AN: Sorry about the delay on updates everybody. I had the unfortunate cocktail of getting several new games at once and a severe case of writer's block where I wanted to write but couldn't muster the motivation or energy to do so.

AN2: To answer the question from the reviews I already have the upgrades for Jaune's gun decided but I'm still undecided on what to use for his melee weapon. If anyone has suggestions, then let me know in the reviews.

AN3: Yes, I'm bringing in some students from the Atlas team I used in 'True Potential', I'm curious how many of you will recognize the character their mentor got based on.

A Personal Favor

Chapter 5

-Jaune-

Flexing his fingers, Jaune set down the training gun as the automated range systems brought his target sheet over for him to inspect. "Not bad Kid." Marrow took the sheet, comparing it to the previous sheets he'd gone through that morning "You're making some solid improvement." As they looked over at how Jaune's latest round had gone, the range's automated systems started vacuuming up all the little plastic pellets he'd fired, Atlas having developed special guns that fired plastic rounds, the propulsion powered by the aura of the user. It would get exhausting when done for long enough but was a great way to train without wasting Dust.

"Indeed, you show a truly impressive learning curve." Ciel nodded, preparing a pistol version of the training gun Jaune had been using to do her own rounds "Have you considered the possibility that this could be your semblance?"

"I don't think so." Jaune shook his head, somewhat winded as he set down the aura training gun, his reserves finally growing low "I picked up things I cared about quickly even before I got my aura unlocked."

"Still, I think you're picking this up fast enough we can get you an actual gun in the next week or two." Marrow riffled through the pages, each showing noticeable improvement over the last "We can start planning out what to give you for melee after that."

"Speaking of Semblances, I don't know any of yours." Jaune worked to steady his breath, still getting used to the feeling of his aura being depleted.

"I have yet to figure out my semblance friend Jaune!" Penny declared, still smiling despite the admittance.

"I'm sure you'll get it soon Penny." Jaune promised his bubbly friend, her smile somehow growing brighter as she gave him a back cracking hug that drove all the air out of his lungs.

"Mine is a passive non-combat semblance which I use to develop my ordinances." Ciel spoke up as she finished preparing her training pistol, setting the target machines to begin moving as she opened fire, eyes flitting about rapidly as she shot and spoke "My semblance lets me run mathematical calculations near instantaneously and with a ninety-eight-point seven percent accuracy rating so far." As she finished speaking, she fired the last pellet from her pistol, the machine stopping to show ten targets, each with a bullet hole through the center as she'd calculated where to fire to hit each one perfect "It allows me to make the most efficient ordinances I can. I intend to eventually get training with sniper riffles to further improve my combat viability." It also explained her OCD habits when it came to punctuality and other matters where she insisted on precision.

"That's amazing." Jaune looked wide eyed at both the semblance and her display of its use.

"Thank you." Ceil gave him a brief smile before her expression became its usual politely cool poker face "Most of our classmates consider it a useless semblance since it lacks a direct visible combat use such as super strength or making barriers."

"Of course they do." Jaune pinches the bridge of his nose exasperated. Combat semblances were certainly useful, but they aren't the most important thing in the world. "But what about you Marrow?"

"Mine is called 'Freeze'." Marrow explained, kicking up his feet and grabbing another slice of pizza that the group was sharing for lunch "I point at someone or snap my fingers at them, pulse my aura as I order 'stay' and everyone I use it on gets frozen in place. I've even made Grimm get frozen in midair before."

"A dog who knows how to stay, how original." A new voice with a thick accent scoffed as Jaune turned to see another Atlesian around Marrow's age with their own group of prep academy students entered the firing range.

"Better than your weak ass attempts at a joke Ivanov." Marrow didn't even bat an eye as he glanced over at Jaune "This is Ratko Ivanov, he's a student from the primary Atlas Academy."

"You mean the strongest student." Ivanov smirked coldly, mist escaping his mouth while the room's temperature dropped.

"Then why did I beat you the last three times we fought in combat class? Marrow asked with a smirk as he took a bite of food, Ivanov snarling like an angry Grimm "You only win because of how that little trick of yours works in a one-on-one fight for a ring. In a real fight, you'd end up as nothing more than material for a new fur coat."

"Assuming he doesn't have fleas." One of the prep academy students, one Jaune hadn't met yet, let out a smug chuckle that sounded practices.

"Friend Marrow does not have fleas." Penny tilted her head, "Although you are showing early signs of a Lice infestation in your hair student Lucius Malfoy." The blond boy's hands shoot to his hear reflexively before he glares at Penny.

"I do not have lice you uppity little gutter trash." Malfoy snarled disdainfully.

"Now, now little Lucius." Ivanov smirked coldly, the older teenager's expression sending a shiver down Jaune's spine "Perhaps they need a little lesson to get the idea into their skulls. A little 'friendly' competition in the urban combat arena."

"The what?" Jaune sent a confused glance at Marrow, not remembering a location like that on the tour.

"Paintball." Marrow explained quickly, "Urban combat team against team paintball matches. Ivanov…enjoys fighting people."

"Huntsmen are supposed to primarily train to fight Grimm." Jaune frowned, forcing himself not to gulp as Ivanov.

"How…naïve." Ivanov scoffed. The teenager, not even a graduated student yet, just stood there with a relaxed lazy posture, hands in his coat pockets, but he already intimidated Jaune more than anything he'd met so far in his life "I can't wait to be done with these fucking schools, to be away from all this delusional bullshit keeping me from getting things done. I'm not a 'huntsman' runt, I'm a soldier."

"I fail to see much difference." Jaune managed to muster up his courage to stare into the Atlas student's eyes, "They both protect the kingdoms."

"Yes, huntsmen are lots of protection." Ivanov rolled his eyes as the room grew colder still "Pretty prancing mercenaries, going to pageants and concerts, wearing bright happy colors as they show up to kill the Grimm…for the right pay of course. They're not soldiers, they're not heroes, they're just Mercenaries who can't even get the job done right. Most of them can't even look a man in the eye to end their life to save more." Jaune was shaking and he wasn't sure if it was from the cold or fear anymore "Me though? I'm a clever soldier, I'm a committed soldier, one very dedicated to the art of War."

"War?" Ciel looked confused, not that Jaune could blame her given that there hadn't been a true 'war' since the Faunus Rights Revolution, an admittedly short war that came only a few years after the 'Great War' that had been far longer. And those had been the first massive international conflicts in almost two centuries. Didn't make as much sense to fight other humans and Faunus when the Grimm were a constant threat to all.

"I get so fucking sick of people talking about war like it's two big forces meeting on some agreed upon field." Ivanov spat, "War, is when you kill so many of the other side, that they can't fight you anymore. Whether that be Grimm, bandits, or any other scum threatening my home. Bouncing around a meadow in a bright green combat skirt to fight a couple of Beowolves, that isn't war. Stealing into a bandit camp and cutting every throat in sight while they sleep is war. Poisoning wells, is war. Killing every child in a town and disappearing to fracture the enemy. That…is war. War is for winning, war is what I intend to do." Ivanov gave a sweeping gesture "You little 'huntsmen' standing there grandstanding and posing, you make me sick. You all think you can go out, be seen, and save the world like it's some fucking kiddy cartoon. Thinking you can be knights in shining amor, thinking you can save the day and win just because you believe. That you can change pieces of shit that deserve to bleed out in the snow. Wanting to be seen, wanting to be heard, because you feel 'special'." Ivanov shook his head, Jaune noticing ice starting to form in patches on the older teenager's coat "Whatever. You can always show up at the arena tomorrow to try and prove me wrong pissants. Malfoy, Gran, Choir. Come." The three hurriedly followed their terrifying mentor as Jaune, Ciel, and Penny turned towards Marrow.

"What was that all about?" Jaune found his legs collapsing into a chair as he forced himself to breath, Ivanov's presence throwing him off balance.

"And I thought the Atlesian huntsmen academies showing that kind of attitude towards faunus was just exaggerated rumor." Jaune frowned as Marrow seemed to sigh and slump in on himself.

"His issue with me isn't that I'm a faunus." Marrow shook his head, "His issue with me, is that my older brother I grew up with was a White Fang assassin who killed his parents." Well, there went the mood, Ciel and Penny apparently hadn't known this either given their widening eyes as Marrow's leg bounced with nervous energy "He got caught back when I was still in the prep school. I didn't know about any of it until the Atlesian forces came into our house while he helped me with my homework, arresting him at my kitchen table. I got questioned too, a huntress with a lie detecting semblance confirming I had no idea what my brother had done, and given I was already enrolled here with my semblance unlocked, I got put on an orphan stipend and allowed to stay."

"And…what about Ivanov?" Jaune tried to change the subject, not wanting to make his mentor uncomfortable, knowing that one couldn't exactly choose their family.

"His comment about being the strongest? That isn't for show." Marrow told them all seriously "His aura pool is large, his fighting style is ruthless, and his semblance is one of the most dangerous I've ever seen for an Atlesian. It's a stockpile power. He can absorb ice and cold, storing it up to use whenever he wants to. Small blasts or releasing it one giant blast to make a localized blizzard or ice age in whatever area he wants, whether it's inhabited or not. And to top it all off, he can just recharge when he's in such a big creation. I think the school gave him those kids to mentor in the hopes that they'd temper him. Instead, he's been grooming them to think like he does. Although given how some Atlesian officers act that might have been the intent all along."

"So, we shouldn't go?" Jaune frowned, processing the situation with the ruthless student and their convictions.

"Actually, I think we should." Marrow held up a hand to stop any stunned protest "He's sadistic and an asshole, but not only is it just paintball, it would be a good test of skills. Ivanov lives and breathes urban combat, something he would have passed onto to those three you saw with him. It would be a good way to see where you can and test your skills." Assuming Jaune could even shoot straight around the cold Atlesian.