Disclaimer: See prologue.


Chapter 1:


The following morning Jaune woke up at around six, the sun's rim had barely begun to appear on the horizon, Beacon still being largely shrouded by the twilight dawn. He slowly raised from his bed, carefully walked to the closet as to not wake his sleeping teammates, picked up some workout clothes, and made to the bathroom to freshen up.

His morning ablutions done he headed out of Team JNPR's dorm room and out of the dorms building proper.

Arrived outside he started to ponder where to go for working on his cultivation.

'Definitely someplace out of the way, somewhere less frequented... Hmm... If I remember correctly there was this one spot of green off by the cliffs leading to the Emerald Forest, it should be what I'm looking for.' His mind made he directed himself to the location.

A few moments later he arrived at destination. He did a quick inspection of the place and nodded in appreciation.

'It'll do for now. I'd have liked a more out of the way place, maybe somewhere secluded in the Emerald Forest itself, but first I rather gather more strength, I'd very much like to not become Grimm chow this soon in my cultivation, heck I've yet to even build up a Foundation Establishment.'

Seeing a copse of trees that could hide his form from any prying eyes coming from the academy's direction, he sat behind one in the same position as his last night's attempt at Qi Gathering.

'Okay... Now's where things will get more complicated. First I need to learn how to dissociate my Qi from my Aura, I have a hunch that using both in conjunction will offers interesting results but at this moment I don't have enough refinement in their control to do really anything productive... So,' he took a deep normal breath to psyche himself up, 'let's start.'

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath but this time slow and from his belly.

The instant he opened his Dantian both of the energies started to run amok.

'Crap, both my Qi and Aura really wants mix together, certainly because of their close likeness to each other as body enhancing energies, the problem is that their effects dramatically differs from each other. Not only that, but when I try to circulate my Qi through my Meridians my Aura naturally follows overloading the young Meridians of this body still unused to such an influx of energy. Hmm... I need to meditate more to properly isolate the two. Eh, eh... It certainly isn't going to be as easy as...

Turning over a hand..? Where did that come from-? Oh, yes, Xiao Long. Makes sense.

Anyhow, good. I like a challenge..!'

Doing as thought, Jaune poked around his Dantian, pulling and pushing his Qi all the while trying to get a handle on his Aura, whose source in the physical plane of his body he has yet to find.

After more than half an hour he opened his eyes and let out a warm breath.

'So, I've made progress. In part. While on the Qi side of things I've got all my bases covered, on the Aura side not so much, if at all. I can have all the control over my Qi all I want, if I don't even have a slight handle on my Aura it'll all be for naught... But I was expecting that. If I remember correctly I never really studied the soul arts in my past life, that field of study never really interested me. I really only took a cursory glance at what texts I came across by chance but that's really it, and from the tidbits I recall, the kind of sects focused on the soul that Xiao Long, or I, encountered in my journey had such reputations that I prefered to stay away from it all.

And really all I remind of souls is what is taught in the Dao, that the soul resides in the brain, if I'm not mistaken that is, so in essence not much. Plus, it would seem the inhabitants of Remnant's biology doesn't follows the same common sense than what is taught about the soul in the Dao.

According to the common sense of this world and the widely accepted facts about Aura its source is in the soul, alright, so far I follow, except that from what I got from my meditation it's anywhere and nowhere in the body at once! Like it doesn't know how it exists! What kind of Supreme Being would design such an ability like this!? Doesn't really help that I've never encountered any other world with that kind of specific power...

And let's not talk about my base knowledge as Jaune Arc, it's laughable, and I say this from the point of view of Xiao Long... Though I guess his lack of knowledge is in great part because of his parents so... Sigh. I guess I'm a bit too hard on him- me. Me, I meant me. I'm Jaune Arc now. Jaune. my parents. It's in great part because of my parents. My. Parents... Xiao Long his long dead… Great, I'm not only having an identity crisis but I'm starting to make bad puns. Fantastic.'

He scooted backwards so he could rest his back and his head on the tree's trunk and took a calming breath, troubled eyes looking up at the brightening sky.

'I knew all those memories wouldn't just implement themselves without a few side effects. I mean, from what I remember I've been Xiao Long thousands of years times more than I've lived as Jaune Arc before my... Untimely demise...' He lost himself in his thoughts, staying contemplating for a moment, eyes unseeing and unresponsive. Then he shook himself up from his thoughts. '...So I guess that it was bound there'd be some overlap. Case in point, my thinking patterns. And the frustration doesn't help too I guess, eh, eh..." He let out a tired sigh. 'Oh well, not much I can do except compartmentalizing as best I can.'

He took some time contemplating, looking at the sky getting brighter and brighter by the minutes.

'I better keep an eye on the time.'

Reaching out for his Scroll he turned it on and saw that it was a little under seven thirty, deciding he did enough progress for now he got up and started heading back to his dorm room to prepare for his first school day.

A few moments later, in Team JNPR's dorm.

As he entered his dorm, Jaune noticed that his teammates were still very much fast asleep. He looked at Pyrrha all tightly curled up, making him think of his dear sisters, of both lives. Then to Nora, body and limbs haphazardly placed all over her bed. 'Even in sleep she's still full of energy, it's a wonder she didn't fell over.' He thought with a smile, only for the smile to wry upon seeing his fellow male teammate, lying dead still on his back and hands clasped on his stomach.

'If I couldn't see the movements of his chest showing he breathed I'd be worried...'

Shaking himself off at the sight he went to his closet to pick his uniform and headed to the bathroom to get properly cleaned up for the day and get dressed.

Minutes later a Jaune Arc fully decked out in his uniform exited the bathroom and walked to the center of the main room, arms crossed he took some time to think about a way to wake his teammates up and shrugged his shoulders, deciding to go simple.

"Come on Team JNPR! Time to wake up!"

At that Ren's eyes eerily opened instantly and the young man sat up on his bed, all traces of sleep absent from his face.

'I'm impressed.' Jaune thought with a raised eyebrow.

"Good morning Jaune, I take it it's time for us to prepare for the day."

"Yep, and you guys have less than an hour to get ready, maybe less if you guys want to have a proper breakfast."

A groan was heard coming from the ginger's bed of the team.

"Too tired... Want to sleep..."

Rising an eyebrow again, Jaune sent to a questioning look at Ren. With a nod the black haired pink stripped young man turned to his friend of forever.

"There might be some pancakes-"

"Pancakes!?" She yelled, instantly up in the time it took for Jaune to blink. "Silly Jaune-Jaune! Why did you not say it earlier?" And in a flash she rushed to her closet to pick her things and made a beeline to the bathroom, the door was barely closed they could already hear the sound of water coming from the shower.

"That was... Effective." Blandly said Jaune.

"Indeed. You'll find out that Nora can get motivated by the simplest things."

"Eh, eh. I'll keep it in mind for next time."

With a nod Ren raised from his bed and made to get his own clothes at a more sedate pace.

Jaune then turned to his still curled up partner, who looked even more tightly curled on herself, as if to hide herself from the outside world. With a smile at this familiar sight he shook his head and walked to her.

"Come on Pyrrha, time to get up."

A groan could be heard from underneath the arm covering her face.

"Pyrrha, c'mon."

Another groan.

"There might be some pancakes?"

At that he heard a snort coming from her.

She raised her arm of her face and sent him sleepy amused smile.

"Wrong redhead Jaune." She said making him smile in turn.

"True, but you can't argue that it didn't work to get a reaction out of you." He pointed out.

"Pfff… I guess you could be concidered being right."

"Thank you. So, does this mean your up?"

"Yes, yes... Let me gather my belongings." She said as she leisurely rose from her bed. "Ren, I know you woke up before me but do you mind if go after Nora? What with my hair and all..."

"Of course, I don't mind." He answered with a nod and a calm smile.

After a few moments Nora had finished with getting ready for the day, so Pyrrha went next and after her came Ren's turn.

Once every member of Team JNPR were ready they exited their dorm room and went to get breakfast making idle chatter along the way.

After breakfast, in Professor Port's class.

'So, that's Grimm Studies, huh? I must admit that wasn't what I had in mind. I thought it would have been a more academic course but Professor Port's way of teaching isn't exactly what I had in mind. Though I can't argue that there is definitely more in his stories than meets the eye. At least when you know what to pay attention to.' He thought while writing down the key parts he got from Port's stories while filtering the rest of the superfluous. 'It sure is a novel way of passing down knowledge, quite different than how the other masters and teachers back at the clan used to teach us. Eh, eh... Good times.' He thought with a nostalgic smile.

Suddenly he felt a wave of pointed anger heavily tinted with frustration coming from the row below where was seated the all-girl Team RWBY, most specifically from the white haired member of the team, one Weiss Schnee.

The first time he met her, before the unlocking of his Aura, he genuinely felt attracted to her and as only Jaune Arc he could have very well pictured himself awkwardly asking her out, with cringe worthy attempts, but since he regained his memories as Xiao Long he quickly dismissed such thoughts. Not only did he not have time to spend on such things as dating with how busy he is with his cultivation, especially seeing how early in it he is, but with the extended life experience of Xiao Long he could tell that it would have been a time consuming venture.

Basically she would have been quite the tough nut to crack.

'I wonder what has got her so worked up though?' He wondered while discreetly observing her. Soon he realized the source of her apparent frustration, her team leader, Ruby Rose. Incidentally the very first friendship he struck at coming to the academy. The younger girl didn't seem to take the class much seriously which it seemed grated on her partners nerves. 'Oh, I see... As expected, taking into account the heiress's personality it'll be quite the recipe for disaster.'

Distracted by his thoughts he failed to notice what the professor asked to the rest of the class but definitely heard the answer coming from the subject of his pondering.

"I do, sir! She exclaimed while raising her hand angrily.

"Well, then, let's find out!" Port said in response to her claim.

'Do what? Find what? Seriously what did I miss..?' Jaune asked himself confused by what happened before him.

His questions soon increased upon watching the portly professor taking his weapon out of a rack on the wall, a combo between a blunderbuss and a double headed axe.

"Huh Pyrrha, I zoned out what's going on?" He asked to his partner, slightly concerned about the happenings before him.

"Professor Port asked who among us embodies the traits of a Huntsman and Weiss answered the call."

"But w-"

"Step forward, and face your opponent!"

At that he pointed at a big cage whose content where shrouded in darkness, with only two glowing red eyes, the most obvious signature of a Grimm, showing through its bars.

'What the!? I could have sworn there was nothing there! Where did it come from!?'

As Weiss made her way out of the classroom to certainly go to the Locker Room to change for the battle ahead, Jaune still couldn't make head or tail of the imposing cage's origins.

"Was this cage here all along?" He asked Pyrrha again.

"Hmm? Oh, no, Professor Port elevated it from a hidden trapdoor on the floor."

"Ah, I see... Makes sense now. Thanks."

"You're welcome~." She melodically said.

'Seriously what's the budget of this school to make a hidden trapdoor to bring live Grimm in the middle of a classroom? And heck he brought a Grimm in the middle of a classroom full of unarmed students! I know we have Aura and are supposed to be able to handle ourselves but still...'

Meanwhile his random ramblings about the academy's safety regulations, or its lack thereof, Weiss had made her way back to the classroom in her Huntress attire.

What happened then could only be described as chaos.

Not counting the interactions of Team RWBY's members with each other, 'is this a flag in support of their team? Where did Blake get this it's barely the first day of classes?', Ruby and Weiss's interactions throughout the later's battle, against what was a Boarbatusk in the cage all along, were discomfiting at best.

However there was a sliver lining in the whole ordeal, taking advantage of the battlefield's proximity and relative safety, Jaune analyzed the way how someone properly trained in the way of Aura channeled it in their bodies.

'...Yep. That's what I thought. I got nothing. While I can very well sense the energy, and feel that every time she floods one of her body parts with it an effect happens, including but not limited to reinforcement of the skin, of the muscles, and the passive/active barrier or "force field" as I naively called it, the fact that it is all over the place and naturally invisible except when taking a hit tells me nothing.

At my current level of Spiritual Sense I'd need to do a more thorough investigation.'

The Spiritual Sense, or alternatively called oftentimes the Divine Sense, the manifestation of one's consciousness and spirit, is an ability offering Cultivators the means to scan their surroundings as well as utilize their more esoteric powers at a greater distance. In many civilizations' cultivation systems, it is unlocked very early on in their path of cultivation.

In Jaune's current level of Cultivation, the Qi Gathering Stage, his Spiritual Sense passively informs him of threats in a range of roughly one meters and actively at five meters, while it additionally offers him limited insights of his surroundings. The more advanced one Cultivator is in his journey to reach the Dao, the more they are able to decipher the mysteries of the universe.

'Meaning I'd have to get my hands on someone using their Aura whilst in meditation. Fat chance of that happening, I'd like to hide my cultivation for the time being thank you very much. While I know there's barely any chance of anyone in this world knowing about it, I still know too very little about Aura and its perception abilities...

Maybe I should ask someone to advise me? But to who should I go to? Ah, it's over.'

Indeed, whilst musing about which way to go from here, Weiss had finished her opponent, piercing the Boarbatusk through its belly and certainly rupturing what passes for a vital organ to those creatures.

After Weiss made this last demonstration of skill and hostility towards her team leader, their professor dismissed the class and every students started to make their way out of the classroom.

"Team RWBY is on a rough beginning..." Stated Jaune as his team and him walked out into the corridor.

"Should we do something?" Asked Pyrrha in concern.

"I'd advise against it." Ren answered. "For the time being it would be the wisest to let them sort this out by themselves."

"I agree with Ren." Added Jaune. "Place yourself in their position, how would you feel if someone butted like that on your business while you felt on edge?"

"Not much welcoming?"

"Exactly. Don't get me wrong though, if it'd keep on going on like this and if I'd see they were open to it I would offer to at least talk it through but for now there's not much we can do except offer our support if they'd ask for it."

"Alright then..." Said Pyrrha, a little more relieved.

At that the four continued on their way, and Jaune felt like he had the answer to his previous question.

'He'd advise, huh? I think Ren would be a good start in the right direction...' He thought with a small discreet smile. 'Things are looking up!'


A/N:

So! First proper chapter... What do you people think?

For my part I'm content with it, this first chapter was fairly simple to write.

Oh right, I received a few comments about whether or not ICH would be a harem story, if I paraphrase you guys roughly, and for that I've got mixed feelings about it. I just don't know whether I want it to be or not. It's one of the reasons why Jaune's not in a hurry to get himself on the dating scene, for now.

I could make it a harem story, especially considering that in the xianxia genre it's a pretty common trope... Would also make it easier on me to make a choice.

Though being honest with you guys if I'd make it so Jaune would end up with anyone it would be either Ruby or Pyrrha...

So I had an idea, and it would involve you all! Basically I'm going to make a poll in my profile. I know, I know, I'm taking the easy way out, sorry not sorry! So please, make sure you inform me what you'd like me to do. Thanks in advance!

Fyr out!