not more than he had, purely because it was a never ending struggle for them. If he discounted the whole '27 years of fighting in a row', that is. Seeing as to how that was only a couple years shy of how old Joan even was, it felt unfair to include that metric.
Either way, he pounded the idea of tactical awareness and strategy into Jun's mind. Jane watched us with a sort of focus he hadn't expected, but either she was learning something new or wondering who the hell had replaced Jaune.
A most excellent question, sister, but one you don't get to know for a week or two yet…
The weekends often hosted several of the sisters as they got together for dinner, and that seemed like the ideal time to share his… News.
Jinwoo wasn't looking forward to it, and he hoped they would accept him all the same afterwards but… He really didn't know how things would go.
Time would tell, he supposed.
His only hope was that he got to stick around for Jun's sake. The poor girl needed some kind of male figure in her life, and whoever the Arc-father was simply wasn't going to be it.
