Heyyy. Somehow this chapter ended up even longer than the last one.
Last chapter, when I wrote 'formation' I meant, the training course of Beacon, necessary to become a Huntsman. Thanks for continuously pointing out such mistakes.
"Beowolves, Ursas, Deathstalkers, Nevermores..."
"We've already seen them, Zone," Manus whispered. "Let's see the others."
"Right..."
Jaune continued to move further into the Grimm's replica's room.
They had finally asked professor Port to visit it.
Weiss had come with him, but at the moment she was looking for something else on her own.
"What's that… King Taijitu?"
A miniature of a giant snake.
"They have a second skin, which is generally white… It allows them to catch their prey by surprise." Jaune read the description.
"Interesting…" Manus mused. "Second skin… like a sloughing. How can we make use of that?"
"No clue." Jaune shrugged and continued.
"Creeps… Can bury themselves in the ground to take their prey by surprise… They're fairly weak." Jaune continued to read the descriptions of the replicas.
"Digging through the ground..." Manus hummed. "I see, it's because of the way their front limbs and jaw are made."
"Any use?"
"I can probably transform into that if we need to dig a tunnel. It's not very hard."
"Neat." Jaune grinned, and moved on. "Next, Beringel."
"Interesting chest armor."
"Griffons."
"Useless."
"Giant nevermore."
"That thing shoots feathers out of its wings… We could make use of that."
Jaune and Manus continued to pass each Grimm, Jaune reading the plate while Manus analyzed the potential usefulness of each of their limbs to transform their arm into.
"Hmm? This one doesn't have a replica."
"Nuckelavee." Jaune read. "A horse with a rider fused in its body, it has the ability to scream sonic roars and can elongate its arms. It also stores its victim's weapons in his back..."
"That one sounds very useful, Zone."
"Yeah, but the replica is not there."
"Too bad. We'll have to look for that elsewhere."
"Yep."
They continued, not wasting any time.
"Goliath… A giant elephant, generally passive. Said to be the smartest and oldest of them all… They stay in groups and are even bigger than a Deathstalker."
"They're definitely not the smartest." Manus huffed, offended.
"Definitely not." Jaune agreed.
"Next is… Lancers." Jaune read. "Some kind of giant bee that can shoot a grappling hook, they're specialized in taking down human ships. Can also fire stingers."
"A grappling hook?" Manus repeated, "We could use that, Zone."
"Think you can make it?"
"I'd need some practice before getting it right."
"Neat..."
Jaune was fairly sure he shouldn't find the prospect of learning how to transform his arm into more Grimm forms neat.
He continued, and found Weiss standing in front of…
"Gheist?" Jaune read. "I've read about them..."
"They possess objects to hide and kill humans," Weiss said.
"Y-yeah..."
Why was Weiss interested in possessing-type Grimms, Jaune had no idea, but he didn't like it at all. That was too much of a coincidence.
"From what I've read, they're named differently depending on the objects they possess." Jaune declared slowly, "Arbor Gigas for trees, Petra Gigas for rocks..."
"And Arma Gigas for armor and weapons." Weiss finished.
"You know about it?" Jaune raised an eyebrow, surprised.
Those specific names were not even a part of the standard Huntsman course, so he was surprised Weiss knew it.
"I've fought one of them." Weiss nodded.
"Really? How was it? Did it seem intelligent?"
"Like a Grimm, I suppose." Weiss raised an eyebrow at him. "Have you taken an interest in them too?"
"Kinda." Jaune nodded, "How was it?"
"It was..." Weiss looked away, "under special circumstances."
She sighed, shaking her head. At this moment, her scroll rang.
She took it out, checking who was calling.
'Dad'.
She didn't answer the call. "Talking about the devil." She sighed.
Jaune didn't want to bother her with her family problems, so he just asked as if he didn't see anything, "Special circumstances?"
"The secretary of my father – who's the president of the SDC – hates me." Weiss began. "She was charged by my father to dissuade me from coming to Beacon."
Her father charged his secretary to…? What the hell, that seemed awfully cold.
Jaune's own father may not have supported his decision of becoming a Huntsman, like Weiss's, but at the very least he still made the argument himself.
Still, Jaune stayed quiet as he listened.
Weiss continued, "She said she'd allowed me to come to Beacon only if I passed some tests."
Jaune didn't like where this was going at all.
"She made me fight various robots and Grimm. Every time I won a fight, another enemy would come out.
Because of my mastery of dust, semblance, and Myrtenester, I was able to win every fight."
She paused and grimaced. "She kept taunting me, making remarks about my career choice and saying I was as foolish as my sister.
At that time, I had just won a series of fights masterfully, and I was proud of myself. I became arrogant, and for the first time, I talked back to her."
"What did you say?"
"I told her she was a will-less puppet."
Jaune smirked, imagining the scene of the heiress coldly making such a remark.
"What happened then?" Jaune asked.
Weiss groaned. "She released an Arma Gigas on me.
"Supposedly, it was a special Grimm created by the SDC by capturing and accumulating multiple small specimens of possessing-type Grimm. They modified it so that the monster could not escape its armor. It was an experiment that was not supposed to be released, but she wanted to get back at me so much that she freed it anyway."
Jaune paled.
The SDC experimented on Grimm?
So Manus had been right… There were indeed people experimenting on Grimm.
If Manus was ever found out, Jaune would probably end up in one of these facilities.
"...Did you win?" He asked, having trouble to digest the information.
"That was the hardest fight of my life, but yes, I won and killed it." Weiss, reassured him, probably mistaking his expression for worry.
"I see… So you wanted to know more about these types of Grimm."
Though Weiss was Jaune's partner, he was not dense enough to ask her more information on the Grimm experiments. It seemed like it was top secret information, and he was pretty sure that she was not supposed to talk about it.
Still, that Arma Gigas that Weiss fought was unique. Could it be, that Manus was the result of an experiment too?
"… Not exactly, actually." She said. "I am curious, but there's another reason as to why I'd try to find out more information about it."
"Why then?"
She smiled prettily. "That is a secret!"
"Eeeeeeh? Come on, tell me!"
"No, I'm not sure of it yet, so it's going to be a surprise."
"But I'm curious now! Aww..."
"Fine, I'll give you a hint." She smiled.
This girl, she had to make him beg for it, of course...
She leaned forward, all excited.
"If I succeed, I may be able to beat Pyrrha!"
"Hah!" Jaune laughed loudly at her foolishness, "...No, that's impossible." He shook his head.
Winning a fight against Pyrrha Nykos was impossible.
It was Pyrrha freaking Nykos.
She fought against some of the strongest of their class – Yang, Nora, Weiss.
Each time, she destroyed them completely.
Pyrrha seemed all nice and kind from the outside, but on a fighting stage, she was actually quite scary.
She gained that competitive look in her eyes, and she observed you carefully, trying to figure out the most efficient way to win the fight.
For her, it's not a matter of if or even when, but of how fast she could win. How efficient she could be.
Jaune had been up against her once, it was really scary, he'd been completely dominated.
She was so talented, that in all her fights, her Aura never took damage.
Yang and Nora's strength, Weiss's dust attacks, Ruby's speed, Blake's sneakiness, Jaune's Grimm arm.
It was all useless against pure technique and skill.
Jaune had yet to see Pyrrha's Aura taking damage since the beginning of the year, and that's including Initiation.
How crazy was that?
She was probably capable of defeating a whole team of fourth years and call it a decent warm up.
For Weiss to say that she may become capable of winning a fight against Pyrrha freaking Nykos, she must be planning something big.
Really, her arrogance had no limits.
She wanted to be the top student of their class, so it was understandable that she'd want to beat Pyrrha, but still...
"Okay… That may be unreasonable." Weiss allowed reluctantly when she saw Jaune's expression. "But at least I'd land a few hits."
"Whatever you say, snow angel." Jaune rolled his eyes.
"Do not call me that."
Surprisingly, the school didn't talk a lot about Jaune's race after the drama that Cardin caused.
After a couple of weeks, everyone stopped talking about it.
Another two weeks and people already forgot everything.
Team RPNN's reaction had been fairly reasonable.
"It's fiiiiiiine, Jaune, don't worry." Ruby had waved it away.
"We understand," Pyrrha nodded.
"So that's why your right arm is stronger!" Nora realized as her fist slapped against her palm.
"And here I thought it was because he fapped too much," Yang commented.
Jaune punched her in the face, and a brawl between the two blondes suddenly started in the middle of the cafeteria.
Ahem...
Let's not focus on the details.
Getting back on track, Jaune also considered what to say to Blake about her former activities in the White Fang, but in the end, he decided to stay quiet.
After all, Blake was still Blake, former terrorist or not, she was still his silent teammate that enjoyed reading porn.
So Jaune kept her secrets to himself, however lewd they may be.
No, what really surprised him, was Cardin.
He seemed to be ignoring him, ever since he had a talk with the headmaster.
Jaune did the same in return. At least, he tried to.
Because, even though Cardin ignored him, he certainly did not ignore that rabbit faunus that he liked to bully.
"Aw, my ears, that hurts!"
"Heh, what a freak."
"Grrr..." Jaune growled like an angry Beowolf from his seat as he eyed team CRDL bullying the rabbit girl.
Calm down Jaune…
Cardin is ignoring you, you should just do the same.
It wouldn't do to cause more problems, Jaune had to avoid gathering attention on himself.
Selfish, wasn't it?
However, you have to understand, Jaune was not really paying attention to the rabbit girl.
His attention was solely focused on Cardin.
In other words, even if he wanted to help that girl, it was more of an excuse to beat up Cardin than anything else.
What he felt right now, was not pity towards the girl, but anger towards Cardin.
Jaune was still angry at him for causing so much trouble.
And he really didn't trust himself to stop Cardin without resorting to a fight.
"Grrr..." Jaune growled again and shook his head and focused back on his plate.
"Jaune? Are you okay?" Blake asked.
"I'm fine." He groaned.
"You're bending your knife..." Weiss pointed out.
"I'm fine!" Jaune snapped as he abruptly put the knife down, causing him to accidentally spill his food on himself. "Crap."
"You dolt, we have combat class in fifteen minutes!" Weiss lectured, "Go wash your shirt, now, fast!"
"O-okay..." Jaune nodded shamefully, stood up and made his way to his team's dorm.
That anger building up against Cardin, Jaune already experienced it a couple of times.
The first time was with Yang. When he thought he had stolen his sword.
The days after that, he was building more and more hatred towards her.
The second time was with Cardin. When he bullied him, Jaune hated him.
Eventually, he ended up snapping during his fight with Cardin.
That's why he knew that feeling of rage. Eventually, he was going to snap again, it was inevitable.
Because he already experienced it. Jaune was not an idiot, he learned from his mistakes.
However, he never had this kind of problem before he met Manus, so he was relatively certain that his presence was influencing him in some way.
But this anger was becoming more and more problematic. He had to find a way to deal with it before he does something he would regret.
Later
"Um, sorry..." He apologized to miss Goodwitch once he arrived in class. "I had to wash some jam off my shirt..."
She crossed her arms, clearly unimpressed with his excuse. "And we have a volunteer for the first match. Thank you, Mr. Arc."
"You're welcome..." Jaune sighed, making his way on the fighting stage, while the crowd sniggered at his expense.
"Hmm, what opponent should I give you..." Miss Goodwitch mused, scanning the crowd.
Not Pyrrha, not Pyrrha, not Pyrrha, not Pyrrha…
"Miss Rose. Please come down for a match with Mr. Arc."
Yay, not Pyrrha!
Wait, Ruby?
Jaune glanced at Miss Goodwich, narrowing his eyes.
"Any objections?" Miss Goodwitch challenged him, raising an eyebrow.
"No…"
… Suspicious.
Too suspicious. Did Ozpin ask her to make Jaune and Ruby fight each other?
Jaune turned to glare at the cameras in the room, feeling the headmaster's analytic eyes on him.
Did he expect something special to happen during this fight? Jaune wasn't sure.
"What do we do, Zone?" Manus whispered in his ear.
"We try to win," Jaune muttered as he watched Ruby make her way on the fighting stage and face him.
"Try, huh..." Manus groaned.
Ruby deployed her weapon.
Crescent Rose.
A giant, deadly scythe that could transform into a high impact sniper rifle, and contained many mechanized parts and hidden sharp blades.
Scary.
"Holy crap..." Jaune groaned as he took a defensive stance. "Is this how I die?"
Ruby laughed when she heard that. "Let's both do our best!"
"Ready?" Miss Goodwich asked.
They both nodded.
"Fight!"
Immediately, Jaune saw Ruby plant her scythe's blade in the ground for support and aim at him with her scope.
She fired.
Jaune saw the bullet coming towards his shield and braced for the impact.
Boom!
The fire dust round exploded on his shield, and he dropped his guard under the strength of the impact.
Ruby shot a second time, taking advantage of the opening.
This time Jaune didn't get a chance to raise his shield.
The dust round impacted his chest so violently, he was sent flying and crashed into the wall.
Jaune coughed as he tried to stand up, rubbing his chest. He glanced at his Aura.
"E-eighty-one percent?!"
He lost nineteen just with one shot?!
"Zone!"
Jaune's eyes widened as he raised his shield, another powerful dust round impacting it.
He was sent back against the wall by the strength of the explosion.
Those dust ammunition were no joke.
Ruby continued to shoot, and Jaune continued to tank it all with his shield.
At one point, she stopped and started reloading.
"Seventy..." Jaune panted as he read his Aura meter.
Despite blocking them with his shield, his Aura still took some damage?
"Zone, let me handle it," Manus suggested.
"I'm counting on you," Jaune nodded as he dashed towards his opponent, while he felt his right arm grow in size and strength.
He hadn't even made it halfway before Ruby was done reloading and started shooting again.
Manus moved in a flash, waving Crocea Mors to cut the incoming dust round.
He successfully cut it in half.
Ruby continued shooting.
Jaune stood his ground, Manus cutting through each ammo she shot, dispersing the explosion like a master Jedi.
She stopped shooting, probably realizing there was no point, raised her scythe behind her, and…
She disappeared, and Jaune was swept off his feet, falling on the ground.
"F-fast..."
He heard another shot of sniper, and Manus reacted instinctively, barely blocking the dust round.
Jaune adopted a defensive stance once again, observing his opponent.
Just now, that was her semblance, wasn't it? How could he ever hope to follow such speed?
The truth was, he simply couldn't.
Ruby's eyes flashed, and she disappeared in a flash. Once again, he was swept of his feet, and a red blur came came back towards him to hit him again and again.
How did people deal with that kind of speed?
There were several methods.
Restraining Ruby's movements, predicting her attacks and striking where she was going, trick her…
Wait, wasn't it just like a Boarbatusk?
With that speed, she probably couldn't stop herself when she used her semblance.
Cardin was an Ursa, Ruby was a Boarbatusk.
That was it!
Jaune redressed himself and raised his shield, blocking the incoming scythe's blade.
He was sent back a couple of meters and staggered and positioned himself just in front of a wall.
Ruby narrowed her eyes, probably figuring out his stupid plan.
She still dashed towards him. Jaune threw his body to the side. With that much momentum, she was going to crash in the wall!
Jaune heard no crash.
Instead, Ruby brutally changed direction, as if bending the laws of physics, and Jaune took another hit of her scythe.
"Wha- how?" He groaned as he stood up from his fall.
Ruby stopped moving and she reloaded.
Hm? Why was she reloading?
Jaune looked at the ammunition she was using.
It was gravity dust.
So that was how she was able to change her momentum so brutally!
"Manus," Jaune whispered as he distanced himself from the wall, "We need to predict her next move, and disarm her. Yang told me, she's useless without her scythe. Think you can do that?"
"If I try, she'll probably reap our arm off with her scythe, Zone."
Jaune nodded, understanding.
Manus, unlike the rest of his body, was not protected by Aura, due to his nature as a Grimm.
"Don't worry, I'll engage Aura into you."
Jaune focused on his Aura and transferred as much Aura as he could into his over-sized right arm.
Ruby dashed towards him at this moment. Jaune jumped above her attack.
Just like he predicted, Ruby planted her scythe in the ground, creating a rotating move like a catapult to launch herself back at him, while he was still in mid-air.
Jaune was able to read that move because he observed her previous fights.
When Ruby's opponent dodged her first attack, she would always do that ingenious catapult move to launch herself back at her enemy. He had thought it was to change direction, but now he knew it was just to save some dust.
As Jaune was in mid-air and Ruby was flying towards him, Manus moved Jaune's arm, transforming his hand into tough claws.
It was a crazy idea.
But Manus caught the scythe's blade with his hardened claw.
There was a flash of white light as Jaune's Aura flared up to protect his arm, and Ruby squeaked in surprise. With her momentum, Jaune's body was dragged with her scythe, his Grimm hand still grasping her blade.
As soon as they stopped moving, he planted his feet on the ground.
"Raaah!" Jaune roared and strained his arm's muscles with all his strength, brutally snatching Crescent Rose from Ruby's hands and throwing her away.
She tumbled on the ground and looked up in panic, surprised.
"E-eh, no fair!"
"Everything's fair." Jaune said, and glanced at his Aura meter. "Twenty percent remaining..."
Manus held Crescent Rose in his hand.
He pushed a button, retracting it back into its folded form and strapped it to his belt.
They had the upper hand now.
Jaune dashed towards Ruby, who barely had time to stand up and raise her arms in defense.
She disappeared, bursting into petals.
"What the…?"
Jaune looked around in the air.
A cloud of red petals was rapidly flying around, before landing and reforming Ruby.
"… What kind of cheat is that?" Jaune asked, awed. "That's too over-powered!"
"Hahaha..." Ruby laughed awkwardly, scratching her head.
"Stop running away!" Jaune shouted as he chased after her.
What followed was a game of cat and mouse, Jaune frustratingly trying to catch a cloud of rose petals.
Which was completely impossible.
This wasn't good. He could feel himself getting increasingly frustrated, the anger was re-surging in him.
"Dammit..." He cursed as he stopped to observe his opponent. Ruby stared back, waiting for him to move.
Well then, let's analyze the situation since she wasn't trying anything.
Let's see. It seemed that ability required a lot of concentration for Ruby.
Ruby's semblance was way to overpowered.
She had two main abilities, from what he could tell. Almost like a dual-semblance.
First: pure speed.
Second: Transforming into a cloud of rose petals.
She was not good with the second one. Not at all. It seemed she couldn't hold that form for more than a couple seconds. Also, she didn't look like she had full control of her movements in that state, judging by how the cloud was pointlessly wondering in every direction.
She had tried getting back Crescent Rose a few times, but Jaune had been careful not to let her.
"Ahem." Miss Goodwich coughed as Jaune and Ruby remained unmoving, observing each other. "… Fight, please."
Jaune ignored her, narrowing his eyes as he imagined a plan.
How could he land a blow on a cloud of rose petals?
The answer was simple.
A cloud of petals could not snatch Crescent Rose from him, and he knew she needed her weapon to win.
However, she was careful. She was probably waiting for an opening, a mistake on his part, to snatch it back.
So if he provided her with a fake opportunity, she would change back into solid form to try to take it.
At that moment, he could get hold of her and finally get some good hits on her Aura.
"Fight! Now!" Miss Goodwich repeated, losing patience.
"Hey, now, I'd like to see you try and fight a cloud of petals..." Jaune scoffed to the teacher, as he relaxed his stance and turned his head towards her.
In other words, it was a blatant opening.
Ruby completely fell for it and seized the opportunity, disappearing and reappearing behind him at incredible speed. She caught Crescent Rose from his belt, and started unfolding it back into a scythe.
Manus moved rapidly and seized her throat.
"I win!" Jaune smirked angrily and raised his fist to beat her up.
"Ee-eeep!" Ruby squeaked, shutting her eyes close.
Jaune's fist stopped.
Ruby opened an eye.
Jaune raised his fist again.
"Ee-eeep!" Ruby squeaked again.
Jaune stopped.
Jaune raised his fist again.
"Ee-eeep!"
What the… That noise, what the hell, that was too cute. It washed all his frustration away.
"Uu-uuu..." Ruby pouted from the teasing.
Jaune's heart melted. There was no way he could hit such an adorable girl.
How unfair!
Ruby raised her fist and tried to hit his chest with a series of tiny punched.
That didn't even damage his Aura.
She continued to punch his chest.
Ah, there was no choice, he could not resist such a psychological attack.
"Aaaaaagh!" Jaune faked a scream of pain and threw himself on the ground. "Such strength! I surrender."
"...E-eh?"
Miss Goodwitch sighed disapprovingly. "Winner… Ruby Rose."
Clap clap clap. The crowd applauded the fight.
"Jauuuuuuune!" Ruby whined, "How could you give up now! Are you mocking me or something?"
"N-no," Jaune lied, reaching to pat her head. His right hand didn't want to so he did it with his left.
"That was totally on purpose!" Ruby pouted cutely. "Stop treating me like a child!"
Hmph, this girl, she said that, but she leaned into Jaune petting hand.
Why was it that this girl was so kind and nice to him?
"Good fight, Ruby," Jaune smiled as they made their way back to their seats. "Those dust ammunitions are no joke."
"Nothing compared to your arm! What the hell was that, how could you catch my scythe's blade like that, you're too strong! And you have too much Aura!"
"Yeah, well, originally I just wanted to disarm you, but that was the only thing I could grasp at that moment..."
"That was so cool!" Ruby squealed.
"So you beat me up in the club, but you can't lay a hand on Ruby?" Yang complained when they took their seats, "That's unfair, I'm on your team!"
"It's no use," Jaune grabbed Ruby in front of him and showed her face to Yang, stretching her cheeks, "How can you hurt that face! It's too cute!"
Pyrrha laughed as Ruby became bright red, "I admit," The champion chuckled, "I'm also having trouble with it when we spar!"
"Pyrrha!" Ruby protested as she broke free, "Not youuu!"
Jaune sighed contently as he leaned back in his chair, while the others were chatting between themselves.
Even though he had technically lost, he was still proud of himself. Ruby was really strong, it meant a lot to him that he was able to stand up against her.
"You could have won that fight," Weiss accused beside him.
"Probably." Jaune shrugged.
"You, why did you not go for the win? I understand that you're very close with Yang, Ruby, and Nora, but you're too nice to them, really."
Jaune thought about it.
How was it he got so close to them, even though he would normally be super awkward around girls?
Jaune looked at Ruby, Yang , nd Nora.
They talked so naturally to each other. Those smiles, those eyes, those bodies, they were all beautiful girls, who he would have never hoped to talk to in the past.
So why was he not interested in them in a romantic way? He didn't even think about dating any of them.
That was not just because of Weiss, was it?
As he observed them, he suddenly realized.
"...I miss my sisters…" He whispered to himself.
"Oh..." Weiss happened to hear that and hummed in understanding.
Ruby, Yang and Nora. These three girls acted so close to him, it was just like his sisters.
They weren't like Blake, Weiss or Pyrrha, who were always more guarded, more defensive.
Being so open, they reminded him of his sisters.
Thinking about it like that, it made him quite sad all of a sudden.
He never really thought about it when he left home, but he supposed it was only natural for him to miss his family.
"Then you should call them." Weiss suggested. "I miss my sister too, sometimes, but she always finds time to answer my scroll calls. I'm sure yours will too."
"..."
Jaune took out his scroll, searching in the contacts list.
There they were. His parents and sisters contacts.
All blocked… for obvious reasons.
Except one of his older sisters.
The only one who knew and fully supported and agreed with his decision of attending Beacon and becoming a Huntsman.
"Holy fuckballs, really? If it's you, bro, I'm sure you can do it!"
"You believe in me?"
"Fuck yeah I do." She grinned, giving Jaune a thumbs up. "If it's your dream you should go for it, dive straight in!"
"W-well, yeah..."
She reached and ruffled his hair. "It's about time you show some guts! You supported my ambition, Jauny, and you were there for me back when I decided to leave, so you bet I'm gonna support your decision!"
"Thanks, sis!" Jaune grinned happily and hugged her. "It means a lot!"
"You ever get in trouble, call me, okay, bro? But just for emergencies. I'm quite the busy woman, hohoho~~!"
"Okay..." Jaune smiled.
"I'll try to get you a proper weapon before you go…" She mused, scratching her chin. "Oh yeah, one last piece of advice, you should block everyone from the family when you start your trip."
"What, but…"
"Otherwise they'll keep calling you," She warned seriously, "I really mean it. They'll be a pain in your ass, trust me, I've been there before."
"I only intended to block dad... since he doesn't accept it at all but… if you're saying that, then I'll trust you, sis."
"Yeah, fuck dad." She agreed mischievously. "He has no clue how to raise his kids!"
Jaune smiled. She wasn't meaning it, of course, she loved their father. Talking trash about dad behind his back was just a thing she liked to do.
Two weeks later, on that fateful day…
"Her name is Crocea Mors." She tended him a sword. "Don't fuck her up, okay?"
"All right… Wow, that's awesome." Jaune's eyes shined as he examined the blade and deployed the shield. "Where did you get it?"
"I stole it from dad!" She laughed, making Jaune gasp. "Serves him right for keeping you here! Now, go!" She hugged him quickly and pushed him away. "Chop chop, hurry, or you'll change your mind!"
"Wait, th-that's too fast!"
She kicked him in the ass. "Hurry the fuck up, you infuriating, stubborn, scrub-nub!"
"B-but... What does that even mean?!"
"I'm going to fucking arrest your ass if you don't go right now!" She smirked and pulled out a pair of handcuffs and a dust tazzer. "Don't test meeee~!"
"Okay! Okay! I'm going." Jaune grinned as he raised his hands and ran away. After a dozen meters, he turned around towards his village to wave his hand and give her his last thanks, but she was already gone.
At that moment, a hole opened in his heart. He missed her already.
Such an irresponsible sister, to kick him out in the real world like that without any preparation.
But, maybe that was what he really needed all this time. It must have taken a lot for her to leave the family on her own, back when dad tried to discourage her from her career choice. She too, left when she was seventeen.
Jaune had supported her, even though he was little at the time, but what she really needed was for mom and dad to throw her out of the house to push her to make her own life, not keeping her tied to the family.
Now, she was doing exactly that for him.
It was just her own way to help him achieve his dreams.
Jaune smiled gratefully to the sky as he started walking towards Vale. "Thank you, sis."
Jaune sighed. Ebony was certainly a character.
How could a cop so casually steal a family weapon, and kick her brother out in the wild, he really had no idea.
He wasn't sure he should call her, honestly. She did say to call only for emergencies, and even then to try to sort it out himself.
Because, Ebony said, that was the true path to develop his independence and confidence, not as Huntsman, but as a man.
As someone who went through exactly the same thing, Ebony would not want him to call until he finished his training.
When she left home to become a cop, she certainly did not call for years, until she'd become a fully grown, independent woman, and the youngest detective in a century.
Among all his sisters, Jaune admired Ebony the most. Even more than his father.
That was because she had been strong enough to drop everything to achieve her dream, and she stuck with it until she'd completed it, despite missing her family. Only then, did she return home.
Jaune wanted to follow in her footsteps.
"Let's just… focus on the next match." Jaune hurriedly closed his scroll when Weiss tried to read above his shoulder.
"Hmph..." Weiss huffed suspiciously but nodded anyway.
Unknown to them, however, Manus was carefully observing Jaune's behavior.
That evening, Jaune was under a lot of stress.
Not only he couldn't stand the sight of Cardin, but Weiss kept telling him he should call his family.
Naturally, Jaune got increasingly frustrated and finally snapped.
"Would you leave this alone already?! I didn't see you answering your father's call this morning!"
Boom, there, he said it.
Apparently, he hit a nerve, because that shut her up immediately.
"Booo, not cool, Jaune." Yang booed.
"Ugh… Sorry. I didn't want to say that." Jaune excused himself and hurriedly escaped his team's dorm room.
What was he thinking, telling that to Weiss of all people?
He really needed to blow off some steam before he ended up hurting people. Last time he punched someone, Yang took it well because she liked to brawl, but it wasn't always going to be the case.
Killing some Grimm would surely help him relieve some stress.
And so, Jaune and Manus went to the Emerald Forest to channel Jaune's anger into something useful – slaughtering Grimm.
Thankfully, every time he went there, the Grimm easily found him.
It seemed he was radiating quite the big amount of negative emotions, that or they sensed Manus.
"Zone," Manus said after a while, "I want to try something."
"Go ahead." Jaune allowed.
"Somewhere without cameras."
"Okay..." Jaune went at the same post as last time.
When he got there, Jaune suddenly felt his arm shift, and pulse. Under his amazed eyes, his right hand transformed into a Beowolf's head.
"Woa..." He breathed, awed.
Then Manus raised his arm – the Beowolf's head – and howled to the moon like a wolf.
Jaune froze, waiting for an answer.
Other Beowolves howled back in response from everywhere in the forest.
One appeared from behind a tree and stared at Jaune. It roared in anger and dashed towards him.
Jaune swiftly cut him in half and continued to walk around.
Another three appeared.
Jaune promptly killed them. Damn, it really felt good to channel his anger like that.
Dumb beasts.
Another ten appeared.
"What the… Manus, there are way too many!"
"I can't do anything about it, I didn't think so many would come!" He said as another dozen appeared, "Just concentrate!"
Jaune ducked under a swipe and slammed his shield in the beast's face.
"Zone, run where there are no cameras, quick! I'll take care of them!"
Jaune turned away from the mass of Grimm to run.
He found another horde staring back at him.
"We're surrounded!" Jaune panicked, exhausted.
"Keep moving!" Manus ordered.
That howl had probably attracted every damn Beowolf in the forest.
Jaune grit his teeth as he tried to tear his way through the massive pack of Beowolves.
"A-ah!" Jaune suddenly cried in pain, dropping his shield. A pain had surged in his left arm from nowhere.
He stabbed another Grimm that tried to take advantage of it from his left side.
Jaune reached for his shield with his left hand. He winced when he tried to lift it, dropping it again.
He widened his eyes as he stared at his left arm.
It was reddened, slightly bruised and trembling, pulsing weakly.
"Wh-what's that, I can't even carry my shield anymore?!" Jaune yelled angrily and gripped his sword with both hands, continuing the slaughter.
More howls resonated in the forest.
"Crap, there are too many of them!" Jaune shouted as he noticed more beasts coming towards them.
"Zone, your legs!" Manus warned suddenly.
Jaune took a glance at his lower body. Somehow, without noticing it, he had knelt on the ground.
His legs too were trembling. He tried standing up again, but it was useless, he fell back on the ground.
"M-muscle strain," Jaune realized suddenly. "The training-"
"Zone, look up!"
The monsters had formed a circle around him.
A big Beowolf broke their ranks, slowly approaching him.
An Alpha.
"M-manus! Help!"
"This is an execution, Zone." Manus analyzed the situation curiously like he always did. "They're letting their leader get the kill… How primitive. Did he mistake us for a Grimm?"
"Fuck you!" Jaune cursed angrily.
The Alpha seemed to smirk at his prey as he raised his giant claw to kill him.
Jaune cried in pain when the alpha stroke and bit his arm, shaking his body like a doll. The monster threw him on the ground, and he tumbled several meters away.
"Manus!" Jaune cried again. "Help me now!"
But no, the parasite was not answering.
"C-crap," Jaune cursed as the Alpha charged him.
Slash!
The Alpha was suddenly decapitated.
"Wh-what?" Jaune wondered.
"Zone, look!" Manus whispered.
Jaune looked.
There was a red blur flashing rapidly through the Grimm.
"R-ruby?" Jaune panted when he recognized the familiar rose petals.
He gaped as he watched his fellow team leader slash through all the Grimm with ease.
The fight - if one could call it that, it was more of a one-sided massacre - didn't last long.
Each second, she killed two or three of them.
No mercy, it was a Huntress's determination and focus.
Someone that was specialized in pure Grimm extermination.
She reaped them all apart, tearing through the horde with frightening ease, slashing and cutting and slicing and severing limbs and stabbing and gashing and decapitating and mutilating…
"W-wha..."
At this moment, Jaune finally fainted from exhaustion.
When Jaune opened his eyes again, the first thing he noticed was the white wall, the unfamiliar sheets and the clean smell.
He was at the infirmary.
"Oh crap," Jaune cursed and immediately got out of bed.
A hand of steel closed on his arm.
"Aouch!" He winced.
"Where do you think you're going?" Weiss's voice asked coldly.
"U-um..."
"Jaune! You're awake already?" Ruby was there too, and she looked him up and down, concerned.
"You dolt! Do you have any idea how worried you made us?" Weiss pushed him back in his bed.
"W-what?" Jaune asked, scared.
"I should have noticed it before..."
H-hey now, notice what? What exactly did she find out?
Did they know? Did they test his blood and figured out Manus?
"The nurse told us, Jaune." Ruby nodded.
"It's no use hiding it." Weiss continued.
"Hi-hiding what?" Jaune tried to play dumb. He could already feel Manus preparing a deadly blade made of bones under the sheet.
"Overwork." Weiss declared with a disappointed tone, shaking her head.
Hm, what?
"I... beg your pardon?"
"Look at yourself, Jaune!"
Jaune did.
Now that he looked at them, his muscles were hurting a lot. He also had a big headache.
So, they hadn't tested his blood or anything? Jaune let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Mr. Arc, you're already awake? That was fast." The nurse came in.
"How long?" Jaune asked, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit him.
"You've been asleep for a couple hours." The nurse answered. "You're healing quickly… And it's a surprise you've awakened so early. I'd have put it on a healing semblance if you hadn't already discovered yours."
Except he didn't... Did that mean his semblance was some kind of healing thing?
"Now, I'd like you to answer a few questions."
"Okay..."
"How much have you been working these last few weeks? How many hours a day?"
Jaune hummed, calculating.
"Four..."
"Only four?"
"… teen hours."
"F-fourteen hours a day?!" The nurse repeated, disbelieving.
"Yep." Jaune buffed his chest proudly.
If you counted school, plus all the training, plus all the extra studying, yes, that was fourteen.
Another skill that Jaune developed since coming to Beacon, was multitasking.
That was all thanks to Manus, of course. They could read two different books at the same time, for example.
Let's see. Every morning, he'd woke up at 6:00 am to train.
Then he'd go to school.
Then after school, he'd train and meditate or study with Weiss until 10:00 pm.
You remove two hours or so for the meals, that was fourteen hours all right.
Quite the achievement, and the source of Jaune's pride.
"Weiiiiiss…" Ruby whined.
"H-hey, I didn't make him work this much!" Weiss protested.
"He fainted in a middle of a horde of Beowolves!" Ruby described.
"Were you okay?" Jaune asked Ruby, concerned.
"Pfft, yeah, it was easy!" She waved it away.
No, it had not easy at all… There had been more than a hundred Grimm back there.
How come Jaune managed to defeat her, yet she could easily exterminate so many Grimm that quickly?
Did she hold back against him?
"How long have you been maintaining that pace, Mr. Arc?" The nurse continued her questions.
"Since Initiation," Jaune answered, leaning back in his pillow, basically giving up on any resistance.
"Two months then." She wrote something on a paper. "Even on weekends?"
"Even the weekend."
"What, but you go to Vale on Saturdays!" Weiss protested again.
"That's because I have a part-time job." Jaune pointed out. "At Tukson's book trade. It's not much, but technically, it's still work."
"Y-you!" Weiss huffed, frowning. "This is not something to be proud about."
"Miss Schnee!" The nurse called, annoyed. "Stay quiet or get out." Weiss closed her mouth, glaring at Jaune.
What did he do wrong this time? She was the first to say he needed to work hard to become a better team leader.
Goddammit, you're sending me mixed messages, Weiss.
The nurse continued her questions. "You were accepted to Beacon based on a Huntsman's recommendation, correct?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Jaune asked warily.
"I need to know if you've been to a combat school or high-school or anything else, Mr. Arc. You can choose not to answer if you so desire."
"High-school." Jaune groaned.
"How were your grades back then?"
"Above average, I guess..." Jaune frowned.
What kind of nurse asked this kind of questions.
No, Beacon's nurse was probably not just a nurse. It was Beacon after all. She was probably some kind of elite doctor.
"So… You are one of the best of your class, judging by your grades, but it was not always that way?"
"No."
"Why the change, then?" She asked.
"That's personal." Jaune mustered his best impression of one of Weiss's arctic gaze, glaring coldly at the nurse.
"I see, of course," she smiled reassuringly and wrote something on her paper.
Jaune decided he didn't like her at all, she reminded him of Ozpin too much.
"Mr. Arc," The nurse smiled knowingly, "Would you say you've been stressed a lot since coming to Beacon?"
"Yes." Jaune nodded immediately and found himself laughing a little. "You have no idea."
"Probably not," the nurse acknowledged, "but I think I have a good idea of how you tried to deal with it."
Hm? What was she talking about?
"Mr. Arc," She sighed, staring at him in the eyes, "Burying yourself in so much work and training may help you momentarily forget your issues, but it is not a healthy way to deal with stress."She shook her head, "Jesus, fourteen hours..."
"U-um, what?" Jaune blinked.
"I'm assuming you started studying and training so much to help you forget about something, or as a way to hold back your emotions and stress? In other words, a workaholic behavior. Tell me if you think I'm wrong."
What was this woman talking about, that was not the reason at all!
He did it to improve his skills, knowledge, and fighting capability, that was all there was to it.
Jaune frowned, staring down at his sheet.
Or… was it?
It was true that when he was working, he was focused on something else, and didn't have to think about his future as a Human-Grimm hybrid, or about getting found out about all his lies, or about how Cardin continued to bully that girl, or about how he missed his family, or about Blake's former activities...
Was that his so-called dedication to work? The true reason he was so determined to study and train so much?
"Anyway…" The nurse sighed, "Concerning your injuries, your muscles have been strained too much and some got torn, especially on the left arm and leg. Your right arm is perfectly fine, due to your nature as a Faunus… I've also found some swelling, bruising and unnatural redness. Is it painful for you even when you're resting your limbs?"
"Now, yes. It wasn't before."
"Is any area more painful than others, specifically?"
"Not really."
"Are you able to use your arm and legs?"
Jaune moved his limbs. It was so painful he had to grimace, but he could move them.
"I can."
"He can't," Weiss answered for him.
"Not true, I can clearly move them!" Jaune protested as he waved his arms around.
"But you're making an ugly face!" Ruby pointed out, worried. "It's clear that you're in pain, Jaune."
"The question was 'can you move your arm and legs' not 'are you in pain when you move them', Ruby. I'm just answering the nurse's questions honestly."
"You are dispensed from school for the next week." The nurse finally pronounced his sentence when she finished writing.
"What?" Jaune gasped. "Oh, come on, that's ridicul-" Jaune interrupted himself, noticing Weiss's terrifying death glare. "I-I mean… I guess I need some rest. Hahaha..." He scratched his head awkwardly.
"Good." The nurse nodded, satisfied. "Now, Miss Schnee, Miss Rose, your friend needs to rest."
Bullshit, Jaune immediately thought.
It was true that he probably needed a bit of rest, but a week was just too much.
His Aura was probably going to finish healing everything by tomorrow.
He was really starting to think he had a healing semblance. His recovery couldn't only be because of his large Aura reserves, could it? He'd have to research the subject.
"Can't we stay a few more minutes?" Ruby begged, unleashing her nuclear weapon.
Not Crescent Rose.
The other.
The puppy eyes.
Somehow, the nurse mustered the strength to resist it.
"I-I'm sorry, I can't allow you. He really needs to rest."
"Uuu-uuuu... I understand..."
Jaune had to look away from Ruby, that was how adorable she was.
"You just rest, okay?" Weiss asked, patting his arm.
Jaune made a vaguely agreeing noise.
Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Jaune… Promise me."
D-damn her, she saw right through him!
"Fine." He sighed, "I promise I'm going to rest…Dammit."
"Dammit." Manus echoed at the same time.
"Good." She smiled, satisfied, and made to leave the room with Ruby and the nurse.
"Weiss!" He called, making her turn around. "You know... I'm sorry for what I said yesterday about your father."
"It's fine. I'm starting to get used to it... Good night, Jaune." Weiss nodded gracefully and left the room.
Jaune leaned back in his pillow.
Ruby's head popped one last time from behind the door. "Oh yeah, who's that Manus guy you called for help back there?"
"I said, let him rest!" The nurse pulled her out and closed the door shut.
Looks like he'd need to come up with something to explain that one.
Still, a week of rest?
"I've healed a cracked rib in five days." He sighed. "This is nothing. Especially if I really have a healing semblance, as I'm suspecting."
"What a waste of time." Manus agreed. "We don't even have books... We could escape through the window, Zone."
"But I just promised I'm staying here. We can't do that."
"I know…" Manus sighed.
"…"
"…"
"The nurse may be right, you know…" Jaune broke the silence. "I'm starting to think I have anger issues. Maybe I work so much just to get away from it all. All these secrets are difficult to keep."
Manus hummed. "I was wondering if I should tell you about it."
"What?"
"Your anger towards Cardin, your sadness of missing your family, your stress of keeping secrets. Those are negative emotions, Zone, and I think I may have something to do with it."
"Explain." Jaune ordered dangerously.
"Yes, yes. Basically, even if we're separated, I'm still a part of your body, Zone."
"So what?"
"So because of that, your heart sends me human blood, and when I send it back, there are some... Grimm particles in it."
"Wh-what?!" Jaune gasped.
"It's not something I can control," Manus added quickly, "But I think it might be reaching your brain. It could explain why your negative emotions are so… stimulated, and why you've changed so much."
"Y-you… you don't mean…"
Jaune took a deep breath, calming himself.
Manus was not saying what Jaune thought he was saying, right?
There was no way.
"It's going to take years, but… our constitutions are slowly merging and mixing together." Manus stated, confirming Jaune's fear. "I am slowly becoming more human, and… you're slowly becoming more Grimm."
Thanks for reading. What do you think about Ebony?
Next chapter: Tuesday 20th February (two days later than usual due to me having to move out of my apartment next weekend)
Edit: Next chapter delayed to Wednesday 21th February
