Hey there, everyone. Hope you all have been well.
Recently, my parents and two friends of theirs went to a casino – Pechangas, if I remember right. It came as a surprise to us all to hear of it being open, but they were definitely happy about it. As for me, well, I'm divided on the matter. On the one hand, it's a sign the economy can start to steadily reopen but the other hand, well, with everything that's still going on and the like, I'm just naturally cautious about stuff like this.
That said, maybe I've gotten too paranoid. From what my parents told me, the casino has taken certain security measures – redoing some sections of the casino entirely in addition to requiring everyone to wear masks and sit at least a few feet apart. Still, can't help but feel it's not enough, but again, maybe I'm just being too paranoid nowadays. Easy to be that with the way the world is right now, sadly…
Anyways, just thought I should just bring that up. Wherever you guys happen to live at, hope things are looking up for you and your respective communities. If this really is a sign the states can slowly open back up and businesses can resume, then hopefully within a month or two, the economy can start really bouncing back.
In any case, stay safe out there, you all. 2020 isn't over yet by a long shot.
P.S. Please see AN at end for some fic related info again.
P.P.S. Anyone else looking forward to Miles Morales' first game? Resident Evil 8 too?
Chapter 44
It was with a great deal of concentration that Watts sat upon some random boulder out in the wilds. With the way he sat in a lotus position, eyes closed and arms at rest upon his lap, it would be easy to mistake him for meditator of the highest degree, if only due to how perfectly still and even serene he looked. It was only his suit and the seemingly amused upturns of his mouth that broke this image.
He's been in this position for about a half hour now, motionless as could be, looking inwards in an attempt to discern what changes had exactly occurred within him as a result of his self-performed operation not even two full days ago.
Ever since his and Hazel's departure from Vale, he's started to get random flashes of numbers – ones and zeros, to be more precise – whenever he looked upon the world around him. And after making their way to a nice little corner of the wilds where they wouldn't be so easily disturbed, Watts had started to see these numbers much more frequently. It wasn't until he began to look inwards and started to take control of his own changing body that the numbers ceased to fully fill his vision.
But the numbers, just what did they mean? That was the first and currently only question that occupied the man initially… but then, just last night, he'd had a flash of intuition and now here he was in the early hours of the morning trying to see if he could his now fully formed hypothesis into practice.
It was very slow going, but he eventually managed to consciously make himself see the ones and zeros again as he finally opened his eyes – and these numbers, they quite literally made up everything around him. Everything.
From the ground to the leaves upon it as well as the bugs and the trees and even the very fabric of space itself… all was now appearing as numbers to him. Hazel and the aircraft they'd taken out of Vale, both of which were nearby with his associate clinically observing him, were naturally not exempt from this either.
Watts let out a little sound as he realized he was indeed right.
Ones and zeros… in other words, the binary system, effectively the language of computers and codes… and as anyone savvy when it comes to technology knows, that sort of thing… can be manipulated.
Did the same hold true in this case, however? Physically reaching out at the open space before him and tapping away as if there were computer keys in front of him swiftly proved to be a failure; from an outside perspective, it would seem as if Watts was some kind of manchild, just acting like some kid who pretended to literally rule the world.
However, Watts was far from embarrassed by this failure and Hazel nearby didn't seem even the slightest bit amused by this, just continuing to watch in complete silence for he clearly knew Watts was figuring things out bit by bit.
"Hmm…" Watts retracted his outstretched hand to rub his chin, rethinking things. The ones and zeros can clearly be interacted with somehow, but simple physical actions weren't going to work it seemed. Was he perhaps missing something?
…
…
…Ah!
That's right. How could he forget something so basic?
Aura… aura was what he was missing in all this. Just as any aura user worth their salt could strengthen even a simple rolled up newspaper to the point of being able to deflect strikes from an actual weapon, perhaps he could do something similar here. But of course, in the case of his example just now, aura is required to be funneled into the newspaper in order to interact with it in such a way. So, with this in mind…
He once more closed his eyes and concentrated. Though not a fighter by nature, he still was adept at using his aura in the same manner a huntsman does, using it for both defense and offense. And though he shall freely admit to lacking in combat skill, his skill at manipulating aura was certainly not lagging behind. After all, with all the work he'd put into making the Eternal Motor in the first place, he's had to refine his aura control to a point where he could safely use his own aura to speed up the particles within his creation in the first place.
Thus, it didn't take long at all for his efforts here to bear fruit.
As even space itself was comprised of ones and zeros before his very eyes, there was no way he could physically interact with it obviously. In the case of literally everything else, this wasn't the case since they could be touched but in either case, aura was needed. Since it would be just a tad bit troublesome to have to alternate pouring aura into one object to use it a certain way and then doing so with other objects in the midst of a fierce battle, he needed to find out a way for him to be able to manipulate literally anything in the blink of an eye.
Thus, his solution was simple – merely project a portion of his aura outwards.
Doing this was not hard at all. After all, aura users always project their aura directly around themselves as a personal barrier. He was no exception, but in this case, he was merely expanding the barrier further out.
Due to the level of concentration involved as well as the fact this was the first time he's ever done such a thing, however, his aura swiftly became visible to the naked eye, green energy seemingly manifesting all around him up to just two feet away.
Given enough time and practice, Watts was certain he could expand that range much more, but that was not the point right now.
What was the point… was this.
Slowly reaching out to a falling leaf that the wind blew within his little sphere, he grabbed it. And then, just as he would with a computer code, he proceeded to effectively rewrite it.
Before his and Hazel's very eyes, the leaf changed. From its previous small and brittle state, it was now twice its original size and made entirely out of stone.
Watts was so engrossed by this sight that his concentration slipped and his sphere returned to nothingness… but the altered leaf still very much remained within his hand.
He turned his head to Hazel and the two of them stared at one another in dead silence.
And then, Watts flashed a dark smile.
In the grand scheme of things, changing a leaf into a larger stone one wasn't much in and of itself… but it did speak a lot as to the potential of his new ability.
Needless to say, there was now so much more for Watts to figure out here with it. And he absolutely relished the challenge.
It was with a great sense of glee that Salem sat upon her throne with her latest possession in her hands – the Relic of Knowledge.
Tyrian had proven his fanatical loyalty once again by way of simply not taking any breaks at all until he'd brought the Relic here to her. Alas, such a journey had left the deranged Faunus dead tired and the man had been about to fall asleep on his feet despite his best efforts to remain awake just an hour ago when he'd knelt before her to present the object.
She'd granted him a well-deserved reprieve and currently her most loyal agent was sleeping peacefully within a room prepared for him by some Seers. Once he awakened, she would provide him Hazel's and Watts' current location and he would go to link up with them just as she'd previously told him to do so.
By all rights, she should be making use of this Relic right here and now. Why, she should've done so the very instant Tyrian had brought it to her. After all, despite her having told Tyrian to ensure there were no visible traces of the vault having been accessed, she knew that the very instant Ozma was made aware of Leonardo's death, that the man would find a way to check up on the vault itself.
There wasn't even a single shred of doubt that as soon as the news reached him, Ozma must have made use of his many connections to get all transports anywhere near Haven academy grounded and inspected for any 'stowaways.' He also very likely sent out some agents to comb the lands of Mistral as well as the border between her 'kingdom' and the rest of the continent as an extra precaution, likely in the hopes of intercepting Tyrian before he could make it here.
Alas, Ozma and his forces had no way of knowing the truly incredible degree of Tyrian's loyalty to her. Any and all actions the ancient wizard may have taken would no doubt see anyone else be caught in short order… but that's only because that would be taking into account the natural limits of anyone else.
Anyone else would only be able to cover so much ground before needing to at least drink something and rest. Anyone else would only be able to cover so much ground due the difficulty that comes with traversing through and around natural obstacles like ravines, hills, mountains and so on.
There was, at least from Ozma's perspective, no way to account for someone like Tyrian, someone who'd travel across areas spanning hundreds of kilometers at top speed, without so much as slowing down to rest for even a single second, someone who has long since been willing and outright eager to kill anyone if it somehow meant achieving a certain goal that much sooner, which is exactly what Tyrian had done, having threatened and slain several bullhead pilots on his swift trek back here. It was truly amazing just how much distance a bullhead could cover when pushed to its absolute limit. It helped too that she made sure no Grimm bothered Tyrian during his journey back here. The absolute last thing needed would be for one of her own subjects to impede the work of one of her agents.
But more than all that, this was due again to Tyrian's complete and utter devotion to her. He was certainly a capable combatant and even more capable tracker, but even he obviously had limits, limits that he pushed himself far beyond in order to bring the Relic to her in such a speedy manner. There truly was no way for Ozma to account for something like that.
Yes, Tyrian truly had gone above and beyond what she'd expected of him.
And now, it was time to finally make the most of the scorpion Faunus' efforts.
Getting off her throne and walking forward a little, Salem lifted the Relic of Knowledge so that it was level with her eyes. Though it's been centuries since Ozma had first ever told her of the Relics, she still recalled all too well what he'd told her of them, including how to use them.
"Jinn," she called out in a commanding tone that brokered no argument of any kind, not that she was expecting any.
And true to form, the Relic responded.
To anyone else, they probably wouldn't be able to sense anything at all, but to her, she was all too sensitive to the immediate release of pure magical power, a power which accompanied the release of an ethereal blue fog from the Relic.
Before her very eyes, the fog swiftly took form and the being known as Jinn had now officially spawned into existence, in the form of an incredibly tall humanoid being, its form very much that of a woman, seemingly nude save for some choice golden jewelry around her waist and limbs, assuming that such was even jewelry to start with.
As the form appeared, Jinn's 'face' was the last thing to take shape, incredibly long hair forming in addition to some incredibly expressive facial features, especially the vibrant and soul-piercing blue eyes that this spirit of the Relic of Knowledge appeared to possess.
Despite herself, Salem couldn't help but be somewhat enraptured as Jinn manifested so quickly. To hear of what would happen upon summoning her was one thing, but to see it for herself was something else. But more than that, now that Jinn was fully formed and levitating in place before her, Salem could sense more than ever the sheer amount of magical power that the spirit was seemingly comprised. Such was the nature of a being created by the God of Light himself, she figured.
Just as she assessed the spirit, however, so too did Jinn seem to assess her. And from the looks of it, Jinn appeared to be amused.
"Well now," Jinn spoke in a smooth voice, not even remotely surprised by her own summoning. Given her status, this lack of surprise made sense. "This is a nice change of pace."
"…So," Salem began as she lowered the Relic, though making it a point to keep a firm grip on it. "You're the spirit within this blasted thing, are you not? Ah, and that is-."
"-Not the question you actually want an answer to," Jinn coolly finished for her. Her amusement visibly grew, the spirit's mouth quirking up into an even bigger smile than before. "Yes, I'm well aware."
Salem couldn't help but snort. Looks like the spirit was rather sassy.
"Oh? If you know something so obvious, then I'm sure you know what it is I really wish to ask right now," Salem spoke.
"I most certainly do, former princess of the tower," Jinn calmly replied, her words getting a twitch out of Salem. "But for formality's sake, it does help a great deal for whoever wants an answer to actually ask the question they want."
"…Tell me then, is there a way of summoning the God Brothers other than bringing together the Relics?" Salem asked, just getting straight to the point.
Jinn's reply was immediate, her smile never dropping. "No," she said. "If you truly wish for revenge upon them, you'll have to gather the Relics together."
At that, Salem sighed. She'd honestly figured as much. In any case, it had really only been in more recent decades where she'd wish to try taking revenge upon the God Brothers, and by using the power of the Relics themselves too. Back then, when she and Ozma had first spoken of all this, she'd merely wish to gather and destroy the Relics to ensure they would never come back, all so that she and Ozma at the time could've ruled humanity however they pleased… alas, times change.
Oh well, point is, she'd expected as much.
"There's now only one question remaining for this century," Jinn then said.
Those words snapped Salem out of her thoughts. "What?"
Jinn smirked. "You heard what I said, Salem. Only one question left."
Salem grimaced. Somehow, she'd expected as much too, but it was truly a waste that her one question so far ended up being for nothing.
No matter, she still held the advantage in this situation against Ozma and his current allies. Even if a reversal was possible on the man's part, it wasn't as if she was in that big a rush to achieve her goal in this century. After all, she had all the time in the world.
"So, whatever shall you do?" Jinn then asked, placing her hands on her hips as she levitated herself a little closer to Salem. "To me, it seems as if you're in quite the pickle."
Salem looked at her, now in disinterest. "You know all things past and present. Why even bother asking me anything is beyond me."
Jinn lightly chuckled. "Even one such as I enjoy conversations, you know. Especially since for so long now, the only one to ever speak to me was your former husband, whom I've long since tired of speaking to; he can be quite too blunt and focused on the matter at hand – not quite the sparkling conversationalist I'd have preferred to speak with."
Salem lightly rolled her eyes. "Be that as it may, you'll find no sympathy from me. Return to the Relic and leave me be until I've need of you again."
Jinn sighed. "Despite being on opposing sides, you and Ozma truly are a lot alike in little ways. Very well, I'll take my leave. But one last thing."
Salem, having turned her back on Jinn just now, turned back around to face the spirit. Her confusion was only marginally visible upon her deathly white visage.
Jinn smiled. "Do beware what it is your forces will be going up against in the future. The future may forever be out of my reach but even one such as I can make deductions based on present information – and I have all the information, past and present, at hand… and I really must say, you may very well be in for a big surprise."
At that, Salem's eyes narrowed. "Why tell me this…? No, just what is it that you're even speaking of?"
Jinn, whose form was already beginning to dissipate and return to the Relic, looked at her with half-lidded eyes. "Just which question do you want an answer to now?" she asked in a knowing tone.
Salem shook her head, now exasperated. What a cheeky spirit. "For you to even think of giving me a warning, vague as it may be… you're supposed to be on humanity's side, yet you'd do such a thing? You are truly like your creator in a few ways yourself."
Rather than take offense, Jinn just laughed as her form fully dissipated and the fog returned to the Relic. As soon as the spirit fully did so, Salem huffed and placed the Relic of Knowledge directly by her throne before taking a seat in it again.
She mulled over the conversation just now. In the end, the plans already set in motion would remain as they were. Again, it was worth repeating that this wasn't a problem at all; she held the advantage against Ozma and his forces and there was currently no option the man had at hand to truly change things. Perhaps mitigate the inevitable carnage, but not avert it.
But still… just what did Jinn mean? Considering that Jinn is the spirit of knowledge, she knows very well everything that Salem has at her disposal now as well as what Ozma's forces and current plans are comprised of. Though the spirit had quickly demonstrated itself to be a tease, Jinn wouldn't just be acting like that without some sort of reason.
…So, could it be? Did Ozma perhaps have some kind of wild card? Something capable of possibly turning the tide in his favor or at least forcing a stalemate during this era?
Salem thought back to the handful of dreams she's had over the past several months or so, the vague prophetic ones. In particular, she recalled the one she'd had that showed her most of the battle between Hazel and the young Jaune Arc in Vale.
Was the young Arc supposed to this 'surprise' that Jinn had just hinted at a minute ago? Certainly, his power was abnormal, but as things stood he wasn't at a level great enough to affect her plans. Although… it did appear as if the boy's power had been growing considerably over the course of the fight… but no. Power alone wouldn't be enough to stop her.
Did Jinn then mean Ruby Rose, the young girl Ozma had under his thumb who wielded the silver eyes? She most definitely doubted the girl would ever pose a threat to her. In the very beginning, when silver eyed warriors had first appeared, they'd been a genuine threat to her plans if only for how effective they were against the Grimm, but over the many years, as she'd learned their general limits and had begun to employ humans and Faunus warriors alike, the silver eyed warriors had since then become nothing more than a nuisance to her. A significant nuisance, but not great enough to be deemed an actual threat to her plans, much less to her – she is a being of endless life and no silver eyed warrior had ever demonstrated power great enough to overcome that.
And if the girl's mother, Summer Rose, had failed spectacularly in trying to defeat her despite her considerable talent, then Ruby Rose was far from ready to even try attempting such a feat.
The possibility of the Maidens turning the tide was also out. The Maidens may be powerful by the standards of this era, but they were nothing compared to her and Ozma back in his prime. And while their magical power may be infinite, that didn't mean the Maidens themselves possessed infinite stamina or invulnerability. They could be worn down just like any other human and be crippled by severe injury or disease or just fatigue in general.
So just what did Jinn mean…?
Salem shook her head. "It makes no difference," she whispered to herself. Whatever surprise Jinn spoke of wasn't exactly about to appear at her doorstep and not any time soon from the sounds of it. She'd taken all precautions as well and her remaining forces – Hazel, Watts, and Tyrian – are all capable in their own right. Even if something did happen to catch them off guard, they would no doubt adapt and deal with whatever threat appears as needed.
Thus, in the meantime, all she can do is continue to prepare things on her end. That meant continuing to modify Grimm as she saw fit and figuring out ways to perhaps circumvent the security at the other kingdoms in order to obtain the other Relics, though this wasn't a goal that needed to be achieved right away. So long as she could crush Vale along with Ozma's current allies, that'd be more than to cripple the security of the other kingdoms as well.
It was only a matter of time until her victory was at hand.
Jaune held his modified blade before him, critiquing it in silence.
It was currently just after breakfast and as it was a free day, he'd decided to see for himself just how things would go with using Dust.
On an aside, he and his friends had already gone and spoken with the headmaster over what to do next. As of right now, there wasn't anything immediate that had to be done other than to start preparing for when things inevitably go bad yet again. He'd already turned over his unmodified blade to the headmaster and it should be modified and delivered back to him within a day or two while the rest of the blades the headmaster had been kind enough to order for him will arrive within a week, give or take a few days.
Other than that, the meeting hadn't really covered all that much other than some training tips to help his friends improve as much as possible within a relatively short time period, in addition to the headmaster and his other allies being willing to supply them with as much Dust and other equipment as needed to ensure they were prepared.
On that particular note, Ruby was already hard at work within Beacon's weapons maintenance room, outfitting her Crescent Rose with some new parts to ensure better accuracy and faster bullets while Pyrrha was there too in order to perhaps reinforce her weapon's frame and extend its general melee range. As for Ren and Nora, his two teammates were hard at work trying to improve in their own ways. The former was in Beacon's gym, lifting weights in order to bulk up a bit. Of course, Ren didn't intend to get all buff like Cardin or something, very much wanting to retain his speed and agility but the fact of the matter is is that he is rather frail when compared to most other trainees and has about average stamina, weaknesses he wished to now be rid of to some degree. In addition to weights, he was also going to be doing a lot of cardio and katas. As for Nora, the girl was actually running laps, trying to improve her speed somewhat in addition to some exercises to help improve how quickly she could swing Magnhild around.
And as for both Weiss and Blake, both girls were in the middle of sparring against each other. Weiss was now more focused than ever on trying to achieve the usage of summoning on her own time whilst the spars against Blake were meant for her to spam her semblance with the intent of trying to form and activate her glyphs even faster than before. As for Blake, as she was something of a jack of all trades with no real outstanding fields, she was just sharpening her skills further. They were also helping out Yang get back into the groove of things due to her recent hospital stay.
That left only him here in this particular corner of Beacon's many training rooms. Though far from the only one in here, he'd made sure to pick a spot as free of others as was possible in case things went wrong in some fashion.
"…" He made a sound as he continued to stare at his blade, which he'd already taken the liberty of equipping with some ice Dust, it being the possibly the safer type of Dust that he was able to immediately obtain, courtesy of Weiss.
He recalled vividly how his attempts at using Dust in the distant past had gone and it'd always ended with his attempts literally blowing up in his face.
That was years ago, however. He was much stronger now and his control much better. Hopefully that meant things would be a little different this time around.
He took up a basic attack stance, intending to strike at the open air. "Alright… time to start," he whispered to himself.
Lifting up his blade slowly, he just as slowly swung it and poured some aura into the Dust-.
-And immediately received an explosion of ice to his face. So great was the explosion that it made him stagger back a few feet in surprise in addition to literally coating the entire front of his body in hard ice. Not even the blade itself was spared.
Immediately, he tensed his muscles a bit and the ice pretty much exploded off of him and he turned around to see the other occupants of the training room looking at him in shock and concern.
"Don't mind me," he called out sheepishly. "I'm fine… just let me scoot away a little more."
Marginally embarrassed by his screw up, he moved a little further away and towards one of the walls of the room, though making a point to face away from the wall. Last thing he needed to blow out said wall during his next swing.
And on that note…
He grimaced inwardly. That definitely hadn't gone as intended.
But the question was why did it not go as intended? From the past, he'd deduced that it was perhaps possible to use too much aura and trigger an explosion like that due to the sheer instability it would cause within the Dust… but this time around, he'd tried only pouring as little aura as he could manage and it still went badly.
Well, at least his blade was still in one piece. Again, that blacksmith was incredible, having even managed to make the blade even tougher than it was before. It was thanks to that that his screw up just now hadn't ruined his weapon. But he wasn't about to get complacent and risk its destruction so soon. He had to figure something out and fast.
Looking at his blade, there was still plenty of ice Dust to use, his aura having only triggered a small portion of the Dust to go off. All well and good, but just how long could he make this last, he wondered? Hopefully long enough for him to at least figure out some sort of trick to this.
He raised his blade again, this time only with a single hand and merely with the blade pointing away from him. He had no intention of swinging it just yet, not until he could activate the Dust without incident. Only then would he risk doing so when actively in motion.
Concentrating immensely, he forced just an absolute sliver of aura into the ice Dust-.
-Only for an explosion of frost to occur yet again, coating the blade and the whole area directly around him in ice. With just a flex of his fingers, the ice covering his right hand shattered and a light swing of his blade removed the ice from his sword. A quick stomp saw the rest of the ice upon the floor shattered, though whatever was left would no doubt melt and make the floor slick. Not that it made much difference to him – he was used to fighting in a variety of environments, slick ground included. Besides, it wasn't as if falling on his ass was anything to be upset over, not when it was part of training.
Still… if even a sliver of his aura could trigger such an intense reaction, just what was he to do? There was no denying the sudden activation of the Dust nor its effectiveness, but if he was going to be encasing not just his enemies but also himself in frost every single time, to say nothing of when he'd try using fire, water, lightning, or even gravity Dust, then it would quickly become impractical if he'd have to deal with the fallout of his own attacks in mid-battle. Even the slightest delay on his part could be costly.
"…" Making a sound, Jaune merely raised his blade again. At this point, all he could do was just repeat this over and over again and adjust in accordance to whatever oddities he could feel.
In hindsight, he really should be doing this with help from someone who was an expert on Dust, in this case, Weiss. Alas, she was in the middle of training with Blake so that would have to wait until afterwards.
Until then, he'll just have to attempt this on his lonesome.
Readying his blade again, he prepared to activate the Dust.
And that's exactly what he did – over and over and over and over again.
Another attempt goes by. More needless frost.
Five attempts go by. Just a little less frost now but he's still essentially freezing himself in place.
Ten more attempts go by. He was asked to head to a different training room due to the temperature in this one dropping too low thanks to how intense the frost is. He sheepishly obliged.
In the new training room, another ten attempts go by. He finally ran out of ice Dust for his sword and at the expense of freezing his surroundings yet again, albeit only slightly less. As for himself, he was now only freezing the arm with which he held his sword with along with part of his shoulder, chest and neck, as opposed to his entire front, but this was still unacceptable.
After exiting the room to go refill his blade with ice Dust, he headed back to the training room. This time around, he decided to use just a bit more aura than he had been already. If only a sliver was enough to cause such trouble then maybe it was a matter of using a moderate amount but containing the aura within the Dust itself instead rather than just pouring it into the Dust and letting nature take its course.
The result proved to be… less than desired. And by less than desired, he meant it really only made the effect worse. Normally, containing aura within any given object wasn't an issue but due to Dust's delicate nature, that wasn't the case here. Thus, the end result of this foolishness was the entire training room being effectively turned into a frost covered wonderland. Hell, some stalagmites and stalactites had formed too!
But worst of all, the few others that had been practicing some of their moves in here had also been covered in frost and Jaune had hastily gone around breaking them all free when his fellow students had proven unable to free themselves.
Needless to say, he was quickly kicked out after that. It was only thanks to whatever good will he'd achieved here in Beacon through his helpful actions in the beginning of the school year that had prevented the others from literally kicking him out. Not that he was undeserving of such an action in his own self-depreciative opinion.
Now standing out in the hallway, Jaune could only sheathe his sword and ponder just what the hell he should do next. He was all for the challenge he now faced, but no matter how much he strives to improve, it meant nothing if he couldn't figure out how to proceed from here on out. That he and his friends were all on an unknown deadline didn't help either.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a notification from his scroll. Immediately, he pulled out the device, thinking something had happened. Maybe the Relic of Knowledge had been recovered or something else of substantial note had happened.
Instead, what it the notification turned out to be for was the CCT here on Beacon. Every student's scroll was connected to it and so whenever they were receiving a call from well outside of Vale, the CCT here on campus would automatically send out a message to the student to let them know they've a call waiting.
For security's sake, the notification couldn't just outright tell him who was calling or the exact address, but it did provide which kingdom and the general region of said kingdom it was coming from.
So, as soon as he saw the call was coming from Mistral's northernmost region, he knew exactly who was awaiting him picking up the call.
He broke out into a light jog, all thoughts of training forgotten about for the moment. In record time, he made it from Beacon's training rooms all the way to the CCT whereupon, he swiftly entered and found the closest available terminal.
Upon verifying his student credentials, he stared intensely at the monitor as it processed the information and the call. Though this was only a split-second long process, if that, he couldn't help but feel as if it was taking forever.
But as soon as the information was processed and the call went through, he was greeted in a literal instant with an all too familiar face and voice.
"Hey there, little bro!~" spoke the caller. "Holding up alright?"
Jaune smiled as he replied. "Yeah, Saph… I'm holding up alright."
Nodding on her end of the monitor, his oldest sister Saphron, was practically beaming thanks to his words. "Good, doesn't look like you're trying to lie on that part. If you had been, I would've called up the rest of the family to give you a serious talking to in my place!" Saphron shook a fist and made a clearly fake indignant expression as if to further back up her words.
Jaune let out an uncharacteristic snort. "Come on, when was the last time I've lied, Saph?" he responded, calling her by the little nickname he and the rest of the family had for the eldest daughter of the bunch.
"Well, there was that one time when you were super young where you lied about not wetting your bed…" Saphron began all too cheekily.
Jaune's expression immediately collapsed from mild amusement to embarrassment. "O-Okay, so there's that much-."
"Oh and then there was that time when-," Saphron cheerfully continued, ignoring him, propping an arm up on whatever desktop she was sitting at as she clearly reminisced.
"Saph!" Jaune called out in embarrassment, thankful no one was really around to hear him talk.
Saphron let out a loud giggle bordering on genuine laughter at his reaction. "Ah, so you still can be embarrassed by your big sis… that's good…" At the end, her teasing expression was replaced with one of quiet happiness. "…You know, it really does help a lot to see how you're doing."
At that, Jaune closed his eyes for a brief second and bowed his head. "…Yeah."
In the aftermath of that incident so long ago, when he'd awakened his aura and semblance, his mother and sisters had all taken those events very hard. His mother, a truly amazing person in his objective opinion, had taken the damage done to her vocal chords in surprising grace and had put up a strong front in order to comfort her children. But his sisters back then… due to being so young when that had happened, they hadn't taken things so well.
And Saphron had taken it the worst of all. Though always ready to tease and mess with her siblings at the drop of a hat, there was no denying how much she loved them all and how well she did at helping their mother out in looking after them all. Despite how young she'd been back then, Saphron had pretty much been their substitute mother whenever they, the Arc children, had to be left on their own while their parents tended to other equally important matters.
Thus, Saphron, had always held herself to a very high standard when it came to looking after and providing for them. She'd been their guardian for all intents and purposes, so when she'd been just as helpless during that horrible incident that had resulted in their mother being harmed and him being scarred, she'd taken it very hard.
Her and the rest of the family seeing him succumb to the mental effects of his semblance back then definitely hadn't helped at all. Though she'd long since moved out of the house and now lived in Argus with her wife and son, she still tended to be the most concerned about him and his… progress.
And sure enough, she proved just now how perceptive she is when it came to family by noticing the differences in him just now. This was especially impressive since even back when he'd been under his semblance's heavy influence, he'd still more or less acted the same as he is now just… slightly faked or exaggerated back then.
"Mm. With how long it's been since any of us last talked to you, a lot must have happened, huh?" she then said as she let out a sigh. She now propped up her other arm and practically supported her leaning head with her palms. "…Terra and I have been hearing all about what's been going on in the news…"
At that, Jaune winced. He'd been so caught up in everything, he'd completely neglected the fact his family would eventually hear about all that's happened.
He sighed, suddenly feeling ashamed. "Sorry… I should've called, huh?"
Saphron just shook her head. "We've all been pretty busy with our own lives pretty recently," she replied softly. "Plus, we only just got this news pretty recently, more thanks to Terra's connections at her work than anything in the news. Well, she's gotten more concrete info, I guess would be the better way of putting it. Helps too that some students from Haven have been spilling all the beans about what's been going in Vale and stuff."
At that, Jaune blinked, slightly confused but then remembered that with the Vytal Festival canceled and with Haven's headmaster assassinated, it would make sense for a lot of Haven's students to either return to the dorms back at their academy or even just flat out head back to their homes until things can be restructured. And it wasn't as if Argus was a small place, so there were surely some people there that go to Haven.
"…Do you want me to stop?" he asked after a moment, getting his sister's attention.
She may not have come right out and said it, but having grown up with him under his semblance's influence, she and the rest of their family knew all too well that he wasn't one to sit back when there was something he could possibly do to help, especially if it was something literally happening before his eyes. The recent incidents in Vale certainly counted.
Saphron said nothing for a minute, just looking at him. "…If it were possible, would you have stopped?" In other words, she was basically asking if he even had the choice of stopping in his veritable crusade.
And in response to that, he definitely had an answer. "I could choose to stop, yes… but I won't," he answered firmly. "I'm sorry, Saph. But this is one path I want to take."
Such a response would probably sadden anyone else in Saphron's shoes. And there was no doubt that his sister was dismayed by his words… but what she seemed to be feeling mostly in response to his words was pure relief. "Ah." She was smiling softly now, leaning back in her seat. "You really have come a long way, Jaune." There was no mistaking the pride in her voice either.
He matched her smile with one of his own. "Even 'slaves' like me can still grow," he replied lightly. "And now that I'm considerably more 'free,' I've no intention of letting myself regress. Especially not when I've friends now that'll watch out for me."
Saphron was practically beaming now. "Good," she said in relief before adopting an exaggeratedly stern tone. "But if you do start acting like before, I'll know and by the gods, I'll come over there myself to smack you upside the head until you learn sense again."
Jaune laughed. "What? You'd really leave your dear wifey and son all alone just for that?" he shot back quietly. Then he blinked, comprehending something belatedly. "Just where are Terra and Adrian anyways? Where are you calling me from?"
"Oh, Terra is here at her workstation," Saphron answered. "When the news about Vale started reaching us here, all the Atlas personnel here suddenly had a lot more to do. No idea what though, guess it's confidential. Not even Terra will hint at what's going on no matter how many times I try buttering her up in bed…"
"Uh oh, looks like she's losing interest in you, sis," Jaune now teased. "Knew it was only a matter of time until she got tired of your teasing."
"Hush, little bro, hush. You know not what you speak of," Saphron said in a faux stern and sagely tone. "Anyways, I'm here at her work since this is the only place where the CCT is available for other calls. Would've loved to bring Adrian here with me to say hi to his favorite uncle-."
"-I'm his only uncle-."
"-But the guards here are way too stiff when it comes to security, so I had to leave him with a babysitter for now," Saphron finished explaining, huffing as she did so. "I swear, that Cordovin lady is one mean little bit-."
"Sis, don't be setting a bad example for Adrian," Jaune flatly said.
"Oh come on, he's not even here! Didn't you hear what I said?!" she whined, pout and all. "He's not here to see his dear mommy act like this and most importantly, that Cordovin lady has it coming!"
"Says the same girl who once literally washed out Jasmine's mouth with soap when she cussed at you after you foisted some of your chores on her," Jaune interrupted with a growing smirk, recalling that vivid memory from his pre-semblance youth all too well.
"In my defense, she had it coming for trying to defy the divine mandate I have as the eldest child," Saphron immediately retorted in a haughty fashion.
"…Heh." Jaune couldn't help it. He just had to chuckle.
His chuckling quickly led to his sister laughing along too until they both stopped after a moment or two. Ah, how he's missed this. All those years he'd spent slaving away to his own semblance, fighting and helping out on the frontier… he would never regret doing so, for he's saved many people as a result and weeded out many 'evils' in the process too… but even so, if he'd never awakened his semblance, just how many years could he have had to enjoy such simple interactions with his family like this?
"…Jaune," Saphron began, serious again. "Be honest with me – is something happening?"
Her question was incredibly vague to say the least, but Jaune knew exactly what she meant by it. Even though there wasn't any info that the public could draw upon to form conclusions, his eldest sister has always had a knack for just knowing whenever something bad was brewing. Back then, prior to that incident, her intuition hadn't always been too spot-on, but ever since then, she's gotten much more perceptive about that sort of thing, a result of her always being on the lookout now for any… oddities.
Of course, that being said, anyone would look at the string of incidents that have occurred here in Vale and see what had happened in Mistral recently and start getting a bad feeling about things, but his sister more so.
"…There is," he eventually said. "I can't tell you what it is though… nor can I tell you that things will be alright. But whatever's coming, it'll be happening here first, so you, Terra, and Adrian will be safe… and I'll be doing all I can to make sure that it'll never happen to any of the other kingdoms. My friends and I won't allow it to continue."
As much as he wished to, he couldn't promise that she and their family will be completely safe, but he truly meant it when he said he'll be doing everything possible to make ensure their safety anyways. Though some would call that an empty promise if they knew of the odds against Vale, he fully intended to make it happen anyways.
If there was ever a time to truly say do or die, then this was it. Either he and his friends manage to thwart Salem and her forces or they'll be crushed without mercy.
"Really, really wish you wouldn't put yourself on the line like that…" Saphron muttered before nodding. "…But okay. Jaune, you know how much your… quirks… have worried me and the rest of the family. But we'll always support you. You know that, right?"
"I do. Thanks Saph," Jaune said, unable to fully express the gratitude he was feeling. No family would ever support their kid acting as a line of defense against a force like Salem, not that the public knew of that, but even so, to know his family would nonetheless do so anyways touched him more than he could express through words alone.
Saphron smiled. "Just try not to be reckless, okay?"
"I'm afraid I can't make any promises there, but I'll do my best."
Saphron could only grunt at that but accepted it for what it is. She looked at something off-screen and hummed. "Well, I still have about half an hour before I need to go and start dinner… you have anything you need to do right now?"
Oh so very much, yes. Training, speculating, actual planning, so much more… he did have quite a bit to do. Even though he and his friends were effectively on standby as the headmaster and the others within his inner circle have much to deal with, it wasn't as if they were just going to twiddle their thumbs while they waited for some info to act on.
But even with all that he had to do right this moment-.
"No, I'm good," Jaune said – lied – with a smile.
There was a lot that he needed to do, of that there was no doubt. If this were him from before his second battle with Hazel, he'd be getting to it right now with only a small amount of genuine guilt over cutting his talk with Saphron short.
But as he is now? All he wants is to just enjoy some time with his sister some more.
His response clearly pleased Saphron, whose smile was like a sun in radiance. But then, her signature teasing smile replaced it. "So…" she began, making him regret his decision. "Any girls there catch your eye? Or guys – you know I can't judge you on that."
…
…
…
A half hour comes and goes by in what felt like the blink of an eye, a half hour where Saphron teased him just as she used to before and he gave as good as he got in returning the favor.
By the time his sister had to go, though not before bidding him goodbye in that typical teasing way only a big sister could do to her younger brother, Jaune was feeling much lighter than ever before.
All this stuff concerning Salem and her potential plans… in hindsight now, he could see he'd been at risk of regressing somewhat, of being far too focused on one matter that he almost begins to forget about everything else. That he's neglected to contact his family after all this time was a sign of this.
This was something he aimed to now correct. Alas, given what time it is here, his family would be out and about, his father no doubt out in the field while his mother worked within their hometown and his sisters were no doubt in the middle of their own schooling or jobs. Thus, a call to them, where he could speak with them all at once, would have to wait until later in the afternoon.
That was one thing he vowed here and now to do, no matter what.
But until then, he had the rest of the day to himself, with it only barely being close to noon now.
Exiting the CCT, he intended to head back to the training rooms and see if he could get in some more practice on his Dust usage before meeting his friends for lunch.
Alas, some odd minutes later, he discovered that all the training rooms were currently being used to their max capacity. Plus, some of the students there who'd been there earlier when he was around were quick to shoo him away, no doubt worried he'll cover the whole room in frost again. Fair enough.
With that option out, he could only head back outside and eventually found a nice little spot that was close to the unofficial borderline between Beacon's grounds and the forest where initiation is held.
Overlooking said forest, he couldn't help but marvel at how quickly time has gone by. In hindsight, it felt only like a week or so ago when he'd barely been taking initiation. How the time flies, he thought with a small smile.
But he wasn't about to spend the rest of the day just mulling over memories, though that did kind of sound fun to do. No, he still had his own training to do.
Slowly, he unsheathed his sword and readied it within his right hand. However, rather than swing the blade or attempt to use the Dust in it, he just held it before his very eyes and stared for what had to be the thousandth time by now.
Really, just what was he to do about this? If pouring even the slightest amount of aura into the Dust or even trying to contain that sliver of aura within it would result in failure, then would that not render his intended usage of Dust impractical if he could never use it to its fullest extent?
"Man," he murmured to himself. "Why can't Dust hold aura as easily as my swords do?" For once, he couldn't help but almost complain about the oddities he encountered in life. That this was the one thing to draw such a reaction out of him as opposed to literally everything else was honestly pretty funny in a way.
…
…Wait.
Jaune's eyes went wide as an idea suddenly hit him out of the blue, born in response to his words just now.
If trying to pour aura directly into the Dust was seemingly hopeless, then what about a more indirect method?
His swords… his swords have always been able to handle the aura he pumped into them. Sure, he may push them to their limits at times, but not to the point where they exploded in the same way the Dust did.
Concentrating, he channeled some aura into his sword, making sure to compress it within his weapon as deeply as he could. The last thing he wanted right now was for the Dust to react too soon.
He held his breath ever so slightly as he waited for something to happen and when nothing did, he exhaled in relief. But he wasn't about to let his concentration slip. Instead, he concentrated even harder, allowing the aura compressed within the very core of his sword to slowly spread through the blade itself.
As it did so, he took up a basic attack stance and overlooked the cliff that he was near, looking for the nearest tree or general object that he could afford to test this out on.
Spotting an exceptionally large number of trees whose thick branches made them look as if they were all bunched together, he swung his blade as slowly as he could afford to, just barely breaking the sound barrier. As he did so, the aura within his blade finally reached the Dust and 'pushed' against it for all but a split second, if that.
The result was immediate. The Dust responded to the sudden and instant long aura push and a visible wave of frost was unleashed. Jaune then watched as the top of the trees were nearly blown off, the blown off bits and the rest of the trees' upper selves coated in a light layer of frost.
Jaune smirked with satisfaction.
The cut may not have been cleanly through, the now ruined trees looking more as if someone had taken a chainsaw to them rather than a swing of a sharp blade, but compared to the extremely explosive and uncontrollable bursts from earlier, this was already one hell of an improvement.
Yes, Jaune decided, this was much more like what he'd envisioned doing with the Dust. And once mastered, it should certainly give him a desperately needed edge in the battles to come.
Reinvigorated, Jaune began his training anew.
So, firstly, just want to say that regarding Watts, he's effectively like Amenokurato from Silverio Trinity: Beyond the Horizon. Basically, he's able to create a virtual space in which he can freely alter or even generate any sort of phenomena he can think of, which is accomplished via computation. However, there are two main differences between Watts and Amenokurato, the first one being that the latter can only create this virtual space within the singularity whereas Watts can freely create this virtual space via his aura. The other main difference between them is that the latter is far more powerful than Watts will ever be though Watts himself is certainly no slouch in the power department now. As I'm sure you guys realize, Watts is honestly pretty OP now. But don't worry, there will be limits to his new power that will be revealed as time goes on.
Now, Saphron. Honestly, I meant to include at least one or two members of the Arc family in this fic at some point, but until now it never truly felt right to shoehorn them given everything that'd been going on. And considering how big a deal Jaune's 'condition' is to them, it would've probably been odd if I went the whole fic without at least giving the Arc family one scene with which to address their concerns about him. Hope that makes sense and that the scene between them was enjoyable.
As for Jaune, allow me to expand on some stuff. Regarding his modified sword(s), basically what happened is that a compartment for Dust was made to replace the sharp end of the blade itself, this compartment made out of heavily reinforced plastic that was sharpened to the point where it substitutes for the sword's original sharpness and can be further enhanced via aura. There's a small slot Jaune can open up on the bottom of the swords' hilts where he can insert the Dust through. These compartments look so natural that if one isn't paying attention, it just looks as if he coated the edge of his swords with Dust rather than suspect the truth. Hope that makes sense.
As for Salem's scene, I just want to say that I hope it was a fun one. And if it seems as if she's being just a bit too arrogant or dismissive, do remember that she has a hell of a lot going for her now – Tyrian, Watts, Hazel, the Grimm, now the Relic of Knowledge… compared to Ozpin and his group, she hasn't exactly suffered too many notable losses throughout the backstory and current events of this fic.
And to any of you concerned I'm hyping up Jaune as being too amazing, rest assured, there is a point to this, namely that I'm expressing more how 'abnormal' he is rather than how 'amazing' he is. Again, there's a reason for this, but it won't be explained any time soon, I'm afraid. Spoilers and all, heh.
Take care, everyone. Stay safe.