Ephemeral Dream
Summary: Jaune Arc isn't strong, smart, or skilled. Even so, he dreams of a future in which he is a Huntsman. He dreams of friendship, combat, and love. But every dreamer must wake. "Not yet…" He whispered, tears of blood streaking down his cheeks. "I can't let this dream end… Until I've turned it to reality." Gamer Jaune!
Warnings: Crossovers, strong and smart Jaune, later quite OP. Possible Harem.
IV: A Day with Ruby
[Gradation Air has levelled up by one.]
[Quest: Projection has been cleared! Bonus Objective has now been unlocked. Time Limit: 2 Weeks]
[Rewards]
Gradation Air has evolved into Projection.
+10 Intelligence
+1,000 EXP
[Projection is now Rank B.]
[Due to gaining [Skill: Projection], you have obtained Alteration.]
[You have levelled up.]
+210HP
+310MP
+6 Stat Points
It was late on Friday night that I finally got that notification, and I had to stop myself from screaming with joy.
Three days. In just three days of non-stop creation, and storing in my inventory, without sleep, that I finally managed to get Gradation Air to Level 50 and clear the initial step of the quest!
Thankfully I hadn't been caught when doing so. It would have been a bit awkward to answer questions like that, but I managed to do my work without Ruby, Yang, or anyone else noticing what I was doing for three days.
I won't lie and say the process wasn't tedious and didn't give me a headache just from how long the process was taking, but I was done! And, it meant that I could, finally, get some actual level grinding done! I quickly brought up Projection to read about it, as well as the new skill I'd obtained in Alteration.
[Projection (Active) – Rank B – Lv. 50]
Recreation of objects the user has seen. Imperfect copies, but who said a fake cannot beat the original? No longer are the copies hollow and worthless, now they are true weapons that can be used in battle!
Weapons Projected will be 1 Rank lower than their originals. Cannot project weapons of a higher rank than Projection. Cost: 10MP
[Alteration (Active) – Rank E – Lv. 1]
The power to give an object a property or effect that it originally didn't have, as well as change the structure of the object. Some objects cannot have their structure altered. Cost: 10MP
I gave a nod and a grin as I read the description, before I brought up my stats page. I wasted no time investing two points into intelligence, two into vitality, and then one into strength and one into dexterity. That would give me more MP when I next levelled up, more health, and I'd be a bit faster with more strength.
Hopefully, that would be enough when I started the grind. The extra levels I'd gotten in my Magic Circuits Quality was also very good, as it was Level Forty and was considered C Rank.
At the moment, I had more pressing matters… Like where the hell I was going to get the money for my day out with Ruby. I didn't want to make her pay for everything, that was just a dick move on so many levels. Especially since it was my idea.
I looked towards my inventory, but there was nothing in there save the cosmetic I'd unlocked and over a thousand fake butter knives…
I paused.
… Could I sell these knives?
Sure, the story was locked until I hit a higher level, but was I at least allowed to sell things?
I decided it couldn't hurt, and decided to verbalise the command. "Sell 1,225 [Butter Knife (Fake)]!"
Instantly, a screen popped up in front of me.
[Are you sure you want to sell [Butter Knife (Fake)] x1225 for 1,225 Gold?]
My eyes bugged out. One Gold was ten Lien, that means I'd have over twelve-thousand Lien in this one transaction!
"Yes!" I said excitedly.
[You have sold [Butter Knife (Fake)] x1225. You have obtained 1,225 Gold.]
I grinned widely as I saw the amount of gold I now had! That was the easiest twelve-thousand Lien I'd ever made!
My elation soon faded as I recalled from the tutorial that the store would have to be unlocked first for me to convert currency…
… So why could I sell if the store wasn't unlocked?
"is there some kind of bug in the system that lets me do so now, despite the store not being unlocked?" I mused to myself.
Deciding to test it, I mentally asked the System to convert all the gold to Lien.
Nothing happened.
I frowned lightly… Maybe if I said it out loud? "Convert 1,225 Gold to Lien."
[You are about to convert 1,225 Gold to 12,250 Lien. You cannot undo this. Are you sure you want to proceed?]
There was a bug! Usually, the game responded to my mental commands. But it seemed like it registered mental and verbal commands as different, and let me slip past certain mechanics and do things, at least with the store. If any other new mechanics popped up later, I'd have to test it out.
"Yes."
[You have converted your Gold to Lien. 12,250 Lien has been placed into your Inventory.]
I fist pumped. And just like that, my money problems were solved! I had plenty of money for my day out tomorrow with Ruby.
I was determined to make sure it was a good day. Not just for the quest, but because I wanted Ruby to be happy. So, I was willing to do anything she wanted all day, be it going to her favourite bakery, going to a weapons shop so she could look at everything, or even just chilling at her place or mine all day and playing games.
I was hoping she would take us to a weapon store, honestly. Now that I had projection, it meant I could finally get to grinding levels. And the best way to do that was fight. The problem was I didn't have any weapons I could think of except Crocea Mors. And something told me that weapon was definitely Ranked A or higher, so I couldn't use that.
Which meant going to a weapons store and using Structural Analysis on as many weapons as I could was going to be my best bet. I was willing to guess that my better my understanding of the weapon, the better I could project it.
With that in mind, my MP was fully restored thanks to the level up. So, I decided to take my time and level up structural analysis.
I assumed that the higher the level, the more information I would get out of something. That meant I'd better be able to project the weapon at a later date due to a better understanding of it.
Which meant Structural Analysis was almost required for me to level up as high as I could. It went hand in hand with projection.
"The System sure does enjoy making a crappy plot," I muttered with a bitter smirk on my lips.
I let my smirk fade as I continued to plan for the future. More specifically, what skills I was going to level up next.
Projection and Structural Analysis were currently at the top of my list. After that, I would work on Alteration, and then I would work on Reinforcement. Then, if I didn't obtain any other skills, I would start working on my 'Black Dragon' Skills… I'd also see if I could find some gauntlets and some good boots to help compliment the skills.
The System clearly wanted me to have the skills for a reason. Which meant I should use them, and level them up.
With my plans for the future set in my mind, I took a seat, placed my hand on a chair… And set to work.
~~Ephemeral Dream~~
Saturday, 12PM.
The day of mine and Ruby's day out.
I'd actually made sure to get a good night of sleep last night. Once I ran out of MP and couldn't use Structural Analysis, I decided that was enough for the night. Every time it levelled up, the information I received was just a bit more detailed than before. I managed to reach Level 23 with Structural Analysis, increasing its Rank to D.
Interestingly, when I reached Level Ten and Twenty respectively, the MP cost for it dropped by one each time. I hoped that meant when it reached the max level that the MP cost would be zero.
I'd woken up early and enjoyed a nice breakfast, before I'd headed to my room and gotten ready for my day with Ruby. I'd decided that I wasn't going to bother with any extra Magecraft today. No Structural Analysis, no Projection, no nothing.
Just a day with my best friend.
"Jaune!" I heard Ruby's voice call out, and I turned my head to look at her.
It had been a long time since I'd seen Ruby in something so casual. She looked good. She was dressed in a red sundress and flip-flops, her handbag hanging across her body so that it couldn't be snatched away so easily. I could tell there was a very light amount of make-up on her face, but I couldn't fathom why.
Regardless, Ruby looked damn good; to the point that I found myself blushing as I looked at her.
"Sorry if I'm a bit late," she apologised. "Did I keep you waiting long?"
"Not at all," I shook my head. I'd arrived five minutes early before our agreed meeting time just in case. "I haven't been waiting too long at all… Nice dress, it looks good on you."
[Charisma has levelled up by one.]
My eye twitched lightly at the notification as I saw Ruby blush warmly, twirling a lock of her hair around one of her fingers. "Thanks…" She mumbled quietly, before shaking her head and giving me a smile. "So, where do you wanna go for lunch?"
"Well we could go somewhere somewhat fancy like Olive Garden," he told her. "Or we could go total trash and junk food like McDonald's."
"McDonald's," Ruby said without even hesitating.
I gave her a small smile. I'd have suggested that too. "McDonald's it is," I nodded, and the pair of us began to walk side by side. "So, what are our plans for the day?"
I saw her eyes light up with excitement. "I thought we could go check out my favourite weapon store!" She said, and I mentally thanked whichever multiverse deity came up with this plot. "Then, I was thinking we could stop by my favourite bakery, and then have dinner and play games at my place!"
"… You do know Yang is going to tease us the entire time we're there?"
"Not if she wants mum's cookies," she said with a vicious grin. "When mum heard we were going out, she squealed and said that if Yang did anything to ruin today, she wouldn't make Yang cookies for a month."
Oh great, so even Ruby's mother thought this was a date! "How did Tai and Raven react?"
"Dad looked like he was a bit strangled, but mum gave him a look and he settled down," Ruby told me. "Then Raven just gave Yang this weird knowing look and grinned. It made Yang a bit angry."
I blinked. "Huh, weird…" I shrugged, before McDonald's finally came into view.
We headed inside and used the machine to buy our food, before grabbing one of the small stands with a number on it and finding an empty table to sit at.
"So," I spoke up. "Did you ever decide what weapon you want to use? Sword, spear, mace?"
"Yeah, it took a while though," she admitted. "I took inspiration from Raven's Weapon, Omen! I'm going to use Sword!"
I tilted my head. "I thought you were leaning towards Scythe? Since your mum uses one."
"I was," she nodded freely. "But, after thinking about it, I changed my mind and asked Raven to teach me how to use a sword. I'm looking for something similar to her sword, but I wanna add my own flair!"
"Your own flair?" I raised an eye. "What do you have in mind for that?"
"I want the blade to have a wire running through it," she explained. "And I want the blade to segment and separate so that I can use it as a serrated whip."
"What about mid to long range?"
"That one I haven't figured out," she admitted. "I'm thinking of also having a dagger that can turn into a pistol, or maybe a second collapsible sword that turns into an Assault Rifle that also acts as a backup in case my sword is taken from me."
I gave a nod. Knowing Ruby, she'd somehow find out a way to fuse those two things together by the time Beacon rolled around.
"What about you?" Ruby asked. "What weapons are you going to use?"
"Gauntlets and boots," I said confidently. "I'm thinking the boots can double as shotguns for an extra 'oomph' to my attacks, not entirely sure about the gauntlets at the moment though."
"Oh, are you going for a martial arts style?" She asked eagerly. "Those moves looked so fluid when you fought Cardin! Where did you learn that? How did you move that fast when you fought him? Can I help you make your weapons?"
"Easy Rubes, one question at a time," I told her, laughing at her eagerness. "I moved that fast by using my aura to augment my speed. It only works for short bursts, but it lets me move at incredible speeds, like you saw. I'll let you help me design the weapons, but I want to make them myself. As for where I learned it…"
I paused. Obviously, I couldn't tell Ruby the truth. Not only did it sound ridiculous, but it would lead to questions about various things like quests. And I didn't know how she'd react if I accidentally let slip that my day out with her was a quest.
So, I had to lie.
"I need you to promise to keep this a secret," I told her. "I don't want anyone finding out about it, especially my family."
Ruby hesitated, but she nodded.
"Over the past two years, I've been learning that fighting style from a Faunus," I told her. "He called himself Hei Long. Not sure if he's related to your dad or anything, but that's the name he gave me. He saw I was upset, and asked why. I explained things to him, and we made an agreement. In exchange for not telling anybody about him, he would train me in his special fighting style. He trained me and only left town recently. I decided that, with his departure, I should open up to you all again."
Ruby's eyes widened as she stared at me… I also noticed a trace amount of worry when the name Hei Long was mentioned, but it was gone so fast I wasn't sure if I imagined it or not.
"Well, I'm glad you got the training you deserved," she told me.
"I didn't," I told her. "Not exactly. He only showed me the stances, and then observed and corrected me each time I ran through one. He didn't have me do any exercise besides stretching and then running through the stances. He said he wouldn't stand for anything less than perfect. Once I'd gotten each one perfect, that's when he left."
There. That would explain how I knew how to fight so well, but would also explain away why I wasn't as physically strong.
"Oh, got it!" She nodded. "Don't worry, your secret is completely safe with me. I won't breathe a word of this to anyone. Not Yang, my mum, dad, or Raven. Nobody at all will discover this secret, I promise you-!"
"Okay I get it!" I cut her off. "You'll keep the secret, thank you. You can stop worrying about it."
I saw her blush before she gave a quick nod. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but it was at that point our food arrived. "Alright!" She cheered and began to dig in.
I smiled and began to eat my twenty chicken nuggets one by one as Ruby tore into her double bacon cheese burger.
"So," I spoke up. "How is your training going?"
She looked up at me, swallowing the food in her mouth. "Pretty good," she responded. "My mum is training me to be more flexible, and Raven trains me in her personal sword style. Yang trains with dad, since she wants to go for a boxer style and dad has a similar one."
I gave a nod at her words, taking a moment to chew on one of my nuggets. "Do you think you could teach me a few moves?"
She tilted her head. "But you're going for a martial arts style, aren't you?"
"It doesn't hurt to be prepared," I responded. "Never know when I might need to pick up a sword for whatever reason."
"Well…" She frowned as she thought about it. "I can teach you the basics, but I can't teach you anything else. Raven made me promise not to teach her personal style to anyone else except other family members."
"Fair enough, the basics will be fine," I told her with a smile. "Thanks Ruby."
"No problem!" She gave me a wide grin; one so infectious I couldn't help but grin back. "But you totally have to call me teacher while I'm teaching you!"
I couldn't stop the snort that came out of my mouth. "I'll think about it."
"You'll see! You're totally going to call me teacher before our training sessions are done!"
"Sure, I will," I chuckled softly, picking up my chocolate milkshake and drinking from it, the rest of my food now firmly in my stomach. I hadn't even realised I'd eaten so quickly until I was lifting up my milkshake. I saw Ruby looking down at her own tray with surprise visible on her fae, before she lifted up her strawberry milkshake.
"So, you wanna go and drink these milkshakes on the way to your favourite weapon shop, or sit here and relax for a bit?"
"First one," she said with a grin, and I chuckled. "Like there was any question of that, but I appreciate you being courteous."
I gave a laugh as I stood up, lifting up my tray and chucking everything on it into the trash before stacking it to the side. Ruby followed suit, and the two of us began our trek to her favourite weapon store 'Gun Gale.'
Despite the name, it sold more than just guns; it was just that most of the weapons there were also a gun in one form or another.
We enjoyed some idle chat about weapons on the way to the store, enjoying our milkshakes. We finished them off right as we arrived, tossing them in the trash as we went in.
"Welcome to Gun Gale, where a storm of bullets is what awaits you!" A voice called out from behind the counter. I looked over, and was surprised by the appearance of a rather attractive young woman. She had pale blue hair with part of it tied in ribbons running down either side of her face, and cut short in the back. Her eyes matched her hair, but she seemed to have a thin band of green running around her slightly vertical pupil. She looked rather young, only about sixteen or seventeen.
"Hey Sinon!" Ruby chirped happily. "I brought my friend with me!"
"I see that," the now named Sinon eyed me. "So, you're the famous Jaune Arc I've heard about?"
"I wouldn't call myself famous, but I don't know anyone called Jaune besides me," I told her. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Sinon."
"None of that miss stuff," she laughed. "I'm only sixteen, you know. Any friend of Ruby's is a friend of mine! So," she shifted her gaze to the girl beside me. "You here to talk weapons again?"
"More here to look with my friend," she told Sinon.
"I'd like to try holding some," I said. "Wanna learn how to hold them, see if any of them suit me as far as a weapon goes."
"No problem with that," she nodded. "Just don't swing them too close to anyone. No need to worry about accidentally pulling triggers either, none of them are loaded for obvious reasons."
"I'll be careful," I promised her. I didn't want to use any of the weapons, I only wanted to examine them with Structural Analysis so I could project them better.
"Then feel free," she waved around. "Ruby will probably talk your ear off about them, you sure you're ready for that?"
"I'm used to it," I chuckled softly. "See you around," I told her before Ruby grabbed my hand and began to drag me over and show me weapons, chatting happily about them as I took them off their stands or the wall one by one and examined them with Structural Analysis.
If I could, she and I would be going through every weapon in here before we left. That way, I would have plenty of options for grinding.
~~Ephemeral Dream~~
We spent several hours in Gun Gale, looking through various weapons. There were a lot of weapons, more than I'd thought there would be. Enough for Structural Analysis to hit Level 25.
I did just want to go from weapon to weapon quickly, but I didn't want to be rude to Ruby by doing that as she always spoke so passionately about weapons. It would have been rude to cut her off, though I did end up having to do it several times when I felt an appropriate amount of time had passed.
"Um, sorry…" She mumbled; her face was red as we headed to her house.
We'd spent so long in Gun Gale that, by the time we left, the bakery was already past closing time and we were heading straight to her place for dinner.
"It's cool," I promised her. "I'm sure if we ask your mum nicely, she'll make us some cookies to eat."
"Even so, I'm still sorry…" She was clearly embarrassed by her blunder.
"Apology accepted," I told her, deciding the best thing to do was just accept her apology. "Now do your best to calm down before we get back. Do you really think Yang will be able to hold back from teasing, even with the threat of no cookies, if we get to your place and your face is red like that?"
Ruby only groaned at the thought. Yang's teasing was already bad enough, she'd done a lot of it over Thursday and Friday. If we came back and Ruby had a red face? No amount of threats would stop Yang from teasing her into oblivion.
"Well talk about something else," she muttered. "To distract me!"
"Alright, alright," I nodded, raking my brain as I tried to think of something that would successfully distract Ruby. It couldn't be weapons now, she was embarrassed because of them. So…
"Did you see Glynda Goodwitch is going to be a teacher at Beacon starting next year?" I asked her.
She looked at me with wide eyes. "Wait what!? Glynda Goodwitch!? As in, 'Witch Queen' Glynda Goodwitch!? She's going to be a teacher at Beacon!?"
I gave a nod. "Yeah, I read it in a news Article. She was personally scouted by Headmaster Ozpin for the position."
"That's so cool!" She said in shock and awe, and it wasn't hard to see why.
Huntsmen and Huntresses had a ranking system to them. The higher your rank, the more likely you were to be requested for missions, and the more likely you were to be respected. F was the lowest rank, and it went up to A. S Rank was above A, being reserved for the best of the best.
Glynda Goodwitch had skipped several years at Beacon, becoming a fully qualified Huntress at just eighteen-years-old, graduating with a solid A-Rank to her name. In just two years after that, she had risen to an S Ranking, the youngest Huntress in history to do so!
She was only twenty-five years of age at the moment, and was now going to be spending a few years teaching at Beacon! She was practically a legend already, and it would no doubt be a great honour to train under her tutelage.
"Now I'm even more determined to get into Beacon!" Ruby squealed, a fire burning in her eyes. "To be taught by the Witch Queen would be so awesome!"
"Right!?" I exclaimed with her, giving her a grin…
The fact Glynda was also voted one of the most attractive Huntresses on active duty had nothing to do with my eagerness, I swear.
"When did this info come out?" She asked me.
"It was right before I went to bed," I told her. "A breaking news kind of thing, I think it was also on the news this morning too? I wasn't really paying attention; I was more focused on getting ready for our day today."
She gave a nod. "Do you uh… Think she'd give me her autograph?"
"Probably, but only if you manage to impress her with your skills."
"Then I'm going to make sure I do just that!" She said, pumping her fist. "I'll wow and dazzle her, so that she'll give me her autograph for sure!"
"Good luck, I know you can do it," I told her with an encouraging smile.
A couple of minutes later we were at her house, and she took a deep breath. "Just let me… Mentally prepare myself for this," Ruby told him. "I just know mum is going embarrass me… Again."
I rubbed her back comfortingly. "There, there. You can endure it."
"As long as she doesn't bust out the baby pictures," Ruby muttered in annoyance.
I winced. Summer always had a habit of bringing out the baby pictures whenever any kind of guests were around. It also meant Yang would be embarrassed, but I really didn't want to wish that on Ruby.
"Don't worry, when she tries bringing it out, just say that we're going to your room to play games," I offered as a solution.
She just gave a nod, looking resigned to her fate, before she took out her key and opened the door, heading inside. "I'm home!" She called into the house, and I winced since she was a bit loud and I was right beside her. "And I brought Jaune with me!"
There was some movement, before Raven stepped out of the living room. Her hair was tied back, as usual, and she was clad in a pair of sweat pants and a red shirt that said 'Best Mum' in big black letters. "Welcome back Ruby," she greeted, shifting her gaze to me. "Jaune, it's been awhile."
"Miss Branwen," I said, referring to her formally. It was an odd thing, that neither Raven nor Summer had changed their last names when they married Taiyang. I'd asked about it before, and Raven just said she and Summer thought having 'Xiao Long' as their last names would feel weird.
"None of that," she waved it off. "I'm not mad about you ignoring my daughters, and neither is Summer. We gave them both a stern talking to after what they did, though Yang only recently seems to have realised what she did was wrong. Sure, I think two years was a bit excessive, but Summer and I know you are a bit sensitive to things like that."
"Erm… Right," I nodded. "Thanks for understanding, Raven."
"No problem," she said with a small smile. "Dinner is almost ready, so head straight through to the dining room."
"Right," Ruby nodded and grabbed my hand, leading me there. I saw Raven smirk a little as she left my view, a sight that left me feeling a bit confused.
The table was already set when we got there, Taiyang sitting at the head of the table, and Yang sitting in the middle on the left.
"Welcome home, Ruby," Tai greeted us. "Hello, Jaune. Nice to have you visit again."
"It's nice to visit you again, Professor Xiao Long- I mean, Tai," I corrected myself. In school, Taiyang liked to keep things formal. Outside of school, he was much laxer and more preferred to be called by his nickname.
"Hey Jaune," Yang grinned. "So, how was your date-?"
"Yang," Summer's voice came from the kitchen, clear and filled with warning.
Yang's grin faded and she grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting like a petulant child.
I would kill to learn how Summer got a voice like that down. The power to stop Yang's teasing just by saying her name? If it could stop her puns too, I'd pay Summer as much as needed to learn how!
"Do you think I could get your mom to teach me how to do that?" I muttered to Ruby.
"She hasn't even taught Raven," Ruby responded, and I slumped in disappointment.
"Don't just stand there, take a seat," Tai insisted.
Ruby and I slipped into the middle seats on the right, leaving the seats on Tai's left and right open. Those were Raven and Summer's seats respectively.
"So, what's for dinner?" Ruby asked.
"Lasagne," Yang spoke up. "We were going to have apple pie for dinner, but we're out of apples and, by the time mum noticed, it was too late to get started on it."
"Aw nuts," Ruby said in dismay. "I love apple pie!"
"I'm on the fence about it," I threw my two-lien in. "I mean, it's okay, but it's not really for me."
"I'm with Jaune on that one," Tai agreed. "Only reason I eat it is because Summer can make any food taste amazing. What she did with the brussels sprouts at Christmas last year… Just amazing."
"Ew," Yang wrinkled her nose. "I'm never eating brussels sprouts, they're so gross."
"Same," Ruby grumbled, her face scrunching up in disgust at the thought of it.
I didn't say anything, but I was on Tai's side. If you made brussels sprouts right, they could be pretty damned good.
After a few minutes, Raven slipped into the room and sat on Tai's left, giving him a kiss on the cheek, before Summer came in with the lasagne and a bowl of peas, set it in the middle of the table along with a spoon to serve it, and then sat on Tai's right.
"Jaune," Summer smiled at me, starting to serve the food onto everyone's plates one by one. "It's lovely to see you again. How have you been?"
"I've been okay, thank you," I nodded, trying not to blush as I looked at her.
I'd always had a crush on Summer as a child. She was so kind, and so nice, and was a very attractive woman. She was dressed in a knee length skirt and a white shirt that said 'Kitchen Queen' at the moment. Her hair was slightly longer than Ruby's, and her eyes twinkled with love for everyone.
I had to shift my gaze away from her and, thankfully, nobody noticed my cheeks were slightly red thanks to the room's yellow lighting.
The lasagne was served and we began to eat. I took a bite and smiled. It was good, really good. It was like Tai said, Summer just had some way of making almost any food taste delicious, even some of the vilest foods could become bearable with her cooking.
"This is delicious, Summer," I said to her. "You're an amazing cook, I think you're better than the last time I ate your cooking."
"Oh Jaune, you're so sweet," she laughed softly, placing a hand on her cheek. "I just learned how to cook while I was at Beacon, none of my team –" she gave a pointed look to a sheepish Tai and Raven – "could cook very well, so I had to pick up the slack."
"Jaune's a pretty good cook too," Yang said between bites, and I felt my blood run cold as an ominous feeling overcame me.
"Oh?"
"Yeah!" Ruby nodded rapidly. "On Wednesday we gave us some of his lunch that he made, and it was amazing! The food was perfect in every single way!"
"Is that so?" Summer looked at me, but I didn't feel any warmth in that gaze at the moment.
Please stop talking, please stop talking, please stop talking!
"Yep!" Yang nodded, ignorant to my internal pleading. "He promised to make us a bit extra from now on. On Thursday and Friday, he made some incredible stuff! I never knew it was possible to make egg salad taste that incredible!"
"Interesting…" I saw a glint in Summer's eyes that worried me. "You cook, Jaune?"
"Um… Y- yeah…" There was no way out of this. "I uh, I cook a bit. I wouldn't call myself a professional or anything, but I know my way around the kitchen."
"Well then…" She gave me a smile… It was one of the most horrifying things I'd ever seen. "What would you say to a cooking contest sometime?"
"… There's no way I can talk you out of this, can I?"
"Nope!"
I slumped down in my seat. "… Okay."
"Wonderful!" She clapped her hands together, and the foreboding feeling went away. "I'll have Ruby or Yang tell you when I have an appropriate time to do so, okay?"
"… Y- Yeah, got it," I nodded, turning my head away from her to hide how terrified I was.
Who knew Summer could be so damned scary?
"On another note," Raven spoke up, making us shift our gaze to her. "I hear you unlocked your aura, Jaune."
I didn't respond, waiting for her to ask a question.
"How did you do it?"
"I unlocked it myself," I responded. It was the truth, sort of.
"How?" She repeated.
"That's my secret," I told her.
She raised an eyebrow at me, and it was clear she was going to persist until I gave her an answer.
"Look," I sighed. "I'm not really sure how either. I just woke up a while ago, and suddenly my aura is unlocked. As far as I know, none of my family unlocked it, so I'm stumped. The only conclusion I have is that somehow, in my sleep, I unlocked my own aura."
She scanned my face for any sign of a lie, before she just nodded and returned to her food.
I had to stop myself from visibly slumping in relief.
"So, you're going to attend Beacon then?" Raven asked.
I nodded. "Yes. I might be behind on training and knowledge, but I have two years to get ready for the entrance exam. I plan to get a job and build up enough money over the next two years to pay for my attendance there, and then get a part-time job while I'm attending to keep paying for it since I know my family won't be chipping in."
"Your weapon?"
"Ruby is going to help me design gauntlets and boots to compliment martial arts, as that's the direction I want to take my way of fighting. The boots will also be shotguns for a bit of extra kick- pardon the pun- and I'm not entirely sure on if I want any extra features on the gauntlets."
"If you need any help, don't be afraid to come to us," Raven told me sternly. "I know your parents and siblings aren't very supportive of your dreams, but we won't smother your dreams here. If you need help for anything, training, money, studying, you are always welcome to come here. And you're always welcome to stay over if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by your family."
I felt my throat close a bit at Raven's words, getting a little bit choked up.
That was one of the best things about Raven. She was definitely stern, a bit teasing, and sometimes a bit of a hard ass, but she always believed that you should do whatever you wanted to do. It really touched me that she was so willing to support my dream like this.
"Raven's right," Tai nodded. "You are always welcome here, and you shouldn't be afraid to ask for help. I'm only sorry we didn't offer you this in the last two years."
"And I agree too," Summer smiled at me. "You are already family to us, Jaune. So, don't be afraid to ask us for help."
I looked around the table and, seeing those encouraging smiles, I couldn't help but feel tears welling in my eyes.
"… Th… Thank you…"
~~Ephemeral Dream~~
After that, Dinner was a pretty chill affair. Yang and Raven did the dishes while Tai and Summer cleared the table. I offered to help, but Summer waved us off and told Ruby and I to go have fun playing our video games.
Ruby and I played for almost two hours straight in various games, with a pretty even split between us as far as wins and losses went. It was the most fun I remembered having in the last two years, and probably the happiest I'd felt in that time too.
I wanted to play for long, but I noticed the time. "Woah, it's getting late," I told Ruby. "I need to get home before my family starts to worry."
Ruby noticed the time and blinked too. "Huh… That's crazy," she laughed. "I guess time does fly when you're having fun!"
We both hoped up and she walked me to the door. I said bye to the family on the way out, taking a step outside the door and facing Ruby as she stood inside.
"Today was a lot of fun," she smiled at me. "I missed stuff like this, so thanks for suggesting we hang out again."
"I had fun too," I smiled at her. "The last two years of my life were dull, really dull. To be able to do this kind of stuff with you again… It's made me realise that wallowing in my own depression was so dumb. I missed all the good things in life. I'm going to go crazy trying to make up for last time."
Ruby giggled. "I'm sure you'll figure out how to do it, Jaune."
"Maybe, maybe not," I gave her a small grin. "But we're definitely going to hang out more again, count on it."
"I will," she smiled. She stepped forwards, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.
I was surprised, but I wrapped mine around her body and rubbed her back.
"… Thank you," she said softly. "Thank you for forgiving me, and for being my friend."
"… Thank you for forgiving me, and for being my friend," I shot right back at her.
She pulled back with a small giggle as she gave me a radiant smile.
That was right. That was how Ruby should look. Smiling. A smile on her face was the only thing that should be there.
"See you on Monday," she told me.
"See you on Monday," I said right back, and she slowly closed the door.
I stood by the closed door for a few minutes, before I turned around and walked away from the house, a smile on my face as I did so.
[Quest: A Day with Ruby has been cleared!]
[Rewards]
+3 Dexterity
+1,000 EXP
+3 Ice Dust Shards
+2 Burn Dust Shards
Bonds Questline has been unlocked.
[You have levelled up.]
+330 HP
+330 MP
+6 Stat Points
I only smiled as the screen popped up, waving them away as I continued my walk home.
Today has been a good day. I'd fully rekindled and reaffirmed my friendship with Ruby, her family had offered to help me with my training, and I'd managed to use Structural Analysis on my weapons.
Nothing could go wrong from here!
[Quest: Bonds – The Great Escape]
Objective: Escape your Kidnappers
I froze mid-step, eyes widening as I saw the objective of my new quest.
I barely had time to read past the objective before I felt something covering my mouth. I tried to fight back, before I suddenly felt light-headed… And then the world around me faded to black.
Publish Date: 22nd September 2020
Word Count: 6,665
CLIFFHANGER! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!
I bet none of you saw that ending coming, did you!
Now then, to respond to some reviews before I get into some other stuff.
Deans1000: I'm well aware of what the Great War is, and the Faunus rights revolution. What you seem to have already forgotten, however, is that this is not the RWBY world you know, as I have already stated that world was a dream Jaune had. There are different details, and many other things are different. Like Raven sticking around, or Ruby being more interested in using a sword.
AK-103: Oh look, it's been 1 day, not 84 years and there's another chapter. Fancy that. Don't get snarky with me, boy.
JackBlaze123: Your servant guesses are wrong. And I do plan to give Jaune some of Shiro's traits, but not as many as you'd think. I'm more thinking along the lines of his ability to smell magecraft (or other supernatural things).
Now, I'll say already that none of you have guessed right as far as Servants go. You'll also be seeing which Servant he summons sooner than you'd think, so get those guesses in! Trust me, you are all going to be shocked by what I have in store... MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
For those who don't know, Sinon is from Sword Art Online II. 'Gun Gale' is a reference to the game she played before ALO. I am the definition of subtle.
Now, some of you are probably wondering 'Why didn't Jaune's blessing from the planet stop what was probably chloroform?' That will be answered next chapter, so please be patient.
This chapter came out so soon after the last one just because I've been feeling good about the story, I've been feeling hyped to write it, and I just feel like I can't be stopped! Though, with that being said, I don't know when the next chapter is going to come out. But I am working on it already as I post this chapter, and I hope to have it done as soon as possible.
And that's all for now! This is Ezras Hargrave, signing off!