"Jaune, would you like for me to train you as a huntsman?" His dad asked. It was something he had waited years for him to say and he wouldn't have hesitated to answer yes normally.

But now that the moment was finally here the answer was different.

"No, I don't want that. Besides the fact that the militia doesn't accept people with aura, why would you ask me this now? After so many years of rejection and you only ask me when I no longer want that!" He yelled the last part which made his dad recoil out of surprise, understandable since this was the first time he had ever been angry with him.

Jaune was surprised by the outburst too as he hadn't thought he was that angry.

"Jaune..." His dad took a few seconds to collect himself before he continued. "I didn't realize I had hurt you this much as I only wanted to keep you safe. Maybe I wasn't too different from my father after all." Jaune had never seen him look as defeated as he did when he said that.

"What would have happened if said yes anyway? Isn't it too late for me at this point?"

"It would have taken longer than you would have liked as it would have taken years before I would consider you good enough to take a huntsman license. And there is also your body we would have to think about."

Jaune didn't know what his dad meant by that. He wasn't muscular, but the advice and the secret training he had done had made him quite fit.

"What do you mean? I don't even have a noodle body anymore, at worst it could be considered an uncooked noodle." He then realized what he said. "Please forget that. I don't know what I was trying to say."

Why did he have to say something like that in this kind of talk? An uncooked noodle feels like a downgrade since they break so easily. The only good thing was that it cheered his dad up a little. A small smile was on his face before it disappeared.

"When I say that aura strengthens the body I mean it quite literally. Doing an exercise when one has aura will give you much better results than if one did it without. It slowly strengthens the body over time as well, making it tougher and stronger even if one doesn't train."

So the younger one was when they started their training with an unlocked aura the stronger one had the potential to become? Jaune was fifteen now, but he had heard that combat schools take in people much younger than him. His previous goal to become a huntsman was so that he could honour his legacy, not to be the strongest so it wasn't too much of a loss to know that.

The fact that he would have to wait years to become an actual huntsman when he could join the militia now made it obvious what he would pick.

"Are you absolutely sure this is the path you want to walk?"

"Yes." He answered without hesitation.

"I won't stop you then, but could you at the very least take this with you?" He took Crocea Mors out of his belt and held it out towards him.

Jaune hesitantly accepted it but was quickly overwhelmed by its weight. It would have fallen on the ground if he wasn't already prepared for it to be heavy, just not this heavy. It feels like it should be twice as heavy with how much it weighs.

"Forgot about that." His dad ruffled his hair in embarrassment. "I have been using it for so long that I forgot how unexpectedly heavy it was."

Its weight would make it hard to use as a weapon for now. He wished he had focused a little more on strength than he did, maybe he would have been able to actually hold the sword in one hand. Instead, he had to use both of them if he wanted to hold it comfortably.

He took the sword out of its sheat and admired the nicks and scratches on it.

"Are you really giving it to me?"

"Yes, I know that it's too late to support your dream of becoming a huntsman and I regret that. I want to at least try my best at supporting you now if you accept my help that is?"

Jaune felt confused. He was happy that his dad had finally accepted that he could become what he wanted. That he wasn't denied training because he wasn't worth it. But the anger and sadness he felt caused by all the years of rejection wouldn't go away instantly.

He couldn't forgive his dad yet for that, but he would try to.

"Thank you for giving the sword to me and it's nice that you want to help me and stuff." An awkward smile and his eyes not very subtly averted from his were a clear indication that what he had to say next was something he would rather not. "I was kinda planning to leave tonight."

He was met with utter silence.

When it lasted longer than a few seconds he looked back to his dad only to be met with a face frozen in shock. His dad tried to say something but took a deep breath instead. His second try was met with more success as he was able to utter his name before another deep breath was taken. It was at his third try that he was successful.

"Did you plan to do this even if we hadn't approved of this. How did you even plan to get there?"

"I was going to hitch a ride with the caravan." The caravan would be slow as it would need to stop at several villages along the way for both trade and protection. It would take it weeks before it reached his destination, but it was the fastest way for him to leave without anyone noticing.

"Of course you were." He sighed. "What is the name of the place you needed to travel to?"

"Alder." It was the same place that Garnet trained.

"I know where that is. I have been in the area for a few missions before. Would it be okay for you if I escorted you there instead? You would have to wait a few days since I have to prepare supplies, but I could easily get you there in half the time it would take for the caravan to get there."

"Sure, a trip with you beats sitting on a wagon for weeks with nothing to do." He was thankful that his dad didn't get as angry as he thought he would. That he offered to take him there left a good feeling in his chest.

"Of course that means that you have time to tell the rest of the family about this." Jaune shivered out of fear at what he would have to face once he told his sisters about this.

The caravan suddenly sounded like the much better choice.