Howdy gamers, I'm back with another chapter of Rising Titans. This one has quite a bit of action, so I hope y'all enjoy!
-Athk0r3
"All I'm saying is that it worked for me." Jaune said, putting his hands in the air as Port chuckled.
"Well it certainly did work for you, my boy." Port said. "But not everyone can simply incinerate a deathstalker from the inside out like you did."
"Well the idea is still the same," the knight argued, "If you get through its shell, you can kill it, just use explosives or whatever you've got."
"But the issue is getting through said shell. The carapace of a deathstalker is notoriously tough, and not everyone has the strength to penetrate it."
"Then have a team member with enough strength do it."
"Perhaps, but it is much less physically demanding to target weak points." The older professor countered, "Attacking it through the eyes lets you bypass its armor."
"Not everyone has the precision to do that," Jaune said, turning the huntsmans words against him, "But force will always work, eventually."
"And in that time, a deathstalker would tear you in half a dozen times!" Port stated emphatically, the entire conversation having put the rest of the class to sleep.
Only Ruby, Blake, Pyrrha and Weiss were awake, and only the latter two were paying attention, mostly on Jaune. In truth, everyone was relieved, as Jaune's interruption and subsequent argument had halted Port in the middle of a long, played up tale about his glory days, where he apparently killed a deathstalker with a single shot through its eye.
Jaune had taken objection to this, arguing that attacking through its upper shell was safer and more reliable, because it was a place out of reach of its claws, and didn't need any feats of precision, just strength. Port had, predictably, rebuked, countering that the time it took was not worth the effort, and going through a weak point was more time-efficient, if more difficult.
Then the conversation devolved into whether or not people even could reliably go through the upper shell, something Jaune had managed to do during the initiation.
"Well then," he said, "I'd just hit it harder."
Fortunately, the bell had rung in the middle of Jaune's closing remarks, jolting the class awake.
"And there's the bell!" Port said, as the students stood up, grabbing their books. "Next class we'll finish my lesson, and talk about boarbatusk. A wonderful conversation young man, best of luck to you!"
"Same to you, Sir Port." Jaune said, waving back as he left.
"What about now?" Ruby whispered, as her and her team watched Jaune leave the classroom. Early that morning, Blake had told them about Jaune sneaking off, and showed them the video she took.
Ruby was a little sad Jaune didn't invite her, while Yang was pretty suspicious. She'd already been keeping an eye on him, what with how close he'd gotten to her sister in only a day, but him sneaking off with Vulkahn in the middle of the night didn't sit well with the blonde.
And Weiss had jumped to his defense, most likely partially just to spite Ruby, leading to a rather heated argument between Weiss and Yang. Eventually, at Ruby's behest, the group had voted on what to do, eventually deciding to confront him.
"No," Weiss hissed, as Jaune rounded the corner, "It's too late now, he's already almost at the room."
"Fine," Yang whispered back angrily, "Next class."
"Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?"
"The Battle at Fort Castle." Came the voice of Weiss.
"Precisely! And! Who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagoon's forces?"
During this pause, Jaune shifted in his seat, the sudden movement catching the professors eye "Mr. Arc!" said Oobleck. "You've an answer! This is excellent! Excellent! Now, what is the answer?"
Jaune coughed awkwardly, and looked over to Pyrrha, who was making vague gestures with her fingers to her face, mouthing, "Night vision." But Jaune didn't get it, because of course he didn't. She then pointed to her eyes with both hands.
Jaune's head snapped back, and he proudly proclaimed, "Eyes!"
Pyrrha put her face in her hands as the class cackled.
"Hilarious, Mr. Arc." Oobleck looked up and noticed Cardin was guffawing hardest of all. "Mr. Winchester. Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts on the subject."
Cardin leaned back and put his feet up on the desk, a smug grin on his face. "Well, I know that it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."
"Wanna rephrase that?" Jaune growled, now on his feet, one hand on his desk, the other curled into a fist. Already, smoke and sparks were drifting from his hair and body, golden eyes intensifying in brightness.
"Do you have a problem?" He snarked back, as Jaune glared even harder.
"No," he spat, "but I do have the answer. It's night vision."
"Correct!" Doctor Oobleck shouted, trying and failing to lower the tension in the room. "Many Faunus are known to have nearly perfect sight in the dark. This distinct advantage allowed them to launch their attack at night nearly unhindered, leaving General Lagoon's forces in the dark, so to speak."
It was then that Blake chimed in, adding her own input, "General Lagoon was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched and the general was captured." She then turned to Cardin. "Perhaps if he had paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."
"Mister Winchester," Oobleck warned as Cardin began to shake his fist, "that's enough. In fact, you can see me after class for additional readings."
"Okja lat jag." Jaune said to himself, a smug grin on his face, until it was wiped off by Oobleck.
"Don't think I didn't hear that Mister Arc," The green haired professor said, as Jaunes smile evaporated, "just because you're speaking in a different language doesn't mean I don't understand intention. Meet with me after class."
And at that, the bell rung.
"Ah, speak of the devil," Oobleck muttered, before turning back to the class, "Well unfortunately that's all we have time for today. Remember, I want your work done on time, understood?"
And like that, class was over. Everyone except for Jaune and Cardin left, the two remaining students shuffling over to the front desk. Oobleck decided to focus on Cardin first.
"Mister Winchester, you have been struggling in my class since day one. Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest, or just your stubborn natures, but whatever it is, it stops now. You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school, and as such, we only accept the best of the best." He paused for emphasis, "So I expect you to act like it."
"History is important, Cardin. If you can't learn from it, you're destined to repeat it. Your assignment is pages fifty-one to ninety-one, and I want an essay on my desk by next class. Now go, I still need to talk to Jaune here."
Once Cardin left, Jaune spoke.
"I apologize Sir Oobleck," he lowered his head slightly, "my outburst was uncalled for."
"Oh that?" Oobleck asked, sounding a tad confused, "That's not the problem here, Mister Winchesters comments were very insulting, I do not blame you for your response."
"O-oh," Jaune responded, sounding even more confused, "Then what is the problem?"
"In a sense, you are." He said, this drew a few looks from outside the door, where team RWBY was waiting, the thin wooden door doing seemingly nothing to dampen the sound of the two talking.
"You are a bit of an enigma, to put it frankly," Oobleck said, adjusting his glasses, "You come from outside the kingdoms, from a place no one, you included, has been able to find on a map, aced the exams, performed phenomenally during the initiation, have since stayed at the top of the class, and now I hear you speaking a language I've never heard in my life."
"You mean Orcish?"
"Is that it's name?" Oobleck asked, "Interesting. I'll see if I can find anything about 'Orcish' later today."
"I don't mean to be rude, Sir Oobleck-"
"Doctor."
"-Doctor Oobleck," Jaune continued, "but why is my story important."
"Because it's unusual. You were orphaned at age four," A small noise of surprise came from R and W of RWBY, "then adopted at 12, where you received enough informal training to pass every single combat exam you needed to attend."
"But anyway," The doctor waved his hand dismissively, "my point is that you're unique, Jaune, and I'd like to learn more about you. So instead of an essay like Mister Winchester, you will be writing a short, two page paper on this...orcish language, understood."
"Understood Si-Doctor Oobleck." Jaune corrected himself, before making a final remark.
"Just a little warning," the knight began, "Orcish isn't easy on non-native speakers. Or the ears for that matter. It does make it a good language for insults thought."
"As was that phrase you spoke earlier, I presume."
"Well, Okja lat jag means roughly, 'Serves you right'," Jaune clarified, not truly wanting to explain the intricacies of the Orcish lexicon at the moment, "but the language sounds so harsh that it might as well be."
"That it does, Mister Arc." The doctor paused to take a drink from his thermos before he continued, "Now go, but I expect that paper on my desk by next week!"
Jaune quickly gathered his things and left, exiting through the door. He was just about to pull up a floor plan of the school to find his next class when he found himself surrounded by Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang.
"Hello there," Jaune said, as the four young students surrounded him, "Ruby, Blake, Yang...Weiss, good to see you all again." He said, placing a little extra emphasis on Weiss's name.
"Jaune," Yang said, getting right to the point, "where did you go last night?"
"To bed. Where else?" He responded, now realising what happened, and trying to inch his way out of the circle.
"Blake says otherwise." She said, jabbing a thumb at her dark haired partner, who gave Jaune a disapproving look.
"What does she say?" The knight said, stalling for time, as the clock ticked ever closer to the next bell.
"She said you left the building with your lizard dog late last night." Spoke the girl in question.
"His name is Vulkahn," Jaune said back, eyes narrowing in mild annoyance, "and he's a magma drake."
"Not the point, Jaune," Ruby said, "Blake caught you red handed!"
"Are you telling me Blake was sneaking around the building at night?" Jaune said, sensing a way out.
"W-well yeah…" Ruby trailed off, "But she had to, because you were being suspicious."
And there it was. A way out.
"Your partner is stalking me?" Jaune said, exaggerated incredulity and all, "How creepy is that? Next thing you're gonna tell me is that she was recording the whole thing."
"W-wait it's not like that!" Blake stammered, now embarrassed.
"Oh my gods," Jaune backed away in false horror, "What is wrong with you?"
"I think that's enough," Weiss said, stepping forward as Jaune stepped back, taking hold of his arm and moving him next to her, "Let's leave Jaune alone, alright?"
"At least someone here has some decency…" He said, as he looked over to her, and held out a hand, "But anyways, the bell is going to ring soon, and I need to get to my next class, care to join me?"
"I would love to, Jaune." Weiss said, turning a notable shade of pink as she took his hand politely. The two walked away from the group, the other three now glaring at Jaunes rapidly retreating head.
Looks like he's escaped this time.
"When your aura is in the red, I will declare the match over, understood?" The authoritative voice of Glynda echoed throughout the arena, and was met with a series of half-hearted nods and sounds of agreement.
"Good," She said, glancing over at her scroll for a moment, "You have five minutes to get ready."
Jaune stood, and bid Pyrrha adieu, and went down to the men's lockers.
Moving quickly, Jaune pulled his armor out of his bag of holding, laying out the plain underclothes, chainmail, and plate armor on a spare bench.
He swiftly exchanged his clothes, pulling the slim fitting black undershirt over his head. He adjusted the sleeves, making sure they covered his arms.
Then he slipped on his chainmail, putting his legs through the rings of silvery metal, and stepping into his heavy, leather boots. Bending down, he laced them up, before stepping into his black metal sabatons, the heavily enchanted armor conforming to his feet.
Next were his greaves, the magical metal once again adhering to his legs, before he reached for the next piece of chain mail, quickly putting his arms and head through their respective holes, before he reached for his chest plate. The large, almost barrel shaped piece went on easy, and once it was in place, the segmented chunk of armor began to shrink and contort, once again conforming to the shape of Jaunes torso, black and gold tabard hanging just past his knees
He had just put on his belt and waistcloth, the thick leather pouches and bags settling on his hips, black cloth flowing behind him, falling down to his lower shins, when he got a push on the shoulder. He turned around, slipping on his left gauntlet, and came face to face with Cardin Winchester and his team.
"What do you want?" Jaune said as he donned his right gauntlet, flexing his hand as the metal constricted. He smirked internally when Cardins eyes briefly jumped down to his hand, eyeing the four triangular studs on the knuckles with no small amount of caution.
"You think you can just make me look like a dumbass like that?" He said, his three cronies nodding and making affirmative noises, "In front of an entire class?"
"You think you can just say something so insulting and expect me not to put you in your place?" Jaune said, stepping forward. He was only about an inch taller than Cardin, but it was better than nothing.
"Those animals are the ones that need to be put in their place." Cardin snapped back, as Jaunes glare intensified. The knight's eyes narrowed, the gold light growing brighter and harsher, smoke and sparks riding up from his hair and body.
"Animals, huh?" Jaune practically growled, raising a hand slowly, to reveal a left gauntlet, glowing white hot, steam wafting off it, much to the rising fear of Cardin.
"I think," Jaune said slowly, thoughtfully, as he placed his gauntleted hand on Cardins shoulder plate, hissing and metallic groaning coming from the metal, "you're the only one who needs to be taught a lesson."
With that he released his hand, revealing an imprint of his palm and fingers left in the metal, which was now glowing a bright shade of orange in protest to the extreme heat. By the time Cardin looked back to Jaune, he's already removed his sword and shield from his bag of holding, and strapped the sheathed blade to his hip, heater shield on his left arm.
"I can't believe he would do that!" Yang shouted angrily to her team, having already chewed out Weiss in the locker room.
"To be fair," Weiss said, trying to vainly stick up for Jaune, "You were following him around at night, that it pretty creepy."
"You are not allowed to talk after that!" Yang said, pointing a finger at Weiss.
"After what?" She shrieked back.
"We had a plan," The blonde started, "and you just let him go! You were holding his arm after he kept dodging the question."
"I just wanted to be nice!"
"We almost had him!"
"Attention!" Shouted Glynda, silencing the room, "Is everyone back?"
Swiftly checking her scroll in silence, Glynda continued once she had confirmed that everyone returned.
"Everyone seems to be present," She said, exiting the arena and heading up to the spectator area, "and as such, I will now announce the first match. Remember, it will be up to you to monitor your aura."
"I hope I get to fight Jaune" Yang whispered, mostly to herself.
"First up, Yang Xiao Long versus…" there was a dramatic pause.
"Jaune Arc."
Jaune eyes his opponent from across the arena, golden eyes looking into lilac. Aurum Mors in his hands, Ember Celica around hers. Jaune held a neutral expression as he shifted slightly, contrasting heavily with Yangs malicious grin, omnipresent as she bounced on her heels.
"Begin!" Said Glynda, spurring the two into action.
It was fairly obvious which of the two was faster, evident when Yang shot across the arena, fist raised, aiming to punch Jaune into next week. Instead, her fist slammed into Jaunes shield, stopping her dead, to her mild surprise. She looked at Jaune, whos eyes flashed much brighter for a split second, before Yang was forced to backstep a horizontal slash.
She glared, and rushed forward again, throwing two more punches, both connecting solidly with his shield, the thick, black metal holding with little effort. Her third punched was slapped away with the flat of his blade, making enough room for Jaune to punch her in the chest with his shield, landing a solid hit to her torso.
Now Jaune was on the offensive, moving forward with a quick thrust, followed by a spinning slash and ending with a vertical strike, which just clipped Yangs shoulder, leaving him open. Now it was her turn to land a hit, sending a strong jab into Jaunes shoulder, resulting in most of the force being absorbed into his pauldron.
Jaune skidded back, heavy, metal coated boots scraping against the floor. While he began directing his pyromancy, Yang fired her gauntlets, sending clouds of fire downrange towards Jaune, who charged forward. He leapt out of the ball of fire, tongues of orange heat licking his armor, and landed an airborne shield punch on Yangs head, knocking her back.
As Yang jumped forward, propelled by her gauntlets, Jaune raised his shield, tilting it at an angle, making Yangs gauntlets skid off, assisted by a push from the shield. Now with her hand above her head, Jaune kicked forward, landing his boot on Yangs midriff.
'That hurt' Yang jumped backwards and hissed to herself. The strike hadn't done any insane damage to her aura, but it burned. She glanced down to her stomach, where the faint image of Jaunes sabatons were visible as small lines of char, faint wisps of smoke drifting off the fabric. She looked down his boots, which were slightly obscured by the wafting trails of steam flowing from the joints and plates. The metal itself was glowing a bright orange, like a branding iron.
'Time to kick it into high gear.' She thought to herself, as she activated her semblance, her hair bursting into flames, eyes turning crimson. Jaune stopped, stepping back in surprise, before hunching his shoulders and turning up his own heat, his boots, greaves, vambraces and gauntlets all now glowing white hot.
She shot forward, fist raised, sending a blistering punch streaking towards his head. Jaune sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the punch as it screamed past her head. The knight countered with a backflip, sending the heavy, white hot metal boot into Yangs chin.
Unfortunately for Jaune, he was not at all familiar with her semblance, a powerful ability that allowed Yang to store the kinetic energy built up from her opponents strikes, and discharge it herself. This translated into Yang punching Jaunes sword arm with nearly triple the force, considering how much raw strength Jaune could put into his kicks. This strike in turn translated into Jaunes sword being knocked from his grasp. Hearing the sound of air parting, Jaune raised his shield in the nick of time, catching a follow up punch with the face, sending a small shockwave rippling through the arena.
Not being the most strategic fighter, Yang followed up her punch with two more, the metal of Ember Celica slamming against Aurum Turrim. Jaune shifted his shield to redirect her final punch, and followed up with a right handed strike of his own, bringing the heavy gauntlet across her face, crashing into her cheek, the white hot metal stunning her enough for him to back up safely and launch a jet of fire after stowing his shield on his back.
"Stop that!" She shouted angrily, only to be blasted with another monstrous torrent of flame, yelling out as the fire washed over her, melting away her aura, "Let me hit you!"
"Your arm will fall off before you break my shield," Jaune yelled back, still pouring fire at her as he walked forward, "So how about I give you a chance!"
Jaune sprinted forward as he cut off the fire, and reared back his right fist for a devastating punch, smoke and steam trailing off it as Yang mirrored him, ready to meet his strike head on.
The two connected, fist to fist, gauntlet to gauntlet, as the pyromancy charge in Jaunes hand detonated, a large explosion materializing from where the two connected, making Yang reel backwards. Shooting his hand forward, Jaune grabbed Yang by the hair, and yanked her head down to meet his rising knee, before driving his right hand into her stomach, lifting her off the ground before dropping her down.
"Stop!" Shouted Glynda, calling the match. Although Yangs aura was only about two thirds depleted, it was fairly obvious who would win. At the sound of her voice, Jaune immediately backed off, leaving Yang to pick herself up.
While he was looking around, scanning the arena floor for his dropped sword, he didn't notice Yang rise behind him, hair aglow and eyes red with rage. He didn't hear her run forward, didn't hear her growl at him, until Pyrrha shouted.
"Jaune, behind you!" She yelled, Jaunes eyes narrowing as he whipped around.
And met Yangs fist.
She drove it upwards into his stomach, lifting him about two feet into the air, heavy armor and all. A not so small amount of blood flew out of his mouth and over Yangs shoulder as his mouth shot open in pain, air and viscera driven from his body by the devastating punch, bringing gasps out form the crowd as well as a few strangle cries of pain.
"Don't touch my hair." She hissed, his eyes wide open in pain.
She withdrew her fist shortly after as Glynda began shouting angrily, her semblance shutting off at the realization of what she did.
Jaune meanwhile dropped to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. On his hands and knees, he gasped again, and coughed, before spitting, sending a small splatter of blood to the ground. He wiped his mouth, red crimson wiping off on his metal gauntlet as he shakily got to his feet, smoke and fire drifting from beneath his armor and hair.
His eyes narrowed in anger, glowing like twin golden suns in his skull as he glared at the back of Yangs head. He grit his teeth as he forced himself upwards, wincing internally at the pain in his chest and stomach, sticking his right hand into his bag of holding.
He withdrew his trust mace. Three feet of heavy steel, capped with a twenty pound, three flanged head, each flange a thick plate of black, sharpened metal.
"Skullbreaker" He whispered to himself, as the heft and weight settled into his hands. He moved quickly, draggin the head of the mace on the floor as he approached Yang.
The only warning she got was a frantic "Look out!" from Ruby.
She turned just in time for a two handed overhead strike from a forty pound mace to smash into her face, slamming her into the ground, regret and fear in her eyes as Jaune raised the mace again, eyes burning with anger as he brought it down.
Yang managed to roll out of the way, and instead of her head, the mace smashed into the ground, sending a spider web of cracks across the stony floor.
As she got to her feet, she realized something. For the first time since she'd arrived at Beacon, Yang was scared. She'd hit Jaune hard enough to make him bleed, and it entirely backfired. She'd hoped that it would intimidate him enough to not mess with her and her team. She didn't anticipate just how ruthless he would get.
And he was winning.
Yang only had another hit or two before her aura gave out, and then there was no doubt in her mind that Jaune would only need one swing to finish her. He was throwing some serious weight around with that mace, and she'd rather not take another direct hit.
Apparently Jaune had other ideas, evident when the mace slammed into her midsection, throwing her into a wall, aura finally gone. Her vision started to fade as Jaune approached, mace throwing up sparks as he dragged it behind him, tongues of flame leaping from his eyes and mouth when they opened, smoke rising from the joints of his armor, blood trickling out of his mouth, and running down his stomach, pouring out of a chink in his plate.
He raised his arms, black and gold mace held aloft, when a purple aura surrounded him, and lifted him up. Looks like Glynda finally decided to get involved, and used her telekinesis to pull him off balance and to the side.
The last thing Yang saw before she lost consciousness, was Jaunes body falling to the ground, his white hot armor rapidly cooling as he too fell asleep.