The measure of a man is what he does with power.
-Plato
Nothing really that eventful happened in Oobleck's class, he mostly just talked about the degradation of the natural flora of Vacuo because of the constant wars, after that, it was time for lunch break, Jaune walked with his team and Team RWBY to have lunch at the cafeteria.
Both teams were sharing a table, they were all making casual small talk, and Jaune finally started to engage with his team and team RWBY, mostly because for the time being there wasn't much he could do but to pass the time until he could join Prof. Port on his mission to destroy the Skeeter hives in the Emerald forest.
While he was talking with his team, he looked down to the hand he was holding a fork with to eat his carbonara, he started to wonder if he could channel his aura through other objects, not just his sword.
Turns out he could, he hid his fork from the view of his friends and tried to channel aura through it, his fork glowed with the same white glow that his sword did, proving that he could in fact channel the aura through other objects, he couldn't see a use for it just yet, but it was nice to know.
"So Jaune!" His thoughts were cut short by the sound of Pyrrha's voice calling his name."Why did you decide to go chat with Prof. Port?"
"Oh! Hmm...That's because I remembered one more question I needed to ask him."Jaune lied."I just didn't remember it until the class was over."
"You sure seemed interested in those Skeeter Grimm." Blake said."Why the sudden interest?"
"Well, It's just that I wasn't familiar with Grimm that could suck out our aura." Jaune explained, half lying."It's a very dangerous type a Grimm and as the leader of my team, I need to be well informed about these kinds of things so that I can properly guide my team so we can all make it out alright if we come across dangerous Grimm like those."
Most of Jaune's friends were in awe at how dedicated and responsible he was being, the only ones who weren't fully convinced by what he was saying were Pyrrha and Blake.
"Hmph! I am happy to see that you are finally taking your role as a leader more seriously." Weiss said."You are already better than Ruby in my book."
"HEY!" Ruby yelled, feeling insulted."I started taking my job as a leader more seriously too!"
Before Weiss could give some kind of quip, or make some snide remark, their attention was drawn by the sound of someone whining in pain, the all turned towards the sound and were greeted with a very familiar image.
They saw Team CRDL, with their leader Cardin Winchester, tugging on the ears of a rabbit faunus named Velvet from Team CFVY.
"I can't believe he is still being a bully after what happened in Forever Fall..." Blake said with a hint of venom on her voice.
When Blake said this Jaune was looking over to her, when he did he couldn't help but notice the bow in her head twitch slightly, no one else seemed to notice this since they were all distracted by Cardin bullying Velvet with his team.
However, Jaune didn't focus on this for very long, he focused back on Cardin, Jaune's blood started to boil, he was seeing red and he was gripping the fork he was holding under the table with such strength that it started bending, he wanted nothing more than to use his semblance to summon several Beowulfs to tear them all limb from limb and then spit on their mutilated bodies.
Jaune had seen enough, he got up from his bench, a sudden movement that startled several of his friends.
"Jaune?" Ruby asked."Are you okay?"
Jaune did not answer, he instead walked around the table and walking towards Cardin and his crew with a deep angry scowl on his face.
Jaune walked behind Cardin, before his team could tell him anything, Jaune grabbed Cardin by the back of the collar of his Beacon uniform and pulled him out of his seat and into the ground, he let go of Velvet before he hit the ground.
"What's your problem!" Cardin yelled at Jaune as he got back up.
"What's wrong with me is that I don't like cowards..." Jaune said.
"What did you just call me!?" Cardin yelled.
"You heard me, let me ask you something Cardin?" Jaune started."Why do you only bully people like Velvet and me?"
"Why don't you try bullying someone like Yang or Pyrrha?" Jaune continued talking, not giving Cardin the chance to respond."You don't need to say anything, I know why, It's because you know they are stronger than you, that's why you don't bully them, you choose to bully people who won't fight back, if there's a perfect word to describe people like you, that word would be a coward!"
This made Cardin very mad, he raised his arm with his fist clenched, ready to slug Jaune in the face, but Jaune just gave a cocky smile.
"Careful Cardin, I told Prof. Goodwitch about what you were planning to do with those sap jars..." This caused Cardin to look at him in surprise. "She threaten to suspend us both if we start trouble again like that again, we start fighting and we can kiss our careers as Huntsmen goodbye."
"You..Y-You're bluffing!" Cardin said shaking with anger.
"I am not, but how about this?" Jaune started."We have a Combat Class with Prof. Goodwitch after lunch break, why don't we solve this there, if you win I'll willingly drop out of Beacon, and if I win, you'll stop bullying once and for all."
Cardin dropped his fist and just laughed."Fine, you want me to humiliate you in front of all of Beacon before you leave, fine, you better start packing your stuff Jauney-Boy!"
All of Team CRDL left the Cafeteria laughing, as if they already won, Jaune turned towards Velvet.
"Are you okay?" Jaune asked Velvet.
"Y-Yes! Thank you for standing up for me." Velvet said with a blush, but here blush quickly turned into a concerned look."I should be asking you that Jaune! If Cardin beats you you'll be kicked out!"
"Don't worry, he won't win." Jaune said.
"Jaune." He heard someone calling him from behind, he was greeted by a concerned Pyrrha, behind her were Nora, Ren and Team RWBY."You can't do this! You're showing improvement but it won't be enough to beat Cardin! You need to apologize to him and take back what you said."
"No way Pyrrha, I won't let someone like him intimidate me anymore." Jaune spoke with confidence before walking away.
"He is either really brave or stupid." Weiss said."I would say stupid, if he had the skills to back up his talk, then I would find it brave."
"Hey! Don't count Jaune out just yet!" Nora said.
"Nora, It's very clear Jaune doesn't have the skill to win against Cardin." Blake said.
"You're wrong, you all might have lost faith on our leader, but I haven't and I refuse to!" Nora said with confidence and with complete seriousness."He will win this! I know it."
Pyrrha was very concerned. Jaune was the first person to treat her like a normal person, she didn't want to loose him...
Combat class had arrived, Jaune had caused quite a stir in the cafeteria, many people were excited to see where this would lead, the one close to Jaune however were very concerned.
"Alright students." Prof. Glynda Goodwitch spoke."This is combat class, any volunteers for our first match of the day?"
Cardin raised his hand.
"Very well Mr. Winchester." Prof. Goodwitch spoke before looking back to her scroll."Now let's find you an opponent."
"Actually Professor, I already have an opponent in mind." Cardin spoke."I would like to have Jaune Arc be my opponent."
"You already fought Mr. Arc a few weeks ago, you won't show much improvement by fighting the same opponent over and over again..." Prof. Goodwitch spoke, but she then noticed Jaune raising his hand.
"I accept his challenge Professor, I've been practicing, I would like to see how I fair against Cardin now." Jaune spoke.
"Hmmm, very well, both of you go get ready." Glynda spoke.
After some time, Jaune and Cardin returned, out of their Beacon Uniforms and into their combat gear, standing in the middle of the amphitheater, in front of hundreds of students.
"I'm sure you are familiar with the rules, but I will go over them again." Glynda started to explain."The match will end when one of the fighters are either forced out of the ring, their aura reaches the red or one of them chooses to give up, with that out of the way, take your positions."
Both Jaune and Cardin got into their battle stances.
"3! 2! 1! BEGIN!" Glynda shouted.
Both Jaune and Cardin rushed at each other, what followed were an exchange of blows that Cardin was not expecting Jaune to block or dodge, this surprise gave Jaune the opportunity to land some serious blows on Cardin, getting his Aura close to the yellow.
"Woah! When did Vomit Boy get so good at blocking and dodging?" An impressed Yang said.
"Ha! I knew he could do it!" Nora shouted."Break his legs Jaune!"
"It seems he can back up some of his boasting after all." A somewhat impressed Weiss spoke.
"Kick his butt Jaune!" Ruby shouted.
While Pyrrha was still a bit concerned, this quick surprise seemed to raise her spirit, looks like there was hope, a chance Jaune could win this.
However, as soon as things started to turn out good for Jaune, they just as quickly started to turn bad, after Cardin got over his initial surprise over Jaune's improved fighting, he started to take the fight more seriously, he started blocking Jaune's attacks and respond with some powerful his of his own, Jaune did his best to block Cardin's mace with his shield, but the blows from it were so powerful they would cause Jaune to lose his balance, leaving him open for an attack from Cardin.
Both of them were with their Aura on the yellow, but Cardin still had slightly more Aura than Jaune, Cardin's smug demeanor started to creep back into his face, Jaune's friends were concerned afraid he might lose.
"No! I can't lose now, I have more power than all the weaklings watching us from the seats above us! I could rule all of Vale if I wanted! I refuse to lose before I even start now that I discovered this power!" A frustrated Jaune thought to himself. "I have to turn this back in my favor...but how?"
"Wait..."Suddenly, Jaune remembered how Cardin acted in the Cafeteria, how easy it was to wound his pride with petty insults."That's it!"
Suddenly, Cardin and everyone else on the amphitheater were caught genuinely confused when they saw Jaune started to laugh like he heard the most hilarious knock knock joke of all time.
"What's so funny Jauney-Boy?" Cardin asked.
"Your face!" Jaune said laughing."It looks like it was set on fire and someone tried to put it out with a hammer!"
There was a moment of silence from the Cardin and the crowd around them, the only sound on the amphitheater was the sound of Jaune laughing.
Suddenly that near silence was broken when everyone in the crowd above joined Jaune on the laughter.
The only people not laughing were Cardin, Glynda, Weiss and Ren.
Glynda was not laughing mostly because she didn't find the joke THAT amusing.
"What is he doing!?" Weiss said."Did he finally go nuts, Cardin will destroy him!"
"I don't think so Weiss." Ren said as Weiss turned towards her."I think I see what Jaune is doing..."
Cardin was silent for a moment, absorbing the laughter around him, he suddenly got extremely angry when he saw everyone laughing at him.
"That's it! YOU'RE DEAD!" Cardin shouted, turning to Jaune and running towards him with his Mace held above his head.
However, Jaune managed to effectively dodge the swing, this angered Cardin even more, he followed it up with a few more swings which were dodge by Jaune.
"Come on! You are so predictable!" Jaune mocked Cardin."I fought Ursa that had swings that were less easy to predict!"
"SHUT UP!" Cardin said. Continuing to swing his mace at Jaune and Jaune continued to dodge his hits with ease.
"Wow, You're really bad at this." Jaune mocked."I guess you are proof even the gods make mistakes sometime."
More laughter followed this insult, feeding Cardin's anger even more.
"SHUT UP!" Cardin shouted again, swinging his mace, it seemed like the constant swinging was starting to tire him out, his movements were getting sloppier and easier to dodge by the second.
"Velvet told me you were terrible, after seeing your combat skills, I can't say I disagree." Jaune mocked once again.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Cardin screamed with each swing of his mace, his screaming loud enough to drown out the laughter around them.
With his final swing he managed to get his mace stuck on a dent he made on the floor, he tried to pull it out but it didn't budge, it also didn't help he used out too much of his strength trying to hit Jaune that he didn't have enough strength to pull his weapon out.
Jaune approached Cardin with a mocking smile."This isn't going to hurt for long, but it's going to hurt like crazy."
Jaune dropped his shield on the ground and grabbed his sword with both hands, he put the hole force of his body behind one final swing, Cardin didn't try to dodge, instead continuing to try and remove his weapon from the dent on the floor.
He paid the price of that choice with a sword swing to his body that lowered his Aura down to the red, Jaune then kicked him down to the floor, Cardin finally freed his mace, he tried to reach for it, but Jaune stepped on his arm.
"Who is the weak one now huh?" Jaune said with a mocking attitude."How does it feel to be overpowered by someone else? How does it feel to have all your power taken away!?"
"Mr. Arc!" Glynda spoke, causing Jaune to look at her."That's quite enough, you already won."
Jaune looked at the screen and realized Cardin's Aura was already on the red, he removed his foot from Cardin's arm.
"You've shown great improvement Mr. Arc, I am honestly really impressed by how much you've improved in such a short amount of time." Glynda explained."That being said, I noticed how every time Mr. Winchester used his mace and you blocked it with your shield, the impact caused you to lose your footing."
"Make sure your stance is wider, and train your muscles so you can handled someone with strong attacks without affecting your stance." Glynda suggested."Also, mocking Mr. Winchester was a good choice, when he started to act out of anger his movements became more predictable, however, you were lucky Mr. Winchester took the bait, if you had been fighting someone who wasn't affected by petty insults you would have lost."
"Got it, Thank you Professor." Jaune said.
"Mr. Winchester, You had the upper hand after the shock of Mr. Arc's improvement wore off, had you not let yourself get affected by his insults you might have won, learn to get better control over your emotions." Glynda finished explaining."Now, let's move on to the next fight."
After Jaune returned from getting back into his Beacon uniform, he was congratulated by his team mates and friends, Pyrrha just watched him in silence.
After the class was dismissed and everyone in the amphitheater started walking out, Pyrrha decided to ask Jaune about his sudden shift in attitude, but before she could ask him anything, Jaune was called by Glynda.
"Mr. Arc, I need to speak with you for a moment, walk with me." Glynda told him.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up." Jaune said before following Glynda back into the amphitheater.
"Did you guys think Jaune was acting strange?" Pyrrha asked her friends and teammates."The way he started speaking to Cardin after he got his Aura in the red."
"I guess, but everyone's got a breaking point." Yang said."I guess he finally had enough of Cardin's crap."
"And good on him!" Nora spoke."Honestly, I don't care if Jaune was being mean, Cardin had it coming after everything that he did!"
"I guess..." Pyrrha spoke.
"I'm here Professor Goodwitch, what did you want to talk to me about?" Jaune asked leaning against a wall.
"I would like to talk about your attitude." Glynda explained."The way you treated Mr. Winchester after he was already defeated wasn't very sportsmen like."
"You are a huntsman, A huntsman must never act out of anger or fear, those emotions attract the Grimm, the biggest threat to humanity that we are supposed to be fighting." Glynda explained."A proper Huntsman fights with courage and respect."
"Why are you talking about this with me instead of Cardin?" Jaune spoke with a hint of anger and resentment that didn't go unnoticed by Prof. Goodwitch. "You know he has been guilty of the same thing, and he has done it far more often than I have, but suddenly when I do it it's a problem, give me a break Miss Goodwitch."
Suddenly Glynda turned around, walked up to him and stood a few inches away from his face, covering his vision with herself to make sure he was actually listening to her.
"That's PROFESSOR Goodwitch to you! And I am not liking your tone and attitude!" Glynda spoke with contempt and disapointmennt painted on her face, but her voice with a hint of anger and annoyance."And you answer your question, I DID have this conversation with Mr. Winchester, several times actually, but every time I spoke to him, my words went in one ear and out the other!"
Glynda took a few steps back, her facial features and posture relaxing a bit.
"You want to prove you are better than Mr. Winchester?" Glynda asked."Than do what he refuses to do, listen to my words, don't ignore them like he did, you are better than that."
"Keep that attitude of your in check, work on your form during combat, and learn to fight like a proper Huntsman, with courage and respect." Glynda instructed."Am I making myself clear?"
There was a moment of silence between the two...
"Yes...Professor Goodwitch...crystal clear..." Jaune spoke.
Glynda turned away from Jaune.
"Good, you are dismissed." Glynda instructed as she focused on her scroll.
Jaune walked out of the amphitheater, he then remembered it was time for him to go on his mission with Prof. Port to destroy the hives of Skeeter Grimm, upon remembering this, his slightly evil smile returned to his lips.
"The moment I've been waiting for, time to get to work." He thought to himself.