Chapter 18 – Academic Activities
Rampant chattering and scurrying students greet us as we burst out from the classroom doors. Our classmates quickly disperse into the growing crowd, some pairing up or clinging to their newly formed social circles. I shuffle my academy bag back onto my back, scuffling the strap around my hood as Jaune and I trail after Weiss.
"So," Jaune starts. "Is it just me, or did we switch classes halfway through that?"
I hum in agreement, forehead crinkling in thought.
Ironically, while I can't remember a thing from the droning first half, Professor Port's words from the latter half of the lesson are still rattling around in my skull as my mind scuttles from place to place, trying to pinpoint the reason why. While the words are clearly having some influence, it's not the source. It's the way he said it. Passionate yet calm. Strict but not demanding. It's a 'Take or leave it' sort of vibe.
It reminds me of Qrow. He'd talk that way whenever he'd lecture me during training.
The comparisons aren't exact, that'd be necromantic level creepy, but they're comparable enough to take notice. Enough that, despite talking two different subjects, I feel that thin connection.
But why is that and why does it make me feel so… anxious?
Is it because of fingers?
…Fingers?
Click. I bolt back into reality with a yelp. Weiss retracts her hand, resting it on her waist.
"Are you done?" She says with a scowl. "If you're not going contribute to the conversation, the least you can do is pay attention."
"A-ah," I fumble. I did it again, didn't I? "S-sorry." She turns away, prodding the side of her head with a sigh. Even Jaune's looking at me strangely.
"You alright? You zoned out for, like, a good half-minute. What were you thinking about?" Jaune asks.
Weiss interrupts before I can say anything, "It doesn't matter. It wasn't anything important and we have our next class to attend." I quell any hints of irritation before they bubble to the surface. It's probably for the best anyway. She points to my pockets. "Take out your Scroll and find out what class we have next."
I blink. Why is she telling me to do it? Her Scroll's registered with the Academy just like mine is. She, just like everyone else, should have the timetable app installed on her Scroll already.
Nevertheless, I do as she says, swiping the screen open and flicking to my timetable and scanning my eyes across to the right date and timeslot. Wednesday – After ten in the morning. It's…
"Nothing?" I say aloud.
"Seriously? Free period already?" Jaune says, dubious, moving around to look over my shoulder. I lift it up higher for him to see properly, his face leaning closer to the screen. "Woah. You weren't kidding. We don't have anything until after lunch."
Not only that, there's a few days where we're off for at least two hours.
Generally, the Beacon Academy daily regiment lasts from nine until five on weekdays: Three hours in the morning, one or two around midday for lunch, three in the afternoon and then its dinner. There's obviously some variances here and there between the different years but, that's how the typical rigorously draining academy days goes.
So, to calculate, we're losing half a day's worth of classes almost every day. That doesn't seem right.
What also doesn't seem right is how Weiss, instead of screeching loudly and venting steam from her ears, is instead calmly pondering to herself about something.
"So, it's today? That's even faster than I expected. How very efficient," she murmurs with an impressed smile. As if she could feel the weight of our combined gazes, her head snaps up, eyebrows furling as her eyes dart around us. "Where is Blake?"
We spin around following her sight, expecting to see the raven-haired girl with the bow slinking behind us, leaning up against a wall and minding her own business but there's no one there. The only people remaining over from class are a couple of teams, a couple of familiar faces included, and a few stragglers – None of them wearing a neatly tied black bow.
She snuck away? How is that possible? I swear, I felt her behind me the whole time.
"Okay," Jaune says, raising a hand. "Not going to lie, that's kind of creepy, but also really cool! I want to learn how to do that! Then I'd finally be able to live out my lifelong dream!" He gushes, before his expression takes a staggering turn for the overtly dark and brooding.
"The Hunts-Man will soon rise."
"Shut up, Jaune," Weiss groans. He promptly shuts up and stands at attention. She clears her throat and tones a commanding tone. "Right then, Jaune-" She pauses on him for a stretched couple of seconds before, much to his chagrin, skipping to me. "You. Go find Blake and tell her that we're having lunch in the cafeteria strictly at twelve. She's your partner. She's your problem to deal with."
That's me told. Apparently.
"Wait, what about you? What are you doing?" Jaune asks. Weiss looks at him sourly.
"Never you mind 'What I'm doing.' I have a few errands that require my attention. Besides, they don't affect you, Jaune. Don't be a pest," she reprimands. Before either of us utter a single word of protest, Weiss turns around and pries her Scroll from her pocket. "Remember: Twelve. In the cafeteria. Don't be late."
And then she begins to walk, disappearing down the hall with her earlobe to the receiver. I stare at her back the whole way, chewing my lip. If she wasn't being blatant before, I think I understand what she's doing now.
Nobody wanted the position more than her…
"Sheesh," Jaune exhales, ruffling his hair. "She should've joined the military. She'd make a great drill sergeant." He directs his attention to me. "Do we even know where the heck Blake would even go? You only got her name, right?"
I nod meekly, "Y-yeah." I couldn't well up the courage to ask her anything else. Hanging off the edge of a tower wasn't exactly the most opportune place to get to know someone in the first place. I was pretty much working off the residual adrenaline from the fight.
Beacon Academy's a huge place. Who knows where Blake could be right now.
Jaune groans lightly, "That's no good. We don't have any way to call her either."
I mumble in acknowledgement. Without any clues, we won't just need four hours, we'll need the whole day to find her. There's not much I can do if she doesn't want to be found. Though, I'm not entirely convinced Weiss would accept that as an excuse.
I sigh gently. This is going to be a pain.
"Having trouble, boys?" My head perks up as Yang and Ruby break off from their teams and approach us.
"She's as bossy as usual," the latter adds, glaring at the corner Weiss had just spun around.
Jaune gives a few forceful chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, it… never really stops with her." Isn't that the truth. It's no wonder she wants the leadership position as much as she does.
I greet them both with a small wave. "Hey guys. What's going on?" Yang's eyes flicker to her sister.
"Well, since we've off until lunch, Ruby had an idea about how we should kill the time," she says, smiling proudly as she bumps shoulders with her sister.
Ruby nods eagerly. "Yeah! I was thinking that our teams could hang out? Look around campus: see what the facilities look like, maybe check out the weapons?" She says that last part almost slyly. "It'll be so much fun! You can even bring Jaune with you."
"Hey!" Jaune cries in offense. Being a plus one wouldn't exactly be a dignified position.
"What do you say, Eren? You in?" Yang asks. As tantalising as hanging out at school with actual friends sounds, I must raise my arm in decline.
"Sorry guys. I can't. There's somewhere I need to go," I say.
"There is?" Jaune interrupts, eyebrows squinting. I probably should've mentioned that when we were talking. Bit belated on my part.
"Oh…" She bemoans, visibly slumping at my answer. Thankfully, her disappointment melts away as her smiles quickly brightens. "Alright, but you should definitely come next time! My team's really cool and friendly. You just have to meet them!"
She takes two steps forward, practically a breath away from pressing her face against mine. I fidget slightly. Why do I feel like I'm being extorted by the cutest mobster ever? 'Ey', hang out with my team and I won't have to bust your kneecaps, capiche?'
Sweat starts drooling down my neck.
"Y-y-yes! Of course!" I splutter. Just don't hit me with your rose bat!
"Great!" She cheers, hopping in place. She soon bounds back, aiming to return to her team. "I've gotta go tell the team what's going on. You're joining us for lunch, right?"
Taking a much-needed breath, I nod. "Yeah. I'll be there." As if I wouldn't?
"See you then!" She beams.
"See you, Ruby," I send her off with another wave, watching as her three teammates wait on her to return, as the tall red head –Pyrrha, I keep forgetting- smiles sweetly at the smaller girl as they begin chattering to each other again. Seems like she's really taken to that girl.
Hearing Yang chuckle, I realise that I'm not the only one who's noticed.
"It's crazy, isn't it?" She asks, a melancholic tinge almost seeping into her words. "I've been trying since she joined Signal Academy to get Ruby to socialise more, and here she is organising a get together between our teams."
I feel taken aback somewhat. Ruby? Anti-social? That didn't match up with my image of her these last six months. She was the one who went out and asked to be my friend after all.
"She seemed normal to me," I tell her. Yang scoffs lightly, folding her arms.
"You're a special case, Eren. She never acted like this back at Signal." She shrugs benignly. "Sure, she did make a few friends there but, she never really socialised with anyone else but them. The same two or three friends and that's it." Her gaze zones in on Pyrrha. "Whatever happened back in that forest, it's made a difference in her."
I hum thoughtfully. This is all new information to me. Despite knowing them for so long, I made it a sort of principle to never intrude on anything where I wouldn't be wanted. To not pry on anything that's none of my business.
I figured Ruby more social. Maybe not as much as Yang but, more so than me anyways. I don't think I was wrong to not be a nosy sod. It'd be somewhat hypocritical of me to do so when I can't tell them much about home.
And yet, I feel an agitated tremor as I play with my fingers.
"Eren," Yang says. I force my fidgeting to stop.
"Y… yes, Yang?"
"I'm being replaced."
…Huh?!
"What?!" I exclaim, spinning around and finding myself faced with a wide eyed despairing Yang, latching onto my shoulders tightly.
"It all makes sense! How friendly she is, how helpful she is, how much taller she is! Heck, she's even more muscular than me! Me! That Pyrrha wants my spot as best big sister!" She talks in a manic pace. Her grip intensifies with every second as she begins hurling me back and forth like a deranged strangling madman in an insane asylum. "She's thinks she can take the Ruby's big sister position away from me?! Weh-heh-heh-hell! She's got another thing coming!"
She lets me out of her grasp and I flop to the ground like my bones melted. The floor and the ceiling are crashing into another. I smell burning. Am I having a stroke?
Fist smacks against palm as Yang roars out, "She's not going to take my adorable little sister away from me that easy!" Soles click against the floor, gradually becoming quieter with each step. "Eren! I'm going to war! If I don't return, know that I died for a worthy cause! Remember to clean the house!"
"B-b… Bye, Y-yang," I wave a single arc before my arm droops to the floor again.
Weightless, I barely notice as I'm dragged to my feet.
"So, uh, are your friends normally that crazy?" Asks Jaune. A bunch of gobbled syllables is my answer. He simply nods. "Yep. Thought so."
"Okay, just so I've got this straight," Jaune prompts as we walk down the hallway. "You're… not going to look for Blake?"
"It's… not that I'm not going to or anything," I reply, fingers tapping apprehensively against my open Scroll. "I will. Afterwards but, I'd rather grab what I'm looking for first while I still have the time." It's something I've been planning on doing since the first day I arrived here. Even with Weiss' strictly imposed time-limit, I have absolutely no intentions of dropping it.
"Sounds pretty important," he muses, weaving around a passing student. "You sure it couldn't wait? Your friends seemed cool. Going with them could've made finding her way easier."
That's… true. They were going to explore campus, which I'm probably going to need to do anyway. Having extra eyes scanning the facilities for her would've made the task far more tolerable and probably would've succeeded in less time, not to mention, it would've been far more fun.
However, I shake my head mutely. If I did that, I'd be hurling my problems at Ruby and Yang for them to solve yet again. I've done that far too often as it is. Anymore and I'd nothing less than a leech. Besides, I can't stand crowds.
But, putting that in consideration…
"What about you?" I ask him "Why didn't you go with them, Jaune? I'm sure they would be fine with you coming along." I slide my finger across the screen, flashing my contacts list. "I can still call them and ask where they are. You don't need to stick with me, you know."
"Nah. I'm good," he replies, barely giving the idea any thought. I blink in surprise.
"A-are you sure? Where I'm going's not that fun. I don't want to drag you through something boring," I say. Weiss didn't pin the job of finding Blake on him, only me. It's not fair on him to lose his free-time for nothing out of some misplaced sense of obligation.
But Jaune just waves me off. "Yeah, yeah! I'm sure. They have their whole 'Team bonding' thing going on. It would've been weird without you and the others. I'd be like… a third wheel except with eight people. A ninth wheel. Prom. It'd be Prom." He shudders horridly, hissing at a memory. "Trust me: Hanging out with you is way better."
He seems convinced…
A small smile grows on my face. If he's so certain that that's how he wants to spend his time off, then I sure as hell won't stop him.
"Okay then," I nod, swiping the screen back to the academy map and reading the directions closely…
I feel like he should be asking me about a certain something right now.
"Oh!" Jaune yelps. He slaps his head in exasperation and garners my attention. "Uh, where exactly are we going?" Well, if he isn't certain after all, this'll scare him away.
"I'm, um, heading to the library to grab a few things," I tell him, casually vague about the contents. The less he asks questions about what it's for, the less likely he'll dig. "It's not too far now. It's just across the foyer, on the east side of the building." A grimace slithers under his lips but he keeps his voice even.
"Oh."
…Wait for it. Wait for it.
"They have comics, right?"
"Oh yeah."
"Yes!" He cheers. My lips twitch mirthfully. Hey, it's not like I wasn't going to grab a couple on the way out either. With a skip in his step, Jaune coils his arm up into an undisciplined salute. "Lead the way, o' leader!"
…I turn my attention back to the map, keeping tabs on the exact route to take.
After a couple sets of stairs, a mix-up on the correct corridor to take – Maps are tricky, I swear, the pair of us arrive at the grand open space of the Beacon Academy foyer. Bright flags adorn the doorway: the academy insignia plastered on the sprawling floor tiling and a couple of holographic screens with a slideshow of academy news and general information rotating every five seconds.
None of this is anything new to us, we passed through here earlier on the way to class. As I've already spent my time to gawk earlier, I assumed that I could simply power-walk through without missing anything.
Assumption is a terrible habit to have.
"Woah," Jaune says, halting his step and pointing. "Hey Eren. Check that out."
Following his finger, I spot a moderately large crowd gathering at the far back wall of the foyer, where your eyes land as soon as you walk through the entrance.
Previously, that wall was bare – Just an empty space for aesthetics, I thought.
Now, it has a holographic projection beaming out boldly, stretching the full length of the wall, stopping a miniscule three inches from the corners. The projection is split into three columns. At the top of each is a name: Weapon Classes, Clubs and Societies, and The Arena.
"Any idea what that's all about?" Jaune asks.
"I'm… not entirely sure," I answer hesitantly. The general inkling is there but, the technical workings evade me.
My ears twitch as I hear paper whipping in the air and a loud voice shouting from the outside of the crowd. A guy, in uniform and somewhat older looking, is calling out into the crowd, beckoning them forth with what I think is a flyer for something. It's a bit difficult to see through his motions.
"I'll go ask," Jaune decides, suddenly striding forward as I splutter an incoherent response. I was perfectly fine with just leaving this until later but, if he wants to do it now…
I shrug to myself, resigned. I've still got time. He'll be doing most of the talking, anyway.
I follow him. Quickly noticing our approach, the Flyer Guy's eyes light up like a ball of fire. He swerves around, flyers clapping against one another, and calls to us.
"Hey there, fellas! You two seem like the kind to appreciate the effort put into a freshly cooked meal." I do? I mean, he's not exactly wrong but still. Shuffling into his stack, he offers us both a pair of flyers. "How about joining the Culinary Club? You'll learn how to cook, be given your own ingredients to work with, and the club's exploring new recipes every week. It's a very valuable skill for a Huntsman to have." He beams. "Trust me: Your teammates will love you for it."
The offering hand lingers. Jaune gives an awkward smile and takes one of them awkwardly. Now I'm the only one stuck without a flyer.
Crap. I don't want to seem like I'm committing but, I don't want him to think I'm an uptight jerk. The flyer has had some work into it too: It has the room, time, design, everything.
Tentatively, I take the flyer off his hands, mumbling a polite 'Th-thank you.'
"Uh, this is great and all, the cartoon pan is adorable, but," Jaune says, indicating to the board. "What is all this?"
Flyer Guy briefly scrunches up his eyebrows before they expand in realization. "Oh! You guys are freshmen! You have no idea what the hell I'm talking about." He spins around, giggling giddily to himself. Jaune and I share a look of unease – Are we about to get stabbed?
"Okay," he turns back, stuffing the flyers under his arm. "Since you're new and I'm a year above you, let me tell you everything you need to know about all of this." This might take some time. With a powerful cough to clear his throat, he begins with the first board – Weapon Classes.
"So, you guys might have already seen those empty slots in your timetables," he says.
"The free periods?" Jaune offers. Flyer Guy confirms with a nod.
"Yeah. Lot of 'em, am I right? That's because you've actually got another class to attend. You'll notice here that fighters like yourselves tend to have their own unique fighting styles which they've honed for years. Obviously, knowing how to use your weapon effectively is important and not every student who attends Beacon has that as one of their strengths. But, with how unique certain styles are, a single teacher wouldn't be able to help every different student very well," he shrugs. "Too much territory to cover, you got me?"
I think I understand. Huntsmen are renowned fighters but, a single Huntsman can't master every method of fighting in the world. They're naturally going to be proficient with some weapons and terrible with every other.
"That's where Weapon Classes come in," Flyer Guy says. He points up at the board. "Up there is a bunch of classes you can sign up for. They've got almost every kind of basic weapon styles up there: Swords, axes, spears, the lot." No scythes, I note. "Once you've signed up, you'll attend that weapon class with a specialist teacher and other aspiring fighters. Years are slotted together in these classes so, you'll be in with us sophomores." He grins wickedly. "Don't worry. We won't be too rough on you, newbies."
We gulp audibly. Please don't tell me hazing is a real thing here. I had enough trouble avoiding this crap in high school.
"That's great! Real great," Jaune fumbles nervously. "But, uh, I'm speaking hypothetically obviously, do you… need to take one of these classes?" Flyer Guy ponders on the question with a hum.
"No, It's optional. If you don't think you need it, you don't need to sign up. Most students I know do, though. You can never be too good," he explains. Jaune tugs at the back of his neck.
"Heh. Don't I know it," he says, almost half-heartedly…
Flyer guy leans back, "Personally, I'd say go for it. You guys aren't quite set in your ways fighting-wise and there's no harm in adding a little extra to your repertoire." He flicks up a stern finger. "But if you're going to do it, you better decide soon. The cut-off date's two weeks on Friday. After that, classes are locked in and can't be changed after the semester's over. It'll be on your attendance too. If you don't like the class, tough break. You gotta go. So, be sure of what you want to do, first."
Learning a new style, huh? My close-combat game does leave much to be desired. Although, there's no harm in sharpening my aim further if I wanted to specialise. This might be something to think about.
Flyer Guy moves onto the second board.
"Clubs and Societies. These pretty much explain themselves. You know those clubs you used to attend back in school? Well, these are them but with better funded equipment and facilities to work with," he explains, scratching the back of his head. "Hell, I think about half the campus is dedicated to these things." He coughs, getting himself back on track.
"Anyway, the upper half of the board are Sports clubs and the bottom's everything else. Sports clubs take place on Saturday, everything else on Sunday. Generally, the idea behind clubs and societies is for socializing but, you can learn a thing or two that can help you out on the field when you're doing regular missions next year," Flyer Guy explains with a chummy grin.
I gaze up at the board. While the first is already lengthy as it is, the Societies board has a plethora of activities and seemingly any theme for a club imaginable. It's thrice the size of the Weapon Classes and the text has been scrunched together to fit them all in.
Jaune seems to think so too, raising his hand. "Uh, is it normal for that many clubs to be up there? There sure is a lot of them."
"Oh, sure. It's like this at the start of every semester," Flyer Guy shrugs. "They won't stick around, though. Most of those are formed by students. I'd be surprised if a third of them made it into the semester."
"Why's that?" Jaune asks. Is it just me, or is it starting to feel like a classroom in here.
Flyer Guy responds dutifully, "Proposed clubs have a deadline, two weeks this Friday. If they don't have at least two members registered by then, they're axed. No sense in keeping an empty club on the system." He puts his hands on his hips. "'Course, they can try again at the start of the next semester but, that usually goes the way you'd think it would."
People put all the time and effort into that sort of thing and it doesn't matter because nobody gives a crap.
That's sobering.
"But, you freshmen don't have to worry about that deadline," Flyer Guy says brightly. "You can join a society whenever you feel like it, if for a small cost of lien for official registration." His tone turns stern. "But, I'd stay with one sports and one other club personally. It'd be a pain just to manage multiple clubs on the same day and, you have studying to worry about." He grins cheerfully.
"Basically, don't do what I did." His body sags. "It sucked. I have to re-sit Dust Science this year." He shivers painfully. "Professor Peach is a sadist."
Dust Science is on our timetable for this semester. We can only hope that's he exaggerating then.
My stomach curdles. Learning new skills sounds great and all but, being stuck in a room with people I barely know every weekend for hours?
Nope! No way. I wouldn't survive in that kind of climate. 'Healthy' socializing be damned. If I went to these clubs, I'd suffocate to death in five minutes. Six minutes top.
Jaune on the other hand, seems to be eying the board keenly after that little lecture.
"And finally," Flyer Guy continues, pointing to the last board. "The Arena! You go there to fight."
…Jaune and I give each other looks, waiting for an elaborated explanation that never comes. Taking the initiative, Jaune speaks up.
"Is that it?" He queries.
"Yeah! That and knitting," Flyer guy answers chipperly, sniggering to himself. "Okay, okay. It's a little more complicated than that. You guys haven't had Sparring Practice yet, you'll learn what the rules of combat are there but, there are a few things out of your hands: You don't decide the amount of people fighting, you don't always have a choice who you fight and, you can't fight anyone out of your year. It's just the way it works in class. But," he holds up a finger, pausing for effect.
"In The Arena, that stuff goes out the door. You can fight who you want, how you want, when you w-" He stops, mouth churning as if he's made a mistake. "No. Wait. You can't. You and your opponent need to sign up for a time at the interface over there and it only runs on Friday afternoons and the weekend." He heaves his shoulders.
"But, other than that, you get more freedom this way, and you can even drop it on one of the occurring fights just for fun. Spectators are totally allowed. Teachers see it as a chance to learn what others' mistakes. Just don't go start gambling on the results," he explains, paling as he finishes. "Teachers crack down on that crap like its fresh coffee."
That's… something to keep in mind, I'm sure.
Still, Sparring Practice…
Shit. I completely forgot about that. It's supposed to be a regular thing, too. There's no avoiding it. I can forget about The Arena for now, surviving Sparring alone is going to be complete hell.
"And there you have it! That's the three boards," Flyer Guy finishes gleefully. Like a professional opera singer after a performance, he bows proudly, flourishing his flyers in his multiple cycles. Pulling his head back up, inching closer as he gleans at us both expectantly. "Well, how was that? Five stars? Ten out of ten? Good enough to be a club tutor?!"
I don't know about that but, he's scoring a zero for personal space.
Struggling to fend off an overtly-enthusiastic Flyer Guy, Jaune looks to me in a plea for support. My eyes dart around in panic, the answer to this problem evading my grasp as I tug at my hood.
Uh, um, answer. What to say? No idea. What do I say? Oh crap!
"Uh," Jaune starts, unwittingly locking eyes with the manic guy. "It was… great?" He signals something to me. Um… Oh! Play along!
"Y-yes!" I screech, voice cracking from the suddenness of my outburst. "U-um, I learned a lot."
"Yeah!" My teammate bounds back in, playing off my comment. "Totally. Five stars."
"U-um, ten out of ten," I chime in.
"Eleven out of ten!" Jaune adds.
"I… don't think that's possible." I deadpan
"Oh," he blinks. Glancing back at the static Flyer Guy, he smiles forcefully. I attempt to match him, but I don't think my mouth can physically stretch that far. I settle on a meeker iteration instead.
Flyer guy stares blankly at the pair of us, belying whether he believes our reactions or not. Please go away…
He leaps away, hollering loudly. "Hell yeah! How'd you like that, Ced?! That tutoring gig is as good as mine!" With that 'victory' under his belt, Flyer Guy walks away, still cheering to himself, earning himself a few irritated glances.
Jaune leans forward, the front-line defence of his personal space successful, curdling the flyer into a ball and shoving it into his pocket like trash soon to be discarded.
"He was…" He starts, hands twirling as he digs for the word. "…Eccentric?"
That's a word for it, yes. I'm starting to think that this is a Remnant thing. It would explain all the wacky outfits being worn around here.
I take another look at my culinary club flyer. Skill-wise, I don't really need to attend this class. I already learned how to cook from all those nights cooking dinner with Tai. There's not really a need for me to register with them.
However, that doesn't mean I can't get better with it if I want?
Decisively, I fold the flyer up neatly and place it into my back pocket. It's nothing definite, but it's an option.
"Eren," Jaune starts. He's turning his head to the Societies board, his right cheek plump in thought.
"Hm?" I reply.
"Weiss," he turns back, expression awfully serious. "The way she moves in battle – You'd say that she's probably learnt how to dance ballet, right?" That's… a curious question but, I oblige him.
"Uh, yes. I suppose you could call it that," I nod. Her battle movement is filled with lots of flips, Pierrots and other dance-like manoeuvres that glide upon the battlefield, I'm sure. Still, "Why do you ask, Jaune?"
He remains quiet, mulling over my answer with a few tepid nods.
"Just a thought," he answers casually. After a few spare moments glancing up at the boards, he gently taps me on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go. Library awaits!"
…Best to just leave the boards for now. There's way more important stuff I need to deal with. I'll come back to this later.
"Right," I say with a nod, stepping to pace with him as we leave the foyer behind.
A/N: Happy New Year, everybody! Here's hoping this year won't be as bad as the last!
It's not a very exciting chapter, I know. It's mostly setting up stuff, lots of dialogue which I'm not too fond of, and explaining the Weapons, Societies, and Arena systems. I'm very wary about adding stuff to the established canon world but, I'm hoping that the systems I've added will help enhance the lore of Beacon Academy and how it works. It also gives me more freedom in-case there's something I want to have Eren do with other characters in the story. Relationships are a central focus in the story, afterall and, it allows Eren to interact with characters he normally wouldn't.
Thanks again for reading! Are there any characters you'd think would make an interesting dynamic with Eren? Let me know in the reviews. Constructive criticism is encouraged.