The day of the qualifiers arrived way too fast for Jaune. That week was spent with lots of training for everyone, and he was really glad they could use the clubhouse arena for more intense and private training. Jaune wasn't nervous, for his own surprise. His new sword proved to improve his performance quite much, and despite he being unable to win against his friends in a full-on fight with Semblances alone, Saber proved that she could cover his bases very well.

Saber on the other hand was excited to participate in the qualifiers, even if their entrance in the tournament was still in the air. Pyrrha was nervous, something she always was before tournaments, but confident that her time spent training Jaune would not interfere with her performance. The others were either overconfident (mostly Nora and Yang) or incredible nervous (Ruby and surprisingly, Weiss).

The Beacon qualifiers were unique between the hunting schools. Instead of simple choosing four of the best fighters, Ozpin used a very unique method. There would be eight arenas, and eight random students would occupy them. Any student wanting to participate in the tournament would have to challenge those eight students. The winner would keep the arena, while the loser would have to go to another arena and challenge it. You were only able to challenge the same arena if you conquered one victory previously. If you lose in all eight arenas, you would be disqualified. People that hold an arena would have fifteen minutes between each fight to recover.

It sounded brutal, but Ozpin's logic was that Beacon train people to fight Grimm, not for tournament fights, therefore the qualifiers was simple a way to train students and for them to realize their limits. The qualifiers ended only when no students were left to challenge the eight students that held arenas in the end, and those eight would randomly fight each other for the final four to be chosen.

"So, we all agree we will not fight each other until it is absolutely necessary?" Ruby questioned her friends during breakfast.

"Yeah, we will focus on conquer arenas from people outside our teams, unless we find ourselves arena-less." Jaune agreed as everyone exchanged handshakes.

"So, vomit boy, how you will do it? Will you and Saber go all out from the beginning?" Yang asked and Jauned smiled.

"Oh, I will not tell you my strategies, sunshine. We might end up fighting each other." He said as he ate a waffle.

"My, aren't we confident?" Yang smiled and winked, pleased with her new nickname and to the fact her friend seemed calm instead of his 'scared rabbit' mode.

"Pyr, are you Ok? You seem a bid distant…" Jaune turned to Pyrrha, which didn't hear him until he gently took her hand, making her blush while everyone else, except saber, give them knowing looks.

"Oh, sorry Jaune. It is just… It is just that I heard some of our fellow students saying that athey would not challenge me if I get an arena…" She said, and Jaune squeezed her hand in a reassuring motion, making Pyrrha blush a little more.

"And you don't want people to think you are this goddess so far beyond them that they won't even try to approach you?" He guessed, and she could only nod in affirmation, too happy to speak, seeing how her blonde knight knew her and her worries so well.

"Don't worry cereal girl. I will kick your butt as hard as I can if we have to fight." Yang assured Pyrrha, which let out a chuckle out of the rude, but friendly comment.

"Not if I kick yours first, Yang." She answered and everyone had smiles in their faces.

"Is this some type of fetish? Can we watch?" Sun asked as he sat with them, only having heard the last part about butt kicking. Blake slapped his head over it.

"Master, remember that while kicking opponents behinds is a valid strategy, it is not the most efficient one." Saber said as she finally finished her inhuman pile of food. Everyone looked at her serious face and started laughing; leaving a confused Saber to wonder what was that funny.

…

Ruby, Blake and Pyrrha all got an arena during the random drawing. They were already inside it waiting for the start of the matches, while all the other students lined over seven of the eight arena entrances. Pyrrha's arena had no line. Nobody aside her friends believed they could defeat her, and they promised to only fight each other if the need arises. Jaune decided to wait for the second round before lining up. Of course, any student had only one hour to line up in one of the arenas, so nobody could just wait to try their hand when everyone was already tired.

"You have courage to show up here, Jauney boy." Jaune didn't turn around to look at Cardin, he just sighed while everyone else glared at the bully. "We all know you have no chance."

"Master and I could defeat thy with easy." Saber said, and Cardin laughed.

"Your doll has spunk, I admit." He said, this time Jaune turned towards him. "Come on, everyone knows she is not real, she is just an Aura construct. Though I will still win against you two."

"Funny, if I remember correctly Saber defeated you in one single attack." Ren calmly stated, but Cardin kept his cocky smile.

"She took me by surprise. And even if you manage the miracle of winning, Jauney boy, we all know it won't be by your own effort, but because you get a cute doll to fight for you." Cardin laughed and walked away, and he would get a beating if Ren didn't contained Nora, Weiss stopped Yang and Jaune held Saber.

"Let him talk, Saber. We will show him at the arena, because we are knights, and we follow the rules." He stated with a determined smile, one that Saber could only give back.

"Yes, Master. We will show him our pride as knights in combat." She said, and everyone relaxed a bit.

"Well said, Miss Saber."

They turned around to see Glynda Goodwitch approaching. Together with her was General Ironwood, some people they assumed were from the tournament committee and Penny. Ruby and Penny greeted each other, but couldn't talk as the general signalized that now wasn't the moment.

"Good morning, Mister Arc. I am General James Ironwood, of the Atlas army. I am responsible for the security of the upcoming tournament. I am also headmaster of the hunting school in Atlas." He said in a cordial if formal tone.

"Pleased to meet you, sir. Though I don't know why someone as important as you wants to talk with me." Jaune said and the general smiled.

"I am part of the committee that will approve your… partnership with Miss Saber in the tournament. I know it is quite in bad taste to allow you into the qualifiers under the risk of simple not allowing you a spot later, but I want you to understand that better do it now, than having your future victories questioned by defeated opponents later, and in public." He explained, and after a moment of silence, Jaune shrugged.

"I entered Beacon to learn how to protect people, not to win tournaments. To me this is just a new phase in my training. So I will do just my very best." Ironwood smiled at his answer, as did his friends and Miss Goodwitch.

"I wish more people understood that like you do, Mr. Arc. Good luck to you all." Ironwood left, Penny bowed and followed him, as the rest of the committee. Glynda stayed and smiled at Jaune.

"I believe you can do well, Mr. Arc." She said with a smile before leaving, Jaune blushing a little over his teacher reassurance.

…

The first round ended fast, and now his friends held five arenas, with Ren and Weiss winning their fights. What Jaune noticed is that Cardin held one of his own, originally held by Dove, a member of team CRDL. But to Saber and him, it was clear that Dove lost on purpose so Cardin could have his arena. Jaune frowned at this clear display of unsportsmanship, and got into the line towards his arena. Nobody yet challenged Pyrrha, who just spent her time reading something in her scroll (unbeknownst to anyone, she was reading fluffy romantic novels).

"Master, how thou wish to deal with that man?" Saber asked to Jaune as she stood by his side in line.

"Saber, would you believe in my victory if I fought alone?" He asked her, and Saber smile.

"Yes, Master. I believe thou can defeat that despicable man with your current ability."

"So, would you mind letting me fight this one all by myself?" He turned to her and giving a smile.

"I would like to rough this Cardin boy a little myself, but I believe thou can do it just fine, Master."

"Thanks Saber. I will not disappoint you."

…

Jaune looked at the holo-screen above the arena's entrance. Now all his friends held an arena for themselves, but Pyrrha was yet to fight. It meant that if he didn't defeat Cardin, he would have to fight a friend. So he smiled and decided if that was the case, he would go humor Pyrrha with a spar. As he entered the arena, Saber got invisible once again and he faced Cardin alone. The bigger teenager gave him a scowl.

"Where is the doll?" Jaune didn't answer. He just drew his sword and got in position, waiting the signal for starting. Cardin laughed. "Preparing some dirty tricks? Doesn't matter, I will defeat you here and prove once and for all who is the better fighter."

Jaune calmed his mind as Pyrrha and Ren teach him. No point in letting someone like Cardin getting under his skin. He needed to focus in his training and in his tactics, not in false bravado and assholery. Cardin wasn't a good fighter; he was one whose only quality was his intimidating nature and brute force. Jaune have none of it. All he had was his tactical mind and determination.

That was all he needed.

…

"Interesting. Miss Saber presence is barely detectable." Penny said to Ironwood as both watched that match from the stands.

"How so, Penny?" he questioned the artificial girl, knowing she had advanced sensors installed. If she was having difficulty detecting Saber, maybe she was a Semblance after all.

"I can point that Jaune Arc's Aura is being draw to a point in the border of the arena and nothing else." She explained, and Ironwood smiled. So there was a way to detect this Servant if needed to be. "Should I share this information with the committee?"

"No, it is sensitive military information, Penny. Though I hope even without it the committee approves the young Arc participation in the tournament." He stated to Penny, that kept looking at the fight.

"That might not be a problem." She answered, and Ironwood looked at a surprising scene at the arena.

…

Cardin charged again, trying to strike Jaune with his mace. Jaune would block and change the mace's course with his shield. Cardin then would fire its Dust rounds, making the explosion move the blonde knight, but Jaune used the inertia to spin and attack Cardin's back with Crocea Mors, then he would get farther and wait for Cardin's attack.

Rinse and repeat.

Jaune was preserving his Aura, using minimal effort to hit Cardin, chipping the bigger boy of his Aura reserves one attack at a time. Cardin would rush at Jaune like an angry bull at a toreador, just to see Jaune spin and move in minimal but fast moves, and to see him using the extended reach of his new sword to hit in unprotected spots.

That was making Cardin angrier, and careless. Every attack he made was easier to Jaune to counter, and gave the knight even more openings to hit. The screens showed Cardin with half of his Aura depleted, and Jaune with 80% of it. The bully growled and activated his Semblance, his Aura involving his mace and making it look bigger and bigger. Jaune expected this. Cardin pattern was to always appeal to a one-hit-kill attack when losing. And Jaune smiled knowing his opponent had no idea that the knight already read all his moves easily.

Cardin once again rushed and moved his mace above his head, ready to strike Jaune, which just waited in a defensive pose. As soon as the bigger boy swung his mace down, Jaune jumped aside and swiped the feet of his opponent, making him lose balance. Then Jaune bashed Cardin's face with his shield, a single tooth flying of the bully's mouth as he felt in his back. Before he could recover, Jaune pressed his right foot into the fallen enemy chest, Crocea Mors hovering his eyes.

Outside, nobody could believe what happened. Jaune had a flawless victory against Cardin. The monitor declared the clumsy blonde the winner with his Aura in the green and Cardin's in the red. And that was without any interference from Saber. Pyrrha was the only one who saw the whole fight from her arena as no opponent dared to challenge her. She saw all of the battle and could not be more proud in her entire life. Jaune, her Jaune, conquered a victory all alone. She turned against the wall so the cameras couldn't show both her big smile and the tears dropping from her eyes.

...

The day dragged for Pyrrha as nobody challenged her. All she wanted was to hug her knight. Jaune on the other hand never fought so much like that day. And he was able to win every single battle, though the ones after Cardin he made certain to get Saber to help, despite usually her attacks defeating their opponents in a few swings. Despite that, almost nobody accused Jaune of cheating or of not deserving his spot, as his victory against Cardin proved his abilities. Only the bully and his team put complaints, and now all they could do was wait. Pyrrha joined her friends in the exit of the arena Jaune have being fighting, and a tired knight got out with Saber by his side. The Spartan rushed to him and hugged, her face buried in his chest so he couldn't see she was crying again.

"You did it Jaune, I knew you could..." She said, and happiness filled the knight's heart. He finally heard the person he most cared about praising him.

"It is all thanks to you, Pyr. Thanks for everything."

She didn't answered, just kept hugging him, even when Ruby, Nora and Yang hugged them too. She didn't care, she just wanted to be like this for as long as possible, and Jaune was thinking the same. They only separated when Glynda, general Ironwood and Penny approached them, and even so it took some time, to the amusement of the older duo. Penny was hovering over Saber, a curious look on her face, making the knight girl a bit wary.

"Congratulations, Mr. Arc. Your performance was a glad surprise for us all." Ms. Goodwitch stated, and Jaune blushed over the rare compliment from his combat instructor. "Congratulations to you too, Ms. Saber."

"My Master is the one who commanded us into victory." She answered, and general Ironwood laughed at it.

"Well, hope I can see this level of fighting at the tournament." Everyone turned towards the general. "The committee declared that Saber don't give you an unfair advantage, Mr. Arc, and they are eager to see more if you qualify."

"I will do my best, sir. Thanks. Thanks, Ms. Goodwitch." Jaune said and as they left, the group of friends cheered at him and Saber, pushing both knights up and down in celebration.

...

"Damn that Arc. I will defeat him, I will break him." Cardin furiously complained as he walked towards his room. "It is all the fault of that doll. If she wasn't here, if I had one like her..."

"That, I can give to you, in exchange of a favor." Cardin turned around to see a man with messy, shoulder length hair wearing clothes that reminded him of a priest. "I can give you a Servant, Mr. Winchester. One more powerful than Saber."

Cardin didn't go away. He stayed and listened to the man proposal. In his anger against Jaune Arc, he ignored all advice about getting things from strangers.

...

"Emerald, I want you to get closer to that boy, the Arc one." Cinder calmly said after the Beacon first round of qualifiers ended.

"Why? It is not like his battles were impressive or anything" the green haired girl retorted, not wanting to spend time with the awkward boy at all.

"Yeah Cinder, I could kill him with one or two kicks if needed." Mercury added.

"Can you? Now that he have that Saber girl by his side? He by himself is still harmless, but with that girl, he could be a problem, and I will not let our plans crumble because we overlooked someone."

"Fine then. But if he try to pass a move on me, he is dead." Emerald said, but Cinder smiled.

"No, I think you are safe from that. Besides, even if he proves to be not a threat combat wise, we could use him to keep the Invincible Girl in check." Cinder finished as she looked Pyrrha hugging Jaune's arm, the smile of a girl in love plastered in her face.