Arc Royale [Ch. 26]

"Null's Semblance did nothing!" Cinder snarled. "It was like he didn't even need aura-"

"He might not." Ashari grunted. Cinder's eyes burned as she turned on him, and Emerald flinched. Why couldn't he have just stayed quiet? Cinder was looking for someone to punish right now. Preferably someone who couldn't fight back. "We know from Headmaster that Knight works on video game logic. He might have `hit-points` instead of aura, or a health bar."

Cinder snarled and approached them. Fire danced in her eyes and Emerald shrank back. Ashari, of course, sat where he was. "Explain!"

"Video games don't normally simulate aura or injuries. They're binary. A character is either alive or they are dead, and that depends wholly on their health bar."

He was right of course. Emerald was not someone who cared for games, but Mercury had been when they'd stayed at Haven for their cover. He was always playing something or other, and in those rare cases where there was nothing to do and Cinder didn't have work with her, she had been cajoled into playing. He liked fighting games, mostly because he enjoyed spamming one move and calling it skill. Emerald frowned as an unusual feeling rose in her gut, flipping over and over until she felt sick.

"He's right." Null spoke up, coming to Ashari's defence. "And there's no point getting angry at him, Cinder. We need everyone we can get if we want to beat Knight."

Translation: Don't kill Ashari in anger because they were on the backfoot enough as it was. Emerald swallowed, unsure if Cinder would actually listen to Null – or anyone for that matter. There were times in the past when she or Mercury had made suggestions. Sometimes, Cinder listened, but whenever she was in a bad mood she would do the exact opposite just to prove a point.

Fortunately, this wasn't one of those times. "What would a `health bar` mean for us here?"

"It'd mean that no injuries would really show on him until it's depleted." Null said. He was bruised and woozy from being nearly crushed by a Grimm but compared to Ashari he might as well have been right as rain. "Most games don't bother coding in injuries and their effects on a person. It's too much work. So, if you broke his arm it wouldn't actually be broken, but he'd take a hit to his health. Take off enough to where he has none left and he'd die instantly."

"He can die?" she asked.

"Everything can die." Null ought to know. "But like Ashari said, it would be binary. Us squishy humans have to go through injuries, blood loss, crippling pain and all that. He doesn't. A video game character is as healthy at 1% health as they are at 100%. It's only when they hit the big zero that it sticks."

"I see." It was almost funny how Cinder didn't see, but then she'd never cared for anything that didn't immediately result in her goals. Games and fun had never been a part of that. "So, what you're telling me is that he cannot be debilitated other than by death? He won't slow down, won't show injuries or be held back in any way?"

"Something like that." Null said. "It could be we were hurting him a lot, but it's impossible to tell how much. You normally see the other person's health bar in a game. We don't get that benefit here."

It was a whole lot of maybes as far as Emerald was concerned. They didn't know for sure and couldn't until Knight was dead, and if that bout an hour ago was any sign, that wouldn't come soon.

—Arc Royale [Ch. 26]