Zeroes of Two Worlds

Chapter 9


"Now look what you've done!" Louise shouted.

"What do you mean what I've done!?" Kirche hotly responded.

"You're crazy salamander just destroyed my familiar's sword! And that's after it acted strangely with it." Louise responded back.

"That's not my fault!" Kirche quickly denied. "I certainly didn't order it to snatch his sword. And I've already told you that Flame's instincts must have acted up to take his sword."

"True but a familiar's actions reflect on their summoner." Louise quoted from briefing they had been given since the start of the year in preparation for the summoning ceremony. "So you're definitely not in the clear."

"You know full well that's not how that works." Kirche rebuked.

The two then entered a contest of wills as they glared at each other. They then pulled their wands out and pointed it at each other.

"Whoa!" Jaune acted quickly and ran at them. He then grabbed hold of their wands and pushed them away from each other. "What are you two doing?!"

He knew that if the two got into a fight, they're more likely to cause more collateral damage since one is Explosion and the other is Fire. He couldn't even imagine if their magical attacks hit each other, considering how immobile Guiche was.

Kirche and Louise are surprised by his interruption and with how he pushed aside their aim off each other.

"I'm just teaching her a lesson for not having more control over her familar." Louise replied as she pointed at Kirche, well tried to as Jaune kept hold of her wand. She then glared at him and said. "Unhand my wand, familiar."

"No, I won't." Jaune shook his head. He then turned to Kirche and said. "Same with yours."

"But why?" Kirche complained.

"The both of you were going to fight over a broken sword. And that's a stupid reason to fight each other over." Jaune told them. "I want you two to pull back your wands and put them back in their sheaths once I let go of them." He strongly suggested to them. "Alright?"

The two looked at each other before they looked back at him, and begrudingly agreed. Jaune let go of their wands and they calmly returned their wands back into their holsters. He then sighed in reflief since disaster is averted and spoke to them.

"Now that both of you have calmed down. I can tell you that while I'm disappointed that my sword is broken, it's not something that I would be fight over." Jaune told them.

Louise scoffed at his statement which she viewed a little hypocritical, considering his own fight with Guiche. But she didn't say anything and asked a question instead. "So it wasn't an important weapon to you or your family?"

"No, it isn't." Jaune answered. "It's just a sword I bought from a local smithy back home. I think you were thinking about the Crocea Mors that I told you about." He told her.

"Crocea Mors?" Louise questioned with confusion. She then snapped her fingers when it came to her. "Oh you mean the family sword."

"Yeah. That one." Jaune smiled.

"The one that you stole when you snuck out of your home to fight some ghastly beasts." Louise rebuked him and then looked at him with a new angry glare. "Don't think that I've forgotten about it."

"Eh... He... Yeah... That one." Jaune awkwardly and hesitantly admitted.

"Hmmph." Louise scoffed at him again, showing her overall thoughts about it.

Kirche found this exchange amusing just as she was intrigued by what the little prince had done in the past. She is disappointed that she wasn't part of that conversation but it's not unexpected. She really need to find a way to get some private time with just the two of them.

"Oh~ Hoho~ I didn't know you were such as firebrand." Kirche cheerfully remarked as she ruffled Jaune's blonde hair, much to his annoyance. "You'd fit right in with our House and the rest of Germania."

"Hey! Not the hair." Jaune protested as he pushed off her hand. Kirche let out an amused chuckle before letting him go, and Jaune hurriedly fixed his hair as best he could.

Louise pinched her nose and sighed in frustration, not really surprised by that. She then called Jaune's attention and asked. "So what do you plan to do now without your sword?"

"Well.. I'll go ask the academy guards if I could borrow a sword from their armory." Jaune answered. He then thought about it some more and asked her back. "Is there a something I need to do before I approach go to them?"

Louise shrugged and replied. "I wouldn't know, but it's best to ask either the guard captain or the quartermaster for that."

"Got it." Jaune nodded. He checked his scroll to check the time, having adjusted it to local time. "Damn... It's nearly lunch time."

"You better wash up before going for lunch. Wait, hmm..." Louise thought it over for a moment or two before saying. "I can't really wait for you to accompany for lunch. I think it's best you head for the kitchens like before."

"I haven't really visited the kitchens since I got discharged, so it would be good to visit them again." Jaune remarked positively.

"That sounds good." Louise nodded in agreement. "You better get going. I'll see you after classes."

"Sure. Thanks alot." Jaune replied. "Well I better get going. See you later then."


Jaune wasn't sure what he was expecting when he finally opened the door and entered the staff dining room. But what he didn't expect is to see the staff literally stopping in tracks as soon as they saw him.

There was an awkward silence in the room with only the sounds of activities in the kitchen filling the room.

"Err... Hello everyone?" Jaune greeted, feeling embarrassed about the whole situation.

No one else responded and he felt unsure what else to do from here. Good thing this strange standoff ended when a burly figure in white came out from the kitchen.

"What's the hold up? Why are you all standing around for?" Chef Marteau bellowed out.

That did the job since the staff jumped back into their chores and quickly made themselves scarce. The chef then saw Jaune standing by the door, and made his way towards him. The large man towered over the young aspirant as he looked over him.

"Umm... Long time no see, Chef Marteau." Jaune greeted the chef, if a little hesitantly. He was uncertain about what was going on. "Is it a bad time?"

Chef Marteau stared at him intently and Jaune squirm under his gaze, not being able to understand why everyone is acting strange. He continued to stare at him for a few more moments. He then suddenly let out a jovial laugh, much to his further confusion.

"Hahahaha! Sorry for the scare." Chef Marteau apologized to him before smiling at him. "I was just making sure that you're still the same Jaune we have met before."

"Is that why everyone else were acting strange?" Jaune asked.

"Partly." The chef replied with a nod. "But before we go through that, I assume you came here for lunch?"

"Yes, please." Jaune eagerly nodded.

This brought a smile to the Chef Marteau and patted Jaune on his back by his shoulder. "I'm glad to hear that." He nodded his head towards one of the tables. "Come on. I'll whip up lunch for you from the current batch. So get yourself seated."

"Thanks." Jaune replied.

Chef Marteau nodded and headed back to the kitchen while Jaune took a seat by one of the tables and waited. A maid arrived with a glass and a jug of cool water, and Jaune gave her an appreciative nod. Marteau soon returned with a full plate and a bowl of soup, and placed it on the table before him.

"Here you go, Jaune. I know you aren't much for design like the students, and you've looked skinier last I saw you. So I packed your plate instead." He remarked to Jaune. "So enjoy!"

"Thanks for the meal!" Jaune happily replied. his tummy agreeing with him with a growl. He felt blood rushing to his face and was embarrassed about that. "Sorry..." He said meekly.

"Haha!" The chef laughed jovially. "No need to be sorry, my boy! Go on now. Have a bite."

Jaune nodded and quickly dug in. He enjoyed it very much, as expected from him, and took a few more bites when he noticed that the chef haven't left his seat. This confused him as he chewed on his food before swallowing.

"Is it alright for you to still be here? Won't you be needed in the kitchen?" Jaune asked him.

The chef dismissed his worry with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. The cooking were already done, so it's mostly serving them to the others."

"I see..." Jaune replied. "So... Can you tell me why everyone were surprised to see me?"

"Oh that. Hmmmm..." The chef hummed while he thought about it as his face softened a little. "Well no one was really sure what to do with you after your duel with the Gramont boy." He gave him an approving smile and remarked. "You did good back there."

"I only did it to save Siesta from whatever Guiche was planning to do. I couldn't just stand by and let her be bullied like that." Jaune answered sincerely.

Chef Marteau felt relief as soon as he heard that, and was elated to see that this is still the same Jaune as before. He reached across the table and gently patted Jaune on the shoulder.

"You're a good kid, Jaune. I'm sorry for us doubting you." Martueau apologized to him.

"Doubting for what?"

"Well... Many had thought you've joined with the rest of the noble kids here since you got your magic. Especially after Miss Valliere requested that you'd be seated beside her." The chef explained to him.

"Oh that. Well first, it's not magic back where I'm from. But the Headmaster viewed my aura to be much closer to willpower and not the same as elven magic." Jaune whispered the last part to him, having learned how such magic is viewed around here.

"If the Headmaster trusted you that it isn't, it isn't." Martaeu replied back. He then stood up and said. "Well I better get back to work. Enjoy your meal, Jaune." He was about to leave before he stopped. He then turned back to Jaune and said. "You can join us for a dinner later again. I'm sure the others wouldbe happy to see you again."

Jaune smiled. "I'll be there!"


"Well here's a sword you can borrow. It should fit right by your size." The quartermaster said as he placed the simple shortsword on the table.

"It will do. I'm just planning to use it for my training until I could ask for a replacement." Jaune replied as he picked up the sword.

"You're going to use your magic on it?" The old man asked curiously. "I've heard about your duel with noble brat and his golems. I'm impressed that you managed to win despite your age." He commented.

"It's not really magic. I can't really shoot fireballs or anything like that." Jaune replied back.

"Whatever. Just return the sword here once you're done for the day." The man told him.

"Will do, sir." Jaune nodded.

He left the armory and headed back to the Vestri Courtyard to continue with his aura experiments, which doubled as his own personal training. He performed the same things he had done earlier to draw out his aura. It took him a while to get it going but shorter compared to his first tries. He soon felt the warm feeling flowing from his chest and spread across his body.

It was still spotty but he felt that he's getting better with handling his aura. He tested moving his aura around his body especially along his arms, trying to get a better feel of it. He raised his hands and observed the visible flow and ripples of his aura on his arms.

After playing around with his aura for a while, he drew out the shortsword, held it upright in two hands, and took a deep breath. He slowly infused his aura into the sword and it began to gain a faint glow. Once that is done, he performed a few swings with it using different stances that he had been taught. The aura connection remained stable, if a little erratic, but it didn't break as he thought. He wanted to do more tests with the aura-infused sword but he didn't have anything to practice with, not even a dead tree.

There are trees outside the academy but the issue is distance, and it would take him minutes to reach the nearest one. Well he supposed he could just ask Louise for permission to go out for training. So he opted to experiment and test his aura and the link formed by the runes as he practiced with the sword.

While he was practicing, he wasn't aware that he had an audience and he only noticed that someone is watching him when a shadow slid past him. Jaune blinked in confusion and looked around but he didn't see anyone or anything. The shadow flew past him again, and it is much larger this time. He looked up to the sky and was surprised to see what was approaching him.

A large reptile with scales of blue and white was flying around in circles with its large blue draconic wings. It circled around a few more times before it finally landed before him. It's head loomed over him with its long neck as it looked at him.

Jaune looked at the creature before him awe as he never thought he'd see one in real life. Oh the others back home would be so jealous since he got to encounter one of the most awesome fantasy creature of them all.

A Dragon.

Oh dear it's a dragon. Jaune suddenly thought with a dread and gulped. He hoped that his aura could take the hit. Better yet, he hoped it isn't hungry. Well he still have the sword but he's unsure if that would be wise.

The blue dragon kept looking at him, using its long neck and height to check him from different angles. It cocked its head and looked at him with confusion, making a warbled sound as it did. Jaune wasn't sure what it is confused about and is surprised when the dragon started to approach him.

"Oh. Uh... Hey there..." Jaune wasn't sure if he should run or stay put. The dragon didn't seem threatening or hungry, and it wasn't hostile. So he made the decision to stay put and wait for what it would do next.

The dragon moved closer as it kept staring at Jaune while he did the same. Jaune soon came face to face with the dragon, and he became keenly aware of how big it really is. Jaune waited for what will happen next, and it did when it sniffed at him.

"Huh?"

The dragon sniffed at him again, and made another sound like it was trying to say something. Jaune, of course, didn't understand what it had said but he could guess what it might have been aboutt, considering the salamander earlier. He held out his free hand and concentrated more aura on it, making his hand glow a little more. The dragon looked at it intently as it observed the phenomenon closely.

"Is this what you were sniffing for?" Jaune asked the dragon.

Said dragon leaned forward to get a closer look at his hand. It looked at him, back to the glowing hand, and then back at him, this time with a questioning look. It made another warbling sound at Jaune, which he didn't understand but got the gist of it.

"It's my aura. It's the energy that comes from my soul. It's what we used to protect ourselves from harm back home." Jaune told the dragon.

It made a humming sound as it seemingly understood what he had said.

"Well I better get back to practicing. You can watch if you want." Jaune said to the dragon, and it made a warbling sound as it nodded its head. Jaune returned to his practice and experimentation with his aura while the dragon kept watch.

This lasted for a long while before started to get tired from the repetitive exercise and bummed at not being able to test his aura further. He looked at his sole audience and saw that the dragon looked bored as well.

"I'm sorry about that." He apologized to the dragon. "There's not much that I could do without something to practice this on." He waved his aura-infused sword to emphasize his point.

The dragon merely cocked its head to the side before it suddenly flew off into the sky. Jaune watched it flew until it disappeared beyond the wall.

"Can't really blame it." He remarked to himself with and then sighed. "I wished I had a something to read about aura. That would have been helpful."


The day passed by without much for Jaune to do except to return the sword to the armory, and he decided to take a nap in Louise's dorm room. He left the room afterwards and escorted Louise from the classroom.

"So how was class?" Jaune inquired to start a conversation with her.

"It's potions so I didn't have much issue with mixing regeants and processing them." Louise answered

"Does potion mixing require incantations or something like that?" Jaune asked curiously.

"You don't really need spells for potions since the tools are enchanted to perform the task anyways. So the only time you need to perform incantations is when you don't have access to them." Louise explained to him.

"I see."

"So what progress have you made with your aura?" Louise asked him.

"Getting a little better, but it's still taking me too long to draw my aura out. I am also getting better with using these runes and maintaining connection." He told her as he tapped on his chest where the familiar runes are located.

"That's better. Hopefully we could avoid another incident with your backlash." Louise commented.

"Well I do have a request, Louise." Jaune said.

"What kind of request?"

"I want to do some training in a nearby forest. I couldn't really test my aura here without damaging anything important." Jaune informed her. "There's not even a target dummy for me practice on here." Jaune added.

"Hmm..."

Louise thought about it, and it didn't really seem that much of a request. She also agreed with him that there isn't much for him to use for practice here. There's nothing for her to argue against, plus it would benefit her status as he improved.

"I don't see why I can't grant your request. So you have my permission to leave the academy." She told him of her decision.

"Thanks." Jaune happily replied.

"But you'll have to do that in the day after tomorrow." She suddenly said.

"Huh? Why is that?"

"We'll be leaving the academy tomorrow for a trip to the city." Louise informed him.

"Ohhh... That would be great." Jaune said excitedly. "What would we be doing there?"

"We'll be going shopping." Louise simply told him.

"Oh..." Jaune's excited grin fell, and felt a shiver down his spine.


Jaune informed Louise of his intention to join the staff for dinner, and she agreed to it. So after escorting Louise from dinner and helping her prepare for the night, he left the dorm room and started heading for the rear door to the kitchen. He felt nervous of what may happen due to how strange they acted earlier in the day, and he was still unsure why.

He would getting his answers soon once he saw the familiar back door. He soon reached the door and he could hear the chatter inside. He grabbed the door handle and knocked on the door before entering the room.

The people inside were surprised to see him, and there was a strange tension in the air once again. Though it didn't last long when Chef Martaeu called out to him from a table.

"Hey, Jaune! Glad you could join us."

"Hello, Chef! Glad to be here." Jaune happily greeted back.

"Come on here. I saved a seat for you." The chef waved him over.

Jaune nodded and carefully made his way between the crowded tables. He soon reached the table and sat beside the table where there's a clean empty plate ready for him. The table is also filled with large serving plates and bowls of food. He then saw Siesta seated across the table and greeted her.

"Hello, Siesta."

"H-Hello, Mister Arc." Siesta hesistantly greeted in return as she tried not to look at him.

There it was again with Siesta's strange aversion to him, and Jaune could see that the others seemed tense with his presence.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked them.

"Huh? What do you mean?" One of the others at the table asked.

"You all go quiet when I passed by and you all seemed tense while around me like now. That's why I'm asking if I done anything wrong to any of you." Jaune responded with a sad tone.

"We don't mean anything bad... It's just that... Uhhh..." Someone said hesitantly as he looked at the others to continue the answer.

"It's just that you didn't tell that you were a mage... Son of a noble even." Someone else answered.

"Was that a problem?" Jaune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes it is. We felt that you were deceiving us. Especially after you were allowed to seat with the other nobles."

"Deceiving you? I never told anyone about my past since it isn't important." Jaune told her.

"It didn't sound that unimportant when you blabbered that to that Gramont boy." Another chimed in.

"Because he wouldn't listen. Plus I didn't like people like Guiche who abused his status as a noble." Jaune replied back.

"Because you're one as well?"

"No." Jaune shook his head. "I'm not a noble, nor my family is."

"So it was a lie?"

"No those a true. It's just that my grandfather didn't inherit the any title since the monarchy was abolished." Jaune reminded them. "Instead, he got the public recognition of being the First Huntsman and helped set the standards for huntsmen and huntresses after his generation." He told them.

"Then why did you take offense when Master Gramont used his status of nobility?" Siesta asked this time as she looked at him.

"Because while being a noble didn't carry power nowadays in Vale, it still carried meaning to us especially for my family." Jaune answered truthfully. "As I've said back in the duel, my family had long been protectors of our kingdom and remained so even to this day. My grandfather kept the tradition of knighthood throughout his life and he taught me what it means to be a knight." He told her.

"Is that why you protected me? To uphold the image of knights?" Siesta asked with a solemn tone.

"No..." Jaune quickly replied with a raised eybrow. "I fought him because I hate bullies like him, and I wanted to protect you."

"Why did you have to protect me then?" Siesta asked as her voice trembled. "You didn't have to get yourself hurt for my sake. My heart ached every time I remember that duel, and I felt guiltly for you having gone through that ordeal."

She could still remember that day vividly and the fear she felt when Jaune was getting hurt because of her. She was also horrified of the injuries that he had endured while fighting for her sake. Guilt weighed heavily in her, and that's why she avoided looking at him or even meeting him.

"And I'll do it again if I have to." Jaune said firmly.

"But why...?"

"Because you're my friend. The first one I made since I came here." He told her sincerely, much to her surprise. "And I'll do anything to protect my friends even if I get hurt." He said resolutely.

Siesta couldn't believe what he had just said, and started to sob. She didn't know what she had done to deserve such a friend. The others were surprised by Jaune's statement as well since they weren't expecting it from someone who was born in nobility, despite Jaune's earlier denial.

"Do you really mean that, Jaune?" Siesta asked him through her sobbing.

"I do." Jaune quickly answered. "You were the first to help me when no one else did. I truly consider you my friend, and I'll do anything to help my friends."

Chef Marteau, meanwhile, merely smirked with amusement and had expecting something this kind of reasoning from the boy. So he chuckled loudly which caught everyone's attention.

"That's my boy!" He cheered as he patted Jaune on the back. "Only a kid like you would use have that reason to fight a son of a noble in battle! I doubt we've seen anyone who would do the same thing as young Jaune had done."

The others around the table, including those listening in from the nearby tables, nodded in agreement with the chef's statement.

"But he's a noble as well. He had magic as well." Someone pointed out.

"It's not magic. Well not the same magic here." Jaune said as a reply. "I didn't even know I was using it until after the duel."

"What do you mean by that? It was clear that you were using magic and your sword was glowing." Siesta asked.

"It's not really magic like what your mages have here. We can't really cast fireballs or move the earth with merely just our aura." Jaune told them.

"Aura? Is that what you call why your sword was glowing according to the rumors?" Someone asked.

"That and what allowed me to endure as much injuries as I did." Jaune said with a slight grimace as he remembered the times he got stabbed.

"So why didn't you tell us that you could use this aura thing?" One of the maids asked.

"That's because I didn't even know I could use it until after the duel." Jaune replied. "The headmaster used a... I think he called it a scrying mirror and a remembrancer... to allow me to watch the duel." He told them.

"So you were aura without knowing it?"

"Not early on." He shook his head. "I scrapped his golem with just my sword without any help. Steel beats bronze after all."

Ha! You heard that! Young Jaune was beating a noble with just his sword. And that was even before he started using his aura." Chef Marteau cheered loudly, and the few guards in the room agreed with cheer of their own.

"Hear! Hear!"

"Ha! That show those noble brats!"

The others cheered as well and congratulated on Jaune's belated victory, and Jaune blushed with shyness at the attention. They soon returned to eating their meal while the others continued to ask Jaune some questions of their own while they ate.

The miniature celebration relieved Jaune's worry of losing the few friends he have in this academy, and was glad that things have been cleared. He enjoyed chatting with them through the night until it is time to head back and prepare for tomorrow.


A/N: Another intermission episode with Jaune testing his aura again, also his first encounter with a dragon. He mended his relations with his friends in the academy, especially with Siesta.

I hoped you liked this episode, but next chapter will be better since it's time to visit Tristania, and they'll be meeting someone soon.

See you next chapter!