Chapter 5: From Underdog to Champion
It wasn't outside of Jaune's regular behavior to think a lot. He imagined that was the case for many people, but then his mother had said on several occasions that he was cooped up in his head too long. Mom. Thinking about her certainly gave him no pleasant feelings lately.
For not the first time in the last hour, Jaune had to refocus his efforts on the book in front of him. No, not a comic. A genuine book, with words and little else. A mind well read is akin to a blade put to the whetstone, as Headmaster Ironwood of Atlas Academy had told him once. And during that short time in Atlas, his nose had been dumped in enough books to make him sick of them. It was as no nonsense in that academy as could be and he'd experienced it first-hand. He couldn't say that none of it had become ingrained in him, either. After all, here he was, reading through his new year textbooks, automatically trying to push ahead in his studies.
There certainly wouldn't be time for it once the missions began.
Jaune turned the book over, then dragged up a sheet of paper that he'd printed out test questions on. It wouldn't get him any extra marks, but like training, it would train his mind to retain information until he could recall the answers at a moment's notice. In Atlas, teachers would call out such questions at random throughout class periods, and the entire class was expected to stand, salute, and answer correctly, all in unison, all of one mind, one entity. Champion or not, they had not shown him any mercy in that regard.
But missions were coming up, soon in fact. Two weeks away. Almost felt too sudden since just as much time had passed since the year had begun. Maybe this was a good thing though, getting out on the field right away. In Vacuo, their approach to lessons was on the more daring side. He'd fought in the deserts far outside of Vacuo against Grimm he'd never seen before. He'd learned to ride the Sun Sails, which were the more common means of transport in Vacuo years ago. More roads were being built now so people could use cars, but it used to be that most people rode Sun Sail boats and boards across the unbeaten terrain, and it was a tradition that persisted. He was paired with upperclassmen and sent on easy Grimm nesting hunts, and on one occasion even fought some Sand Pirates, who with their giant Sun Ships would raid and pillage local villages, shoot down foreign ships and loot them, even ransom back the captives if they didn't outright kill them. Jaune imagined there would be missions like that and was a little glad for the experience. Sadly, being learned in something didn't take the edge off of doing it yourself for real. This would still be his first true mission coming up and no mistake.
Jaune scribbled an answer under the first question. He was the leader too, at that. He would have more responsibilities than everyone else, besides his fellow leaders of course. It was his responsibility to pick out missions for the team, he would have to decide how they'd approach and handle those missions… and it was on his shoulders if the mission should fail. Which, naturally, wasn't stress inducing in the slightest. His hand wasn't trembling, not at all.
His teammates had expressed their opinions on the mission they should take first. Nora wanted a genuine hunting assignment, to track a Grimm that had been giving even third years trouble. He'd heard someone lost an arm to it. Jaune craved a challenge, of course, and might have agreed with Nora, only for Ren to disagree and suggest they take on an assignment to defend a village from Grimm attacks while they build new walls around the village. Such missions were usually easy even for first years, and logically, made the most sense for a first mission. Jaune might have even agreed with Ren on it too… if Pyrrha hadn't agreed with Ren's idea first. This, of course, resulted in Jaune siding with Nora and… well, an argument was inevitable. Not between Ren and Nora, though, just him and his beloved partner, while Ren and Nora tried to make sure they didn't start actually fighting.
Thinking about that made Jaune sighed, the action causing his hand loosen, dragging a long dark inkline across the paper. That somehow only irritated him more. Pyrrha. At every possible opportunity, she had to make things difficult for him. He was starting to think it was on purpose, too. No matter what topic he engaged in with her, they always came away with opposing answers, conflicting ideas, opposing likes and dislikes. Even tiny things about her were starting to annoy him when way back they hadn't.
Jaune looked at Pyrrha's side of the room. Thankfully she wasn't there, out in town with Ren and Nora for pizza. Their usual team dinner that they'd have every other saturday. Seemed like such a small thing back then. The four of them and pizza, simple and all. They asked him to come, Nora had even begged him too since they wouldn't get another chance before the mission. Jaune couldn't say he hadn't wanted to go. He just hadn't wanted to go if Pyrrha was going. He never said it, but they all likely knew it, maybe were even understanding, and simply went on without him. Such that it was a bitter victory that he had the dorm for a few hours, alone with his fears and doubts. Though it wasn't like he was free of them even in company. Somehow, all this only annoyed him even more. He'd wanted pizza too, wanted to spend time with Ren and Nora, but just… Pyrrha.
Jaune shook his head and scrawled out a few more answers on the paper. He knew it wasn't right to hold onto this anger. He could see that Pyrrha was trying to do better, even if part of him didn't believe it. He couldn't understand it. He was usually a pretty forgiving guy, wasn't he? No matter what anyone did to him, he'd let it go with a smile and shrug, calling it no big deal.
Jaune paused. Only… that had been his old self. His weak self.
Forgiving? He'd simply been too scared of conflict and only 'forgave' because he had neither the power nor the will to stand up for himself or seek revenge. The smile and shrug were lies plastered on to spare other people's feelings and Jaune had thought made him seem virtuous. No big deal? Why then, when he'd felt so pathetic after not defending himself, had he curled up under his blanket and cried? Why had he felt so consumed with rage that he'd kick something? It had been a big deal back then and it was now, and that couldn't be refuted.
There were times where he truly believed that he hated Pyrrha, and Jaune didn't think he was capable of such a feeling.
He could not go back to lying to himself about his feelings. Things had changed too much for that. He could not hide that disgust he held for his partner who he'd loved so much not long ago. He saw it when their eyes met. She would see how much he hated her, but she would not grant him mercy of returning that same vitriol. Instead she'd just look sad, and hurt, and genuinely apologetic. Why, damn her? Why? She was not making this easy for him. She had asked if things could be better between them, and he'd said he didn't know. In a rare instance of regression, he had lied about his feelings again.
He was not ready to forgive her. It wasn't even close to possible yet, if at all.
Jaune scrawled the answer down on that last question and began to review and compare it to the chapter of material in the textbook. But he'd still have to work with Pyrrha and that was doable. He didn't need to forgive her. Just work with her, keep it cordial and professional. He'd have his own pizza weekends with Ren or Nora or Team RWBY, maybe even Team CFVY when they came back. By the Gods if Velvet were here, she'd make him feel better. He'd missed her like nothing else.
Jaune didn't smile when he saw that all the answers were correct. It was simply how it was supposed to be. He was not the old Jaune anymore. He was a champion and a leader and expected to be one of the best Huntsmen of his generation. He wanted to meet those expectations. Surpass them even. Changed as he was, he had not lost sight of what he'd most wanted. To be a hero. At first it was just to be one, but now he wanted to be the very best there was. Indisputably so.
He thought about Pyrrha, and he thought about his mom, and a bitter frown formed on his face. He'd become the best, absolutely.
All he had to do was nail these missions, keep up his lectures and schoolwork, train hard every day, and tolerate his partner for three years. Easy. He hoped.
Jaune decided then that he would agree to the mission Ren and Pyrrha had suggested. It would get him back in good graces with one of them at least, and a good leader had to rely on the opinions of his team. Ren and Nora deserved the best leader possible and he would ensure they got it. As for Pyrrha? Well, like he said, only three more years.
Then, he wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. Jaune wished that thought would vindicate him. Instead, it just made his heart hurt.
He'd just blame Pyrrha for that, too.
In the next day in Advanced Aura Class, Professor Peach raised a finger and stated with the most perfunctory confidence, "External Emission and Physical Materialization. Can anyone tell me what these two things apply to?"
Only Weiss raised her hand. "External Emission is the ability to manifest aura outside of the body, while Physical Materialization is the specific shape and function such aura serves. Together, these are the foundational principles of advanced aura training."
"As correct as always Miss Schnee." The Professor nodded, "That's what we'll be learning about today. How advanced aura techniques work, how they apply to one or both of these foundational principles, and above all, which techniques you as individuals are inclined to learn."
"Inclined to?" some nobody asked. "You mean, we're only learning some of them?"
"Indeed. It is important to realize that, while we know quite a lot about aura in the modern age, there is still so much we don't understand. Aura cannot be put to an exact science. As such, the more difficult certain techniques with aura become, the rarer they will be. Very few people can use all of the advanced techniques. Few know more than three at any given time. Souls are fickle and don't play by our rules."
"So, we could spend years trying to learn a technique and it just won't matter because our souls aren't suited to them?" asked Blake.
"Precisely. But fear not, that's what this class is for. If there is a certain technique you are attuned for, it will manifest in some way after a bit of training. This will inform you of the kinds of techniques you excel in. Today, we'll test a few of these techniques. First, contact to contact aura projection. The Aura Palm Strike technique. I'm sure a few of you are familiar with this. Mister Lie, will you kindly demonstrate?"
Jaune thankfully already knew what this was, but it was still interesting to see. Ren performed the technique and destroyed a boulder, shards raining, and the class applauded.
"This ability draws upon the first principle, external emission. This is most easily done through physical contact with another object. Your aura is projected out of the body and into a foreign vessel. Unfamiliar with that vessel, the aura reacts violently, erratically, and seeks an escape. So…" she pointed at the exploded boulder. "It escapes."
Jaune swallowed. He didn't much like to think of what'd happen to a person hit by that. Thankfully Cardin asked the question for him.
"Why don't we see it used more if it can do all that?" He had on a consternate frown, like the inconsistency of this new realization was insulting. "Figure if it can blow up a boulder, I ain't confident a person is gonna look any better."
"You'd be correct, Mister Winchester" said Peach. "This technique is extremely deadly and often fatal is successfully pulled off. However, this is a very old technique, and records of it exist as far back as some ancient civilizations. Naturally, this is a very long time. Certainly long enough for new techniques to develop that counter it."
"Guess that's one of those advanced things we're gonna learn, then? So you know, we don't explode?"
"You don't need me to teach you. You know it well enough already." Peach grinned. "You need only raise your aura."
Jaune blinked in surprise. And it wasn't just him. A round of confusion went about the class like their teacher had just spoken a different language. "That's all?" he asked.
"That's all. Raising your aura will deny the passage of foreign aura, unless said aura is significantly more powerful. If you can believe it, the ability to attack the aura directly was developed far before using one's aura to protect themselves. This counter technique spread quickly in the old time and soon became widespread. Over the years, it is so prevalent that it is a universal skill. Some villages even have specific mandates that require teaching this ability to its citizens in case of Grimm attacks, so as to raise the community's chances of survival. Of course, this comes with the drawback of activated aura being easier for Grimm to sense, but for some that's acceptable. You learn these techniques in your first year of Huntsman prep school. A child in those schools now would be able to protect themselves from this Palm Strike attack if trained well."
Jaune was suddenly very aware of how his first few weeks at Beacon were spent learning to raise his aura properly. He'd gotten lucky using it on pure instinct in initiation, but now he wondered if he would be a splatter on the ground like that boulder if one of his peers had used the Palm Strike on him. He shivered to even think about it. He really was more lucky than he deserved.
"As a result, the technique is useful mostly against Grimm. Particularly those with heavy armor. As they have no souls, and therefore no defense, it is one of the most effective techniques against them. The mastery of this ability ensures one is never defenseless even without their weapons, making it a valuable skill to add to your arsenal. Long before our revolution of technology, many warriors would only use this technique to defend themselves, seeing no need for weaponry when their aura could protect their people and kill their enemies. Old it may be, but no less a powerful ability even thousands of years later." She smiled and clapped her hands together. "Well, I suppose we should start trying it. Pair up and I will explain how to perform it. One partner keep your aura up at all times. So long as you do, the most you will suffer is a jolt in the body. Hurry up now, children. Let's get to it!"
"Jaune? Look here!"
Jaune turned to his current partner for the class, Blake, who had one hand on her hip, a frown on her face that couldn't have been aimed at anyone but him. He smiled placatingly. "Oh sorry, what were you saying?"
She sighed. "If you aren't going to pay attention—"
"No, no, I am!" Jaune said, "Come on, please? I'll pay attention now, I swear."
She glared at him coldly for a moment, then turned and held her sword level. "Fine. Get into position and hold your weapon like so. Then…"
Class had gone on for a while, with some people discovering immediately a proficiency in the Aura Palm Strike, while others were a little slower, and the rest simply didn't. Professor Peach had moved on to explaining different techniques such as Extrasensory or Beast Communion. None of which were suited to Jaune's particular means of combat. That, and his attempts to try it had proved utterly fruitless. Maybe he could learn them one day, but he was glad the class had moved on to another technique now—and one he'd been very curious about since he'd seen Blake do it.
Jaune took his sword in both hands, raised it level, then began to mold his aura into the blade. It was surprisingly challenging now that he was consciously aware of it. Felt a lot like sweat was coming out of his skin, streaming down his arm, and hesitating at the hilt of the sword, as if afraid to leave the sanctity of his body. "I remember last year when I asked you to teach me this," said Jaune.
Blake flashed him an acknowledging grin. "The world moves in circles. You wouldn't have been ready for it back then."
"No." Jaune had to admit. "I will be now."
"We'll see. No, relax your arm. You cannot be stiff while you summon your aura. It all has to flow together, understand? Body, arm, weapon, and out. You see?"
The Flying Aura Slash, according to Miss Peach, was a technique invented in the Steamdrive Power Revolution some few hundred years ago. The age of the first mechashift weapons, an advancing period for the use of firearms, with a merciless mellowing out of more traditional forms of combat. Apparently, there was some conflict about the honor of using such 'easy' weaponry in battle, with many warriors of old proclaiming firearms to be cowardly. Of course, as the age progressed, guns got better and traditional weaponry lost popularity all the more. Until a dojo of warriors from Mistral invented the FAS technique as a way to compete with the fast spreading integration of firearms. If a warrior wanted to commit to the ways of the sword, he would now have a projectile to match his modern competitors. It was often proclaimed that the technique was the foundation which kept melee weapons in use even up to now. Cool stuff, in Jaune's humble opinion.
And that was precisely why he had to learn it.
He had no projectile weaponry, unless shooting his sword out of the sheath counted. That was not reliable, for obvious reasons. Arslan had shown him that in his time at Mistral, calling it a gimmick and no replacement for ranged options. Nadir had tried helping him get used to guns, but in the end they hadn't felt right in his hands. This Flying Aura Slash did. With it, he would improve exponentially. He'd have the perfect arsenal. Sword and shield for optimal offense and defense, an ocean of aura reserves put to effective use with his semblances many forms, and a ranged attack that would ensure he wasn't always chasing enemies down. That was without taking the extra tricks he had into account. He almost smiled at the possibilities.
But a possibility was all this scenario would ever be if he didn't do the damn technique right.
"Wrong again, Jaune. You have to loosen up." said Blake.
Jaune tried again, shaking out his arms, even shaking his head. Clear mind, clear body, focus, focus, focus. He leveled the sword, winded it back, aura swimming up his arms like sweat, then gave the air a mighty horizontal cut. Nothing. In fact, upon swinging, his aura had surged back up into his body, not even glancing the hilt of Crocea Mors. Jaune felt some aura leave him too, leaving just slightly winded.
"Loosen up, Jaune. Root your body, but let your aura move."
"Trying my best." he muttered, but forgot about Blake's incredible hearing.
"Well, your best isn't good enough. Again."
Jaune swung his sword hard, felt that feeling of aura surging through his stomach, up into his shoulder, and filled into his arm… but felt it stop at his wrist. Very little was released. And what was faded as quickly as water dumped on a campfire. He tried again. The aura barely made it beyond his elbow. Tried again. Failed. That was the sequence that played out for a good twenty minutes. Blake telling him how to do it, him doing exactly what she said, and him failing regardless.
"Try again, Jaune,"said Blake, beside him. "Like so."
Blake performed the Flying Aura Slash with such casual skill that Jaune had no choice but to be envious. He watched the violet blade shear a bush clean in half, the leaves scattering in a flourish of shredded green. The rest of Peach's class was in the middle of their own forms of training in the same way, with rages of failure, hoot of half-success, and cheers of total success sounding out around Jaune all at once.
"You need to focus," said Blake.
"I am."
"Try harder. You need to have a clear intent when using this technique. It's an attack. Designed to harm. You have to intend for it to harm whatever you use it on."
Jaune didn't much like the sound of hurting anything, but he supposed you didn't learn to use a sword if you weren't at least considering such a scenario. Then he wondered if this technique was like the previous ones in that it simply didn't suit his aura. His soul. He couldn't see why, but like Peach said, aura and souls could not be quantified into exact science.
He spotted Pyrrha at the end of the clearing, practicing some aura technique with Russel of all people. Rather fittingly, the same technique Jaune was trying to learn.
In typical Pyrrha fashion, she was already doing it perfectly.
She casually swiped Milo in a half arc, letting loose a small blade of condensed blue aura. It bit into the trunk of a tree, went through smooth as butter, taking off a piece so cleanly it was as if she'd cut it with a perfectly sharpened ax. That wasn't enough for her though. She fired again, and again, and again, each blade taking a piece of the tree off, yet not once disturbing the canopy of fragile leaves, or even the squirrels that scattered up the base. Pyrrha did it with the most impassive face, like it was a child's technique, like she was already bored of it. Like anyone who couldn't learn the technique was too weak and worthless to be anything of importance.
Naturally, a small crowd of people had gathered to watch, clapping and cheering as if she'd just saved a bunch of orphans from a burning building. Pyrrha had the grace not to acknowledge them, but even that somehow made her seem arrogant. Jaune knew he was thinking unreasonably, that he was simply projecting his own disappointments onto her, but then a part of himself blamed her for that too. But at what point in his life did anything stop being her fault? Were any of these feelings caused because of him? Could he take any blame for this?
If he were a more forgiving person, he would be able to let the past go. Had he not entered the tournament, maybe he wouldn't have ruined his closest friendship. If he hadn't decided to become a Huntsman, against his mother's most desperate wish, he wouldn't be dealing with all these questions now. Maybe he was the one at fault for all of this. The thing was he just didn't know who to be angry at more. Pyrrha or himself?
Blake snapped her fingers in his face. "Jaune? Are you paying attention?"
Jaune's frown set in as he looked away from his partner, raised his sword and faced directly ahead. "Yeah. Let's keep going. I'll get it this time."
He pushed his thoughts as far back as he could manage, where they remained but an echo, as he drilled the Flying Aura Slash again and again, doing his best to ignore the sound of cheering and applause behind him.
So this is rather unashamedly an exposition-heavy chapter. It's also the conclusion of the Return to Beacon arc.
Initially, this arc would have been longer, but I realized the thematic conclusion I'm building toward works double-fold if I do it in the next arc. And since this story has only two primary characters now, the pacing has to match it accordingly since we're not yet at an arc where the other characters have a chance to develop. Hopefully I can commit long enough to get there though. Either way, the plot stays moving. I always wanted to drop some lore and history on the magic system in one of these chapters and this one turned out to be perfect for it.
Its nice being in Jaune's head after that last chapter, his inner struggles tend to be pretty fun and complicated and it certainly enriches this Jaune and Pyrrha dynamic going on, which I can't necessarily say I planned, but ended up working in this story's favor.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed and see you in the next arc, the first mission: The People's King
