[Part-1]
"Argh!"
Woken from a deep slumber Jaune Arc was unaware of his location he is currently in. What had happened?
Memories flooded instantly, memories of him standing up, memories of him being defeated instantly, memories of his left arm, being severely damaged.
His left arm, his shield wielding arm. The arm of defense was gone.
"Might controls everything. Without strength you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself."
The words of that man echoed at the depths of Jaune's mind. This wasn't past Cardin or Weiss; this guy is different. This guy, is epitome of strength and arrogance, and once again Jaune failed to understand that.
No.
Jaune did understand the difference in strength, however, blinded by foolish pride, he let that cloud his judgement.
Jaune gathered the courage, turning his head and once again tried to see the damage his left arm had taken.
To his surprise…it was healed?
What?
He remembered vividly what had occurred, the cracked bones that punctured his muscles and tore through them. His damaged fingers and nearly torn off wrist.
However now?
It all felt like a distant dream, like that attack never even occurred. Jaune lifts his left arm and starts to verify it.
Punch. The movements are proper, he did not feel any crack or shake of his bones. Lifting of the arm. No problem here, even the circular movement seemed fluid.
Huh? Sweet, perhaps that was a bad dream after all, he just might be in his dorm sleeping, silly him, he shouldn't have been up late reading books.
"Recover you seem to have."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Why are you screaming?"
"I do not know. You were the one who initiated the screaming, I just followed your lead."
"Why are you in my room? Wait…who even are you?"
"This isn't your room and my name is Pitou."
What?
Jaune Arc looked around. Wait a minute, this wasn't his dorm room, this was a different room. Wait…his eyes wandered back to the proprietor who barged in the room. The name she called herself? Pitou.
Jaune re-watched the person, the girl, she has short white wavy hair, and…cat like ears and tail? Ruby- the gem not the girl, color eyes and…damn, her arms were larger than an average humans' arms, well it was certainly larger than Jaune's, her attire was unique- say the least she was wearing a blue overcoat with six yellow buttons and cuff links, shorts and orange socks with thin black stripes, and a pair of blue shoes.
"What's a cat Faunus doing here? Are you related to Blake or something? Where am I?"
"You ask too much questions. I am tired of explaining it to others, I am not a cat Faunus- I am a sabretooth Faunus. Who is the Blake? This is Lancelot's place."
Lancelot? Who's that now?
"That would be me."
All right, if handsome boys weren't enough, now Camelot has handsome men? The one that presented himself in front of Jaune had a sharp jawline, clean cut face. A purple shade of hair, properly cut, unlike Jaune who had a noodle look alike, but even bad cut, whatever he did, it did not fix his hair, it would rather turn out to be a banana spiked hair or noodle banged hair.
Well, he had to choose one and guess which, one won?
Then again, the man in front of him was epitome of a handsome model, what people would call the silver fox? He looks like someone who would steal your wife and won't be sorry.
"Um…Hello?"
Lancelot, the man gave Jaune a blank stare, as if he was expecting something, some proper introduction.
Oh!
"My…name is Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls over the tongue…ladies love it."
Earlier, Lancelot was giving Jaune a blank stare, but now? It morphed into a stare filled with perhaps hate and disgust.
"So, you are a player? Huh?"
Well, his name's catchphrase does sound like him, hitting on ladies, but in reality, never once a girl did a turn back listing to that.
"Well, I did try?"
Perhaps Lancelot saw the expression on Jaune's face and realized-
"You…aren't a player are, you?"
"Huh? No…I just wanted to be popular with the girls, well, as you can see…this doesn't seem to work."
Would you look at that? Perhaps, Lancelot judged him harshly, the kid seemed to be a good hearted one, probably stupid for facing Gilgamesh, but good hearted one.
"Well, I apologize. I should have known better."
"What? No…no…it's fine, it's just, well I try everything to get confidence, and as you can see, I'm not doing that good."
Perhaps Jaune was hallucinating, but it appeared as if, the man- Lancelot's expression soften up a little.
Lancelot switched his gaze towards the cat- no the sabretooth Faunus, Pitou-
"You can go now; I'll do the talking."
Pitou didn't argue back, just nodded and left.
Now, what appeared to have been a tray of food was revealed to Jaune after Pitou left. Lancelot lifted the tray and placed it near Jaune,
"First, eat. Then we'll talk."
Too hungry to argue, Jaune just did what he was told.
"Are you full now?"
"Now, I am."
Jaune nodded, it felt his strength returning slowly.
"I understand that you will have questions, but first tell me, do you remember what happen?"
"What happen when?"
"Why did The Tyrant Gilgamesh attack you?"
Oh.
Jaune's mind started to process, trying to remember what occurred-
"Perhaps mongrel you are the one who lacks common sense, you see, this tournament tests bests of the best, you, who is below average doesn't deserve to be anywhere near this place, I am in a good mood today which was almost spoiled by you. But you had spine, as such I am willing to let you go back to your mom, so you can suck her udders, go away little lizard."
"Have the capacity to end the fight once you started it, especially if your pride is on the line."
"Might controls everything. Without strength you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself."
Instinctively perhaps Jaune gently touched his left arm and stroked it. His face, combination of sorrow and anger- embarrassment and ashamed.
"I really thought, I knew what strong people were like, you know? I thought that, if I stood my ground, I would win."
Jaune lets out a mirthless laugh and continues-
"I was dead wrong. I was no match, he stopped my strongest swing as if it was a minor inconvenience, he…destroyed my shield as if its defenses were nothing more than that of a paper. Worst of all, in his eyes, I wasn't a threat. I know, I am not strong…I know I make mistakes; I know most of the time, I let my pride get in the way. However, to be taken this lightly…and…sob…and…sob"
Jaune Arc tried. He really did, to look manly, to look strong in front of the man but, the haunting memories just returned. His humiliation returned. It wasn't similar to bullying Cardin used to do or the comments Weiss used to spit out. This was different, something about what he- Gilgamesh did, it was resonating in his heart and mind.
Not once the bells of failure rang this loud.
However, they weren't stopping- so were his tears.
He is man, he should be strong, he shouldn't cry…yet his back was breaking.
Lancelot placed his arm over Jaune's shoulder. Jaune looked up, it was probably for the first time Jaune saw someone, giving him a smile so bright. It was pure, unadulterated smile.
"You can take it out, none of us can stay strong all the time, and eventually we all break. No one will judge you for being vulnerable, I will not judge you for being vulnerable. Let it all out."
And so did Jaune Arc. Even if it was on the man's shoulder, for the first time in so many years, Jaune Arc…took it out, all of it.
For the first time, Jaune Arc felt light, as if a pain was finally removed.
[Part-2]
"You feeling good now?" Lancelot asked softly, a different tone compared to what he showed when he entered.
Jaune just nodded, and once again his vision stares back at his left arm. He was sure it was damaged beyond repair, so how has it healed so much better, as if whatever Gilgamesh did, just disappeared.
"Um, how- did my arm heal?"
"That's Pitou's semblance, her ability can heal any injury regardless of the damage the person has taken, as long as the person is not dead…Pitou can heal them. So, now do you mind telling me, how exactly did you incur Gilgamesh's wrath?"
Jaune blinked, fair question.
"Well, perhaps- I should start, what occurred- "
And thus, Jaune reinstated everything that transpired between, him and Gilgamesh.
Lancelot just shook his head,
"You fought over to defend your pride?"
"Of course…I just couldn't let him get all over me, he was at the wrong and yet he refused to accept it…I had to stand up for myself!"
"That's noble, really noble, but what if the location was different? Would you have been so lucky? No. You would have died. Think rationally, see the circumstances."
"What? Does that mean I ignore the injustice? I did so, once. I thought if I could take the bullying for myself, this would protect my team. It didn't, it nearly broke the relation all of us held together. That world may have an unforgivable view, cruel and harsh- however, I will not lower myself to those standards, not anymore."
Lancelot gazed, the boy was idealistic if nothing else, that would have been a good trait, had he the power to back it up.
"Unfortunately, you don't, you do not have the power to back up your words, Jaune, I suggest you leave. You said, you wanted to take part in the tournament, that is very brave of you, but I do not think, someone like you would survive. It would be better for you to just leave. Take part in a different tournament, by getting strong. As much, as I despise Gilgamesh, he is right. You are not fit for this place."
Lancelot stands up, he was prepared to leave when-
"You are wrong."
Lancelot stopped his tracks right near the doorframe.
"You cannot decide what I can do or what I can't. I am willing to put effort. I am willing to work ten times harder, just give me a chance to prove my worth. That I am more than a wannabe huntsman-in-training, who faked his way into Beacon, who just wants to live up to legacy of his family."
Lancelot turned around; his blank stare had returned-
"That's a great speech, how are you going to do it? How are you going to cross the gap among the contestant present here?"
"I'll work hard! Hard work would always yield results!"
"Ha! Then you are certainly naïve, just because you work hard on something doesn't mean you would succeed, most of the time- hard workers result in failure, if not done properly."
Jaune stopped.
How to reply back now? What was the comeback for this? Was there a comeback?
"Tell me Jaune Arc, what will you do? You claim to have the ability to compete against students who far surpass even veteran huntsman, they arrived here to fight against the best of the best, they warriors, then tell me Jaune Arc, what are you?"
Lancelot's sharp gaze, looked as if it was piercing through Jaune's soul, barring him naked in front of him
He felt exposed, as if the man knows his deepest secret.
Jaune's eyes locked on to Lancelot's- refusing to leave- to back down.
"I…admit…have admitted that, I am weak. I will do what it takes. I will make sure to work extra hard, and for that to happen- then take me as your disciple!"
"What?" Lancelot was flabbergasted, he did not expect such response.
"You are a strong huntsman, right? That much I can tell, as strong as our combat instructor if not more, if I have to get stronger, then I have to ask a strong person to teach me, right?"
Jaune Arc did something, he never once thought he would.
Swallow the pride.
Kiss the arrogance goodbye.
Destroy the hubris.
He got down on his knees, and positioned his head downwards, touching the cold hard floor,
Bowing down to the fullest- swallowing down whatever pride he has, had.
"I am weak, I am very weak. I failed to admit it once, however, I am admitting it now. Jaune Arc is very weak, so please…teach him. Please, teach me so that-
My greatest weakness can become my greatest strength"
Lancelot blinked; a memory flashed through his mind-
"Lancelot, I don't fear you know? After all, I will win. With my greatest weakness, I'll defeat their greatest strength!"
Lancelot could very well deny the child, it won't be difficult and yet, watching him bury his pride, so that he can become strong, he- Jaune Arc has the signs to become a strong warrior. Yet, he could not-
A certain image of a person was overlapping Jaune Arc.
Certain determination was overlapping Jaune Arc.
Certain past was overlapping Jaune Arc.
Lancelot sighed,
"Get up."
"Huh?"
"Come on get up, don't ruin the floor."
"You'll teach me?"
"…"
"You will?"
"…. Fine…however, under one condition."
"Anything!"
"By no means, you are allowed to quit, you understand?"
Perhaps this was Jaune Arc's brightest smile.
"I will not."
"Good, now…as for registration in the tournament-"
It hit like a brick to head. Jaune shook-
The tournament! The registration, time! Fuck! He passed out and he most probably missed it. His only chance.
Once again Jaune hits the floor, for a different reason this time.
"What's the matter? Do you love floor or something? Are you one of those floor gang kids?"
"I-I missed the registration didn't, I?"
"Well, you did but don't worry, you can do it tomor-"
If it was possible Jaune Arc sank further into the floor.
Lancelot sighed, kids these days made a big deal out of everything, refusing to listen to others completely.
"Registration for today is over, the final day for registration is tomorrow. Listen to others, when the speak, Jaune."
Hope.
If it was possible, Jaune Arc could perhaps tear the roof and reach the skies. He was so ecstatic, he thought because of his stupidity…he lost the chance of registration, but now.
"Alright, settle down kid, now tell me, what's the deal with false transcripts? While you are at it, tell me your history at Beacon and do not lie to me, I will find out."
Well shit.
Have control in what you speak Jaune Arc.
[Part-3]
"Ok, so let me get this straight. You, faked in your way, in Beacon. You completed the initiation without having the knowledge of Aura, and you still have not unlocked your semblance. You were made team leader of JNPR, a team filled with skilled individual but you on the other hand were a deadweight."
Stings, fuck, it stings- it's like a parent reading a child's report card, and worst of all pointing out every single mistake. Jaune doesn't remember when was the last time he received such harsh scolding.
He didn't want to remember anyway.
However, the almost teary eyed Jaune, who looked as if he was kicked in his puppies, did not stop Lancelot to stop his rant on Jaune's actions.
Someone had to give the kid a good hearing, who better than him?
"So, you were infuriated, with the Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, a terrible Romeo, and you did not know when to take no as an answer. You were blackmailed by your bully, when you confessed about your crime to your partner and refusing to take help. You were bullied, yet you defended the bully because you did not want your team to get involve in your problems."
"Stop giving summary of my semester."
"No- no, I'm not done yet. Your class went to an excursion, and your bully, Cardin Winchester? Wanted to take revenge for being insulted at class decided to "throw red sap" at your team and team RWBY, to show them one of their worst times. You denied, an Ursa came in, you killed it- you felt proud, you stood up to bully, you ask your partner to train you. Then you realized, wait, my partner helped me too because, no way my shield would have moved to defend my side, yet it did?"
"Stop, you are making it seem, I have not done anything worthwhile- which in some cases is true. You are just paraphrasing my struggles."
Lancelot pretended Jaune did not existed. His pleas did not register in his ears, he continues-
"After that the dance came, you wanted to ask the Heiress out again, yet it would seem you were rejected harshly, your partner tried to comfort you, but it had hit your pride that someone else managed to capture her heart, which was not you. However, you did not take it to heart, you helped the Heiress get her date, wore a dress to dance to keep a promise to your partner, met Ozpin, he suggested this place, you came…am I missing something?"
"Many key points, but if that's how you want, then fine, a short summary of Jaune Arc's life till date at Beacon."
Lancelot contemplated for a while, for all instance and purposes, Jaune Arc was not a hunter material, even with such long explanation of what occurred, he understood Ozpin. The man must have played a prank on Jaune, expecting him to return back to Beacon.
Well Ozpin was a man child, Lancelot was one of the few people who didn't agree with the ways Ozpin used to work, is still working. From what he had gathered from Jaune, he let in a fifteen-year-old, because she fought off against burglars stealing dust and one of them being Roman Torchwick.
Impossible.
If Roman wanted, he could have killed Ruby Rose, and her accomplishment weren't anything impressive either. She fought against people who did not have aura, any huntsman-in-training of her age could accomplish that.
Wait.
Ruby Rose?
As in daughter of Summer Rose?
If that was the case then it was clear as day why, Ozpin wanted the kid to join. The man does not learn from his past mistakes, he did that so he could have access to her eyes.
Involving children in the war of adults. Lancelot was always against this. He was against children even training for huntsmen, his personal opinion. They should start training early, but they should join an institute for huntsman after the age of twenty, at the least they would have enjoyed their childhood.
Also, according to Jaune, Ozpin, usually favored Pyrrha Nikos, the Four Time Sanctum Tournament champion, the strongest among her peers and possibly even her seniors, it was an easy guess for Lancelot. They had received the news, Fall Maiden Amber was attacked, Pitou herself went to Beacon in secrecy to heal Amber, she failed due to the damage was actually done to her very soul, half of maiden powers have been taken away from her.
Amber was walking a very fine line of life and death, leaning mostly towards death.
So, Ozpin was preparing to choose this girl as the next maiden.
However, why would the girl accept such task?
Right. From what he concurred from Jaune's assessment for his partner, it would seem, Pyrrha Nikos was truly a selfless kind of girl who wished to help others by becoming a huntress. She must be cherishing her friends, because it would seem due to her status, she didn't have any or people were just outright jealous of her.
Also, it would seem Pyrrha Nikos is a naïve girl, she could easily fall under the manipulation of Ozpin's words.
Lancelot very well knew what kind of effects Ozpin's words have, how many he manipulated- after all one of his daughters worked as the Headmistress of the Beacon Academy, she hated her own father.
That was a story of the past, what Lancelot was thinking, there must be some form of delay in Ozpin's plans due to the sudden arrival of the elections.
So, currently Ruby Rose at an early stage because Ozpin wants another Summer Rose. Pyrrha Nikos, so that he could have another Half-Fall Maiden. Glynda could have been the maiden, but she does not have the required age for inheriting the power, and Ozpin knows, Glynda would be better off without the maiden powers, he cannot lose someone of her caliber, but a child is replaceable?
This thought made Lancelot sick, knowing exactly why, a child.
Reading Ozpin was easy for Lancelot, like an open book. Understanding a stupid person is very hard, understanding a smart person- is easy.
Ozpin still is predictable, to him the least.
And once again, he did not mention this to his other allies, he would mention this after the completion of the task. Ozpin, wants to lead and yet he does not want to hear the opinion of others.
One of the reasons why, Ozpin and the King of Camelot don't do well together.
Forty-five minutes.
Jaune Arc was staring at Lancelot for forty-five minutes, and Lancelot was staring at the wall for forty-five minutes.
Has he forgotten about Jaune already?
Having waited for long enough, Jaune decided it was time to wake Lancelot from his trance.
"Excuse me, Mr. Lancelot? You there? Should I come back later?"
"Oh? Huh? I- apologize, I must have drowned in my thoughts, it doesn't happen often."
"It's alright, so what now?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR COMBAT INSTRUCTOR'S SIGNATURE AND STAMP?"
It was perhaps the first time after meeting Lancelot, Jaune saw the man screaming.
"I mean, I have the headmaster's, will that not do?"
Lancelot sighed, the kid perhaps did not know, how the system of this scale of tournament would work.
"Listen Jaune, the most important thing in this form of tournament is you have been trained or are in-training under a specialized hunter. The headmaster doesn't count, they don't teach you the ways of battle, combat instructors do. The combat instructor understands what is your capability- Jaune this is just the repetition of your act of faked transcripts, this form of tournament is held in a large scale, after all not everyone goes to combat school, take Sigurd Sonne for example, he is the youngest specialist in Atlas, he still needed stamp and signature from General Ironwood, himself, in this case, General Ironwood is not just a Headmaster, but also a person who leads the army of Atlas. Do you get it?"
Did Jaune get it?
Somewhat.
However, damn, Sigurd is a top guy, huh? Handsome man. Hot girlfriend. Probably one of the strongest as well.
There it is again, jealous of the successful guys.
Wait!
"Sir Lancelot, you are the one who would be teaching me after all? How about you become my combat instructor!"
"Wait, what?"
"Yes! A perfect plan, you just provide your stamp and signature and we'll be good to go? What do you say? You did agree to teach me after all!"
Well, that was true.
"It is possible."
"So, will you, do it?"
Lancelot sighed, well, he did agree to teach the boy. Why did he do it? Perhaps he knows, perhaps he does not, however at this point, perhaps Lancelot does not even care, who knows.
"Very well, however, you do remember the conditions, right?"
"Yes! I will not quit."
"Good, let me provide you with my signature and stamp, you register tomorrow, then the opening ceremony will be in ten days, so it would be better…if your train hard for ten days."
"Wait…ten days? Won't the tournament occur next month?"
"That's the main tournament- preliminaries would occur during the opening ceremony."
"Wait, so what's the preliminaries like?"
"Who knows? I certainly don't, even if I did, I won't tell you what it is, it would be unfair for the other participants."
"Alright."
"Also, you smell like shit. Take a bath, it would be better if you sleep in this room, the bathroom it towards the adjacent side."
Jaune just simply nodded.
Lancelot left the room, leaving a very alone Jaune Arc.
He looked through one of the windows, the starry night sky.
A beginning of a new journey.
[Part-4]
It was nearly nine in the morning. Jaune returned from registration. He did so early at eight.
Now, he was outside Lancelot's house, the place itself was not too big, a small single stored house, yet it felt comfy and homelike to Jaune, also it was located at the outskirts towards north of main city Camelot, well still inside the location.
Camelot was really a beautiful place, after all it had combination of both, the city and the country side, and Lancelot's house was in the country side.
According to Lancelot, the dense forest that surround Camelot have Grimm that weren't killed, or rather kept in there.
That was stupid, why would anyone, do that? Keep the Grimm alive.
Lancelot didn't answer that, but he did reply with one thing, no Grimm would ever make its way till the city, the place is guarded.
And when Jaune asked who guards it?
Lancelot's reply shocked and baffled him. He said a dragon guards Camelot.
Yeah, a mythical creature guards Camelot, what's next Maiden and Gods are real? Oh, there must be a Grimm Queen then, who controls the Grimm. That is so childish.
Anyway, the ten-day training program, starts today, Jaune Arc, is ready perfectly, what will he be learning? How to use dust properly? That will be great because, whenever Jaune used dust, it just exploded in his face, one of the few reasons he just cannot use long range weapons, it requires proper disposal and control of dust. Or maybe he could learn some secret swordsman technique with which he could just cut enemies in one cut. Maybe learn about his semblance or nurture one!
The anticipation was killing Jaune.
The anticipation disappointed Jaune.
"What do you mean, I have to grow a plant and not use sword?"
Lancelot sighed.
"Listen, in before you begin your training, you must have full control or at the least viable control of aura throughout your body."
"What does this have to do with the plant?"
"This is not a plant; this is a flower."
Lancelot placed a big plant pot, the surroundings covered with mud, however the center of the pot was filled with water, on it a lily pad? Something equivalent to the lily pad, perhaps, finally a small purple flower bud.
"Jaune, this is Eight-Fold Lotus one of the rarest from of flowers that only grow in Camelot, however under the courses of nature the flower would take a full year to bloom."
A full year? Jeez. Talk about a late bloomer, just like Jaune.
There goes another hit in the confidence of Jaune Arc.
"If it takes a full year, why are you giving me this? Wait…does this mean, it would take me one year to get strong?!"
Another giant hit to Jaune Arc's confidence. Critical Hit.
"Listen to me when I am telling you dumb kid. Under the natural cause, the flower takes a whole year, however, this flower is also one of the few plants that react to aura. This is your job, use your aura to bloom this flower, you need to complete the task, only then I will allow you to move to the next part of the training."
"If it reacts to aura, then how should I do it?"
"That is something for you to figure it out."
Lancelot walked away.
For the next few hours, Jaune had been staring the flower, the damned flower.
How?
How, exactly use aura to help the flower grow? Was that even possible? Did flowers have soul to begin with?
From what he could remember from Pyrrha's explanation, aura represents the will of the soul and semblance represents the personality of the soul.
Exactly how are both of them different?
That thought is for a different time, however, now? He needs to use aura.
Perhaps touching it might work?
Jaune Arc, did so.
Gently touching on both the ends of the pot, Jaune pressurized his aura, slowly pouring it in or so he thought.
No significant change, no scratch that, no change at all.
Ok, so touching the pot won't transfer the aura, how about touching it? He could damage the flower if he holds it to tight, so this time he concentrated his aura around his fingers and tried touching the flower.
After several failed attempts later, it still did not change.
Frustrated, Jaune slammed his fist on the ground.
"Dammit."
The flower, the Eight-Fold Lotus, has yet to show any changes, no movement whatsoever.
Is the flower faulty? Or is Jaune Arc's aura just simply not strong enough?
Jaune sighed as he sat down.
The broken moon had ascended upon the sky; the starry night finally showed itself. For the first time, looking at the gentle scenery, Jaune smiled.
The beauty of the sky, the starry night and the broken moon, as it encompasses the entity of Remanent.
Wait.
Encompasses? Surrounding the place completely?
To begin with Jaune had been trying to fuel the flower, and only the flower but- what if he encompasses it? What if he tries to pour aura through surrounding it? Pour aura not in a single part, but as whole?
Well, it sounds stupid, however, what if it wasn't?
Among his teammates, it was Ren who was the most proficient in the use of aura, so much more than Pyrrha herself. He often preferred to meditate, and it was Ren who told him that aura does not simply just refill part by part of a body. It first starts from the center, slowly covering the whole body.
The whole body. Jaune had been trying to use aura to have the flower grow, because his thinking was just stick to the flower, how about not just the flower, but everything that makes it connected to the flower.
The pot, the water, the leaf pad- everything.
Instead of touching the pot or the flower this time, the hovered his hands and kept them at a near distance.
Swoosh~
The swirling sound generated by his hands that were keeping the aura, however, it was very difficult task. Enhancing something by touching was easy, enhancing something without touching, instead took a lot of concentration. It was doable perhaps? Sharpening the blade using aura, damn easy! However, further from that Jaune did not try something else with aura except for increasing his defense and the damage dealt by the sword.
The aura is now surrounding his palms greatly yet, it does not seem to affect the flower.
Hmm?
If considering Aura is a part of the body, and it acts like any function of the body, he needs to imagine the ejection, the best way to imagine ejection?
And Jaune's face scrunched up and morphed into a disgusted one. Well, the act of taking a piss while is a required function for the body, imagining the feeling is not. Then again, that is the best for body ejection, he rather not thinks about the other two.
Okay.
Jaune took position, generating aura- he concentrated those on his hands, just like sweat glands from where the sweat is generated, and exited through the body, no longer becoming a part of the body, it's the same.
The process of ejection, no longer just the part of one's own body-
Swoosh~
Aura, slowly but surely, like mist was being emitted from Jaune's palms, it looked easy however Jaune Arc would like to attest to it otherwise.
It was fucking difficult. It was so difficult, the sheer concertation it took to maintain the flow of aura, emitting the flow of aura was causing strain on his mind and body.
Jaune was never used to this kind of projection and the aura-based ability use.
"Haaah"
Jaune sighed, his looks fixed on the flower, which seemed to glow a bit, so it seems to be working.
Ok, it would seem a little amount wasn't doing anything…how about dumping it with aura?
That could work!
It would be a really slow process, if it would take slow strides of aura, however, instantly filling it, would just might work!
After an hour of break, replenishing the aura within him, Jaune Arc once again prepared. This time, however once getting in the proper position Jaune emitted as much aura as he could without pulling any stops, disregarding the mental pain and fatigue and the body struggle, every ounce of aura till there is none left.
For thirty whole minutes without any stops.
The result?
The once shining flower, was now…looked as if it was dying.
Where? Where had it gone wrong? He poured the heavy amount of aura; how did he fail?
Dooooooooooon
Aura enhanced fist met the ground, effectively creating an impact crater upon well the impact. The frustration running through the veins was now making Jaune agitated, once again, failure. He worked hard, he failed.
Story of his life.
Yet, he did not see Lancelot staring at him from the residence.
Dinner.
Well, dinner with two others of course. Pitou, the cat? No, the sabretooth Faunus and Lancelot, apparently Pitou eats with Lancelot? Jaune didn't question it, he wasn't in the mood to question anything. How can he, when he was failing at such a simple task. If it was someone else, his teammates or team RWBY, they could have grasped the technique easily all of them were talented, he? The sole thing he lacks.
The flower where it should have been blooming, now, it wasn't, it was almost at wilted, dying even.
Jaune sighed, he really did not want to complain about his shortcomings in here, Lancelot was kind enough to let him sleep and provide food, and of course the most important of all, train.
Jaune took the bite of the meat.
And immediately regretted it.
Salt. The salt. The fucking salt, it was so much that Jaune nearly vomited all of the food intakes, and that was just the first bite.
"What the hell is this?"
Lancelot appeared to be nonchalant about it.
"What do mean? Is the food not to your liking?"
"I am sorry, but I cannot taste the food over the salt you have poured in it, why? Why ruin, the food?"
"I did not ruin the food, the more, the better, I would get the better taste if there is more salt."
Jaune lost it. There are many things in this world, Jaune was not capable of. However, few things where he was, he loved doing them, one of them being cooking-
"Listen, just because you dump a hell lot of salt it won't make the food taste good. In order for the food to taste like it was always intended to, you need…to…provide…the right…amount of…salt."
Jaune, whose short termed fueled anger had ignited, just the same way it died. He blinked in multiple times before running outside once again.
"You could have just told him." Pitou spoke,
"It's better, if you reach the result by your own term, only then you would realize your own mistakes and shortcomings."
"That's good but we are out of salt now and my steak, frankly it sucks."
"…"
"…"
"…Frankly it, sucks"
"I heard you the first time."
"Don't cook next time."
"…."
"…"
"…Shut up."
Jaune once again came back to the flower pot.
Excess amount of anything, will result in the destruction on anything being built. Jaune's thoughts about increasing the aura output backfired, because it was not meant to do that. To being with, this test was not to check how much aura Jaune has or rather it was to see, for how long Jaune could keep using aura.
This is a test of endurance. How long can he use the aura and how fast can he replenish it.
Jaune Arc was now redetermined.
[Part-5]
"Good Morning, Specialist Sonne!"
Specialist Sigurd Sonne, sighed, this was not what was he expecting early in the morning.
In front of him, where four of his friends and the team called BMET apparently it was idea of one of the members to call themselves that. Burnt orange? Strange. Sigurd wasn't one to judge, but- never mind.
However, now the four of them were here.
"Harriet, I told you, we are all the same age here, when the General isn't present, just call me Sigurd, it's not that big of a deal. No one would court martial you for disrespect."
"Indeed, Harriet, you could be free~ You could get close to Sigurd and he won't mind~" the second girl of the group, she had turquoise hair tied to a pony tail using a red ribbon, two hair strands in front of the forehead, she had leafy green eyes with flirty shine in them as she throws herself in Sigurd's arms.
"You won't mind right, Specialist~?" Even before Sigurd could respond, someone held on to the girls' head and nearly crushed it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
It was Brynhild and she was furious.
"How many times? How many times should I remind you to stay away from my boyfriend Marina Tortuga? I should smash your head open now."
"W-wait, I am sorry, it- it was all fun and games, you know?"
"It's fun and games when I smash is your head, too you know?"
Brynhild was radiating deathly aura, masking her face with darkness, the three new members slowly backed away.
"Brynhild, let her go, you will kill her…so, Harriet, your entire team huh?"
Harriet nodded.
"Yes, me, Marina, Elm and Marrow…all the four of us would be taking part, being specialist in training, we need to do something to prove our worth."
Sigurd nodded, his focus on his tablet, scrolling through potential threat against the tournament, while Brynhild was choking Marina.
"Goodness, this tournament just got infinitely worse." Sigurd muttered, as the occupants of the room turned towards him, perhaps to further elaborate what did he mean.
"The tournament has attracted a lot more dangerous people than it would seem, Mereoleona was one. However, the Royal four would be taking part?"
Marrow Amin, the dog Faunus, also perhaps the one who knows about stuff regarding other people just raised his hand,
"Royal…who?"
Harriet just sighed; it was better if she explains it-
"Camelot, Egypt, Wales and Babylonia, four nations that are not ruled by government like Atlas, Vale, Mistral and Vacuo, but rather by Kings. Royal Four are the name given to the four new generation of rulers, who frankly are few of the strongest people in the entire Remnant."
Marina Tortuga continued, "Yes~ it's Princess Artoria Pendragon from Camelot, Prince Ozymandias from Egypt, Princess Scáthach from Wales and finally-"
"Gilgamesh, The Tyrant from Babylonia." It was Sigurd who completed Marina, still having a distaste look on his face.
The look on Sigurd's face was not lost to others, he wasn't even hiding it.
Marrow perhaps a little meekly asked, "Why is he the one called Tyrant?"
"Because, he is one. To top it all, he publicly declares his open hate for the Faunus kind- that they are nothing more than mere slaves to him. He has so many- many charges against him, that he should be executed, killed off, the thing is he has hands on every possible crime- from murder to rape to even Faunus slave trafficking and yet people can't do anything, because he has power, money and most of all…his own strength to make sure he never falls. He even killed his own father to get the throne. I just…can't, people like him are at the top of the ladder and get away with all sorts of crime and have no remorse whatsoever? People like him are inherently evil and now, he is in a place like this."
It was rare for others to see Sigurd speak this much, usually he talks less, more of an action speaks louder than the kind of guy. Brynhild simply hugged him from the back.
Elm Ederne, the tallest and the tank of the group, she was the one who broke everyone from the trance.
"Well, if that's the case, if Gilgamesh is this bad, why aren't other nations- you know? Capturing him?"
"It's not that simple Elm, much like Atlas, Babylonia is too a floating city, and the location is not suitable for any army to invade. Second, the rules of applied in the Government system is not applicable to the King oriented systems and the rules in Babylonia are even harsher. There is no "legal" way of hammering justice on Gilgamesh, but if he does something illegal in here, Camelot, he can be put to death."
Everyone blinked.
"Wait, crime here is punishable by death?" Marrow asked, with a surprise face.
"What? No, since both Camelot and Babylonia fall under the same sets of rules, which can even be held against the King of any nation, the thing is he needs to be caught in action of doing something wrong."
Sigurd's sight switches, gazing outside the sun's bright rays made the Buckingham Palace look even more beautiful than it already was.
Marrow for the last time once again spoke, "So, who would be foolish enough to face The Tyrant?"
Blonde hair and blue eyes, a foolish boy's image flashed through Sigurd and Brynhild's mind.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha…"
The specialist in training were now confused, as to witnessing the sudden outburst of laughter from Sigurd.
"You are right, I did meet a foolish guy who went against tyrant, it might be better, perhaps I should pay Jaune visit later in the day, maybe even Mereoleona would like to go as well."
Yup, there was a fool who went against a man like that.
Early morning and Lancelot rubbed his belly. He is an average cook, but he shouldn't have done that, however, better than explaining others Lancelot feels that if the person reaches to the conclusion himself, the result will yield more worth than simply handing out the answer.
Lancelot's vision once again met the mirror, even though he is old…quite old, aura made him look young, his vision shifts towards his left arm, and then right…nonexistent arm, the remain of his right hand was just a stub.
He sighed, fixing himself then covering with the cloak, hiding the right side of the body, Lancelot walked out. It was perhaps time to wake Jaune, it would be better, now that Jaune knows what needs to be done, he can probably make the flower grow within three days, and the next seven days he would train him with the physical aspect of the fighting style.
That was the original plan anyway.
Lancelot was surprised, more so impressed, he found Jaune sleeping outside, drool dripping down his face, however, that wasn't what impressed Lancelot, what did was the flower, the lotus had already bloomed.
The beautiful Eight-Fold Lotus, the shining purple color, as if it was alive- more so, as if the flower could express emotion.
This was really an unexpected outcome that even Lancelot could not foresee. Originally, the aura transference was needed to see how long Jaune could endure the maintenance of ongoing flow of aura. It would take time, even for students who are in the third year of the huntsmen training, in average it should have taken three to four days, doing it daily.
Instead, it was done in one night, which implies two things, Jaune Arc has massive reserves of aura and the second one, the massive amount of aura is only backed up by the quality of the aura.
Interesting, very interesting it would seem there is more to Jaune Arc than the face value.
"Jaune, wake up!"
The mind is a mysterious thing, even before the body feels the pain, it is the mind that receives it first. Well, when it comes to aura.
Jaune Arc's brain hurt, perhaps this was called hangover? He wouldn't know, never drank…there was one time he did try something that Yang offer…strawberry sunrise? The taste was good, but damn Jaune felt dizzy and was called a lightweight by Yang.
"Jaune, wake up!"
Huh.
Someone was calling for him, his body however responded very slowly as he opens up his eyes, cleaning them up, including the drool induced cheek.
Jaune blinked, to see what time it was…judging by the obvious morning blue sky, he knew what time it was, and the man in front of him? Lancelot.
"How are you feeling?"
"Good…I guess, what about the flower?"
"See for yourself."
Jaune's sights switch and widen, the lotus which was dying, now looked beautiful, the beautiful purple color just brought more life, it really looked something that was alive.
"Do you know what the Eight-Fold Lotus represents?"
Jaune shook his head.
"It is a symbol or purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration and rebirth. So, whatever you were in the past, whatever you used to do in the past, it is over now. Think of it as a rebirth, it's time you learn from the mistakes of your past and grow strong, are you ready?"
There was only one answer and Jaune Arc knew he would not mess that up.
"Yes."
"Then, let's begin."
A/n: -
First of all sorry that I couldn't post, my father was well infected with COVID19 (please do not talk about this in the review, talk about my mistakes or story itself) I had to take care of him, he is fine now.
This is the first part of the two-part chapter, the next part would have another section of training and preliminaries of the tournament, how the tournament would go will be explained in the next chapter. Also, this is not just fighting and action fic, this is also game of minds, I wish to explore every mindset of characters, not just drop them just because they seem to fit in the fic. Unlike the canon RWBY, my fic in total has nine continents- Vale, Vacuo, Atlas, Mistral, Camelot, Babylonia, Egypt, Wales and Menagerie, why? Because I need more people and characters to influence the main cast of RWBY which of course includes RWBY, Adam, Raven and Ironwood.
The next thing, power gain. Why Jaune's shield broke? His aura shattered? While now, I showed that he had higher quality and quantity of aura? That is double standard, isn't it? Actually, I will touch on that in the next chapter so do not worry, Jaune will know the reason why he is weak, weakness is not about the body but also the mind. Th power system in my fic would be explained in the next chapter as well.
Once again, Cinder's plan failed due to which fall of Beacon did not occur.
Also, this is a bit of a rant so bear it with me-
Why Jaune and no other male characters?
Yes. A very good question, we don't know anything about his past, if anything it should be Ren, right? Since he had such a sad past and he moved up and became stronger. You see, even you guys know, Jaune was made as a character so that we the viewers can be introduced to aura, and how the system of power works in RWBY, then he was just a character which was used to deal with other characters and yet, he and team JNPR got more development than team RWBY itself.
You see, Jaune can be much more because he is relatable to us. Because he is us, unless we fail doing something, we don't try harder and that's what makes him someone we all can connect to. Jaune grew and perhaps his growth was something people noticed more than Team RWBY's, let me tell you straight, I do not HATE any one (maybe Cinder, except for her R34 of course) I love all characters equally, and hence every character, hero or villain will get the same amount of attention from me.
Now, RWBY powers and backstories and relationships/ enemies?
This is the most important stuff I want to state, I will not forget what everyone's power does, because it would seem under many cases CRWBY forgot what everyone's power are, we didn't even see Weiss use half the dust she used in the first three season, and don't get me started Neo, a short-stack her swing cannot cause much damage to someone like Yang and yet her aura shattered? HOW? And relationships…don't get me started on that- except for Ren and Nora, I don't see any relationship done properly, there is just no consistency when it came to that, also friendship. How? Why wasn't the friendship among RWBY explored properly? I get that Emerald got a second chance she turned, I like that don't get me wrong, but instantly forgiving her? Especially Jaune and Ruby? There should always be a lingering doubt…I guess that is fine, whatever. Also, incomplete backstories, irrelevant we don't know half of the characters back story, sometimes its good other times, its not I just- want to know more as to why characters ended up like they did, we still don't know much about Adam, hell we don't even know about Ironwood, but Cinder gets everything…she is so bland now. A power-hungry villain, the way I see it, they are perhaps setting her, Cinder to be the final villain rather than Salem. Why?
I am sorry if you all had to go through with it, it's just, I don't like it when something that could be more, you just stop working for it.
Anyway, so look forward to the next chapter, this time, it won't be late I will be like Jaune, I won't go back on my word.
Read, if you find mistakes, error, or something that does not make sense in the plot, please review it. I will take any constructive criticism, if it means to improve the quality of the fic.
STORY NOTES: -
1. Eight-fold path flower- Purple Lotus, its main appearance is various from single, triple to the quintuple stem. The Purple Lotus flower has been a unique existence for Buddhism. The eight petals in the plant represent the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism. The Lotus flower is regarded in many different cultures, especially in eastern religions, as a symbol of purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration and rebirth.
2. The Ace-Operatives, four of them are Specialist-in-training, in this story so that it would be much easier for them to interact with the main cast.
Specialist in training
Harriet Bree [leader]
Marina Tortuga
Elm Ederne
Marrow Amin
Team BMET (burnt orange)
3. In the canon, Tortuga had died before the start of volume seven and was replaced by Marrow, in here she is alive and well Harriet's partner.