Apologies for no chapter last week, life has a way of making me busy in short yet intense bursts. Enjoy this week's slightly larger chapter!
"Alright students, considering the abnormally large influx of Grimm as of recently, I want all of you to be completely aware of your surroundings, and in perfect understanding about your capabilities as yourself and as a team. Do not pick fights you cannot win, and make sure you stay vigilant. Now, take your jars, and begin filling them with Red Sap!"
AWBN and RRYN did as Professor Goodwitch instructed, grabbing a jar each, and setting out for a nice open clearing somewhere away from the veritable horde of other students.
[System Body has nullified effects of Red Sap Allergy!]
Jaune instinctively rubbed his nose when he read that, despite the actual contents of the notification. He didn't know he'd had an allergy to Red Sap.
Although, he technically didn't now anyway.
Now wasn't the time to consider allergic possibilities, especially considering how deep into enemy territory he and his team was.
Time for some excellent leadership from the one and only leader of AWBN.
"Alright AWBN! Let's get this sap, and get out of here as soon as we can!" Jaune exclaimed.
Blake and Weiss dead-stared at him, and Pyrrha uttered a giggle, tinged with mild embarrassment.
"Or… we could just tap the tree in this clearing, and sit around until the jars are full," Jaune said, less excited.
"That would be preferable, yes. As the leader, I assume you will be sapping the trees?" Weiss asked.
Jaune opened his mouth to object, but decided against it, instead taking a hold of the jars and drawing his sword, stabbing it into the trunk of the nearest, largest tree.
Red, viscous liquid began dripping from the wound, and Jaune quickly placed one of the jars underneath, the glass slowly but steadily filling up.
Now, he was going to do something he'd been looking forward to for a little while now. Something he'd been preparing for quite a while.
A silent Observe was uttered, the teen's eyes locked on that red gel.
[Red Sap]
[A sap found in certain trees amongst the Forever Fall, it's red colour is a product of the unique environment it is found in. It gives off a faint sweet scent that Grimm are strangely attracted to. It is used as a common ingredient in healing potions.]
Well, that was nice to know. Jaune would have to inquire about getting a few more jars of this.
That wasn't what he'd been preparing for though.
[A skill has leveled!]
[Observe has reached level 5!]
According to all his research, which actually meant he'd just paid attention for once, when a skill reached level five, there was a significant chance it'd gain a new effect, or something along those lines.
His theory was proven correct in the worst possible way.
[Observe has unlocked the Relationship Meter!]
Why.
Why was Jaune the subject of such ridicule, such hatred, such pure universal maliciousness.
This had to be his sister's doing, one of them. Olive, most likely.
Her addiction to dating games had to be the reason he was being subjected to this.
[People now have relationship meters when observed, which indicate their relation with you.]
Jaune was so annoyed he stopped watching the jar, and he was snapped back to reality as he felt cold liquid slowly drip over his fingers.
"Eugh, cold." Jaune, ever fluent, uttered, as he shook his hand, attempting to get rid of the sap.
"How observant. What a remarkable leader you make," Weiss remarked from her seat on a nearby root.
"Well, by all means, feel free to do this," Jaune replied, as he swapped the jars, placing the first on the ground next to the rest.
He wasn't going to check the relationship meter on anyone. It was just stupid.
Dumb.
Idiotic, even.
It also seemed like a major breach of privacy, but that was the secondary reason.
So what if he was curious.
So what if said curiosity was clawing at his forethoughts, playing devil's advocate.
He refused.
He wouldn't do it.
He wouldn't, damn it.
Jaune caved, Observe triggered at the behest of the wielder, and he learned exactly what he'd feared.
[Weiss Schnee]
[Huntress-In-Training, Level 12]
[Relationship: +5/100 (Teammate)]
Well, at least his relationship with Weiss was positive.
It wasn't very positive, but it was a start.
Considering how they'd met, he could see that he was still leagues ahead of a lot of people.
He'd look at Blake and Pyrrha's later, he'd invaded enough privacy already, and instead turned his attention back to the sap that slowly trickled down.
Jaune whiled away the time it took for the second and third jars to fill, idly entertaining passing thoughts for anywhere from moments to minutes at a time, before his attention was absorbed by the strangest whistling sound.
It almost sounded like a glass jar filled with red sap that had been hurled at him and impacted against his back. In fact, were that to happen, there would be no way for him to be prepared for it, and it would shatter against his unprotected, clothed back, glass shards cutting into his body and the red sap thoroughly drenching him.
That was what happened, of course.
The injuries bothered him for only a split-second, before System Body kicked in and eradicated both the injuries and the pain, but there was no skill to remove red sap from him.
The grunt of pain and the shattering of glass had attracted the attention of his team, of course, and whilst they were armed and wary, Jaune waved them down.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Probably just Cardin making a poor attempt at revenge," Jaune said, in an effort to dissuade his team from creating a new clearing with the amount of hostility they were openly showing.
If trees could wither and die from the intent, they'd surely have done so already.
"That buffoon! We should find him, and give him a piece of our minds!" Weiss exclaimed, fuming.
"For once, I'm in agreement," Blake said with a nod.
"I wouldn't mind having a friendly chat," Pyrrha said, a frown on her face.
"Honestly, leave it. We've got more important things to focus on than fighting other students. Like the horde of Grimm headed our way right now," Jaune spoke with authority, the tone in his voice snapping the heads of the remaining members of AWBN towards him.
"What?" The three chorused, unexpectedly confused.
"Red Sap has an attractive sweetness to its scent, it'll lure nearby Grimm to our position. Small amounts of the sap leaking out wouldn't attract many, nor would our sealed jars, but this much, all over a moving target with Aura?" Jaune explained.
He was soon proven right, of course, when a cluster of Beowolves burst out of the trees on the other side of the clearing.
The girls prepared themselves, but Jaune held up a hand, as the other reached out and withdrew Crocea Mors from the trunk. "I'll handle these. Cover my flank."
With the rather unexpected order coming from their leader, the girls had no choice but to watch warily as Jaune stepped closer to the Beowolf pack, shield deploying from sheath mode just in time to block the first strike.
The first Beowolf that had attacked found it's arm lopped off, and with a howl it leaped even closer, but the howl never finished as Jaune bashed it in the face with his shield and spun, the arcing blade of Crocea Mors serving to both decapitate it and keep any of the others away.
The lupine Grimm weren't very old, nor were they very smart, and as Jaune kept his guard up, occasionally striking out with a stab or a sweeping slice, the Grimm found that they had no opportunities to get the better of him, and so resorted to simply throwing themselves at him in the hope that they would crush him with sheer body mass.
Of course, Jaune was light enough on his feet to be able to maintain movement, and as the Beowolf bodies began to pile up, disintegrating at a slow enough speed that more could be added to the pile before the first had gone, Jaune found himself at ease.
That, in and of itself, was odd. Normally, he wouldn't expect someone fighting for their life to be at ease, but here he was, slicing his way through an entire pack of Beowolves, his mind at rest.
Stab, block, slice, sidestep, block, stab, bash, stab, block, backstep.
The only thing in his mind was to simply do as he felt the blade should, and he let it lead him in the waltz that he danced.
They were low level, low intelligence enemies, things he didn't need to spare additional thought.
They were, in a word, fodder.
He'd worry about that fact once he was done with them, of course. Where there was fodder there was a tougher fight waiting, that was basically the rules of both video games and the universe as a whole.
So once he finished with the stragglers, he turned and faced the final Beowolf, whose bone plating indicated that he was the Alpha.
The Alpha of the pack Jaune had just so effortlessly slaughtered.
Were it a creature capable of reasonable thought, Jaune was sure it would've surrendered right then and there, but this was a simple Alpha Beowolf.
It charged at Jaune, and Jaune decided to try something new.
A Lightning-Infused Mana Slash hit the Grimm in the midsection, frying charcoal-coloured flesh and giving the air that toxic smell, whilst simultaneously making Jaune recoil slightly as the now-corpse shook, twitched and juddered in a posthumous mockery of a nervous system on the receiving end of a bad seizure.
Okay, so that was good to know. Lightning was really, really effective on flesh. Not that regular Mana wasn't also effective, but still, a Lightning-Infused spell was no laughing matter.
Jaune heard the telltale sound of a rifle firing, and seeing as the only one on his team to wield such a weapon was Pyrrha, Jaune turned to face her, only to watch her take down an Ursa Minor with ease, the fluidity of her movements impressing not only him, but Blake and Weiss too.
Which wasn't all that surprising, seeing as he relied on being the heavier fighter, and his three teammates were dextrous agility-based combatants.
They could dodge hits all day, and he could tank them, but reverse their roles, and they'd be in some danger.
Of course, that was only if the enemy managed to land a hit in the first place.
Weiss's rapier pierced the head of a straggling Beowolf, and Blake quickly dismembered another, before Jaune turned back to his side of the clearing as Danger Sense activated, warning him.
Not a moment too late, thankfully, as an entire tree came sailing out of the forest and smacked the ground behind Jaune, who'd had the wherewithal to duck underneath it.
What emerged was not a Beowolf. It was something even worse, something bigger and spikier than the Ursa Pyrrha had so skillfully killed.
As Jaune Observed the behemoth of a Grimm, Pyrrha, Blake and Weiss turned to face the monster, they too shocked at the size.
Out of the forest's red leaves it lumbered.
[Ursa Epic]
[Grimm, Level 10]
[BOSS]
Jaune gulped.
There was a saying used to exaggeratedly describe Grimm; 'It's the size of a house!'
This was no exaggeration.
The Ursa Epic towered over the four, it's intimidating size proving to be only the first straw. The colossal spines that stood out from its back were pockmarked with splinters and cracks, and the beast's flesh was coated in scars, but instead of making it seem like it was already injured, it instead served to function as a threat.
This Ursa had fought many an opponent, and won.
It decided its approach hadn't served as enough intimidation, though, so it solved that problem with a roar that was loud enough to slide Jaune back a foot in the dirt, his heels digging into the ground as he attempted to stay upright.
The claws on its paws were coated in a pale, flaky crimson that shedded into patches of similarly coloured powder, and its red, beady eyes stared at the four with the malicious intent that only a Grimm that size could fully muster.
All in all, Jaune was perfectly within acceptable reason to feel as if he was quaking in fear.
System Mind was working overtime to keep him calm, and for that he was thankful, although he'd put off said thank-you until he'd either fought the beast, fled from the beast, or died. Whichever came first.
"Jaune, what do we do!?" Pyrrha shouted, backing up step by step as she pointed the rifle-form of her weapon at the Ursa Epic.
Jaune, being the closest to the massive ursine Grimm, decided that backing up was probably a good idea, considering he assumed he didn't have all that much time before the Grimm decided to see if he tasted any better than the previous victims.
It stared down at him, and Jaune watched it plant it's forepaws against the ground carefully.
"We need to retreat, and get the Professor! There's no way we can kill this thing ourselves!" Jaune answered Pyrrha's query, as he carefully handled his sword in his hand.
The Ursa Epic decided, then and there, that it would prove the young leader's point.
A single lunge, powerful hind legs pushing it further than Jaune thought possible, and the Ursa Epic was right upon him, massive paw swinging towards his body at speeds that seemed to break the very stereotype the Ursa had upon them.
Jaune lifted his shield and cast both Mana Shield and Mana Field in an attempt to simply survive, and as the paw impacted against both of his Mana defenses and against his shield, he realised that it didn't do all that much to prevent the Ursa Epic from hitting him.
He knew that especially well when his undefended body impacted against a tree trunk, knocking the wind out of him as he left a Jaune-shaped indent in the log.
"Ow…" He wheezed, raising himself to one knee to survey the situation as it was.
All he saw was Weiss, Blake and Pyrrha opening fire on the Ursa Epic, which seemed to view the projectiles as mild annoyances than any kind of grievance.
Jaune knew that they needed backup, and so he withdrew his Scroll, flipping through his contacts until he reached Ruby.
First ring, second ring…
"C'mon, Ruby, pick up!" Jaune muttered, as he stumbled towards his team.
"Jaune? What's up?" Ruby's voice, tinny through the speaker of the Scroll, was a welcome sound to Jaune.
"Ruby! AWBN's under attack, it's a massive Ursa! Get Goodwitch, and use my Scroll's GPS to find us!" Jaune exclaimed, before grabbing Weiss by the back of her jacket and wrenching her backwards, just in time to avoid the massive paw that smashed the ground right where she'd been standing.
Of course, the impact didn't have zero casualties, and as Jaune regained his balance, he noticed his Scroll on the ground, in splinters.
He could only hope Ruby was clever enough to track one of the other Scrolls of AWBN, because he was going to need a new one.
As for the fight, though, Jaune decided now would be a good time to start dishing out Mana.
His fingertips crackled with arcane energy as he willed a Spinning Mana Bullet into existence, but the colour quickly changed, becoming a glowing yellow, arcs of lightning sparking off, and he released it, the Lightning-Infused Spinning Mana Bullet spiralling through the air and impacting against the shoulder of the Ursa Epic.
Finally, it seemed like Jaune had done some kind of damage, as the beast reared up on its hind legs and roared, yellow bolts of lightning jumping around its body as it seemed to spasm.
[You have inflicted Paralysis!]
Well, that was beneficial. Jaune didn't know how long Paralysis would last, but he was quick to take advantage of it, and amongst the staccato fire of Blake and Pyrrha, and the whistling of energy projectiles from Weiss, Jaune charged forward, channeling Lightning-Infused Mana into the palm of his hand.
Once close enough, he noticed the Ursa Epic break free of the Paralysis, but he had already reached the point he'd needed to, and he Jumped up, unleashing a Lightning-Infused Mana Blast straight into the chest of the Grimm.
The blast was powerful, extremely so, but the damage it dealt was like a bucket of water to a pool.
That didn't mean it didn't hurt the Ursa Epic, though, and a second roar escaped the beast as it staggered backwards, massive foot planting into the dirt with a thud.
Jaune followed up the blast by landing in a roll, drawing Crocea Mors from the top of his shield, and slashing at the tendons on the leg the Grimm had planted, his steel blade unable to penetrate deep, but enough to put some pain into the muscle.
Pyrrha had pushed forward, seeing as how her bullets had so far been ineffectual against the thick hide, and the xiphos form of her weapon slashed on the other side of the leg.
Blake and Weiss joined the melee, Weiss creating a series of glyphs for Blake to use as steps, the raven-haired girl rushing up and using her natural agility to slice away chunks from the wound on the Ursa Epic's shoulder, where the Spinning Mana Bullet had impacted.
Weiss made sure Blake always had somewhere to land if she was shaken loose, and as Pyrrha and Jaune worked away at the leg, the Ursa wasn't given an opportunity to counter-attack, constantly off-balance and assaulted on all sides.
That wasn't going to last, though. There was only so much AWBN could do before they would run out of energy, and the Ursa Epic was most definitely an endurance fighter.
They'd lose a battle of attrition without a doubt, even with Jaune's massive MP regen he'd just recently acquired. He might've been able to last as long as the Grimm, or at least get close, but Pyrrha, Blake and Weiss were not going to be able to get anywhere near.
Jaune knew his team weren't endurance fighters. In fact, he might've been the only endurance fighter out of both AWBN and RRYN, unless you counted Nora.
Nobody was quite sure what Nora would classify as.
Speaking of.
A massive explosion rocked the Ursa Epic's head, and the one and only person capable of that landed next to Jaune, a wide smile on her face.
"Hey Jauney! Where'd you find this one?" She asked, twirling her warhammer.
Jaune stepped back a step and drove the point of Crocea Mors into the steadily widening wound he'd been creating on the Ursa Epic's leg, before answering. "He kinda just showed up, you know? Did Ruby get Goodwitch?"
Nora nodded, sporting a manic grin. "Yeah, the professor seemed real scary, too. Sounds like she's real mad!"
Jaune laughed. "Well, we could really use some help breaking this thing's leg. You in?"
The manic grin widened impossibly. "You had me at break a leg!"
With the conversation out of the way, Nora wound back and swung, her warhammer impacting against the previous wound with a meaty smack, and the black flesh rippled.
The Ursa Epic gave a massive roar, and the roar was joined by a loud crack as a massive chunk of black flesh was shredded, raining the dark ichor all over the ground.
Ruby with Crescent Rose, no doubt. There was only one weapon in Beacon that fired that high a caliber, Jaune knew.
Nora wound back for a swing, and Jaune held up a hand for pause, before driving Crocea Mors into the wound once more, releasing his grip.
The blade stuck in, and Nora got the idea quickly, as she quickly became the hammer to Jaune's chisel, driving Crocea Mors hard enough into the flesh that the tip pierced the other side in a burst of smoke that had Pyrrha release a small yelp of surprise.
It was then that Jaune grabbed the handle, which was surprisingly undamaged, and channeled Mana into it.
This was going to be interesting.
He pulled the sword upwards, and the searing smell of burnt Grimm flesh filled the air as he carved through the weaker flesh of the inside of the leg, before finishing the upward swing, the arcing yellow energy of a Lightning-Infused Mana Slash carving up through the vulnerable inner meat of the leg.
"Alright, we need to pull back, I don't want to be stuck underneath another giant Grimm!" Jaune ordered, and Nora and Pyrrha obliged, quickly backing up from the Ursa Epic as it staggered backwards once more, balance as ruined as its leg.
Blake landed on the ground, and Jaune noticed that Yang did the same, the two rolling to a stop after leaping from one of Weiss's glyph-platforms. Weiss herself looked winded, and it was obvious she'd expended a significant amount of energy.
Ren and Ruby were the last two to arrive, Ren acting the scout to Ruby's sniper.
The ninth member to arrive was Professor Goodwitch, who strode out of the forest with a glare more furious than any Jaune had seen before.
This Ursa Epic was a personal affront to Goodwitch's teaching efforts, and it was about to be taught a lesson.
A wave of her riding crop had massive tree trunks lift themselves out of the dirt, and the Ursa Epic, already wounded, suddenly felt the assault of a barrage of log-spears, battering its body and knocking it onto its back.
Goodwitch saw the opportunity, and another wave of her riding crop had one of the trees splinter, the end sharpening to a point, and a moment passed before she stuck the tree-sized stake into the chest of the Ursa Epic, pinning it to the ground through its torso.
It wasn't the end of it, though. Jaune could tell, and whilst everyone else relaxed, Jaune gripped Crocea Mors even harder, charging forward and jumping, traversing the distance between where he'd been standing and the Ursa Epic in a few moments, and he could tell everyone was watching him.
A Lightning-Infused Mana Impact pooled at Jaune's feet, and he slammed into the Ursa Epic's head with incredible velocity, looking to the world like a bolt of lightning.
The burst of smoky-black ichor that sprayed into the air around him simply added to the dramatic effect.
[Encounter Complete!]
[You gained 41866 XP!]
[Level Up!]
[You are now Level 12!]
[+20 Skill Points!]
[Skills have leveled!]
[Weapon Proficiency: One-Handed Melee has reached Level 11!]
[Weapon Proficiency: Shield has reached Level 11!]
[Jump has reached Level 11!]
[Sixth Sense has reached Level 11!]
[Spinning Mana Bullet has reached Level 11!]
[Mana Slash has reached Level 11!]
[Aura Control has reached Level 11!]
[Mana Impact has reached Level 11!]
[Mana Field has reached Level 11!]
[Mana Blast has reached Level 11!]
[Mana Shield has reached Level 11!]
[Thanks to intense physical activity and practised leadership, you gain +2 END, +2 STR and +1 CHA.]
[For performing a finishing blow on a boss, you have been awarded a skill and +3 CHA.]
[Skill Awarded!]
[Finishing Blow (Active): Thanks to the System, you can perform a finishing move on a debilitated enemy, defeating them in a singular final attack. Costs 50 SP. Level MAX.]
Jaune gaped at the notifications that had popped up, even as he shook his feet clear of the chunks of black, fleshy sludge that clumped on his shoes.
Honestly… Jaune was going to need an extra long shower to sort through all of that.
Now, though, he had to leave the giant corpse. An idea that was a lot harder in practise than it was in theory.
Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors and stowed the sheath back on his belt, before gripping the sides whatever remnants of the skull were left behind, and climbing out.
He couldn't tell, but the entire clearing stank of crisp, burnt Grimm flesh, and the only reason he couldn't tell was because he was completely submerged in the scent so deep it had effectively killed his sense of smell.
It was apparent that everyone else could smell it, though, because the faces of the eight figures that stared at him, jaws agape in shock, quickly scrunched up as he got closer.
Lightning cooked things really fast, unsurprisingly.
"Mr Arc. I have many questions, but I believe I'll just settle for one, for now. What in the Brothers were you thinking?"
Jaune fought the urge to scratch the back of his head valiantly, but it was a doomed effort from the start. "Uh…"
Luckily for Jaune, his team were quick to jump to his defense.
"Professor, this isn't any of AWBN's fault. The Ursa was lured here by the sap!" Pyrrha exclaimed.
"And how much sap did you think you needed?" Goodwitch asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"It wasn't our sap, Professor. Team CRDL threw a jar at Jaune, and coated him in it. That, plus Jaune's abnormally large Aura, attracted the Ursa," Weiss explained.
Goodwitch sighed, before resuming her normal, stern expression. "All of you, to the Bullhead. The other teams have retrieved enough sap, you don't need to retrieve yours. Just…"
She paused, and finally locked eyes with Jaune. "Please, for the love of all things, take a shower."
Jaune gave a nervous chuckle in response to that, promptly losing the second head-scratch war of the day.
As Goodwitch stalked off, Jaune swore he could hear her muttering something about blond hair.
"Well, I can definitely say that smell was unbearable!" Yang joked, as the eight stood in the Bullhead, the pilot having sealed off the cockpit to escape the majority of the scent of burned Ursa flesh.
"Yang, please. One more pun, and I'll leave you behind," Ruby deadpanned, staring half-heartedly at her sister.
"Sis, you wouldn't! You couldn't bear to be without me!" Yang exclaimed, unable to prevent a massive smile presenting itself.
"Yang, I'm warning you!" Ruby exclaimed.
"C'mon, Rubes, you know that's a bearfaced lie! You wouldn't throw me off!" Yang joked once more, to the collective groan of the others.
"What, is this too embearassing?" Yang said, as Ruby tried to cover her sister's mouth.
"Yang, stop!" Ruby begged.
"Aw, Ruby, don't be so grizzly!" Yang said with glee as Ruby tried her best to clamp Yang's mouth shut.
"You think you can stop me, but I've bearly started!" Yang cackled, and Ruby finally managed to stop her by driving her elbow into her older sister's stomach.
Jaune watched it all go down from his seat furthest away, partly because he needed to think, and partly because nobody could stand to sit that close to him.
Of course, he couldn't navigate any of his notifications whilst in such a public place, but he could think about what he was going to do about Cardin.
That idiot, and that was a light sentencing, had endangered AWBN significantly, with or without deliberate intent. Jaune needed to deal with him personally, but he didn't want to. It was obvious that Beacon staff weren't interested in petty squabbles between teams, so Jaune would have to take care of the problem himself.
Although, it wouldn't be that hard to intimidate Cardin, if that was the method Jaune decided on. He'd just killed a giant Grimm, and despite it not being single-handedly, Cardin didn't know that. He did know that there was an emergency, and that AWBN and RRYN had been sent back early.
If that didn't make him at least worry, there was something wrong with him.
Alternatively, Jaune could try to appeal to Cardin's more reasonable side, were that to exist. Of course, that was much less likely to work.
Sometimes the diplomatic approach was the best approach, but Jaune was adamant that this was not one of those times.
Of course, first he'd need to clean himself up. His shoes were still coated in slowly dissolving black muck, and if they weren't ruined he'd be surprised.
What he could be thankful for was the things the boss had dropped.
First and foremost, five thousand Lien. That was more money than Jaune had ever held in his entire life, so he was a little excited about that.
The second was a cluster of Ursa Hide that Jaune had recovered.
The third was an Ursa Epic Spine, and that was both incredible and terrifying.
The fourth and final item was a small metal box with a lock, that Jaune hadn't seen a key for.
All in all, a good haul. Plus, he'd killed twelve Beowolves, so he was only one away from ranking up his title.
"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Jaune, but I think AWBN needs to have a team discussion after we've cleaned ourselves up," Pyrrha said, and whilst Yang snorted, Jaune was suddenly a lot more nervous.
He knew what they were going to ask, and he didn't know how to respond.
So he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Okay."
'Eloquent as ever, Jaune. Nailed it.'
Well, this chapter was mostly written during my lunch/study breaks at Uni, so if the quality is a little under/over, that might be why. Goodwitch with the clutch, though.
Anyway, onto reviews!
Slenderbrine: I prefer the name Arc Lightning. (I'm secretly putting Arc Lightning down as either a spell or a title. Or both.)
merendinoemiliano: Hate to disappoint, because I'm starting to consider Lancaster as the main pairing. If that puts you, or anyone else off, so be it, but that may still be up in the air. Don't disappear just yet!
SentinalSlice: There's a good reason why Nora may just win a rematch at this point.
The Wizardrous Magicman: I could use the RTF version, I guess. Honestly, it's far too much effort for me to reasonably put in without taking a whole day or so to do, so I'm just going to skip it for now. If I start any new projects I'll double-post there too. Looking forward to seeing it, PM me a link whenever you get a chapter up!
Tex: Alright, thanks for the input. As much as you think the execution sucks, that's probably because I've never done something like this before.
Reesesracer: Ah, but the book wasn't destroyed! So, technical bypass at best, but accurate nonetheless.
TypedSomeWords: You're on the right track with a pharmacy, because Jaune may find himself becoming an Alchemist soon enough. Well, traditional alchemist, not Full Metal. Well...
jp0625: I have a few unmentioned Stats, or hidden Stats, which are uneditable. Perception, or PER, is one of these. It's mostly due to the convenience of plot less than any technical reason, though.
And that's all for reviews this week, although it was technically two weeks, but shh, don't make such a fuss. I still read all the reviews and PMs, so leave 'em if you got 'em!
And, as always, see you next chapter!
~AFatFlyingWhale