White.
That was the first thought that came to Jaune when he woke up on a hospital bed.
He didn't know how long he was out but from the energy he had currently, he was out for quite some time.
He tried to move his arms but found out that only one of his arms could move; his left arm. No matter what he did, his right arm couldn't seem to move. He looked down on his right arm and his eyes widened.
His entire right arm was bruised. The color of his right was no longer fair complexion but rather reddish. He couldn't move it no matter how hard he tried to. No wonder he felt numb when he woke up.
He looked over to his left. He saw a chair right next to his bed, a mirror and a door to the outside of the room. He looked over to his right. He saw another bed with an occupant on it, a chair on his right, a large window with a view of the outside. He took another glance to his roommate.
Dad?
His father was taking a nap, clearly exhausted from their previous experience. He wondered why his father was with him when he remembered that his father was being crushed by a large rubble.
"Dad… Hey, Dad," he tried to wake him up. It took some time, but his father finally started stirring up from his rest.
"Jaune? You're awake," his father exclaimed when he looked over to his son.
Jaune struggled to sat up due to his broken right arm. When he successfully did, his father did the same.
"Yeah… What happened?" he asked as he had no recollection after pulling off a stunt like that.
"Well… After you punch that robot, you passed out," his father answered and Jaune felt lame, especially hearing it from his father no less. Who wouldn't? To do something like that only to pass out after. It was humiliating.
At the very least, he was glad that he could at least saved his father and that little kid from an anguish doom. Well, he knew his father was okay but the kid-
"Is the kid, okay?" he asked, curious and anxious for the answer.
"Don't worry, the kid's fine," Jaune let out a sigh of relief. "His parent took him away while others tried to pick up that giant rubble off of me."
"I'm glad," he smiled. Even if his last image was a lame one, at least he helped someone saw another day.
Knock. Knock.
The father-son duo looked at the knocked door. Jaune looked back to his father, seeking answer on who might be visiting them, but he only got a shrug from the man. Both clearly weren't expecting any visitors.
"Come in," his father answered the person or people behind the door. Maybe a doctor or a nurse.
The door was opened and both Jaune and his father were shocked to see the one behind the door.
Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, accompanied by Glynda Goodwitch.
Professor Ozpin was a 50-year-old man who had tousled silver hair and brown eyes. He looked taller than Jaune. He wore shaded glass spectacles and unzipped black suit. Inside, he wore dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black trouser shoes and dark-green pants. His cane never left his side.
Glynda Goodwitch, his aunt, was a 42-year-old woman who had light blonde hair that was tied back into a bun. Her eyes were bright green, similar to Jaune's mother. She also wore glasses like Professor Ozpin. She wore white long-sleeved pleated top while her lower body was covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt and black-brown stockings. She wore lack boots with bronze heels that made her taller than she actually was. Her purple cape was ever present.
Jaune and his father were still in trance as their brains were processing the fact that Professor Ozpin himself had came to visit. Then, they saw Glynda, slightly behind the gray-haired man, and they paled.
She was giving off a dark aura.
"Hello, I am Professor-"
"Why the Hell are you 2 here?!"
In a matter of a millisecond, Glynda Goodwitch was already choking the soul out of Jackson Arc. The poor man.
"G-Glyn… P-please… C-c-can't… B-BREATH!" his father wheezed out, air was neither entering nor leaving his body. The man was in pain and Jaune could only watched in shock and horror. He prayed his aunt would spare him from her wrath. He still didn't have a girlfriend yet.
With a sigh, his aunt let his father free from his torture. His old man shivered in fear of the mighty Goodwitch.
"Explain, Jack," she lost a bit of the anger in her eyes, but the dark aura still lingered.
"W-we were just here to spend some time and get Hamburger," Nice, leave out the surprise visit out of the conversation. Good strategy, Dad. "Then, out of nowhere, that psycho in a battle suit start exploding things left and right."
"I see," she wasn't convinced by the answer. Glynda sat on the chair beside his father's bed while Ozpin stood in between his father and him.
"Um… Excuse me, Professor Ozpin," Jaune called out to the professor nervously, still surprised by his presence. "H-how was the situation? I-if you don't mind telling me, of course."
"You don't need to be nervous, Mr. Arc," Ozpin reassured. Jaune wished it worked but at least it was lessened even for a tiny bit. "The criminal had been apprehended and was sent to the VPD but in short amount of time, he already caused a lot of destruction. About 12 stores were destroyed from the battle suit's cannons, 4 of them being Dust stores. The casualty, however, was more than we imagined. 7 people were found dead while 21 were injured."
7 deaths? Jaune thought as he clenched his hand into a fist, angry at himself. "I could've done more. If I was fast enough, I could had gotten more. If I-"
"There's no need for you to blame yourself, Mr. Arc," Jaune looked back to Ozpin who just gave him a small yet reassuring smile.
"But I only managed to save 2," he tried to argue but Ozpin just shook his head, as if unpleased by him.
"And because of that, those 2 people you saved could now see another day," Ozpin countered easily, clearly used to this sort of argument. "Mr. Arc, when it comes to saving lives, it's not just about how many people you can save. It's also about how you can save them."
"I-I don't understand," Jaune said trying to comprehend what Ozpin just said to him.
"Very well. Let's say you can save 10 people, but your body can only save 9. By the time you save the 9th, your body is already at your limit. You save the 10th, your body becomes too weak to even carry yourself. Now, you're the one that needs saving. Do you understand now, Mr. Arc?"
"Maybe?" in all honesty, Jaune still didn't quite understand what Ozpin meant. So, my body's limit is 2?
"Don't worry, Mr. Arc. With more experiences, your body will adjust, and you'll save even more people," That was a bit better, at least. "If it is any consolation, Mr. Arc, if it wasn't for your Semblance, there will be more casualties than we had now."
Fuh, thank God for my… Wait, "M-my Semblance?"
"Yes, your Semblance. Why do you think we come to visit you in the first place?" Ozpin raised his eyebrow at that with a smirk.
He looked over to his father and his father shrugged. He turned back to Ozpin and shouted, "I HAVE A SEMBLANCE?!"
"Please, Mr. Arc, refrain yourself from shouting. We're in a hospital," Ozpin looked back to the door, checking if someone would had come into the room to lecture them about shouting in a hospital.
"S-sorry," Jaune covered his mouth embarrassingly. "I-it's just that… I finally have a Semblance…" he looked to his broken right arm. Even if it was broken, it was the same arm that he used his Semblance with. I can't believe I finally have a Semblance.
"I see. So, you're late bloomer," Jaune scratched the back of his neck at that. "Can you describe the feeling when you used your Semblance just so I can get a better understanding on what your Semblance is."
"Of course," he looked to his right arm again and tried to remember the feeling. "When I pulled back my fist and focused my Aura on it, I could feel a surge in it. I don't how to describe it, but I felt my Aura amplified or boosted. The amount of Aura was still the same but the power behind it was more than what I'm used to."
"I see. So, your Semblance is Aura-based," Ozpin said.
"Aura-based?" Jaune asked. He had never heard of Aura-based Semblance.
"Aura-based Semblance. As we all know, while Semblance needs Aura to use, it never is one of the same. Semblance is a completely different entity compared to Aura. Aura is mainly used to boost one's physical abilities and heighten the regenerative process of the human body. Semblance, on the other hand, usually differ itself from our body. For example, there's someone out there with a Semblance that can shoot out webs from his wrist and someone that have knife-like claws from his knuckles," Ozpin explained.
That was a bit much of an info dump but at least Jaune could understand what he meant. Jaune nodded for Ozpin to continue his explanation.
"Aura-based Semblance is a Semblance that centered around Aura. That's basically it," Jaune deadpanned but when he thought about it, it's literally what the name implied. "The question is, what does it do with that Aura?"
Jaune's head perked at that.
"You see Aura-based Semblance are a rare thing. There's only a selected few which had that type of Semblance to the point of it being non-existence and that's just going by the records. In Beacon, there's only one person that have Aura-based Semblance," Ozpin said a bit proudly.
"Really?" curious, Jaune moved closer towards the headmaster.
"His Semblance is called Aura Manipulation. He can manipulate his Aura and give it forms when in battle."
"Wait… When you say he "gives it forms", does he extract his Aura from his body?" Ozpin nodded. "So, when he gives it forms, he can physically use it?" Ozpin nodded again.
That's so cool. So, then- "What about my Semblance then?"
"By your information, we can simply conclude that your Semblance is Aura Amplifier. In theory, your Semblance can amplify your Aura abilities such as make your regenerative process faster than others and, like before, you can amplify your Aura's power and allow you to attack enemies with powerful strikes. It might sound tame, but with enough practice, it can be one of the most useful and powerful Semblance."
Upon hearing that, Jaune looked over to his right arm and started applying Aura to it. It felt normally paced as it was before, although he still couldn't feel anything, only the Aura. I guess it needs to be done separately then.
He recalled how it was done before. How it surged through his Aura, as if giving it a second layer, and he started amplifying his Aura. The pacing started to increase, little by little, and he could already feel the sensation came back to his arm. He could feel the fractured bones started to re-align, as well as his joints. His bruise started to heal, and color started to come back to his arm.
This is awesome! But wait…
"Why did my arm break then?" Jaune asked.
"One's Aura reserve differs from one to another. The amount of Aura in one's body are specific to their physical attributes. For example, you yourself have a massive Aura pool, am I correct?" Jaune nodded. "But since your Semblance amplifies your Aura above your normal capacity, your body couldn't withstand it. Too much Aura can cause your body to explode."
Jaune was surprised by that information. If he was to use his new-found Semblance too much, it could lead him to his death. I guess you can't have a powerful Semblance, without some side effect.
Silence overtook the room while Jaune contemplated on how to use his Semblance.
"Now that that's out of the way," Ozpin spoke, gaining Jaune's full attention again. "Would you like to join my academy?"
"...what?"
"Would you like to-"
"I heard you the first time!" Jaune interrupted before Ozpin could fully explain himself. "I-it's just… Why?!"
"Did you really think we came all the way to just talk about your Semblance, young man? Especially after hearing what you did?" I would if you don't look so smug!
"I-I mean! I-it's not like I don't like your offer! It's just… I still haven't gotten to any combat school yet," Jaune said. One can't just apply to a Huntsman academy without going to any combat school. It was one of the rules.
"Are you implying your father wasn't competent enough to train you?" upon hearing that, Jaune started to sweat nervously. "Combat school isn't anything special, young man."
"What do you mean by that?"
"While my students won't admit it, combat school was nothing more than just regular school with the addition of basic Huntsman training. The only plus they got from it was that they could forge their own weapons for free. Trust me, those four years in combat school are just as boring as your own," Ozpin explained.
Jaune frowned at that. Sure, they got subjects like his own school, but to dismiss them so nonchalantly was putting him off to say the least.
"Even then, I only just got my Semblance. You can't expect me to just enter Beacon without perfecting my Semblance, right?" Jaune still tried to argue with the man.
"Do you really believe the people that would be entering Beacon had already perfected their Semblance?" He asked sincerely. "Mr. Arc, even to this day, there are still many people that are learning new things about their own Semblance. The academies were built in the purpose of guiding them to be a more capable Huntsmen and a better person. Your situation is no different."
"But it wouldn't be fair to others that got in!" at this point, Jaune was frustrated. Why couldn't the professor just let him go through what others went through. Shortcutting himself into Beacon was simply unfair to others that had worked hard to get in.
"Again, do you really believe that you're the first person we asked that never went to any combat school to enter Beacon?" Ozpin smirked.
"What?"
"There are many people before you, who had never gone to any combat school, but still managed to enter Beacon. They went through the entrance exam like everybody else, and they managed to have a spot at Beacon. Their skills speak for them, not their history and yours clearly speak volume today," Ozpin gave him a small smile.
"What? By injuring myself?" Jaune chuckled sarcastically at that.
"By saving people," that stopped Jaune further. "You jumped into action the moment the first explosion erupted. You knew the risk, but you still go on to save those 2 people. You have a heart of a Huntsman, Mr. Arc, and that heart is all I need to know that you're ready for what Beacon had to offer."
Jaune was quite at the moment, trying to find any argument left. His heart told him to take it, that he deserved it. But his heart also told him that it was still unfair to others.
"Jaune."
He turned to his father when he was called out. His father had a stern look on his face, a look he rarely used even when his son had done something stupid or dangerous.
"Just take the offer. This is your chance to follow your dream. I'm proud that you're thinking of others' feeling but by doing that, you're neglecting your own. It's okay to be selfish once in a while," while his stern expression was locked on his face, there's a sense of warmness from it. A caring and loving warmness.
Jaune thought over what his father had said to him. Silence took over once more and both his father and aunt were anxious to hear his answer. Ozpin, on the other hand, stood calmly and patiently waiting for his answer.
"Okay, I'll take the offer," Jaune stated with a seriousness he rarely shown to others. Even if he still felt it was unfair, he won't turn away this opportunity anymore. He gladly accepted Beacon.
"I'm glad you accept it, Mr. Arc, it made this trip to Vale a bit eventful," Professor Ozpin started chuckling. Jaune followed next with his.
"Glad he took it, Jack. At least I have a family there to keep me company instead of being nuisance," Ozpin clenched his heart at that. His aunt was truly ruthless in her words, especially towards people who weren't her family.
"Yeah, I'm glad too," his father paused for a while. "By the way, Glyn. Why did you choked me when you got in?"
"Oh… That," his aunt looked away, slightly embarrassed. "I thought you 2 came her to make a surprise visit or something similar."
At that, Jackson Arc nervously sweated, blowing his real intention for coming to Vale.
"I KNEW IT!" his aunt once again proceeded to choke the soul out of his poor, foolish old man. He had one job, and he failed.
May he find peace in the next life, Jaune thought as he laughed at his father dismay.
O - O - O - O - O
Jaune was currently boarding an airship that was flying towards his goal, his dream, his new life; Beacon Academy.
After gotten out of the hospital, both Arc family members went back to their lively home in Dale Valley. There, his father proceeded to train him for the next 2 months. To prepare him for Beacon's Entrance Exam, they went through a much more vigorous training. It was an experience to say the least.
He was wearing his usual black hoodie, a pair of blue jeans and a pair of black sneakers. He got a big gym bag for his clothes, his armors, his weapons and other necessities. He didn't bring a lot along to Beacon, only things for the next few weeks.
He looked out of the airship's window and there it was. Beacon Academy stood tall near a cliffside, along the east edge of the kingdom. Several waterfalls running down the cliffs to the base of it, highlighting more of the beauty of Beacon's location. Beacon Tower could be seen even from the distance as it was the most prominent part of the academy with several green lights that shone bright even during the day. Clearly a beacon to those seeking knowledge and guidance.
Jaune wished he could appreciate Beacon's beauty more but, unfortunately, his stomach didn't allow him to do so.
Of all the time to discover I got airsick! Why now?!
True to his word, his breakfast was forcing its way out of his stomach to his mouth. Jaune tried his best to keep it in lest he made a fool out of himself, especially on the day of examination. Him being nervous didn't work either.
If I knew I got airsick, I would've taken the ship.
But alas, it was not meant to be. He had to make do with the airship for now, even if his stomach was beating the life out of him. The moment one's stomach disagreed, their day turned chaotic.
He looked around to look at the people on board.
Jaune saw a girl who looked younger than he was. She was wearing a red hoodie, black pair of track pants, black boots. Her hair was black with red tips and she was short. She looked nervous as he was probably even more. She was talking to another girl.
The girl was taller than her. She was wearing a denim jacket with what seemed to be a yellow top. She was wearing a dark pair of black wash jeans and brown sneakers. Her hair was the most prominent as it was golden in color and waist length.
Both of them had luggage with them.
He turned away from the two and his eyes widened on the person he had landed eyes on.
He was taller than him. Jaune was. His built was buff, clearly someone who had trained for a long period of time. He was wearing a casual black t-shirt, a pair of light khaki pants and pair of brown boots. Similar to Jaune, he also brought a big gym bag with him. His short burnt-orange hair was combed forward with a peak at the front. His indigo eyes could clearly be seen.
Cardin.
It had been some time since he saw Cardin. The last time they met, Cardin gave him one of the most hateful glares he had been given in his entire life. They haven't spoke since and that was 5 years ago.
He wanted to speak to him, to just say 'hello' was enough for him. Unfortunately, he was still afraid. Afraid that he would be given that glare again and afraid that he would push him even further.
"You knew the risk, but you still go on to save those 2 people."
Ozpin words sprung into his mind. It was a risk but if he didn't speak to him now, he probably never will. And so, he steeled himself and strode towards Cardin Winchester who was minding his own business.
He contemplated on turning back but he was too close for him to do so. Here goes nothing.
"Hey, Car-"
"Don't talk to me."
That shut Jaune's mouth as quickly as he opened it. It was barely above a whisper, but he could hear it clear as day. It was not a request but instead an order.
Cardin looked Jaune in the eyes and gave him the same glare he had given him before. The moment their eyes locked to each other, everything else blurred out. It was only them and this murderous aura on Jaune's life.
They didn't know who long they've been that way, but it felt long to Jaune. Then, Cardin pried his eyes away from Jaune and started walking away, leaving the poor boy alone.
Dejectedly, he walked back towards the previous window, airsick momentarily forgotten. He looked back towards Beacon. He remembered Cardin's glare, but he also reminded of Ozpin's words as well as his father. The fiery passion returned to him in full force.
It doesn't matter what my relationship with Cardin now. I'm at Beacon. I'll be Huntsman, no matter what!
O - O - O - O - O
Hello!
I'm back again with another chapter of Remnant's Heroes In The Making. This came out surprisingly fast, considering the fact I usually take my sweet ass time to write. Hopefully it'll be like this for the other chapters as well. Probably not.
In this chapter, I wanted to dive a bit into Jaune's Semblance so that it could give explanation as to what it could do and the side effect to it. Jaune's Semblance in canon, while I like it so far, I wanted it to be more than just healing and protect people. I also wanted it to be an offensive Semblance. His Aura is already large, amplify it, it would be destructive. But as we all know, powerful stuff needs to have a limit. So, the broken arm will have to make do for now.
Jaune also got to meet the sisters just like he did in canon. But he also got to meet Cardin. If you watched My Hero Academia or read the manga, Cardin is basically Bakugou. No, it would not be a carbon copy of him. I would just take elements in Bakugou and put it in Cardin. That's all.
Had any criticism? Please by all means, leave a review. Criticism is always welcome.
Thank you for reading.