In the Emerald Forest, Pyrrha Nikos, armed with Miló and Akoúo, and Jaune Arc make their way through the bushes. Jaune hears a noise far away and turns his head.
"Pyrrha…" Jaune called. "Did you hear that?".
"Gunfire," Pyrrha responded. "It seems some of our comrades have encountered Grimm".
They keep moving forward, Jaune still staring in the sound's direction as Pyrrha raises a branch to pass by and accidentally releases it right at Jaune's face, making a small scratch on his face.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha said. She noticed how the branch she let go had hit Jaune in the face. "I'm sorry!".
"Ha-ha-ha!" Jaune laughed, lowering his hand from his cheek to reveal a gash from the wooden recoil. "It's okay. Just a scratch".
"Why didn't you activate your Aura?" Pyrrha asked. "You do have Aura, right?".
"Huh?" Jaune said. He then remembered what his great-grandfather Noah had told him before. "Uhm…I actually don't have my Aura active".
"You don't have your Aura active?" Pyrrha said, confused. "Have you been training without Aura?".
"Pretty much," Jaune said. "My great-grandfather was meant to unlock my Aura on my seventeenth birthday, but he died sometime after my sixteenth birthday".
"I-I… I'm sorry for bringing back such memories," Pyrrha said. She then resolved to activate Jaune's Aura for him. "Now, close your eyes and concentrate. I will unlock your Aura".
"Thank you, Pyrrha," Jaune said. He remembered something about people activating Aura's outside family. "I know that activating Aura is not something to be done for strangers since it is an intimate act of bearing your soul to another".
"I-It's fine!" Pyrrha said. She blushed at what Jaune said, as activating someone else's Aura is giving a small portion of yours. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee".
When activating Jaune's Aura, Pyrrha was very confused. Jaune's Aura…did not feel like Aura. But the moment her Aura touched Jaune's 'Aura', it started to imitate its form. When she finished activating Jaune's 'Aura', she opened her eyes and saw something she would never have imagined.
Jaune was covered in a powerful light. It wasn't the light of Aura but something far more powerful. Every second that Pyrrha looked at Jaune, the stronger the energy became, to the point that she could no longer stand, and she fell to the ground. However, something appeared above Jaune's head after a certain amount of power. It looked like a white crown. It descended to Jaune's head and tightened around it.
Pyrrha was wide-eyed as the crown sealed away the power flowing out from within Jaune. The energy that she saw, it was imitating the abilities of Aura. She didn't know what to think. She has never seen an Aura activate this way. Moments later, Jaune finally opened his eyes and felt the power flow through him.
"Whoa! This is amazing," Jaune said. He repeatedly opened and closed his fist to feel the power flowing through him. "I didn't know Aura was this incredible".
"Ah…Uhm…Jaune?" Pyrrha was about to tell him that what she might have awakened was not Aura but something more powerful. However, she didn't know how to explain it to Jaune because she didn't even know what it was. So, she opted to not say anything... for now. "We… We should get going".
"You're right," Jaune said. "I don't know if there is a limit to the relic Ozpin is talking about because if there is, we might be screwed if we don't get any".
Jaune and Pyrrha made their way to the location they were heading to earlier. Moments later, they are standing at the mouth of a dark cave, where drawings are seen to the side involving armed men against giant beasts.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune called. He looked at her and asked. "Think this is it?".
"I'm not sure," Pyrrha said. "There's only one way to find out".
Jaune and Pyrrha walked inside the cave, with Jaune holding a short, burning torch to light their way.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha said. She was feeling uneasy inside the cave. "I'm not sure this is it".
"I think so too," Jaune said. "Maybe we should go outside".
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, Jaune trips to the ground, and the torch flies into a small puddle, extinguishing the flame, so the two are cast in darkness.
"Do you... feel that, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked Jaune, who got up from the ground soaked. "It feels warm".
Jaune and Pyrrha continued onward through the cave to ensure that it wasn't the place until they saw a large glowing point of gold.
"That's the relic!" Jaune said with excitement. He then tried to grab it, but it moved away. "What the…?! Pyrrha, we got to run, now!".
The owner of the gold looking object chased them. Once they were out of the cave, they saw what was chasing them, a Death Stalker.
"Holy crap!" Jaune said with shock. "That thing is huge!".
Professor Ozpin watched the students on his scroll at the Beacon Cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest when Glynda Goodwitch walked up behind him, holding her own tablet.
"The last pair has been formed, sir," Glynda said while she tapped the screen to show Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. "Poor boy... I can't imagine those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos".
"Mhmm…" Ozpin said while looking at his scroll. "Mhmm".
"I don't care what his transcripts say," Glynda said. "That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat. I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace, they should reach the temple within just a few minutes…".
Glynda had her eyes wide open at what she witnessed on her tablet. She saw Jaune, who was running with Pyrrha, turn towards the Death Stalker and kick it back to the cave. Said cave, caved in and killed the Death Stalker.
Glynda rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. But no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes, the cave that killed the Death Stalker was still caved in, which is evidence of how strong Jaune's kick was.
"W-What…? How is that possible?" Glynda said, still shocked at what she saw. "I think I stand corrected. Mr Arc seems to be ready for this level of combat".
Back with Jaune. He knows how strong he is, but the kick he gave the Death Stalker was more of a light tap just to disorient it a bit, not kick it to death and cause a cave-in.
"Whoa! I guess Aura gives you a boost in strength," Jaune said. "That's really neat. Dang, I hope Pops unlock my Aura earlier".
Seeing that he didn't inform Pyrrha to stop running, she was already a few hundred meters away from him. Not wanting to be left behind, he used Bo-Bup to suddenly appear beside her.
Glynda, who was still watching in her scroll, was shocked. She thought that maybe Jaune's strength was a semblance, but it was unlikely as he showed speed beyond Ruby Rose.
"Ozpin, I need to head back to my office and clear my head," Glynda said. She rubbed her temples due to her headache from witnessing things Jaune did. "Give my scroll a ring if you need me for something. I need to make some tea to relax".
"Hmm…" Ozpin was surprised at Glynda's action. She would never skip such things. If she was, then it might be serious. So, he worried about her. "Is there something wrong, Glynda?".
"No, just a bit of headache," Glynda said. She then moved towards Beacon Academy. "Again, if you need me, just message me in my scroll or call it".
Shortly after running from the Death Stalker, Jaune and Pyrrha arrived at the temple.
"I think we lost the Death Stalker," Jaune said. He lied about it since he didn't think someone would believe him if he told them he punted the Death Stalker to death. "I think we're safe".
Pyrrha saw that the Death Stalker was nowhere to be found.
"Thank Oum! That Death Stalker seemed to be quite old," Pyrrha said. "I don't think I want to be going to any cave any time soon".
"Probably won't be a problem due to us being in class for a while," Jaune said. "After this initiation is done, I'm so going to take a nice long hot shower. I still don't know what the liquid in the cave was".
"Hey there, Jaune," Yang said. "I see you got partnered up with one of the strongest students this year…By the way, what's with the crown? I didn't see you wearing one at Beacon Cliff".
"What?" Jaune said. He then touched his head and felt something there. "What the…?! Where did this thing come from?! I wasn't wearing this earlier!".
Jaune tried to remove the crown, but it wasn't coming off. He struggled for a few minutes before giving up as he heard a voice above him. It was Ruby, falling from the sky. Jaune used Bo-Bup to catch her before she hit the ground.
