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Chapter Ten: When Pigs Fly
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"That's a big Ursa!" - Speech
'I'm so tired.' - Thoughts
[Game Announcement]
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I don't own RWBY or The Gamer.
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'Okay. Let's do this..' Thought Jaune.
Jaune found out in about three seconds that this was the hardest mob he had ever encountered in the Abyss. Moreover, the Minotaur was easily the strongest enemy he had ever faced. Jaune Dodged an upward hack from his flaming axe, only to shred his ripped upper body with a series of flashing white [Aura Hacks.] Despite the attacks precise accuracy and speed, Jaune grew surprised seeing he had barely made a dent in his HP.
A backfist from the Minotaur sent him flying, rolling across the white floor of the dungeon. The Minotaur didn't give Jaune a second of time to breathe, following this up by huffing loudly and opening its mouth wide, scorching Jaune with Fireball attacks from his breath.
Already having lost a decent amount of HP, Jaune kept his distance, rolling aside to avoid rupture attacks that flew towards him when the Minotaur struck the ground. Jaune started spamming Mana Bolts from a distance in a vain attempt to do any damage but the Minotaur raised its muscle bound and metal covered arms blocking any damage.
Jaune dove in headfirst, taking a page out of his partner Pyrrha's book and attempting a flying knee attack that rebounded harmlessly off the Minotaur's elbow armor piece. After a successful series of hits on the Minotaur's knees and stomach, Jaune rolled away in time to avoid a smashing attack. Jaune panted, having inflicted a fraction of the damage he took so far.
Before Jaune could attack again, the Minotaur swept Jaune off his feet in a pre-emptive strike with its axe. When Jaune slammed into the ground, he rolled away in time to avoid a smashing attack again before having to raise his shield to stop Fireballs. The Minotaur wasted no time in trying to destroy Jaune, smoke flowing past his golden ringed nose and filling the room.
Jaune was a serious disadvantage, the Minotaur swinging at him out of pure darkness. Fireballs announcing the Minotaur's position in the completely black dungeon, Jaune blasted off a string of Mana Bolts that created enough force in the ensuing harmless explosions on the Minotaur's armor to let Jaune see where he was.
Yelling loudly, Jaune swung left and right, Crocea Mors glowed a bright white hue as Jaune's charged up Aura attacks lit up the darkened smokey room. Very loud pinging sounds filled the dunegon, Jaune laying into the Minotaur with everything he had, chipping off tiny pieces of the boss' HP as he went.
The Minotaur stumbled under the last hit, Jaune's sword flying right through the skin of its ankle, the blade passing right through a tiny chink in its metal armor greaves.
Jaune was tossed around like a ragdoll. The blasts from the rupture attacks the Minotaur used from splitting the ground in front of it open with its axe were monstrous. It had endless stamina, strength, and timing, countering all of Jaune's attacks that were practically null anyway from how strong it was.
Panting and wiping the side of his face off with a fingerless gloved hand Jaune clenched his jaw. 'It's too damn strong! I guess I have no other choice.'
Jaune quickly opened his menu as the Minotaur stood up slowly, recovering from the solid thirty seconds of withstanding a barrage of strikes. Jaune equipped an item he had earned from beating a previous dungeon from his [Inventory] quickly, pressing his hand to the mark on the book titled "Skill Book: Spinning Mana Bolt."
Jaune spoke the little blurb Han Jihan wrote for him to repeat to activate a Skill Book as the Minotaur approached speaking clearly. "Channels of the Abyss! Lend me your power!" The book gleamed a heavenly blue before disappearing before Jaune's eyes.
A quick description appeared before the Minotaur tried to strike Jaune.
[Spinning Mana Bolt: Focus all of your mana into a single point in front of your palm, and launch with all your might. Medium INT and STR required, AP and SP intensive.]
Quickly dodging an upward strike from the Minotaur's axe, Jaune ran to the other side of the dungeon to buy himself some time. The Minotaur pawed at the ground with his hooves, rearing himself onto all fours like a bull and placing his axe on his back. While the Minotaur huffed and prepared to charge, Jaune took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
'Remember Lionel in the book. You're an Arc, you got this.'
His eyes flying open, Jaune placed his left hand forward, his shield clattering loudly onto the floor. All of the Jaune's massive white Aura flashed in an instant, appearing as a small blip in the space in front of Jaune's open hand, multiple lines of Aura appearing and spinning together into a loud vortex in front of him. The sphere expanded with light, Aura filling it as his Aura whizzed into it sucking in air around it. Despite it being Jaune's first ever spinning bolt, the pressure he had on him considering the mini boss was close to beating him, and the fact that he had used Mana Bolts before made it easier.
The Minotaur charged towards Jaune at full speed, trying to kill him with his flaming red horns, his hooves clacking audibly against the dungeon floor. Jaune kept charging up the Mana attack, waiting until the best possible second to release it. And then it flew off like a missile, faster than all of his previous Mana bolts combined.
Jaune's spinning mana charge flew across the room when the Minotaur was ten feet in front of him. As if the Minotaur had struck into a brick wall, the Mana Bolt exploded on impact, hitting the boss' weak point, the gold ring it wore through its snout. Its flaming head flew upward from the impact, and the boss' own momentum struck against it, knocking it down and half of its health off instantly.
The ground shook when Jaune moved to the side to avoid the sliding Minotaur. Jaune was amazed that he had won, it was the first mob so powerful that a full power Mana blast wouldn't defeat it. Not wasting any time either just as his extremely powerful opponent hadn't. Jaune put the tip of his sword pointed backward toward his hip as it began to glow white again, focusing his Aura again to charge up his sword as the Minotaur's flames appeared again and the mini boss began to recover.
Releasing his strike, Jaune threw everything he had, the remaining bit of his Aura into a final [Aura Slash]. Splitting the Minotaur's throat open, its pixelated flesh burst on impact, killing it.
Jaune almost collapsed in exhaustion after beating it.
[You have gained +3000 EXP!]
[You have gained +1000 EXP for completing the Tier I Dungeon Chain!]
[You have gained a new skill: Mana Arrow!]
[You have gained a new skill: Piercing Mana Arrow!]
[You have gained +1 LV!]
[You have gained +2 DEX!]
[You have gained +2 STR!]
[You have gained the Mana Novice perk!]
Shocked, Jaune laughed in surprise. "I-I won? I won!" jumping and hooting with laughter, Jaune cheered.
After he had calmed down quickly, Jaune recomposed himself. The semester was starting the next week, and he had to help JNPR and RWBY pack up the camp before heading back to Beacon. Spring was fast approaching.
He had left the Abyss hungry, thoroughly satisfied with his hard fought victory.
The snow stopped falling as Jaune Arc stepped outside to see his break from school was over. The icicles stuck to the roof of his cabin outside were melting, and the worst of winter had passed.
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The bleakness of war erupted all around Adam and Qrow's "duel." While the veteran Huntsman had a completely one sided fight constantly forcing Adam to give ground, the vanguard of General Ironwood's forces engaged the tired and dispersed White Fang. Regular Troopers of the Atlesian Military and well programmed Drones mowed down and submitted dozens of beleaguered White Fang members.
A brand new Paladin smacked aside five Grunts and blasted four motorcycles into smithereens with the wrist rockets attached to its armaments. The White Fang was no match for the overwhelming might of the best military in Remnant's history. Crushed and splintered the entire camp surrendered.
Seeing his entire group of two hundred or so men get beaten and captured, Adam Taurus lost heart. He would rather die than submit, but he didn't want the same for his men who he'd knew would die for him as well.
The red blade and black sheath Adam used dropped, Qrow watched in surprise as Adam raised his hands. "It's over."
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Packed into a solitary cell on Atlesian Airships, Adam watched as Ironwood walked into his prison block and spoke to him.
"Did we fight well?" Adam asked.
Ironwood shook his head curtly. "No. Not really."
"What will happen to us?"
"You've murdered innocents, are guilty of multiple accounts of extortion, thievery, terrorism, and banditry. There'll be no need for a trial. As soon as the Council permits, you will be executed by firing squad."
Adam nodded slowly. "So is the way of war."
"It is." said Ironwood.
"After I die, bury me in Mistral's forests where we won our Rebellion. Where my brothers and sisters chose death rather than slavery." Adam chuckled quietly. "But that's not gonna happen yet is it? You need something from me first."
"We both know what it is." Ironwood crossed his arms as his fleet flew back to Vale. "Who is Torchwick really working for? What do you and the White Fang need with all of Vale's Dust? What exactly are you planning?"
He smiled tauntingly at the General. "If that's the only thing keeping me alive, why would I tell you? Besides." he raised his arms behind his head and relaxed. "If you're so damned important, why not find out for yourself? You have schools full of idiots wanting to follow you, and Kingdoms to join them. Go ask them."
"Don't try me." said Ironwood.
"I'm not the one with a camera pointed at me. If you want to make my last days happy, go ahead then. Slaughter my men, threaten me."
Not enjoying the joke of possible war crimes, Ironwood had had enough and turned around. "No one's coming to save you. You might as well spare me the trouble."
After Ironwood had left and the door to his cell slid closed, Adam chuckled to himself knowing what was to come. "Should spare me the trouble too, no one's coming to save you either."
Not wasting a second, Adam began to train in solitude doing simple pull ups and push ups in his cell. Even without his sword or his semblance Adam needed to show the world when the time came that him and what remained of his army were a force to be reckoned with. He needed to prepare.
As long as he lived, however short his life may now be, he'd fight.
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"Sun I-"
Skipping Beacon's Orientation Day during the first day of the Spring Semester, Sun interrupted. "Don't let it stress you out. That creep is going to get what's coming to him."
Blake didn't feel like disagreeing or agreeing with her fellow Faunus. It was shocking to say the least to hear what Adam had been up to since they last were in the White Fang together, and to hear that he'd be executed not long after the Vytal Tournament…
"I'm busy today Sun." Blake straightened out her school uniform.
"Yeah yeah go talk to all the new people my team just got here, I gotta go catch up with them."
"I'll talk to you later." Blake nodded and turned away.
In the cafeteria, Blake rarely looked up from her book, but for some reason Jaune was catching her attention. Despite her speaking to him, which was strange enough to begin with, especially if she was talking at all, he refused to tell her what was going on.
What Blake didn't know was that he was smart enough to stop jogging around their camp during Winter Break, and kept his training private either with Pyrrha or in the Abyss. Still, Blake was no idiot, and she hated that Jaune kept treating her like one.
She also rarely lost her temper, but Jaune was really pushing her buttons among everything. Adam was going to be executed, Jaune was clearly hiding something, Torchwick and who knows who else was out there was obviously stealing Dust and weapons to plan something, and she appeared to be the only one who cared about anything.
Meanwhile Ruby and Nora were chatting about which brand of cereal they like best. Why was she the only person who ever took anything seriously? There were multiple big fat elephants in the room and everyone was being their normal goofy selves.
Putting her book away, Blake slinked away from the table quietly, no one noticing until after she had left as usual. Heading back towards her dorm, Blake bumped straight into another student rounding a corner.
"Oh I'm so sorry!" The girl with lime green hair said apologizing instantly. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
Blake shrugged. "It's fine. Um, I don't know you."
"Yeah we're new here, just joined Haven this year actually. I'm Emerald and this is my team." Emerald said.
"Pleasure to meet you." Cinder said.
"Charmed madam." Mercury said in an obviously fake accent which Emerald gave him a nudge for.
"Mind showing us around campus? We'd really appreciate it." Emerald asked.
"I'd love to. But I forgot to unpack, it's been a hectic day. I just spent my whole break on a camping trip."
"I'd like to hear more about it. Hope to catch you later." Emerald waved and when she was well out of earshot she spoke to Neo and the others. She dropped her fake smile instantly. "Ugh. This is torture…" groaned Emerald.
"I hear there's a ball soon. Could be fun." Mercury countered.
"Doubt it." Emerald said.
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"Hey, where's Blake?" Ruby asked as Yang popped another blueberry into Nora's mouth from across the table with a plastic spoon.
Before anyone could answer, Glynda appeared at the table alarming everyone at the table. "Excuse me. Mr. Arc could you come with me please?"
"Ha! Jaune's already in trouble!" Nora giggled before a blueberry bounced off her temple. "Hey!"
Yang laughed a little as Jaune stood up and followed her out of the cafeteria.
"What could that be about?" wondered Ruby.
"Anything I suppose. Probably his grades." Weiss checked her nails.
Nora spoke up. "He actually passed last semester."
"I know. They probably think he cheated or something." blanked Weiss.
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"So…" Jaune said on the ride up to Ozpin's office. "What is this about?" he asked as slowly and awkwardly as possible.
"The Headmaster would like to speak with you. You'll find out soon enough when you talk to him."
"Uh. Is this about Nora busting a spring on her bed? Pyrrha and I told her to stop jumping on those." said Jaune.
Glynda gave him a look that made it clear it was nothing as childish or silly.
Jaune looked aside. 'O-oh…'
The elevator doors slid open with a hiss. "Ah Mr. Arc! Come in, have a seat. Would you like some tea?"
What alarmed Jaune was some of the most important people in the world were flanking Ozpin's desk. Qrow Branwen, Vale's top Huntsman for years, and General James Ironwood, Atlas' Top General. "Uh I'm sorry-"
"Ohp! Where are my manners?" Ozpin apologized. "This is Qrow he taught at Signal for a number of years. And uh, General Ironwood is-"
"Pleased to meet you," he said.
Jaune winced in pain when he crushed his hand with his seemingly robotic strength. "Ow! Hehe." he chuckled nervously.
"I don't think we've ever spoken to each other before. I think I remember reading about your great-great-grandfather while I was still a cadet in the Academy. Excellent soldier, extraordinary man."
Jaune spoke slowly again. "Didn't he fight against Mantle?"
"Water under the bridge," Ironwood answered calmly. "Besides it was a century ago."
Qrow cleared his throat and Ozpin offered a seat to Jaune. "Oh of course. Right down to business then."
Jaune took a seat across from Ozpin's office. For some reason, having Glynda, Ozpin, Ironwood, and Qrow all look at him before the semester had even started made him obviously nervous.
Ozpin leaned forward. "I don't mean to sound blunt, but this might sound strange. Very very strange."
"Okay…" Jaune squinted and nodded.
"Jaune. I believe you have something special. We've noticed your improvement here at Beacon and how far you've come since the beginning of the semester. And we've created a proposition of sorts." Ozpin explained. "But it entails a certain level of secrecy."
Jaune nodded again. "All right."
Ozpin spoke after taking a deep breath. "Jaune we are asking this out of desperation. We need your help, to help save a young woman's life."
"Uh…" was all Jaune could say.
"Jaune have any of your sisters had any strange supernatural abilities that came with their semblances? Could they ever turn into water or earth or ice or wind or any element of sorts?"
"N-No, no of course not."
"What about your parents? Or their parents?"
"No. No at least not that I know of."
Ozpin smiled. "Huh. It makes perfect sense. The only male child of your parents, the first Arc in a hundred years born without a Semblance. Jaune, have your parents ever told you what your Semblance was?"
"They never knew, and I didn't either."
Ozpin explained. "Jaune, your level of improvement is something I haven't seen in over a hundred years. Since Lionel."
Something didn't add up, and it was strange to Jaune that he was the only person in the room who found this strange. "W-Wait wait. Are you saying you're over a Hundred years old?"
Ozpin smiled. "There's something I need to explain to you. And I promise you I'm telling you the truth, the complete truth."
"O-okay."
"Jaune there's a young woman named Amber who's in critical condition. The safety of Vale lies in her health, and we need your help to revive her."
Jaune looked to Qrow in awe, who simply nodded.
"U-Uh...h-how?"
"Taking it better than I did." Qrow muttered to Glynda. "Just don't question it kid. Just listen."
"I'm more than your Headmaster Jaune. And I apologize for perhaps appearing to lie to you. Believe me when I tell you that the fate of the world lies in this responsibility I am placing with you. I believe that you didn't just inherit Lionel's semblance, with it, you inherited a wonderful ability. Your Aura grows, and fuels the speed in which you learn just like he did."
Jaune didn't disagree, but he wasn't sure if the Gamer was completely behind this or not.
"Jaune that sword you carry with you. Do you really believe a boy at 12 or 14 could forge a metal so pure nothing could make it wither for over a hundred years?"
Jaune shook his head. "I-I don't know."
"He wasn't even 15 when he made some of the best weapons Signal had seen. Jaune, we need to show you something come along."
Qrow nodded to Jaune. "Trust us. You probably have that thing."
On the elevator ride down from Ozpin's office, Jaune's head swam with nervousness.
What were they talking about? Why was he important?
When the doors slid open and Jaune stepped out he was shocked to find what he saw.
A girl was laying in a coma within a glass machine. The room was dark, clearly well below Beacon this whole time.
"Jaune, do you understand what we're saying? Your Aura can grow, and we need to use it to heal her." Glynda said.
"B-But who is she?" Jaune walked towards the glass.
"Her name is Amber. Her state is fading, and everyday she stays in that machine is another day Vale and the rest of the world head towards Annihilation. Jaune, we need someone the other students can rally to when the time comes. When war comes." said Ozpin.
"W-War? What are you talking about?" Jaune held his head.
What the hell was Ozpin saying to him? The end of the world? If it wasn't for Gamer's Mind he'd be losing his mind for sure right now.
"Jaune, our only alternative is choosing a candidate among your classmates to inherit her power. You see, Amber is a vessel of sorts. For a powerful key to Vale's relic. If you'd let me explain I'll tell you."
Jaune focused on Amber. There was a part of him that wanted to run away from this madness. In the course of a couple of minutes, something had told Jaune that Beacon was not just some academy, it was part of something much greater.
"Amber inherited the power of the Fall Maiden. A long time ago I gave some of the magical power I had away to four young women. Each of them contain the ability to open a Vault, which inside lies one of the four Relics of Creation. Each with their own power." said Ozpin.
"After some recon," Qrow scratched his light stubble. "It's possible whoever attacked Amber will try to finish the job. And when they do it, they will try to take the Relic of Choice locked away in this very chamber."
"Wh-What does it do?" Jaune stuttered.
"It grants visions of the future. Lets the user see what will happen no matter their actions," said Ozpin.
"Well, then what're we waiting for? We can know who is gonna attack and when! Just use this Relic thingy!"
Ozpin chuckled quietly at Jaune's statement. "It's not that simple. The Vault can't be opened until Amber is revived. And even then, the Sight it offers cannot be controlled. The visions of the future it offers cannot be controlled at all."
Jaune looked down, lost completely in thought and confusion.
"I know this must be confusing."
Jaune interrupted his Headmaster without hesitation. "And where do I come in somehow?"
"Besides giving you state of the art training from Glynda, myself, and Qrow, as well as Ozpin," Ironwood said. "You will help us revive Amber, and access the Relic to use it against our enemies."
Jaune looked around. "How?"
"We'll help you expand your Aura as we believe it has in the past semester. In exchange, you will be placed in the same machine keeping Amber alive. And transfer enough Aura to her to bring her back." said Glynda.
Jaune took a second. "I'm not some soldier." he pointed to Amber. "Whatever is going on here is way beyond me. I'm just goofy, clumsy, stupid Jaune Arc. I can barely pass my classes and no one knows why I got put in charge of a team with Lie Ren and Pyrrha freaking Nikos. This is just crazy."
"You can be much more than that," said Ozpin. "With our help, we can make you into much more than that. And in exchange, you'll be helping save the lives of many, including possibly your friends."
Jaune was a bit speechless. So Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, and Ironwood have been lying and they want Jaune to risk everything for him. It was quite strange to hear this, but he was understandably a bit speechless. "...So no one's ever known about this. For years?"
As Jaune held his forehead in amazement at how terrible Ozpin had acted, Ozpin placed his hands on his cane. "Think. Has it occurred to you there's a reason why no one has been told about this?"
Jaune shook his head. "I want to be a Huntsman, but this is way more than that."
"Jaune I mean this is as truthfully possible. We would have never asked you if our situation were not dire."
Gamer's Mind let him process the scenario properly. He was being offered a true chance to become a Huntsman, to be a Hero. It just included a very strange set of circumstances. "I-I don't understand. How will I help protect Pyrrha and everyone else?"
"Amber is helping protect a very vital power. If its lost, Vale will be under attack, and there will be very little to defend with. If Amber dies, her assailant will inherit her Maiden abilities."
Jaune looked at his Headmaster. "Wait. How?"
"It's how the Maiden power is transferred," said Ozpin.
So they needed him to help save the Kingdom and protect his friends by training in secret, reviving this poor girl? He had no clue as to the context of these circumstances, in the course of two minutes Ozpin had revealed something that had been happening for years. At the same time, from Ozpin's tone and how clear everything was thanks to Gamer's Mind he understood the gravity of his decision.
He didn't like any of it in the slightest. In fact the only reason he'd do any of this would to help others, especially Pyrrha and his team.
Lives were at stake. The safety of his friends and all he held dear rested on his choice.
Jaune noticed the most peculiar Quest notification ever.
[Quest Alert!
When Pigs Fly: Actually Becoming a Hero
It is up to you to save the world! Undergo rigorous training and missions to help Ozpin turn you into the Ultimate Huntsman!
Time Limit: None
Reward: +10,000 EXP
+Bonus Perks, Skills, and Abilities
+Accelerated Semblance Unlock
Failure: N/A
Accept/Deny]
Jaune rolled his eyes. He knew the Quest system and the Gamer power had no personality of any sort but he came up with a more appropriate version of this damned quest in his head.
'Your darling Professors and your new "pal" Ironwood have royally screwed you over! It's time to buck up, risk your life, possibly your sanity, the complete and total trust of your family and friends and literally everything that was ever important to you to become the Arc of Legends.'
'Time Limit: None (Yeah, but good luck buddy. Just don't die or whatever.)'
Jaune looked to Ozpin. "I hate how weird all this is. But yeah, I'm in."
"Trust me Jaune, you will hate what's to come much worse," said Ozpin as condescending as ever.
Jaune then accepted the most daunting quest of a lifetime. Actually putting his skills of lying, leveling, and whatever it is these Professors see in him to good use. He'd hate it, but who else liked un-paid full-time work that could actually kill him anyway?
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I'm back. This is back. Rooster Teeth sucks even more now fellas! They scrapped their flagship series from Youtube. Seriously, I think the real villain of RWBY is Rooster Teeth itself. Think about it, they've killed more characters than anyone else, even in other shows like Red vs Blue and others, and they're responsible for delivering the slog and boredom fest of mediocrity that was RWBY Volumes 4,5, and 6.
Seriously, Rooster Teeth makes Salem look like an Angel by comparison. No joke. At least she's honest about how terrible she is. I hope you guys are enjoying Jaune's Death Clock in 3D, or I mean Volume 8. Come on guys, we all know Rooster Teeth are looking to kill him. I again am hoping he lives, but knowing how shitty Rooster Teeth is as a company they will probably keep paying Miles Luna the same even if he kills Jaune. Er uh! Kerry! Kerry Shawcross who decided Jaune will die to try and save his friends guys! I'm sure his pay check is not specified if he keeps voice acting or not.
Code Geass Gamer should be out soon folks. And I've archived all my stories that I've deleted. Arc of Legend V1 was not up to snuff to the Gamer Manwha community or my standards as well so I archived it too, I might migrate them all to AO3. See ya guys thank you all so much!
(Note: I made this fix after the reviews noted how to change some things. The end result is the same, but since the point of the fanfiction is a stronger and more heroic Jaune, I let him have the autonomy in this situation to decide for himself. The chapters are more or less the same, just changed what Ozpin said and how Jaune reacted a bit more.)