Editorial Note:

Due to the lack of relevant events following the last entry, we will be skipping ahead to one month after the last archived chapter—which unfolds a more notable story.

There are many unimportant entries on the archive that I will be excluding since they provide little-to-no contribution to the overall chronicle that drove Jaune to prominence. However, some of the more notable ones would still be included in an 'extras' section for those who are interested.

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 10

"Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo"

-A line from an old Imperial Poem

It's kind of hard to believe that I've actually managed to survive Beacon for a month. I have to admit, maybe I was just too pessimistic to think that I wouldn't last a week. Sure, prudence must be maintained, but it's nice to know that getting accustomed to life as a Beacon student wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. So far, my team has been very cooperative; our training sessions have been so far successful. They complied with the roles I assigned them and they have been following my orders without question, which made the preservation of my own life a lesser concern, making me focus my worries on my other problem. A youth's worst enemy since they start to read: schoolwork.

Despite being a passable leader and strategist, I was never big on theoretical education. I graduated with average scores when I was in elementary, which was adequate enough for me since I wasn't the type to brag about stupid letters on a card. I mostly passed elementary since I was able to convince my sisters, particularly Bleu, to do my homework for me. They were a little too perfect though since she gave little room for flaws that they barely resemble what should be a work of mine but thankfully the teachers would overlook this and gave me perfect scores nonetheless.

When I was in military school, I didn't have my sisters to help me so I actually had to take my assignments seriously. Sometimes I would pay someone to finish a troubling assignment and I never got caught for it, but most of the time I had to do the work myself. I got Bs in every subject then except physical education, leadership training, writing, and psychology which are subjects that I have managed to ace. Since I now have a reputation to uphold, there's no longer sense for me in trying to bribe someone to do my work. The consequences would be disastrous if someone finds out and I already have enough trouble as it is.

I spent most of the previous night writing a thousand-word essay on what I've learned about Dust Studies the past month which was due this day, added with the fact that it has been my weakest subject compared to others, so I had to cram the textbook while writing it down. As a result, I wasn't able to get enough sleep so I spent the entirety of Professor Port's class making up for it.

Since Grimm Studies was just nothing more than his storytime about how he was able to wrestle a Goliath with his bare hands while naked or something so I doubt that I missed anything that's actually noteworthy. I still ended up sleeping during Professor—or rather, Doctor Oobleck's class. Initially, I tried to stay awake during that class only to find out that sleeping almost straight for two hours at Professor Port's class wasn't enough.

I was eventually awoken by a paper football suddenly crashing at the back of my head. "Hey!" I cried out, shaking my head from the sensation, and that seemed to have grabbed the good doctor's attention.

"Mister Arc! Finally contributing to the lesson! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" He suddenly zoomed in front of my desk, filled with caffeine as usual. If only I asked to have some of it for myself.

Since I wasn't able to pay attention at that moment, I had to ask the question if I were to answer, and it was almost impossible to not make it sound awkward. "Uh, what was the question again, sir?" I asked, followed by some students snickering, which I frankly couldn't care less, given how students here are always bored that they'd pretty much laugh at anything. Kids my age don't exactly have the cleverest type of humor.

"Have you not been paying attention again, Mister Arc? Very well, since you kindly asked. What advantage did the faunus have over General Lagune's forces?"

Oh brother, I thought. I recall having this lesson before but I tend to forget these things as I usually clear my head once I'm done with a semester. Well, here goes nothing I thought. "Uhh… the answer… the advantage… that the faunus…" I looked at Pyrrha behind the doctor's back for some help. "…had over General... whatever's stuff."

"General Lagune!" Doctor Oobleck loudly corrected, slightly making me more awake.

"Right, right. General Lagune… is that…" I looked again at Pyrrha who was cupping her hands around her eyes, making her look like she was making some binoculars with her own hands. I found myself playing a brief game of charades, one which I had trouble guessing because I could not make out what she was gesturing to. So regrettably, I answered with the best of what I could come up with. And frankly, it wasn't a good answer.

"Is that they have really big eyes!"

As I would have expected, laughter ensued accompanied by Pyrrha and Blake shamelessly putting their palms to their faces. I could see the headlines for the next issue of the school paper after this: 'Supposed slayer of a bandit lord loses to a history question!'

The doctor sipped his coffee and zoomed back to his desk as if he was in a hurry, then again, the world was probably too slow for him. "So close, yet so far, Mister Arc. Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier," Cardin insufferably leaned back in his chair. I'm probably saying this because I'm not exactly good friends with nature but judging by that statement, Cardin probably never owned a pet.

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha responded.

"What? You got a problem?"

"No, I have the answer," she turned back to Doctor Oobleck. "It's night vision. Many faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark."

"General Lagune 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." Blake added before making a mocking glance towards Car-dimwit. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

The class hollered at Blake's potshot. Unsurprisingly, Cardin lost his cool and stood up. Doctor Oobleck immediately called him out before he was able to do something stupid. "Mister Winchester! Please take your seat."

I made a sensible chuckle. I didn't give a flip about Cardin and his tough-guy demeanor, but I enjoy seeing thick-headed brutes like him get humiliated. That was when the Doctor suddenly zoomed at me again. "You and Mister Arc can both see me after the lesson for additional readings."

With that, I groaned. I think this is what I get for not taking Bleu's history lessons seriously.

"Now! Moving on!" He continued after another sip from his cup.

The class concluded as the bell rang. Everyone left the room for recess, save for me and Cardin of course. He smirked as moved next to my seat and tackled me, hoping he'd get a reaction out of it. I responded by simply moving to the next column while doing my best not to give him what he wanted.

Before he began to reprimand us, the Doc took a sip of his coffee, something that I was losing count with. "Mister Arc, Mister Winchester. You two 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 nature, but whatever it is..." He took yet another sip of his coffee before putting it down on his desk. "It stops now! You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school, and we only accept the best of the best, so I expect you to act like it. Especially you, Mister Arc! You have a family name to live up to. If you intend to uphold its honor, then I suggest you start taking your lessons seriously."

"Heh," Cardin smugly uttered before Doctor Oobleck turned to him.

"Don't think I have forgotten about you, Cardin! Not only your grades have been falling back, but you also have an attitude problem that needs fixing as well! I do not want you causing any more trouble during my lessons!" Oobleck told him, causing his smirk to disappear while I nonchalantly watched him.

"I expect both of you to take this as a consideration to start improving your performances in this subject. History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it…"

"We're destined to repeat it," Cardin and I both groaned harmoniously, already knowing what he was about to say after repeating it millions of times every day. This was probably the only thing the two of us looked eye-to-eye on.

"Very good. Now, pages 51 to 91! I want an essay on my desk by the next lesson! Now! Run along," He took one last sip before blurring out of the classroom.

Having to write another essay after staying all night finishing a different essay was something I did not need. It made me worried that I might have to cram those 40 pages that night and end up sleeping again which might even get me punished into writing another essay ad infinitum. But in any case, that was thankfully quicker than I expected, it would have been annoying if this took long enough for me to miss the entirety of recess.

I walked out of the classroom and saw Pyrrha waiting for me. I suspiciously at my back to make sure Cardin doesn't try anything funny, which he did try as he looked like he was about to push me before he froze when I saw him, so instead, he contemptuously sniggered at me and gave me two pats at the back before walking away.

"Is he bothering you?" Pyrrha folded her arms as she glared at Cardin, being annoyed by his antics as much as I am.

"Eh, don't worry about him," I told her, trying to not sound bothered at all. "Let's just go eat."

We then walked to the cafeteria together. She kept eyeing Cardin, not trusting him one bit. While I cannot really blame her for that, I think she was worrying too much. Sure, Losechester has a track history of being an arrogant jerk, but he really wasn't that much of a BMOC[1] he thought himself to be. In fact, he only picked on weaker students, which was very pathetic even for someone like me. This attitude tends to backfire, so I didn't need to worry about him as much as he needed to worry about himself.

It's not like I've never been bullied before anyway. I had to deal with a gang of them when I was in elementary. Long story short, I did something to them that will make sure they never want to see my face ever again. During my four years in military school at Atlas where bullying was inevitable, no one even bothered to touch me since they were too scared over the fact that I was the son of a figure who was important even towards other snobs in Atlas. Life was good. I'll give Cardin somewhat of credit for having the guts to pick on me despite my reputation. It honestly feels like a breath of fresh air after having to feel everyone brownnosing me for being the so-called "Defender of Podunk".

That being said, I hope he stops before he becomes too annoying.

=o=

1. Big Man On Campus. A term used to describe a well-known and influential male student, which Winchester barely qualified as. However, it is often used derisively towards someone deemed conceited, which described him more appropriately.

During lunch, I ate more excessively since I woke up late and didn't have time to take breakfast and just went to class after a quick shower. Nora was telling a story about one her of past adventures with Ren, although judging by Ren's commentary, she didn't seem to be the most reliable of narrators. [1]

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..." Nora claimed.

"It was day," Ren corrected, holding a mug by its base

"We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!" She stood up, suddenly shouting and shocking everyone who was trying to peacefully enjoy their food.

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" she proudly finished her story as she sat down. Knowing how the Grimm work, I'm pretty sure those 'Ursa' skins stopped existing long before she claimed to have sold them.

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren sighed. The more I get to know him, the more I think he deserves more credit for being able to live with one of the zaniest females for half of his life, while I was still doing my best to get used to her demeanor since day one. Thankfully, I was patient enough not to lose my temper with her and kept her on my good side considering her strength and loyalty were essential to whatever madness this academy may bring.

"Jaune, do you need help with your grades?" Pyrrha suddenly asked after a moment of brief silence.

No reason to lie about this, I have been planning to improve my grades as they have become more of a problem recently. But as much as I want Pyrrha's help, I don't want her to overdo her assistance, otherwise, I'll be owing to her a lot after what she did for me and the team and I don't think I'll be able to recompense her countless favors. "Uh, yeah. But don't worry! I'll take care of it myself. It's my responsibility after all."

She hummed. "Well, if you ever need help, you can always come to me."

"Thanks, Pyrrha," I said before I went back to eating.

"Hey Jaune, has Cardin been bothering you a lot lately?" Ruby brought up, probably after remembering the ruckus that happened a few minutes ago.

"Who?" I asked as if he wasn't a big deal, which he wasn't and shouldn't be treated as such. But that was about to change in a few more minutes thanks to my idiocy.

"Cardin Winchester? The guy who has been picking on you since the first week of school."

"Oh, him? He just likes to mess around. Nothing special about him at all," I dismissed.

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "He's a bully."

Oh please, I thought. She was giving him way too much credit. I believed Losechester was nothing more than a minor nuisance at his worst. Almost everything he did to me is so petty, they could be easily ignored or be undone within the span of four seconds. I was refusing to let him have a significant impact on one part of my life as I believed the only attention he deserved was the wrath of the Beacon staff.

"He's just an idiot. He's doing this because he wants my attention, and I am not going to give him what he wants. Just let him get bored or better yet, get himself punished soon enough." I said before turning around after hearing Cardin laugh. Speak of the devil.

He and his lackeys picked on that brown-haired rabbit girl, whose name I recalled to be Velvet or something. While he came off as your resident tough-guy wannabe to me, this showed me that he truly was an actual bully to some. Though, if you ask me, picking on a rather meek girl made him look more spineless than threatening, and a simple tattle to Miss Goodwitch would be enough to wipe that dumb look on his face.

"Well, I hope you're right," Ruby scoffed as she watched him with the rest of us.

"Atrocious, I cannot stand people like him," Pyrrha remarked while Blake glared at him.

"He's not the only one," she slightly shook her head out of disgust.

"Must be hard being a faunus," Yang chimed in.

Nora then stood up before looking at me. "Well, we can't just sit here and watch! We need to do something!"

"Break his legs maybe? Psh. I dunno" I jokingly suggested as I went back to finishing my meal without thinking. I was about to tell her I was being sarcastic and that we were to help, we should report this behavior to the faculty when unfortunately...

"You got it, Leader!" she said before she started skipping towards the table where Cardin and Velvet were at.

This made me almost choke on my nuggets, realizing she took my word as I was serious and headed off to carry the deed. Knowing Nora, she was crazy enough to actually do it and Cardin will surely blame me over it and escalate the rather one-sided conflict between us, so I quickly followed her to Cardin's table."Nora! Wait—No! Stop!"

As I drew near them I was able to hear Velvet's cries of pain as Losechester pulled her ears. "Ow! That hurts!" She grunted. "Please stop."

"I told you it was real!" Cardin said with a despicable grin.

"Man, what a freak!" Russel, the one with the terrible mohawk, chimed in. I feel sorry that this guy and his other teammates have to spend the entire school year licking Cardin's dirty stinking boots. Being a bully's lackey is that sad and unfulfilling.

Cardin was suddenly turned around by Nora before being pulled from his seat and being pushed to the ground. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm here to bring you to your doom!" She answered in what would sound like a sinister-sounding voice to her before grabbing one of his legs as she started to pull it while pushing his pelvis with her right foot, making Cardin grunt in pain. Before it was about to get any worse, I pulled Nora while Cardin's teammates were about to intervene, allowing Velvet to take her chance to run away from there.

"No, Nora, No! We are not breaking anyone's legs! I was only kidding when I said that," I told her as I kept pulling her away.

"He deserves it!" Nora said, struggling to get out of my arms. And boy, she's a heavy one.

"Nora. Stop. That's an order." I dissuaded, which was enough to get her to stop resisting that it made it safe to let her go.

That didn't stop her from continuing to provoke Cardin and his lackeys. "We're warning you, Cardin. If you don't stop, Jaune is going to kick your butt!"

"Nora…" I irritably sighed, not wanting to make things get any worse. What have I gotten myself into this time, I thought to myself.

"Isn't that right, Ren?" She looked at Ren, who was behind me with Pyrrha and Ruby. The other three girls stood at the other side behind Cardin and his goons in case they got the wrong idea.

"Uh, that's fairly plausible," Ren said, and he was supposed to be the sensible one.

"Ren!" I yelled. I was trying my best to get Cardin to ignore me, and he wasn't exactly helping. I looked at Cardin and tried to apologize. "Look, I am so sorry, we'll leave now."

I walked away with my team as Cardin and his team glared at me. I didn't want to make a scene, it will only give Cardin a legitimately good reason to hate me. Not to mention, it'll also get us in trouble for assaulting a fellow student outside of a 'civilized' duel.

"Let's go, guys," I led my team out of the cafeteria. I groaned knowing that I have enraged Cardin, I don't think they are going to forget this anytime soon, let alone forgive me.

And it didn't take long for that to come back and bite me.

=o=

1. This sounds irritatingly familiar...