Inception Of A Grimm Soul - Chapter 3.2 (Patreon)

Cobalt made his own way deeper into the forest, walking passed the gathering of teams out and about, ignoring any eyes on him.

Once he was deep enough and out of the way, he reached deep within and pulled. His shadow spread about beneath him, and from it rose six towering shapes that formed into massive Alpha Beowolves that immediately fell to all fours and bowed their heads to him.

He placed his hand on the head of the biggest of them all, the one standing the closest to him, "You know what to do." he said simply, stroking Mike's fur.

Mike simply nodded, before turning around and snarling at the others. A moment later, he bounded off into the forest at a rapid blurring speed, and the rest quickly fell in line following after him and then spreading out as they disappeared into the tree line.

It wasn't long later at all he heard the sounds roars and howls clashing in the distance.

That taken care of for now, Cobalt made his way over to the closet tree and poked his finger right through the bark, digging a hole and letting sap begin to trickle out. He propped open the jar he'd grabbed and set it down below, letting the small steady stream of red sap rain down into it and begin slowly filling up.

He took a seat down at another tree, resting his back against it and kicked back to relax.

Or he would have, if a pained roar didn't resound through the clearing and a huge black shape was sent careening through the air to slam into the ground a few dozen feet away from him.

A giant black Ursa with dozens of bone spikes on its back shook its head and stumbled its way back up to its feet, great big rents clawed into its hide. It barely got back up onto its feet before a massive black blur, almost as big as it slammed into it like a freight train and slammed it back into the ground.

Mike, the aggressor completely overpowered the massive bear grimm with pure brute force and speed that it couldn't come close to and Cobalt smirked as he bore witness to his first summon pin the bigger grimm to the ground with his clawed paws and then snap down with his head like a bullet, mouth opening wide and tear his opponents throat out with his gleaming fangs.

The Ursa Major gave a spasming gasp as its life fled it, but Mike barely even paid attention and stood up, heaving the massive bone armoured beast into the air with his teeth and dragged it over to Cobalt and dropped its corpse in front of him, like a loyal dog bringing a toy to its master.

"Good boy." Cobalt praised, and then Mike gave a bark, before turning on his heel and bounding off into the forest once again, on the hunt for more Ursa Major.

Cobalt smirked proudly, before turning his attention to the corpse of the Ursa Major left before him, its body already beginning to start to fade into black smoke. He wasn't going to let that happen though. He held his hand up, and directed his aura outwards.

Like black smoky light itself, it swirled into existence around his hand and surged out towards the corpse of the massive bear grimm and circled around it like a small cyclone, hiding the corpse from view.

When he pulled it back within himself, the smoky black aura disappeared, taking the corpse of the Ursa Major grimm with it, and Cobalt felt the familiar feeling of a new being take root within him, completely subordinate and submissive to his soul.

'God my semblance is the best.' he chuckled lightly. The best of it was, all he had to do was supply the aura to summon them. They were still alive the same way they were originally before death and being enslaved by him. They only knew what he desired, and set about going about it. His Grimm, originally, their only purpose in life was killing humans, but now, their purpose in life was achieving whatever he wanted done.

What he wanted right now, was Ursa Major. As such, Mike and the Alpha Pack were hunting any of them down within the forest with the same single minded focus any other grimm would have when it came to killing humans.

Only, unlike the average grimm, every single one of the Alpha Pack were at least a decade in age, meaning they were far far smarter than the average grimm. After all, one in a thousand Beowolves would be lucky to reach five years of age and Alpha status, and every single one of his was double that and had spent over a decade serving him throughout human society, not just hunting or roaming around the wilds.

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A half hour later, Cobalt was reclining still against the tree he'd claimed as a resting spot, his eyes risen up into his hairline.

Why?

Well, it was to do with the group of grimm surrounding him. Six massive Alpha Beowolves, and two towering Ursa Major. And the fact that they were, practically attached to the trees around him, slurping up the sap coming from said trees.

It was so odd, he'd never seen anything like it before. Never once had Mike or the other beowolves been at all interested in food, but here they were gorging themselves on the red sap like their very lives depended on it. He'd not even ordered anything, he'd just let them do as they pleased after the group of six giant beowolves dragged a kicking and screaming Ursa Major back with them before killing it and dropping its corpse at his feet.

'Once I get a Giant Nevermore and can fly about on it, I should come out here and stock up on this stuff.' he mused. Grimm seemed to love it for some reason. And it would be a good treat for his grimm minions.

He would have just continued relaxing and letting his grimm minions enjoy themselves with their little sap feast, if not for the sounds of screaming, coming from back where he broke off with his class.

As much as he wanted to just wave it off and not bother with their crap, he did want to become a hunter for a reason. He'd never stand by when something truly terrible was happening.

Standing up, he snapped his fingers and dismissed the grimm summons around him, feeling the aura that made them up returning to him. It put him above his usual max output since his aura had already recovered from what he spent summoning them

It was a great little trick he'd learned a while back and could work quite nicely for a pick-me up if he timed things right.

Taking off at a sprint, he quickly rushed his way back to where he came from. Just in time to catch sight of Xiao Long and Belladonna rushing off with most of the members of Winchester's team, while Weiss, Rose and Nikos all ran in the opposite direction.

He skidded to a halt, debating for a moment on who to follow. 'If it's an emergency, obviously the strongest will deal with the most dangerous shit.' he reasoned, and so sprinted after the three girls.

He caught up with them a few moments later at the edge of a tree line that they skidded to a stop at, the sound of metal clanging ringing in his ears. He saw Weiss drawing her rapier, and caught sight of Arc over their heads, crouched low on the ground, his shield held up over his head blocking a paw almost as large as he was tall, his arms shaking with the strain.

His attacker, an absolutely monstrously large Ursa Major that had to be half again as large as the two his Alpha Pack had dragged to him. It had to be a good twenty feet tall at full height.

Weiss had the right idea. Arc was a dead man against that thing. Massive aura or not.

"Wait!" Nikos held her hand out, blocking Weiss from assisting the blonde dunce.

Cobalt had no idea why, nor did he care.

Instead of slowing down, he sped up and jumped over the three girls, calling on his aura to enhance himself and launching himself through the air in a single massive bound.

To his surprise, Arc gave a shout and managed to gather the strength to parry the massive paw to the side and slip under it, lashing out with a slash across the beasts chest that drew a thin gouge in its thickly hided chest.

"Not bad Arc!" Cobalt couldn't help but praise as the massive Ursa Major drew back with a roar of anger and pain, served right up on a platter for his fight.

He clenched it tight, and the thick black bracelet around his right wrist shifted and forced into a black clawed gauntlet, he drove the clawed fingers of the gauntlet straight through the unprotected point of the unsuspecting Ursa Major's head, piercing into its brain and them slammed it into the ground with all his strength.

The ground shook from the force of the impact and cratered beneath the behemoth of a bear grimm's body. It spasmed, and went limp a moment later.

Standing atop its corpse as he pulled his clawed fingers free, Cobalt looked it over and whistled, "Not bad at all Arc," he mused, turning his attention the blonde boy. Credit where credit was due, Arc had never shown anywhere near the strength it would take to block a strike from this thing, and to think he'd even managed to counter, "Looks like there's some worth to you after all, unlike that scrub." he praised, and jerked his head at the full armoured ginger he found sitting on his weak ass behind Arc, cowering from the looks of it.

"...Cobalt?" Arc tilted his head, in what looked like a bit of a daze.

"Yup, no need to thank me for saving you Arc," Cobalt smirked, lifting a hand and directing it at the corpse of the grimm below him, "This will do as payment." he spread his  fingers wide and called upon his semblance, and repeated his actions from earlier, absorbing the dead Ursa Major.

Moments later, it was gone and Cobalt fell a few feet to land on his own feet, and dusted off his hands. "Keep up the good work Arc," Cobalt pat him on the shoulder as he walked by him, his work here was done, "Though, try to man up a little bit huh? Have some pride dude and stop letting a weak loser like Winchester bully you around."

And with a whistle on his lips, Coblat walked on by only stopping to sneer down in disgust at the pathetic sight of Cardin Winchester, and the wet patch at the crotch of his pants before moving on.

Well, he did take the time to throw a little wink Weiss' way, getting an eyeroll from her.

'Jake's a good name I think.' he mused.

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The mood within the bullhead on the way back to Beacon Academy, was a lot lighter than it was on the way towards Forever Fall Forest.

Team JNPR specifically were more or less full of cheer. The depressed cloud that seemed to have been hanging over them for the past two weeks, was seemingly gone. Nora was hyper active and full of cheer, the frown that had almost taken up permanent residence on Pyrrha's face had been replaced by a smile and even the ever quiet and passively faced Ren had a smile of his own.

And Jaune for once, was finally sitting once again within the vicinity of the group and not with Cardin and his team of idiots and acting as their gopher.

"Ren, Ren! That sap is amazing! You've gotta make some pancakes for me to stick it on!" Nora shook her partners shoulder back and forth, so hard Ren's head wobbled back and forth like a bobble head ornament.

Pyrrha giggled at the display while Jaune, sitting at the farthest edge of the group watched on with a small chagrined smile

"Looks like Vomit-boy has finally got his head on straight," Yang noted as she eyed the boy, "Wonder what the heck that crap with Cardin was all about?"

"Does it matter?" Weiss looked up from where she was idly examining her nails on her seat, "Frankly, I think it's just about time the dunce stopped being a burden on Pyrrha and dragging his team down, today has been the first semi-impressive thing Arc has managed to accomplish since the semester started."

"Oh c'mon Weiss, he's not that bad I mean...he's got a lot of aura right?" Ruby came to the defence of her first friend at beacon, albeit struggling to find anything complimentary when it came to his fighting abilities, "And he's pretty good at taking a hit and blocking! Like, even Yang would have had trouble blocking a hit like that from that Ursa Major, how the heck did Jaune do that?"

"Pfft, I resent that! I don't care how big this thing was, I could totally have blocked a hit from it easy!" Yang refuted, raising a clenched fist at her sister, "Back me up Blake, you think I could have did it right?" she asked, turning her head to look at her own partner.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Blake absently agreed with the bodacious blonde, not really paying attention as she was busy taking in the scenery that went passed through the window next to her seat within the bullhead.

"You could always ask Cobalt to let you try, and we can see you put your money where your mouth is dear sister," Ruby grinned at her sister, "Pretty sure he used his semblance on it, right Weiss?"

"Why are you asking me?" Weiss raised an eyebrow at the younger girl.

"You've been spending a lot of time with him, something we should know?" Yang asked teasingly, before shrugging, "And yeah, that might not be a bad idea, the kid could probably use some friends, I mean look at him sitting all by himself over there." she jerked her head towards the back of the bullhead sitting area.

Specifically, at Cobalt, where he was sitting. He was all alone, with nobody with him, and sitting not too dissimilarly from Blake, his chin propped up on one hand while he stared out of the window he was sitting beside a bored look upon his face.

The blonde turned a grin on her white haired teammate, "That is, unless you want to keep him all to yourself," she teased, "I mean I wouldn't blame you, he's quite the hottie hot hottie."

Weiss rolled her eyes, "There's nothing going on between Cobalt and I, we're just training together and I gave him some advice in a business related matter, that's all."

Yang gave her a put upon wince, "Struck out huh? Guess he isn't into short and flat."

"Excuse you? I'll have you know that I am not flat, I just don't have a pair of fat cow udders on my chest like you," Weiss crossed her arms and huffed, "Besides, not that it is any of your business, but Cobalt clearly has a refined taste. He already propositioned me for a sexual relationship, I turned him down."

Three pairs of eyes locked on to the girl at her words, lilac, silver and yellow. "Wait, seriously?" Ruby gaped.

"Huh, I'm kinda surprised, that I'm not surprised," Yang mused, "I can totally see it. He does have that feel to him, you know the take charge and go for what he wants kind of feel. Well, that on top of being an arrogant jackass that thinks way too highly of himself."

"He's not that bad," Blake refuted, "Sure, he's a bit arrogant, but considering how strong he is, it's not like there isn't a basis for it, and he's like you said all alone here, his team abandoned him like assholes, so he's probably just projecting a bit of a tough front."

Weiss opened her mouth, before closing it. She knew after all, that Cobalt was not at all projecting anything with his arrogance, and that he didn't spare any thought to his team. He really did believe that there was a single student at Beacon Academy capable of taking him on and defeating him. The only one she knew that could defeat him was Pyrrha.

She doubted even the members of Team Coffee, the top second year team led by Coco Ardel and one of the strongest, if not the strongest team in the academy throughout all the years could defeat him.

Not with what he'd revealed to her about his semblance. Not only could he summon his forces almost instantly, but as far the grimm he had went? They were even stronger than when they were first defeated and taken in by him. The grimm somehow still aged and grew stronger while subordinated to him, and on top of that, when he summoned them, they gained an aura that not only shielded them from attacks like any hunter or huntress, but also boosted their physical abilities just the same as a person using their aura as well.

Frankly, it was less him creating his subordinates with his aura, and more him summoning them from a subspace within his shadow or something like that using his aura and said aura being gifted to them while they were summoned. It was vastly superior to the summoning ability of her own families semblance.

Regardless though, Weiss refused to open her mouth and let Blake and the others know that Cobalt was not at all lonely, or sad, or anything like that. He was far too focused on his training and studying to be so. That didn't mean Weiss didn't think he needed to gain some more social ties though, if things worked out with the plans in regards to his stock, he'd have to learn how to deal with people better once he was able to get involved with other businesses, really, it was for his own good.

"Prove it," Yang grinned at her teammate and jabbed a thumb at the younger boy at the back, "Go strike up a conversation, see how long it takes before that asshole bad boy thing he has going on pisses you off."

"You know what?" Blake rolled her eyes, "Fine, nobody that bad at heart would paint a target on themselves for the faunus." she stood up from her seat and stepped around them before heading Cobalt's way.

"How much you betting she crashes and burns?" Yang asked with a grin.

"I dunno, maybe he does just need a friend?" Ruby wondered, "I mean, Blake is right, it was nice of him to do that for the faunus being bullied, even if it was kind of mean the way he did it."

Well, Blake tended to be quiet, so she'd be the least likely to annoy Cobalt Weiss mused. 'And considering those atrocious books she reads, she'll probably be receptive to any of the same advances he made on me.'

Really, the ribbon wearing girl should be much more careful where she left such degenerate reading material. Ruby had come across that filthy Ninja's of Love book of hers just a week ago and had been tainted by it.

If she never had to hear, 'Now that's a katana!' ever again, it would still be too soon as far as Weiss was concerned.