Ephemeral Dream

Summary: Jaune Arc isn't strong, smart, or skilled. Even so, he dreams of a future in which he is a Huntsman. He dreams of friendship, combat, and love. But every dreamer must wake. "Not yet…" He whispered, tears of blood streaking down his cheeks. "I can't let this dream end… Until I've turned it to reality." Gamer Jaune!

Warnings: Crossovers, strong and smart Jaune, later quite OP. Possible Harem.

XI: Quest and Cooking

I was flustered.

I would freely admit it. I was feeling incredibly flustered as I walked with Miyuki, showing her around town. And, based on her expression, so was Blake.

The girl was just so beautiful. I would call it unnatural if her beauty just wasn't so very natural.

Miyuki had a radiant smile on her face as she looked around, taking in the sights of Vale. I'd lived in the area my whole life, so I didn't get the fascination, but Miyuki was looking at everything as if they were all things she'd never seen before.

"So…" I cleared my throat. "This is your first time in Vale, right Miyuki?"

She looked at me and kept that smile on her face. "Yes, I only arrived yesterday. I thought I would familiarise myself with the town today and tomorrow, though having guides certainly helps!"

I fought down the blush that was rising to my cheeks. Damn it, calm down Jaune! She was just a very gorgeous girl; you were around Yang and Ruby all the time now!

Wait, where did that last thought come from?

I shook my head to clear those thoughts from my head. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?"

"I'm from Mantle, or Atlas as it is better known," she told us. "My father got promoted from his job, and is heading the Vale Branch of the company, so I had to move. I was happy to do so, I don't have too many friends in Atlas, so I'm hoping moving to Vale will let me make plenty of them."

I nodded at her words, my blush dying down as we began a proper conversation. "You said you were going to be attending Signal starting Monday? Well, I hope we end up in the same class if that's the case."

Her eyes lit up as she looked at me. "Oh, you're a student at Signal too? What year are you in?"

"Second year."

She smiled. "So am I! Oh, I hope we end up being classmates! It will be nice to have a friend in class with me!"

I felt the blush rise onto my face, shaking my head. "Yeah, it would be nice to have you in class too."

Miyuki looked at Blake. "What about you? Do you attend Signal?"

"Ah, no," she finally found her voice, shaking her head. "No, I live in Mistral. I'm just visiting with my family right now; I'm heading back next week. I attend Sanctum Academy."

"Oh…" She frowned. "That's a shame, I would have liked to attend with both of you."

Blake's blush got hotter. "But I uh… I do plan to attend Beacon around the same time as you and Jaune, and Jaune is a good friend so I'm planning to visit Vale when I can and catch up with him. It'd be nice to see you too."

Miyuki's eyes lit up. "That's wonderful! I wish you the best in your studies and I look forward to seeing you during school breaks, Blake!"

Blake only nodded, looking down at her feet. I could tell she didn't trust herself to say any more.

"So, where do you want to visit first, Miyuki?" I asked her, trying to take the attention off of Blake.

"I was wondering if you show me the way to Signal first," she told me. "Then, I'd like to know where the grocery store is for shopping!"

I raised an eye. "Forgive me if I sound a bit insensitive, do you not live with your dad?"

"I don't," she admitted. "My father is very dedicated to his work, especially since my mother and brother passed away in an accident. He truthfully has another house in Vale that he plans to live in, and I'll be living on my own. He used the reason that I 'needed to learn to be independent for when I attend Beacon,' but I know it's truthfully because it hurts for him to look at me because I'm so similar to my mother."

"Oh, I'm… Sorry to hear that," I told her. "I apologise for bringing up bad memories."

"It's fine," she smiled at me. "I know my mother loved me very much, and I know my older brother wouldn't want me to be sad over his death. I know they're both watching over me, so I'm not upset at all."

… This girl was too precious, and too kind. I couldn't really argue against her living alone either, I was going to be living with Neo starting on Sunday or Monday.

"Well, if you ever need any help, don't be afraid to ask," I told her.

She smiled. "Thank you for the offer," she said.

I nodded, and took the lead as I began to lead us to Signal.

"If you don't mind me asking," Miyuki spoke up. "What are your semblances?"

My mind froze… I didn't want to lie to Miyuki, she was so pure and innocent that my mind told me it was wrong to. But I was not going to pour my guts out to someone I just met.

"Shadows," Blake said, prompting us both to look at her. "My semblance is Shadows. I can sink into shadows, create temporary clones, things like that. It's a great semblance for stealth."

"That's lovely," Miyuki smiled. "I'm sure you'll be a fantastic huntress with a semblance like that!"

Blake blushed and looked away.

"What about you?" She looked at me.

I glanced away for a moment… And decided on what I should tell her, and others, what my semblance was.

"My semblance is called Creation," I told her. "So long as I do not go into the boundaries of Nature's Wrath, my semblance allows me to create more semblance that I can use."

Both Miyuki and Blake gasped as they stared at me, eyes wide at the prospect of such a power.

"That's…" Miyuki said. "A power like that is incredible! You could essentially create any semblance you like, or copy any semblance!"

"Not so," I told her. "It does have a few more limits. For one, the more powerful the semblance I create, the longer I have to wait until I can create another one. All of my semblance I create also start from zero, so I have to train them up. Up until recently, the Semblance I've created have been internal things. Things like my body adapting faster when I learn, allowing me to master things faster, or my brain being able to retain and take in more information at once. One of the first Semblance I created was a complete and total immunity to all forms of poison… Though it takes a moment to remove it from my system…" I'd need to find a way around that, I didn't want to get chloroformed again.

They both stared at me in complete shock.

"Is that how you got so fit in just a few days?" Blake asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Body adapts faster, helps me train faster and for longer, and gave me the body you see in front of you."

"And the swords?"

"A semblance I made to give me weapons," I told her. "It works together with a semblance that lets me know a lot about a weapon via touch. The more I know about a weapon, the better I can replicate it… Though it's weaker than the original."

"Any weapon you've touched?" Miyuki said in awe. "That's an incredible power! Your semblance is simply amazing! What other Semblance have you created?"

"Besides the ones I've mentioned, none," I told her. "I haven't had access to my semblance for that long, so I just haven't had enough time to create any other semblance because of the cooldown for the weapon creating semblance."

"Even so, Miyuki is right," Blake said. "A semblance like that… That's beyond broken."

I only smiled, trying to hide my guilt for lying to them. It was for the best nobody knew of the System if it could be helped. "What about you, Miyuki? What's your semblance?"

"Oh, well I don't think it is as impressive as both of yours," she said. "But my semblance is Temperature Manipulation. I can control the temperature of my surroundings, and my internal body temperature. It's called Thermokinesis for short."

I felt my eyes widen as she told us her semblance… That was a powerful semblance, the potential for it was incredibly high. Manipulating heat, cold, possibly even infrared perception… She could even possibly create and manipulate plasma. A semblance like that was bordering on Nature's Wrath, if it wasn't already part of it…

People said semblances could be anything, but one like Miyuki's was one of those that people said couldn't be a semblance. A powerful one, one that people would literally kill to have for themselves.

"That is a powerful semblance," I said to her. "Ideal for being a Huntress. There's no doubt in my mind, you're going to be one of the best with a semblance like that as long as you train it, and know how to use it."

She smiled at me. "Thank you."

I only smiled in return, though I knew there was definitely a blush rising to my cheeks as she gave me a smile. I quickly turned my gaze away, clearing my throat. "Well, Signal isn't too far now," I told them. "Come on."

We picked up the pace, soon arriving at Signal's gates. It wasn't a towering building like Beacon, sitting at only three stories, but it had many smaller buildings and was very wide and long to make up for that fact.

"Oh wow!" Miyuki's eyes lit up. "So, this is the school I'll be attending! It looks nothing like Atlas Academy!"

That caught my attention. "Atlas Academy?" I looked at her. "Isn't that the Combat School?"

"It's a bit complicated," she said. "Mantle, for some reason, has Atlas Academy as all of the schools in one: combat school, civilian school, and the like. Only kindergarten and the younger schools have a separate one, but even that's fairly nearby. Atlas Academy also contains the military base."

I felt a bit concerned at that… It certainly sounded like Atlas was doing their best to train child soldiers. There were enough shady rumours about Atlas as it was, and this was coming from someone that had spent their life in Atlas until recently.

'Note to self, do some investigation into Atlas at some point…' I thought to myself, though I doubt that would ever come to pass any time soon. Maybe once I was an official Huntsman but, until then, I didn't want to get involved with Atlas in any capacity unless I had to.

"It's probably going to be a bit tough adapting to a new school," I told Miyuki. "I'll say it again, Miyuki. If you ever need any help at all, don't be afraid to ask me, alright?"

She nodded with a smile. "I will. Thank you."

~~Ephemeral Dream~~

After Miyuki took her time admiring Signal, we headed to the Grocery store. Part way there, Blake got a call from her parents that she had to take, stepping aside for a moment. I watched as her face flashed through a few emotions, mostly embarrassment, before she nodded and then hung up.

"Sorry," she said once she made her way back over. "I'd love to spend a bit more time with you both, but my mum just called. She doesn't want me out before dark, so she asked me to go back home. I don't really want to worry her, so…"

"It's okay," I told her. "I get it, just be safe on the way back, alright?"

"Indeed," Miyuki smiled. "I understand completely, Blake…" She held up her scroll. "Can we exchange numbers first? I'd like to stay in contact."

Blake only smiled as she took out her scroll, swapping numbers with Miyuki. Well, good to see she'd gotten over her… No, never mind, she was still blushing.

"I'll talk to you both later," she said. "Be safe, you hear?"

"I hear," I gave her a smile. "See you."

"Goodbye!" Miyuki chirped.

Blake gave one last smile, before she turned and walked away.

Miyuki and I watched her walk away for a short while, before I turned my gaze back to her. "So, grocery store?"

She gave a nod and we made our way into the store.

As I helped Miyuki with her grocery shopping, we made small talk. Nothing major, we avoided topics of our respective families, instead focusing on things like our favourite books, favourite foods, and things like that.

Once we got her groceries, I decided it would be best that I walked her home, and she used the GPS on her scroll to find it.

As we walked, I couldn't help but frown… We were walking in the direction of my new home, as well as the Xiao Long's. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

"Positive! Why do you ask?"

"Because this is the direction of my house," I told her.

"Really?" She looked at me. "Do you happen to live on Moonlight Avenue?"

"Yes!"

Her eyes lit up excitedly. "Oh, how wonderful! That means we're going to be neighbours! This is so exciting!" She gave me another beautiful smile, my heart skipping a beat once again when faced with it.

"Y- Yeah, I guess so," I responded, taking the lead as I already knew the way.

"Thank you for taking your time to show me around and help me with my groceries," Miyuki said to me.

"It's no problem," I said to her. "We're friends now, after all."

I could practically feel her eyes lighting up with joy. "Yes! Yes, we are! And friends help one another!"

"Exactly," I responded, flashing her a smile, before I turned the corner and headed onto the street that we both lived on. "Which house is yours?"

"Number 6."

"Ah, I live at Number 8, and my friend's family lives at Number 10," I told her as we walked down a few houses. "This is our stop. I don't want to be that guy, but can you handle the groceries on your own? I'm staying with my friends right now, so I don't want them to worry if I'm out too late."

"I understand," she smiled at me as we took the footpath up to her house. She opened the door, and I set the bags just inside.

"It was nice meeting you," I told her.

"And you as well!" She told me. "Um… If it isn't too much trouble, could I ask you to walk with me to school on Monday? I'd like to walk with a familiar face nearby, if that isn't a problem."

I gave her a small smile. "Sure, no problem. I hope you won't mind if my friends walk with us?"

"Not at all! The more the merrier!"

I smiled and pulled out my scroll. "Wanna change numbers?"

She nodded, pulling out her own as we exchanged numbers. "What time do you want to meet?"

"Eight works," I told her. "It's about a half hour walk to school, arriving half an hour early never hurt anybody, right?"

She gave a nod of agreement. "I'll see you Monday morning then! See you then!"

I smiled and nodded. "See you then," I said right back, before I walked back down the path, hearing the door close behind me.

[A New Quest has been unlocked!]

I froze, eyes widening as the notification screen appeared in front of me.

[Quest: Bounty Hunter Crisis]

Miyuki Shiba is a beauty beyond beauties, an angel in appearance and personality that cannot be denied. Many desire this angel for themselves, and will do anything in their power to keep such beauty for their own… You are charged with the task of protecting this angel from what is to come…

Objective: Protect Miyuki from the people trying to kidnap her.

Reward: 20,000 EXP, 20 Stat Points, 'Stealth' Skill, Title 'The Angel's Guardian.'

Failure: Miyuki is kidnapped and you never see her again.

Bounty Hunters Killed: 0/?

Will you accept this quest?
Yes/No

WARNING! If you do not accept this quest, Miyuki will be kidnapped and you will not be able to anything about it or interfere in any way.

I stared in horror at the screen in front of me…

I was hoping, desperately hoping, it would go away… But it didn't. The blue screen hung there, almost taunting in a way.

The System… Was expecting me to kill.

Yes, I had killed before, but I hadn't truly been in my right mind so, while the deaths did weigh on my mind, they didn't weigh on my mind was heavily as they could…

Right now, the System was telling me that it was expecting me to kill people… Or Miyuki would be kidnapped, and who knew what sort of horrible things would be done to her!

Right now, I had a choice… No, it wasn't a choice. It was an ultimatum. Either I killed the Bounty Hunters so Miyuki would be safe, or I did nothing and they took her away…

As if it wasn't obvious what I would do.

'Lancer,' I spoke to the Servant that had been mostly silent once Blake had shown up.

'Yes, Jaune?'

'From now on, I want you to watch over and protect Miyuki.'

'Oh? Is master interested in the girl? I must admit, she is quite attractive, did you get a crush already?'

'Lancer!' I snapped at her. 'This is serious. I need you to watch over and protect her, can you do that for me?'

'… May I ask why?'

'… As you heard, my Semblance allows me to create other semblance. One of those is a form of super precognition, Hyper Intuition if you will. When I looked at Miyuki, I had a horrible feeling that something bad is going to happen to her. I need you to watch over and protect her. Can you do that?'

'That's an impressive semblance…' I could almost feel her frown. 'Very well, Master. I'll protect her.'

'Thank you…'

'Any time. But I expect a LOT of Video Games for this!'

'I'll see about setting up my console tomorrow,' I responded, before I made my way two houses down, opening the door to Tai's house.

"I'm back!" I called out, only to pause as Summer stepped out of the dining room, arms crossed and a grin on her face.

"Perfect timing, Jaune!" She chirped. "It's time for our cooking contest!"

I only stared at her. "… I thought it was every Friday," I said. "And that I was exempt right now."

"Oh, come on!" She said. "You can't cook a delicious meal like you did this morning and then expect me to wait for next Friday! No way, we're doing this right now! Everyone is already in the dining room waiting for us!"

I stared at her… Before I let out a sigh. There was no way of getting out of this, huh?

"Fine, fine," I grumbled as I followed her into the dining room, where I was greeted to three sheepish smiles- Tai, Raven, and Yang- and an excited smile from Ruby.

"This is gonna be awesome," Ruby said excitedly.

"We have very different definitions of awesome," I said drily as I stepped into the kitchen, grabbing an apron and putting it on, before I stepped out. "So, how is this gonna work?"

"Raven, Yang, and I are going to be the judges," Tai told me.

"Mostly because Ruby started having a mental break down on how she didn't want you or mum upset with her," Yang muttered, causing me to crack a smirk.

"What you've got to do is simple," Tai continued. "We've written a bunch of different food ingredients and themes down on small bits of paper, rolled them up, and put them in this top hat," he gestured to said hat. "We'll shake up the hat, and then I'll take out one piece of paper and unfold it. That will be the theme of the dish. You both then have thirty minutes to cook a dish for each of us to eat. Once we've eaten both of your meals, we'll then push forward the plate of the meal we found the most delicious."

"Sounds reasonable," I nodded, glancing at the kitchen… Huh, they must have bought this house with cooking contests in mind, I hadn't noticed there were a lot of kitchen appliances in there before.

"Ready!" Summer grinned eagerly, clearly excited for this.

"Right, the theme of this match is…" Tai shook up the hat and pulled out a ball of paper. He unrolled it, and then turned it. "Eggs! Your half an hour begins now!" He hit the timer on his scroll to begin.

Summer immediately headed into the kitchen. I followed behind, putting a hand on my chin and frowning…

Eggs? That was a bit of a random theme, but it did mean we'd have to make a dish to bring out how delicious eggs could be… Hundreds of ideas ran through my mind now that the contest was on, and I couldn't help but find myself panicking…

I stared at the eggs a moment longer, before I sighed, grabbing an empty Tupperware bowl from the fridge and placing the eggs in it, before closing it and putting them in the freezer, and then taking the rest of the ingredients out of the fridge to cook breakfast for everyone.

My eyes widened in shock as my head snapped to look at the freezer.

'That weird moment… Was for this!?'

My intuition was scary…

But now I knew exactly what dish I was going to be making. I gathered the ingredients I would need, and took the eggs out of the freezer as I set to work, setting some rice to start cooking and heating up the deep fryer.

First, I unpeeled the five frozen eggs, setting them off to the side for a moment. I then put twelve and a half tablespoons of flour, and two and a half tablespoons of potato starch into a bowl. Adding cold water slowly, I whisked the mixture together until it was a smooth batter.

Turning my attention back to the eggs, I dusted them in flour and then dipped them into the batter one by one, before I put them into the deep fryer, starting a timer so I took them out as soon as they were done. I also dipped the faces of five shiso leaves in the mixture, letting them deep-fry too.

While the eggs were deep-frying, I poured 250ml of Bonito Broth, 7 and a half table spoons of soy sauce, and five tablespoons of both mirin and sugar into a saucepan, mixing it together and letting it simmer.

As I was taking the eggs out of the deep-fryer, I heard Summer's voice. "And done!" She said, stepping forward with a tray on either hand and large steel lids covering the food from view as she set them in front of the others.

I didn't allow myself to be distracted as I filled five bowls with rice, pouring a dash of the sauce I'd made over it, before I then arranged the eggs and shiso leaves on top of the rice, and then poured the sauce over the top of it all.

"Done!" I called out, arranging my food on two trays and then covering them with steel lids to retain the heat. I stepped into the dining room, where I got my first good look at Summer's food… And the five she'd prepared.

"You prepared one for me?" I asked her.

She gave a small smile. "Yep! Just because we're having a contest, doesn't mean I shouldn't make something for you to eat!"

"What a coincidence," I told her, setting the trays holding my food down. "I prepared one for you as well…" My eyes locked onto her food.

It was… Beautiful to look at.

Delicious looking buns, smooth and delicious looking bacon, and a pure yellow egg draped over the top of it, and I caught a hint of white filling.

"How kind of you," Summer smiled.

"Well then," Tai cleared his throat. "We'll try Summer's first since she served it first…"

All of us sans Summer took one of the plates. I observed the meal, sniffing it first. It smelled delicious, there was no doubt about that.

"Well then… Here goes!"

We all take a bite…

And my eyes widened as my mouth was filled with the flavour of egg, chewing and swallowing it.

"Woah!" Yang's eyes widened. "This is fricking amazing!" She said as she devoured her meal.

"I must agree!" Raven's eyes were just as wide. "I haven't had Summer make something this good in years!"

"Mum's cooking is sho guud!" Ruby said as she ate.

"How did you make this, Summer?" Tai asked her.

She opened her mouth to speak, but I was the one who answered. "You used Karasumi powder, didn't you?" I accused.

Summer gave a grin at me. "Correct! I poured water and vinegar into a pot, and brought it to boil. Then I reduced the heat, and stirred it with a spoon to create a swirl, cracking an egg into that swirl. After exactly 2 minutes, I scooped the egg out with a slotted spoon and doused it in cool water, repeating with each egg.

"Then I made a special Hollandaise sauce using egg yolks, lemon juice, melted butter, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. After that, I cut the bacon and cooked it, and sliced a Vale Muffin in half, toasted it, and spread butter, topping it with the Bacon. Then all I had to do was dry the poached egg, place it on the muffin, drizzle the hollandaise sauce, and then sprinkle chopped parsley and grated karasumi!"

She gave me a grin. "The result is a dish that fully brings out the flavour of eggs in a delicious way! This is my Eggs Benedict!"

As she spoke, the rest of us couldn't help eating the food until there was nothing left… It was far too delicious not to.

"I… Don't know how Jaune can come back from this," Yang said. "That dish was way too good."

"I'm going to have to agree," Tai looked at me. "How can you top… That?"

"Like this…" I lifted the steel lid off of my dish, watching in satisfaction as everyone's eyes widened. The steam cleared to unveil my finished dish. "This is my Chicken Egg Tempura Dish. Please, eat it while it's hot."

"Did you say Egg Tempura?" Summer looked at me. "You deep-fried an egg?"

"Huh?" Everyone looked at me.

I only smiled at them innocently.

I watched Summer frown as she picked up chopsticks- since I had clearly made the dish with Mistral inspiration- and pushed them to the egg, splitting it open.

Her eyes widening was very satisfying to see.

"This is…!" She gasped. "The white has only just begun settling, and the yolk is perfectly soft boiled!" She looked at me. "How did you-!?"

I only smiled. "The secret is freezing the eggs."

"Freezing them?"

I nodded. "That's right. By freezing them, I can peel the shell off, since freezing them expands their internal volume and breaks the shell. Plus, normally chicken eggs only last about three weeks. But, by freezing them, they can last upwards of fifty days.

"To prepare the dish, you peel the shell, then batter them and fry them until it's crispy. Then take steaming hot rice and pour plenty of sauce over it. You place the deep-fried egg on top, and pour over more sauce with a fried shiso leaf. Simple, but I promise it's delicious," I grinned. "Go ahead, try it. Be fast about it too, if it gets cold it won't be as good. I promise, there's no other secret here."

Summer looked at me disbelieving on that front, but everyone gathered the food with their chopsticks and took a bite.

Chew…

Chew…

Chew…

Swallow.

"This is…" Raven said.

"This is amazing!" Yang exclaimed as she began to dig in. "This taste's fantastic! The flavour is deep but almost delicate!"

"But where is it coming from!?" Summer muttered as she ate. "If the dish as simple as you say, Jaune, it shouldn't have a taste like this!"

"Ah, there is one thing I left out," I admitted, prompting them to look at me. "When you freeze the yolk… It concentrates its flavour immensely!"

"Concentrates… The flavour!?"

I nodded. "By being frozen, the egg's proteins seize up quite firmly and become almost like jelly! It gives them a springy, jiggly, creamy mouthfeel! And their flavour becomes especially rich. Freezing them is the most important part of this dish! I also added a sauce I made using bonito dashi stock, soy sauce, and mirin for a savoury taste. It goes perfectly with the egg and the rice."

"That's… Ingenious!" Summer stared at me in shock, as if unable to believe I'd come up with such a brilliant idea.

I only grinned. "Come on, you don't want it to get cold like I said… Please, eat it all up."

They needed no further prompting as they devoured the meal with gusto!

I only smiled as I watched them, pleased that they were enjoying it.

They all took a breath as they set the bowls down, all of them thoroughly satisfied with the meal.

Tai cleared his throat. "Right then, it's time for us to vote on who's dish was the best. Push forward the dish you enjoyed the most. And remember, this is only a friendly competition. No hard feelings no matter who wins or loses."

There was silence…

And then the sound of dishes being pushed forwards filled the air around us.

"It's unanimous!" Tai declared. "The winner of this cooking match is Jaune!"

I only smiled. "I hope you all enjoyed it," I said simply.

Summer let out a sigh, but her wide smile was hard to miss. "Well done, Jaune," she said to me. "It was a good match. I wasn't expecting that kind of dish out of you. It was a bit of a crazy dish I never would have thought of."

I only smiled. "Trial and error, that's how I learned. It was a fun match though."

It was very fun…

I turned away from them, going to the kitchen and doing the dishes as the smile faded from my face.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time for fun.

I had to get stronger as fast as possible. It was going to be a sleepless night…

Publish Date: 3rd October 2020

Word Count: 5,124

Another chapter done!

Before I actually respond to any reviews or talk about the chapter, I'd like to say something. Specifically to flamers.

Fuck. Off.

I have absolutely zero tolerance for flamers. I've had to delete a bunch of negative comments on the story from guests, because they decided to be assholes. Here's some advice! If you want to flame me, have the balls to make a profile instead of hiding behind a guest review, you fucking pussies.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you don't like this story, if you 'just can't find the good,' or you're going to let the story be ruined because I decide to have it as a harem or single pairing, or ONE thing happens in the story that you don't like and you suddenly don't want to read it any more THEN FUCK OFF! Instead of being a cunt to me and other authors on here who are busting our asses trying to write these and entertain you, how about you take a look at yourselves and what you're doing! If you have time to be an asshole to me or any other author on this site who is doing their best to write a story, then you have time to get off your fat ass and go become a productive member of society!

If all you can do is say 'this sucks,' or like a comment I read that says 'This story is like Chum. Lots of good things. Slightly disgusting,' then don't bother reading it! Other authors and I spend hours upon hours writing, thinking, and plotting a story, sometimes days to weeks or months, sometimes needing to completely re-write certain sections, and then double checking for things like grammar errors or spelling mistakes. Even then, we don't get them all, but we're doing our best.

To then post our hard work on here, and have people saying it's a piece of shit for no other reason than one thing happened that they didn't like makes me fucking sick! If you think I suck at writing, then why don't you put your god damn money where your fucking mouth is!

This is a challenge to all the flamers who read my stories! If you think you can do a better job than me at writing, then how about you stop telling me I suck, and you instead write a story yourself and prove me wrong! Worst case scenario, you're proven right and your stories are great! Best case scenario, you all get flamers too that piss you off because THEY found something in your story they didn't like, or they're just assholes who shit on your story for no reason, and they do it behind guest reviews because they're too pussy to make their own account and confront you on it!

Sorry about that, I just had to get that out of my system. I am sick and fucking tired of people shitting on my stories through guest reviews. News flash: I delete those guest reviews without even a second thought, I have no tolerance for them. I at least have a small amount of respect for those who flame me on profiles, even if it is miniscule.

Right, now about the chapter. I tried to keep this chapter pretty chill, save the small part at the end and Jaune getting that quest about Miyuki, he had a pretty fun and chill day. Not much to say, I got both dishes used from Shokugeki no Soma (Food Wars), I recommend you guys go and check it out, it's a great manga/anime.

Garoorar: Tatsuya's absence was mentioned in the chapter, and will be addressed with more details on a later date.

Calderoneric758: Good question, but I only intend for Jaune to have any form of Gamer powers in this story. A lot of fanfics I've seen tend to have one person or another joining Jaune in a party and learning about the game, I want it to be exclusive to Jaune since I feel it spreading around ruins its uniqueness.

RedRoy: I get that. I really don't like Mercury, which is why I hate to acknowledge that makes him a good villain since I believe villains should be the kinds of characters you just hate, or you like them BECAUSE they have a good reason to be a villain. And I don't mean the whole 'Victims of Society' or 'Secretly good' trope that seems to be happening lately. It's why I like Salem as a villain thus far, and I'm hoping she isn't ruined down the line.

That's all the reviews I'm responding to for now, since I found a decent amount I could respond to were negative reviews from guests that I deleted without a second thought.

That's all from me guys, look forward to Chapter 12! This is Ezras Hargrave, signing off!