To my readers, I know I didn't upload a new chapter last week but in my defense I got my first dog last week. He's only nine weeks old so I've been really busy trying to take care of him. Now if only he wasn't trying to constantly chew through my power cord, recliner, shoes, console control, wallet, socks and everything else he could fit into his mouth besides his chew toys and treats, I might be able to keep up with this story better.
Now as usual I hope you enjoy chapter 6 of The White Knight Of Atlas!
The day before had been fun for the most part he believed, but couldn't help but feel this was somewhat more normal for him. Winter paced back and forth with a history book in hand and occasionally dished out questions for him to answer every few minutes or so. At this point it was far too easy to predict when she was going to ask him a question because the pattern repeated itself so often. After two hours of studying, Winter placed her history book down on the table and eyed him for a brief second. "It's become obvious to me that you studied this part extensively while I was away".
Jaune's smile said it all.
The specialist tapped her finger against the hard cover of the history book as she thought. "Then today has been nothing but a review of what you've already learned. That is good because it means even with a free day you chose to spend your time doing something that will help you in the future". Winter smiled warmly, "most people your age would have wasted the day away on meaningless things like TV or video games" she said with a clear disdain for both of those thing. "You should be proud of your forethought". The specialist collected the books from the table and proceeded to return them to their spot on the shelves.
"So what now? We still have about an hour before I have to go to see Vine for my aura lesson" Jaune asked. Winter placed the last book in it's spot and turned to the blonde, "actually the General has decided to shorten your study lesson for today so you can begin your aura training sooner". Before he could ask the question, Winter held up a hand to silence him. "I know you have questions but I can assure you that when you go to your next class they will all be answered". Winter looked at her scroll and checked the time before slipping the device back into her pocket. "And now it's time for you to head to your next class". She froze a second later, "ah, I almost forgot, your next aura lesson will be in the training room we've been using for your combat classes".
Jaune had thought he was doing pretty well in his aura lessons already. Heck even Vine said so himself in the last session they had together. But now his classes were being shortened so he could practice more on aura control? Something really wasn't adding up here. Jaune followed Winter's instructions and went to meet Vine at their new training spot. There waiting for him at the holofield training room was Vine, Marrow and another person he'd never met before. The new guy had short brown hair and a white military uniform with what looked like a metal four leaf clover pinned to the breast part of his coat.
The first person he walked up to was Marrow. A quick fist bump and he moved over to his teacher and bowed slightly in greetings. "Glad to see all of you came back in one piece" Jaune said honestly. Vine returned returned the gesture with a small smile, "you needn't have worried Jaune. Every member of the Ace Ops is specially trained to deal with any situation we find ourselves in". The blonde shrugged his shoulders, "sorry. Even still your just as human as me, which means you can still be killed or seriously injured". Vine chuckled and conceded the point.
The brown haired man stepped up and stood on Vines left, "sorry to interrupt the touching reunion but I do believe there is a lesson that we need to begin. And before you ask, I'm Clover, the leader of Vine, Marrow and the rest of the Ace Ops". Clover held out a hand which Jaune shook. The man had a strong grip, but the fact that this man was his teacher superior made Jaune very nervous. "Nice to meet you sir" Jaune said politely before asking, "soooo...are you gonna be a part of whatever's about to happen here"?
"I am" Clover said with a small nod. "I hope that's not a problem with you"? Jaune shook his head in response, after all being trained by the best Atlas had to offer could only be a good thing in his book. "Good, now I know your curious for the reason we changed the venue your used to but it's actually for a good reason. You see Vine actually believes he knows what you semblance is, so we're gonna test out his theory today". Jaunes eye's widened at the news. A semblance would be a game changer for him cause it meant he had one more weapon in his arsenal to use. And with how far behind the others he'd be competing with, well...he was going to need every trick he could get his hands on just to even have a chance of winning.
Clover saw the excitement in his eye's and felt a little bad about what he was going to ask next. "Vines told me how well your aura control has progressed as of late which is why we'll be doing live fire defense with aura". Suddenly Jaune felt his nervousness intensify, "live fire with aura"? he asked. The leader of the Ace Ops nodded. "It means we're going to be using real ammunition on you while you'll be using your aura to defend against us". Now Jaune wasn't feeling nervous anymore and that was probably because terror took over.
"W-wait" he stuttered as he took a step back. "What your trying to do here is crazy, I mean what if I mess up and a bullet gets through my aura? I could be seriously wounded or killed even". Clover sighed and reached behind his back to pull out a pistol he had attached to his belt. Following their leaders example, Vine and Marrow pulled out their own standard issue pistols and switched off the safeties. "We know how scary this must seem Jaune" Vine said calmly "but the students you'll be competing with in a few months will be able to handle this far more easily then you".
"B-but I've only h-had a week of training at best" Jaune said nervously. His eye's kept shifting between the three slowly circling around him to make sure he wasn't really going to take a hit without defending himself. "I know" Vine agreed "but in just that weeks time you've excelled in the use of aura manipulation at a pace that would have taken an ordinary person years to achieve. I don't know if it's because your older and can understand it better or because the amount of aura you possess is so vast, giving you more to work with. But, what I am certain of is that unless you know how to make the most of what you already have you'll never be ready to take on the hardships of tomorrow".
Okay, so maybe Vine had a point there. And maybe he agreed that he'd give this everything he had. But surely there were better ways to go about this without getting shot by the people meant to be teaching him. And what did this training have to do with his semblance anyways? He didn't have time to think of an answer because Clover aimed his pistol and fired off a bullet at Jaunes chest. The blonde leaned back and allowed the bullet to fly past him before putting his left hand behind him to stop himself from hitting the floor.
Jaune looked up from his position and saw Marrow run forward before sliding on the floor in an attempt to kick the hand he was using to keep himself up. No time to think, Jaune pushed off the ground with his feet and back flipped just as Marrow hit his arm. The blonde had no need for the support and landed safely on his knees once he completed the flip. His eye's locked on Vine as the man aimed the barrel of his gun at him before rolling to the right just as the man pulled the trigger. "Move" that was the only thing going through his mind, knowing full well how serious they were about shooting him.
Once Jaune finished his roll, the blonde pushed to his feet and ran for cover behind the nearest 3D block he could find. Clover gave chase knowing that they weren't going to get anywhere if they couldn't get a clear shot at the boy. Jaune saw his approach and pushed the 3D block forward with his shoulder, sending it sliding across the floor and right into the Ace Ops leader. Clover wasn't one to be taken out so easily and vaulted over the block before firing three shots at the blonde before his feet touched the ground.
Jaune focused his aura into his hands and caught two of the bullets before the third one hit his shoulder. His aura wasn't as strong around his body but it was enough to avoid the worst. Jaune winced and decided to change tactics to a more head first approach, running forward as he bulldozed through each bullet Clover fired. The Ace operative dodged the blondes reckless charge and switched to a more melee option of fighting. Clovers gun flipped in his hand and he struck Jaune in the face with the butt of his weapon. He expected to see the blonde back down afterwards but to his surprise Jaune struck back with a jab to the chin that surprised him for a fraction of a second.
It was barley even a second, and yet Jaune acted on the brief opening by grabbing Clover by the arm and tossed him over his shoulder and into the 3D cube the man dodged before. Vine used his semblance and caught Clover out of the air before he hit the cube, and tossed him back at the blonde. Jaune readied his guard, but with a single word from Marrow it all became meaningless. "Stay" the dog faunus said as he snapped his fingers and pointed at the young Arc. Clover delivered a fierce spin kick that sent Jaunes frozen form flying into a nearby wall where the blonde was finally free to groan from the harsh treatment.
"You do know this wasn't supposed to turn into a sparring match, right"? Clover asked after he was a few inches away and looking down on him. Jaune rubbed his chest in an attempted to alleviate the pain and slowly rose to his feet. "Kinda wish you told me that sooner" he complained. Although they were talking and making no clear signs of aggression towards each other, Jaune quickly looked behind the Ace Ops leader and saw Vine take aim at him. The pistol clicked and barked loudly, firing a bullet over Cover shoulder and towards the blonde.
Jaune focused his aura into his fist and punched the bullet out of the air. He winced from the pain but pushed on and took off running away from the three that soon followed. Honestly being hunted down all over the training room was an exhausting affair but having to fight all three of his pursuers was something he wasn't looking to try again. Jaunes lungs burned and his muscles ached but he continued to push himself knowing his teacher wasn't going to let up on him. Just as he thought, Vine followed closely behind and fired two more shots which he narrowly evaded.
Time spent running away wasn't getting him anywhere because it just gave his opponents time to combo attack him with a barrage of bullets. Many of which he couldn't get out of the way of. Was fighting back the only way to buy himself enough time to think of a counter attack? There was only one way to find out. Jaune climbed up a few blocks and stood on a path that went left or right and watched both Marrow and Vine hop up on either side to block his path. There was only one row of blocks to climb up on but he decided to save going up for later and charged at the youngest of the Ace Ops.
Marrow saw it as a challenge for their young student to challenge him and march forward with his gun up. Bullet after bullet he fired but the blonde, only for the young Arc to rush through them with his arms raised and covering his face and aura focused into a strong shield. One level below, Clover saw Jaune rushing towards Marrow and aimed to shoot the young Arc in his legs. If he could knock Jaune off balance with a well placed shot to the back of the legs then there was a chance he could lower him to his level. With his good luck semblance there was a good chance it could work.
Jaune felt it. A bullet hit his thigh but he refused to go down. He stumbled slightly but pushed forward even as a bullet hit his back, no doubt from Vine as he chased him down. If only he could focus the same amount of aura all around his body like he did with his arm's. If he could do that then he wouldn't be having this kind of trouble. It was then that a thought occurred to him. He hadn't tried doing that before with his aura. Focusing it like that to make a protective shield around him with the same level of defense his arms had.
He knew he had far more aura then most people so doing something others couldn't might be possible for him. Do or don't, that was the question. Jaune gritted his teeth, took a deep breath and pushed his aura out around him. His aura flowed around him then condensed, forming a thicker layer of protection like he wanted. Clover, Vine and Marrow continued to fire at him but it became obvious that something had changed in the blonde. Bullets bounced off his aura and when Jaune was close enough he jumped to the side and then jumped off the block that led to the upper level. His knee came up for Marrows face but the dog faunus blocked it with his right forearm.
Marrow's aura flickered and he took a step back before falling into a fighting stance when Jaune moved in for close combat. The young Arc threw out a series of combination punches but Marrow easily deflected and weaved. With only a week of actually learning how to fight, Jaune knew it was impossible to truly fight evenly with someone who'd spent years training and fighting for there life. That being said, he wasn't dumb and knew that by engaging in close combat he kept Vine and Clover from firing recklessly for fear of friendly fire.
Clearly getting punched in the face was an acceptable exchange in this case.
Jaunes head flew to the left before he took an uppercut to the gut. The blows that Marrow rained down on him were only effective because Jaune allowed it. When Marrow got full of himself, Jaune focused his aura like last time and traded blows with the dog faunus. The difference this time was telling because Jaune withstood Marrow's attack but the dog faunus found his head rocking back from the blow he'd taken. Sure the dog faunus's punch landed first but with Jaunes bolstered defense he was able to tank the blow pretty well.
"When you discover an opening in your opponents defense you strike fast and hard. Punish them for their negligence and insure they remember who you are and what you can do when given the chance".
Winters voice repeated one of her lessons to him as Jaune moved quickly, going low to rap his arm's around Marrows waist before suplexing him onto the ground. The Dog faunus grunted having landed hard on the base of his neck. Jaune quickly recovered and looked behind him to see Vine use his semblance to throw an extended punch. Marrow was a bit slower to recover and missed as the young Arc dove over him. When he finally looked up it was to see Vines aura fist flying at him. He shut his eye's in preparation for the blow but after a few seconds tick by he snuck a peek to see Vine retracting his aura fist.
He let out a relieved breath until Vine shouted out a warning. It happened so fast that he didn't even have time to act as a foot landed on his shoulder and Jaune used him as a stepping stone to get up on the last row above them. The last row was like the top of a castles wall where there was spaces in between the ledges for one to look through. Only in this case it was a giant holo block that had spaces in between them that one had to jump over to get to another. Vine used his semblance on his feet and shot up on top of the closes holo block he could without land on the one Jaune was on.
The space between them was about one leap away but that gave Vine the advantage since he could attack long distance and Jaune couldn't. At least that was what he thought at first. Jaune aimed the handgun he had in his position and fired off a shot the second Vine land on his level. How he got the gun was quickly pieced together when Marrow shouted out that his gun was stolen. Apparently somewhere in their little scuffle Jaune manage to nab the handgun Marrow had before reaching the upper level. Vine blocked the shot with his aura arm and returned fire with his own.
It was pretty clear Jaune was a noob with a gun because half the shots he fired missed entirely. Knowing Vine had the advantage in a long range fight, Jaune leapt over the clearing while shooting to prevent Vine from striking him down with his semblance. The second he landed on the holo block he engaged Vine in hand to hand. The Ace operative swayed and dodged all of Jaunes attempts to trade blows before jumping up and over the blonde. Jaune swung back with his right arm but Vine blocked it with his right before grabbing Jaunes leg with his left and flipped him over his shoulders and off the holo block.
The fall one level lower didn't hurt as bad as trading blows with Marrow but it did knock the wind out of him. When he got to his feet, Clover came from behind and shot him in his thigh earning a pain cry before causing him to drop to one leg and lean against the wall leading to the upper level. Vine tossed his handgun to Marrow and Jaune learned what being too slow to dodge a barrage of bullets felt like. Of course he tried to dodge as best he could but there was always going to be a limit to what he could do with will alone.
Eventually he reached the limit to how much ones own body could handle. Marrow struck the last blow, firing a shot that nailed Jaune in the shoulder when he jumped over one of Clovers bullets. The blond was sent tumbling down a few cubes and eventually hit the floor with a thud where he groaned in pain. All things considered, Jaune thought he'd done pretty well for himself since it was technically three verse one. Still didn't stop the bullets from hurting like hell but it reassured him that his training was getting him somewhere.
Vine dropped out of the sky and landed close by, followed shortly by his colleagues. "You were right Vine, he can definitely put up more of a fight if we just push him a little harder" Clover commented once he was by Vines side. Jaune pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked up to the three, "I still have aura left. I think I can keep going for a little while longer".
Clover looked to Marrow and asked, "what do you think? What does the aura meter say about his level of aura at the moment"? Marrow pulled out his scroll and took a few seconds to pull up Jaune's aura meter. People of course couldn't just check other people's aura without proper clearance. But seeing as they were teaching the young Arc to be a huntsmen, they had become the exception to the rule. "Here we go. Jaune's currently at 35 Percent of maximum aura usage. I think now would probably be a good idea to start testing his semblance sir".
Clover nodded in agreement, "just what I was thinking. Vine your up. If anyone could pull this off it'd be you". Jaune's original aura instructor nodded to his superior and took a seat on the floor in front of his student. "so are you finally going to tell me what my semblance is? Or are you going to continue keeping your silence"? Jaune asked when Vine finally settled down on the ground.
The Ace operative placed his hands together like he was praying took a slow breathe. "It was never my intention to hide the nature of your semblance from you" he started "But we needed absolute proof. In order to achieve that we needed to observe you with a lower aura amount then normal". Jaune nodded, "Okay but why? what does lowering my aura level have to do with my semblance"? Vine closed his eyes and laid the truth out to him. "We believe your semblance allows you to escape the natural laws that we normally live by, by allowing you to fully recover your aura with your own aura".
Jaune couldn't wrap his head around what his teacher just told him. "Wait. What?! I don't understand what your telling me". Vine smiled at his students confusion. It was clear Winter hadn't gotten far on the history of aura and what they've learned over the several years they studied it. "Since it's clear you don't know the basics I'll start with a brief explanation of aura and how they work in line with semblances".
The young Arc leaned in, clearly ready and willing to listen to this small lesson Vine had for him.
"As I've told you before, aura is the power of the soul summoned forth for protection. It is used for many things such as healing and fighting for the most part. Semblances on the other hand are an offshoot of aura and allow many to perform super human feats such as move with super speed and the like. The one thing they all have in common is that once the aura of the host has dwindled to a certain extent the semblance becomes unusable. Case in point is when your aura shatters and your left defenseless against enemy action".
"The reason I say that you can escape the natural laws we live by with this power of yours is because with proper utilization of your aura recovery you'll never have to fear of seeing your aura shatter. With the ability to constantly recharge your aura it'll mean faster healing and recovery times as well".
Jaunes jaw already dropped when Vine started with the fact that he could recharge his own aura, but then to find out that he could essential never run out of protection too?! He was so shocked he didn't even remember that his mouth was open. Some semblances were better then others, of this he had not doubt but this was kinda broken wasn't it? "Okay, let's say your right about this and maybe I can do something like that. How do I go about using it effectively when I don't even have a clue on how to control it"?
"Are you sure about that"? Vine asked "based on the data already available you've been already restoring your aura for a couple of days now". The look confusion on Jaune's face was telling. "Okay, Why don't we take a minute to go over what you've been doing in aura manipulation over the passed week" Vine offered. It was as good a place to start as any so Jaune went over what he'd done as far as in using his aura. He was part way through his recollection when Vine held up a hand to stop him before asking if he'd been using his aura to recover from his lessons. Jaune nodded in response, "was I not supposed to"?
Vine cupped his chin in thought.
"What are you thinking"? Clover asked, noticing that his teammate more then likely picked up on something that he missed. Vine didn't respond, instead he asked Jaune when he'd started allowing his aura to stream over his entire body to recover from the days damage. "Uhhh...I'm not entirely sure, maybe like one or two days after you taught me how to stream my aura into my body for faster recovery" the blonde answered. His teacher nodded, then the edges of his lips curved upward slightly. "One to two days after I taught you that little trick is when the irregularity in your aura started to appear".
Jaune's eyes widened in surprise, "then I've been using my semblance that whole time"?
Vine nodded in response before laying his thoughts out for them. "When I taught you how to stream your aura for faster recovery it was only supposed to be used for certain area's on your body that hurt the most. Concentrating aura into a single place essentially burns up your energy quicker then normal to provide better protection or in this case healing. For you to use it over your entire body throughout the day would have left you completely drained far before the end of your combat classes. I believe your body and soul realized this and responded to your determination and drive to get better by giving you a way to last longer".
"What made me realize this was when you charged Marrow while taking fire from me and clover. At one point it was like our bullets were made ineffective for some reason and I'm guessing that's because you increased the aura surrounding yourself, right"? Jaune was at a loss for words and just nodded dumbly. "I thought as much" Vine said "that's not something a novice could pull off without practice of some sort. The fact that you've actually been streaming your aura to every muscle in your body must have made for good practice before you attempted this".
Info overload is what he was feeling right now but despite that what Vine was saying did make a bit of sense in a way. It was a desperate move to focus and increase the amount of aura he had to protect himself. But the fact that it felt so easy to do so even though it was his first attempt all but proved his teachers point. "So I already was in control of my semblance but never knew it, huh"? Vine nodded and held a hand towards the young Arc, "care to give it a try"? Jaune chuckled at the suggestion. "Might as well since that's the whole reason we're here in the first place".
The Ace operatives watched in silence as Jaune closed his eye's and focused on healing his aura. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. With the knew knowledge he'd been given, Jaune willed his aura to heal itself. Vine, Clover and Marrow watched in awe as Jaune's body began to glow with a bright white light. "Marrow" Clover whispered "check the aura meter. What does it say"? Marrow nodded and looked down at his scroll, "his aura is rising sir. Even quicker then we anticipated"! Clover looked back to the young Arc before placing a hand on Vines shoulder. "I guess it's true that knowledge is power".
And there we have it folks, Jaune finally got a bit of a grip on his semblance and all that's left is to figure out what he can do with it. In case you all are wondering I'm going for an (aura master Jaune) type here. Since there are so many questions about aura in general it's a little fun to explore it in my own way.