Zeroes of Two Worlds
Chapter 12
"Oooohhhh... Yes. That hit the spot." A satisfied groaning voice uttered loudly amid the sound of brushing and sousing. "You have no idea how long that had been itching."
"Aren't you a sword? How could you even feel itches?" Jaune asked as he used a hard brush to carefully scrub the vinegar-soaked sand across the blade.
"You would think so too. But it turns out that my steel act as my skin in more ways than one. I could feel everything that touched my blade." Derflinger replied as it enjoyed the good scrubbing after an incredibly long time of neglect. "Yeah... That feels good..." It groaned once again.
Jaune ignored the sound it's making and continued to brush the sour much over the blade, slowly scraping off the rust. He dipped the blade into the sand once again before he lifted it up to begin working the other side.
He soon scrubbing the rest of the rust off the surface, and then wiped the remaining much with a thick rug, leaving a pristine blade behind. He could not find any pits, scratches or damages on the blade, confirming what Derflinger had said before.
"Finally! I felt so fresh once again!" Derflinger happily exclaimed as the sword shook in his hands. "Thanks for the bath, kiddo."
"You're welcome, Derf." Jaune replied with a smile. "Let me just clean up so we can get to oiling you."
"Sure thing. It would be nice to bask under the sun for a while." Derf responded.
Jaune placed the sword on a nearby stool before he turned towards a bucket, and began washing the muck off his hands and forearms. He then sniffed his hands and grimaced a bit when he could still smell some vinegar.
He washed his hands with a small soap to scrub it off. Once he's done, he sniffed at his hands again and found none of the sour stench on them.
"Good morning, Jaune."
Jaune looked up and saw that it was Siesta who was greeting him.
"Oh! Good morning to you as well, Siesta!" He perked up as he greeted back. "What brings you here?" He asked.
"I just came to see how you're doing." Siesta answered as she turned to look at the sword on the stool. "I see you've gotten a new sword. Did Miss Valliere bought it for you?"
"She did." He nodded. "It was all rusty when we found it so we got a discount." He told her the white lie. "But the blade is still in good condition as you can see. It just need a little cleaning."
"That's great. Does that mean that you're going to be training today?" She asked.
"Yup." Jaune nodded as he picked up Derflinger off the stool. "But I'll need to get this oiled first before I can properly practice."
"Will you practicing your aura as well?"
"Yeah, I learned a few tricks about Aura from Derf and he would be teaching me later.."
"Huh?" Siesta is surprised to hear that, and then confused by it. "I thought you're the only one who knew about Aura?"
"That's what I thought too. But it turns out that I'm not the first one to have aura in this world." Jaune told her. "Derf will be teaching me more once I'm done here."
"I see." Siesta nodded. "So who is this Derflinger? Is he here?"
Jaune opened his mouth and was about to answer but another answered instead with a flanging and strangely metallic voice.
"That would be me."
Siesta jumped in surprise and looked around to find who had just spoken. But she couldn't find anyone else in the area except for her and Jaune.
"Who said that?!" She cried out in alarm, thinking that it might be a ghost.
Jaune lightly facepalmed and shook his head. He picked up the sword off the table and presented it to the frightened maid. "This is Derflinger. The sentient sword we bought yesterday."
"THE Legendary Derflinger. I didn't get my title for nothing you know." The sword reminded his user as Siesta watched a hinged piece by its crossguard moved like a mouth. "Nice meeting you, young lady."
Siesta stared at the apparently sentient sword with surprise and growing curiosity, since this is the first time she had seen one.
"It really does talk." She lamely remarked, unsure what to really say.
"Yeah. Yeah." Derflinger replied dismissively, not irritated but sounding more bored about it. "But I can do more than just talk you know."
"Sorry." The maid quickly apologized, not wanting to offend the sentient weapon.
"Don't mind him too much. He can be a little cranky." Jaune said to her. "So... What do you think? Pretty cool right?" He asked with a cheerful grin.
"I'm happy for you to have found someone to help you with your training." Siesta agreed with a nod. She took a step to the side and said. "I better get going. I still have some work to do."
"Alright." Jaune responded. "I'll get back to cleaning up Derf here before we can begin practicing." He told her. "See you at lunch then?"
"Always." Siesta replied with a smile, and Jaune returned it with a grin. "I'll be taking me leave."
"Have a good day." He said to her. He watched Siesta walked away and headed towards the main tower. He sat back down on his stool to get back to work. "Alright. Let's get you cleaned up so we can start practicing."
"You impress me, kid. You've been going places." Derflinger commented.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Jaune asked as he picked up a clean rag and started wiping the blade clean of the residue.
"Well you got that Germanian girl who have the hots for you, even bought a gift for you." Derflinger first stated. "Then you have this pretty maid that you're close with." It added. "You got taste of choices."
"I'm not really sure about Kirche to be honest. I've heard that she had many lovers around here." He grimaced at that thought. He couldn't even imagine the backlash if a fight breakout between them. He had seen bad breakups, and it's never good. "Not to mention there's her rivalry with Louise. So I can't really be certain about her motive." He added.
"And the maid?" It pressed.
"She's the first friend I made after being summoned here. I was scared when I found out that I'm not in my world anymore, and she found me crying that night." He told Derf with a heavy sigh. "It was a shock to me you know. And she's the only one who helped me get out of it."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Derf apologized.
"Don't be. I'll get over it." He looked up into the clear sky and stared at the clouds. "This is my home now. I can't go back anyway."
"Well you still have a long life to live, might as well enjoy it while you can." Derflinger advised to him.
"I guess so." He uttered absently.
They stayed silent for a few moments as Derflinger allowed him to mull over his thoughts. Jaune remembered the good times he had back home with his family. He missed them, especially his sisters, and he regretted that he never got to say goodbye.
"Anyways, we're burning daylight. Get me oiled up so we can begin your training." Derf suddenly spoke up which got Jaune out of his mulling.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's get started." Jaune replied as he picked up a bottle and another cloth. He then began applying oil on the blade, much to Derflinger's satisfaction.
Derflinger's blade seemed to gleam under daylight with its new sheen as Jaune held the sword before him.
"Time to get started, kiddo. First get your aura up." It spoke up. "Do you still remember how to do it? Or do you need some help?" It asked.
Jaune shook his head and quickly replied. "I can do it."
"Good." Derf said approvingly. "You may begin."
Jaune nodded and closed his eyes once again to concentrate. He began reaching for his runes and worked to interface with it. It took him a short while but he got it to work and began drawing out his aura. He could feel the rush of aura flowing through his body, and gave him a warm feeling. He also didn't have to keep concentrating as much as before.
"Nice work." It remarked. "Though you need to do it faster if you're going to rely on it for a fight. No one's going to give you chance to get your aura up out there." It advised to him.
"I know, Derf. I'm still new to using my aura, and I was barely able to use it before." Jaune responded back. "So what should we do next?"
"Well first... Try to get a better feel of your aura now that you're not straining to hold it. Manipulate it across your body." The sword suggested. "Try to see if you can feel your surroundings while you're at it."
Jaune nodded and did as he was told as he began manipulating his aura throughout his body. He observed the effects his aura has on his body, experiencing his body being rejuvenated and empowered. He soon settled his aura across his body and began trying to reach out through his aura.
He started getting sensations from everything around him but they felt... seemed... He was unable to really comprehend what it is but it was dull. He continued to concentrate on this sense, he guessed, and tried to make better sense of it all.
He focused on his attention in front of him, sensing the grassy ground around him, as he slowly became acclimated with his new sense. He expanded his sense further forward and soon sensed what seemed to be a solid mass of energy that reached up above him.
Curious, he opened his eyes to see what he had just sensed and quickly found it. It was the defensive wall that wrapped around the entire academy. He quickly understood that it must be the magical enchantments that he was sensing. He turned around to get a look at the main tower and sensed far more powerful enchantments running across the structure.
He began concentrating more aura into his eyes in order to see if things would change. And changed it did. The world around him changed into vivid color, and the tower became blindingly bright which started to hurt his eyes.
Jaune hissed as he shut his eyes closed while he quickly turned his face away. "Ow..."
"You alright, kid?" Derf spoke up, concerned about his reaction.
"I'm fine." He replied. He blinked his eyes rapidly as he tried to get the spots off. His vision soon cleared and his eyes stopped hurting. "I'm fine." He repeated.
"What happened?" The sword questioned him.
"I think I may have overdone it when I concentrated my aura to my eyes." He told Derf. He pointed at the tower and said. "That... Was very bright. Even brighter than the walls around the academy."
"I suggest that you refrain from pouring aura into your eyes until a later date. You're not yet ready for that." Derflinger told him, and Jaune nodded back. "Though I'm surprised you even did that. What were you trying to do?"
"I was curious when I felt the aura from that wall." Jaune pointed at the portion of the defensive wall across the courtyard. "So I decided to see if I could see the aura from it. But I was not expecting how bright the tower would look like."
"Yeah that can happen. But that's why I said that you try to feel your surroundings through your aura. You're not yet ready for that." The sword admonished him.
"Sorry."
"It's fine. At least you didn't get hurt." Derflinger consoled him before pressing on. "Alright we'll start with strengthening your aura so that it can protect you."
"Doesn't my aura already do that for me?" Jaune questioned.
"It can. But you'll be waisting your aura fast when taking hits. While you have large aura, you're going to lose it fast, and you'll be in alot of pain regardless." Derflinger responded bluntly. "Think of it like sword, there's more to it than just slashing and stabbing. Aura can be used " It said to him.
"I guess that make sense." Jaune replied as he thought back on his previous lessons. He was taught that aura served as a shield that protects your body, and empowers one's body and semblances. He was also taught that the only way to really strengthen aura is through sparring and combat, and he informed Derflinger about that.
"Well that's not wrong per say. I may not have aura myself, but that's pretty sloppy if you ask me." Derf frankly stated. "And your people get by with just that?" It asked.
"It's how we were taught back in Combat School, and why we have regular spars." Jaune replied. with a shrug. "It's how huntsmen and huntresses trained even in the academy."
"Weren't you trained to use your aura to begin with?" It asked.
Jaune frowned as he thought back on his own lessons before answering. "Most of our aura training that I know about mainly involved controlling aura and not much else. The rest just deal with semblances which can change depending on what you have."
"Semblances..." Derflinger tested the word. "You did mention that term last night in regards to willpower. I can imagine that's what you call magic back in your world?"
Jaune shook his head and replied. "It's what we call our powers that aspiring huntsmen and huntresses awaken. Semblances aren't treated as magic like in this world, and no one really have control over what they will get."
"Well it's good that you have me as your partner. I can coach you through using your aura better than you being hit with a stick and hoping for the best." Derflinger said encouragingly. "Now start gathering your around around your body. Like before, I'll use my magic to guide you."
Jaune nodded, eager to start some real aura training and excited of what he could learn. He closed his eyes and began manipulating his aura as he listened to Derflinger's instructions.
"As you can see, these alchemical processes allow us to separate the base alos from their aggregates and allows for more efficient refinement. These alos would then be used for- "
Louise aptly listened to the Professor Cherveuse's lesson about alchemy how it is applied to discovering minerals and reagents that are used in different industries. She dutifully jotted down her notes as she had always done in every class. There were some spell demonstrations earlier and she was passed over as usual, but the professor wasn't as apprehensive as the week before.
The professor concluded her lesson and gave them their assignments just before the bell rang. She then gave them permission to leave even though the students were already preparing to do so.
Louise allowed the ink to dry for a few moments as she packed the rest of her things into her bag. While she was preparing to leave, a girl with a blonde, styled to a long swirling screw, approached her table. Louise glanced up to see who came, and recognized her to be one of her usual provocateurs.
"What do you want, Montmorency?" Louise sharply asked.
"Nothing much." The blonde girl quickly replied as she looked around. "I'm just wondering where you familiar is. You used to have him follow you in class." She remarked. As if to make a point, a small green frog jumped from shoulder and onto the table, and then curiously looked around.
Louise narrowed her eyes in a frown before questioning her. "What is it to you?"
"Just curious." Montmorency replied.
Louise huffed at her meaningless answer and had thought to ignore her question. But her own curiously urged her to investigate, so she decided to entertain her question with intent of prying her intentions.
"My familiar is currently training to perform his duty as my familiar. He should be practicing to use his power when we parted this morning." Louise plainly informed her as she closed her notebook before stowing it into her bag.
"Hnnnn... It's strange that your familiar is practicing his strange magic while your magic still haven't improved." Montmorency lazily remarked as she looked down on Louise with a bemusement on her face. "It must be frustrating for you to know that your familiar might become better at magic than you are."
Louise scowled at her comment and angrily huffed as she stood up from her chair with her bag. "At least my familiar would be more useful than yours. He can fight my enemies and assist me with my work. While yours will remain as a useless pet."
Montmorency flushed red with anger at the insult about her familiar, Robin. She did recognize that Robin can't be of much help compared to that plebian. A plebian who could perform some kind of magic, she acknowledged but a plebian nonetheless.
"Better having a useless pet than being a useless mage." Montmorency retorted.
Louise merely huffed back since she was already used to such ridicule, a unimaginative one at that, and elected to ignore her. She briskly walked away and left the classroom without saying a word.
Montmorency watched as Louise leave with a heavy frown. Thoughts ran through her mind that she didn't notice someone was beside her until a voice called out to her.
"What seems to be the matter, Montmorency?" Kirche asked as she looked at the blonde girl with curious eyes. "It is quite strange of you to come up to Louise and provoke her."
"Hmph... As if you're any different. You always pick a fight with here at every opportunity." Montmorency rebuked with a scoff as she crossed her arms.
"That's because were rivals. So it's only natural that we compete and tease." Kirche calmly responded with a flick of her luscious crimson hair before she gestured to Montmorency. "You on the other hand, normally just insult Louise if she messed up. Instead you asked about her familiar." The redhead noted.
"It's none of your concern, Kirche. I was merely curious." Montmorency dismissed the foreigner's words. She then picked up her little familiar and quickly headed for the exit, leaving Kirche to ponder.
Louise took a deep breath and sighed as soon as she got out of the tower. She was used to the name-calling and being compared to her classmates, and would be fine. But it stung more when she was compared to her own familiar who is just starting to use his aura. It may not be magic, but that didn't matter to everyone else.
She turned left and walked across the Suthri Courtyard as she headed towards the Vestri Courtyard where Jaune would be training again. She passed by her classmates who took the path along the stone colonnades towards the Main Tower.
As she got close to the Vestri Courtyard, she stumbled on a strange sight. There was a student hiding behind a pillar, and hidden in the relatively darker interior of the colonnade, while staring at something. She quickly recognized him to be Guiche with his signature wavy bouffant blonde hair. She wondered what he's doing here, and recalled that he wasn't in class today.
She frowned in suspicion and slowly crept up behind him, and soon got close enough to see what he's staring it. Her eyes narrowed when she that it was her familiar, practicing what looked to be sword stances.
She took a step back and coughed loudly to catch his attention. Guiche stiffened and yelp in fright, and quickly turned around. He looked nervous when he face her before quickly calming down as as soon as she saw her.
"Oh it's just you." Guiche is relieved as he took deep breaths with a hand over his beating heart.
"We're you expecting someone else?" Louise questioned with one eyebrow raised, but he didn't answered. She huffed in annoyance before asking. "Why were you spying on my familiar?"
"That's none of your concern." Guiche answered stiffly.
Louise crossed her arms and testily responded. "It is my concern since you were just spying on my familiar." When Guiche refused to answer again, she pressed him. "So why were you spying on my familiar? Were you hoping to find some kind of weakness? Or do have more... ulterior motives?"
"True, I was spying on your familiar." Guiche quipped at her. "But my reasons are my own. Now if you excuse me, I have places to be." He said to her before quickly making an exit. He passed beside her, nearly bumping into her shoulder, as he made his way into the main tower and soon disappear after passing through the doorway.
Louise scoffed in his direction, irritated by the pompous Gramont's action and refusal to answer. She composed herself and made her way towards her familiar. As she got closer, she could hear Jaune's exertions and other details that she wasn't able to notice earlier.
Jaune's physical form seemed to have a very faint glow as he continued through the motions of swordplay and footwork. The sword is also wrapped in a faint glow with shimmer along the leading edge. She watched him at a safe distance and allowed him to finish his training.
Jaune repeated his motions as he transitioned between different stances until he finally reached the end, With a shout, he raised his sword and brought it down in one powerful swing. Louise saw a flash of light rushing out from the swing as it coalesced into a crescent shape. The arc of light wobbled as it flew a short distance before it dissolved into the air.
Jaune crouched and braced himself with his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths. Seeing that it is over, Louise started walking towards them as she heard the irritating voice of the sentient sword.
"You did good kid. You managed to shoot your aura on your first day."
"Thanks..." Jaune replied while catching his breath, but Louise could see that he was smiling. He then saw her approaching and slowly stood up. "Oh! You're back. How was class?"
"It was fine." She answered with a shrug. "It's about alchemical spells used for refining minerals. Nothing that really interest me."
"That sounds cool, I wished I've been there. I can imagine it's easier to do that here than how it is done back in our world." Jaune commented, his mind thinking of things he would do if he has that kind of magic.
"You can look over my notes if you wish." She offered, and Jaune nodded. "Were you aware that Guiche had been spying on you while training?"
Jaune blinked in surprise as he wasn't aware of that. "Was he?"
"He was. I found him hiding by the colonnade over there." She pointed at the spot behind her, and then informed him of what transpired. "I questioned of his intentions but he wasn't willing to answer."
"I think he's just trying to see how far I am with my training." Jaune proposed after he thought about it. "He could be planning to fight me again to regain his reputation."
"Maybe. But I don't think he'll be stupid enough to further risk his name, especially after the Academy had spoken with him." Louise stated, recalling what the headmaster had informed them in regards to Guiche.
"I guess so." Jaune uttered softly.
"So what was that you did earlier? It looked like a wind blade." She inquired curiously, intrigued by what it was.
Jaune shook his head. "Nope. That's just my aura. It took me several tries before I finally got to send it out." He told her before sighing sadly. "But as you saw, it wasn't really stable and likely very weak."
Louise hummed thoughtfully as she processed what he stated. It did looked weak and slow when it flew, but it's nothing to be ashamed as a starter. "So what have you managed to do so far?"
"Well I mainly practicing my aura for protection and Derf said that I was doing alright with it." Jaune answered as he told her more about his solo training. Derflinger also chimed in and made his own remarks about how Jaune is able to learn quickly, even if a little slow on the performance.
"It would have been better if I have someone to spar with. I'm not really sure if my aura could handle the hits as it should." Jaune stated, uncertain about his own skill. He couldn't really ask the guards since they have their own work to do.
"I already told you, kid. You're doing fine with the aura shielding. It's your aura attacks that we need to work out." Derf said to him, having already verified it with his magic.
"But we don't have a way to test it." Jaune argued insistently.
"Well I suppose you're right " Derf conceded, seeing his point. It would be hard to verify how strong his aura is until it could be tested. It would be detrimental for Jaune to find out that his aura isn't really holding up as it should. "If you want to test it, why don't you ask pinkie here."
Jaune thought about it, and agreed with Derf. He looked at her and asked. "What do you think, Louise? Do you think you could use your magic on me?"
Louise had a grim look on her face when she heard the proposition. While her spells haven't harmed anyone, that badly she added, it haven't killed anyone and are accidental on her part. Her familiar was basically asking her to use her spell directly on him, which she haven't done at anyone.
But she understood why her familiar is asking her. It would be bad to find out if his natural warding fail on him at an inopportune time.
"I don't think it's a good idea." She hesitantly answered. "My magic is quite potent... even if it's only able to cause explosion..." She glumly admitted to him.
Jaune thought about what he should say to her. He is well aware of how unstable Louise's magic was, and bore witness to some of them. In the end, he settled on gently patting Louise on the arm and gently said. "Don't worry too much about it, Louise. I trust that you won't hurt me intentionally. But I really need your help here. So please... Can you help me?"
Louise gazed at Jaune as he pleaded to her, and sighed before nodding. This made Jaune smile while she murmured about having a helpless familiar. They discussed a little of what to do and how to proceed before they separated.
Jaune took position a short distance from her, with Derflinger kept in its scabbard by his waist, while Louise took out her wand. Louise watched as a faint shimmer briefly glowed around Jaune's body, which she assumed to be his aura being warded. Jaune placed one foot behind him, placed his arms behind him, and presented his torso as the target.
"Ready when you are!" He called out and she nodded as she raised her wand.
She opted for a simple wind spell - air strike, instead of a fire spell like ember, just in case her explosion is affected by what element she was trying to cast. She nodded at him, showing that she's about to start, and he raised a closed fist, with the thumb finger up, to her in response.
"Make sure not to miss, pinkie." The sentient sword suddenly shouted. "Don't want to mess up that pretty face." It added jestingly, much to Jaune's disapproval when he glanced at it with an annoyed frown.
Louise huffed softly with a shake of her head. She pointed her wand at him and took calming breaths as she tried to draw out her elemental affinity. It felt cold, but not like that of ice, but brimming with a kind of fire, and swirling like swift wind. It was a confusing feeling that didn't match anything she knew about the elemental powers.
She channel the strange power into her wand and uttered a simple chant.
"Haegl"
The strange energy shot out of her wand in an instant and almost immediately struck Jaune directly on his chest. Instead of the usual smoky explosion, a bright light flashed from her familiar and accompanied by a sharp bang. She saw her familiar staggered back a few steps before he steadied himself.
Jaune grunted when he was pushed back by the force of her spell but, strangely, it didn't hurt as much as it should. He patted himself on the chest to check himself to damages.
Nothing so far, much to his relief.
"Are you alright?" Louise asked as soon as she got near him. She quickly examined him for any injuries. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Louise." Jaune waved her off. "Nothing hurts surprisingly. Even Guiche's attacks hurt more than this."
"Are you saying that my spell was too weak?" Louise's eyes narrowed at him, taking offense at the seeming insult.
"No! It's not like that!" Jaune quickly rectified, worried about his own well being. "The spell attack is stronger than what Guiche's golems had done. I guess my aura had taken much of the hit off me." He explained to her.
"So your aura warded off my spell?"
"Looks like it." Jaune nodded. He then turned to Derflinger and asked. "How did I do, Derf?"
Derflinger partially lifted itself off the scabbard, freeing its pseudo-mouth, and replied approvingly. "You did well, kid. Your aura held strong against pinkie's spell, and shielded you from its effects." It then stated. "Though from what i could sense, that spell took more of your aura than it should."
"At least we know that it works." Jaune stated, clearly happy with the results.
"So what do you plan to do next?" Louise asked. "Now that you got your aura protection working."
"Well I need to work on my aura attacks but I need ways to test it on." Jaune told her.
"You could take a horse to the nearby forest." Louise suggested to him.
Jaune grimaced and stated. "I can't really ride a horse, Louise. You know that."
Louise let out an exasperated sigh and pinched her nose. "You're so useless."
"Sorry."
A/N: Well I hoped you enjoyed reading this chapter. Things are progressing for Jaune but he had little resource to work with to properly train and test his abilities. Strange peculiarities about Louise's magic, a clue to her magical affinity for those not familiar with her lore.
What's this? Guiche spying on Jaune, and Montmorency asking about him? Something is afoot.
As usual, please leave a review and share your thoughts and comments about this chapter. My PM is also open for any questions or other topics.
Next chapter, we'll be dealing with the Exhibition Arc. Jaune and Louise will have to deal with a rocky situation.
