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To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 12

"Victory is in a simple soul, not overinflated egos."

-Jaune Arc, Atlesian Commissar and de-facto leader of the Fangbusters

Combat class is a favorite among Huntsmen-in-training, and for good reason; it is practical, entertaining, and educational so it's no mystery why it's twice as long as other classes. Even I find myself attached to the subject since it gives me insight into my classmate's fighting ability as I take note of them as it may prove beneficial for the future.

Today, my knowledge of other students would be put to the test, particularly Cardin's. When I was observing him during this class for the past month, I observed how he uses his large mace that apparently could release explosions on impact, which tells me that I have to be careful when blocking it with my shield. Thankfully, Mom's shield is known to be almost indestructible, I saw her demonstrate it against missiles and lasers and it remained intact with barely a scratch. Plus, his mace is shown to be heavy, added to the fact that he was an armor that weighs him and while that made him durable, it came with the cost of his mobility. In short, I actually didn't need to worry about him that much. Since I was able to win against dad, my sisters, and a bandit lord, I knew this was going to be child's play by comparison.

The last hour of combat training was spent on matches, which were exciting to the bloodthirsty students since they were finally able to fight and be graded in the process. A lot of students have always been obsessed with strength and would often compete over who is the strongest, never mind that strength by itself is only a contributing factor to victory along with everything else and it wouldn't mean much if you don't have the appropriate wits and strategies to back it up. Everyone needs to remember that charging in headfirst with all your might and yelling your attack names—practically giving away your next move to your opponent—will only get you nowhere other than a hospital bed. If only the hot-blooded idiots with bad hair knew this. It's no wonder why Huntsmen tend to die in droves despite being far more powerful than your average living being.

I personally never understood why Huntsmen always needed to show off while fighting; it would be better if everyone just saves their aura abilities when they're needed. I've never been a big on theatric fighting myself especially when it's proven multiple times that it's possible to win and achieve the same results by doing less. Besides, my motion sickness makes it rather hard for me to adopt a more flashy fighting style without getting into some problems.

So far, the fights have been one versus one, probably because Miss Goodwitch wanted to go easy with the fights for today and wanted to see what her students learned when fighting alone. I noticed Team CRDL has been trying to get themselves volunteered, which Miss Goodwitch did her best to ignore, likely because she's saving Cardin to face me for the last match before the class ends.

"Mitch J. Ratmann's aura is in the red. Piper Rivers has been declared the winner." Miss Goodwitch announced after the lights went back on one more time. The two participants returned to their seats before Miss Goodwitch stepped back into the arena. "We still have time for one more match before we could conclude this lesson."

I took a deep breath as I prepared for my name and Cardin to be called. I've been twiddling my thumbs over it ever since class started. "Jaune Arc of Team JNPR. Cardin Winchester of Team CRDL, please enter the arena."

As I was about to stand up, Pyrrha held my shoulder, turning my gaze at her emerald eyes. "Be careful, Jaune," she said. I always found her comfort to be welcoming. It always gave me a soothing feeling in what would be an otherwise stressful situation.

Well, that feeling was quickly replaced once Nora started shouting her encouragements that were a little too enthusiastic, to say the least. "Get him a body bag, Fearless Leader!" It was dark even for her. Another reason to be glad that Nora is on my side, if she had her way, Cardin would have been to the infirmary by now. He should be thankful that I was challenging him to a fair fight especially since I didn't believe in all that honor crap.

I walked toward the arena, unsheathing my sword and collapsing my shield. While feigning anxiety to give Cardin a false impression of an inadequate joke who doesn't even deserve to be fought with all his capabilities, looking at his stupid overconfident smile as I faced him in the arena.

I know that this was going to get the professor's attention, but they already know who I am and what my team was capable of, and I'm sure Ozpin has been making plans for me since the moment he formed my team. So there wasn't anything to worry about that I already have; if they see me as an accomplished warrior and expected me to act like one, then so be it, I just wanted Cardin off my back. It's not like they're going to think me less of a likable dork seeing as how I successfully assumed that persona for a month now.

"Hey, Jauney-boy. Do me a favor and don't concede early." Cardin scoffed, leaning his mace at his shoulder.

"I don't plan to, Cardin. Just please take it easy." I said somewhat confidently while still feigning anxiety to get him to underestimate me. Releasing my pent-up fears felt appropriate knowing that Cardin thought that I was far from the hero who saved Pucelle. While I still share that sentiment, I was still a passable enough fighter that possessed a decent amount of practice to best some situations in self-defense, which includes quelling arrogant thugs and Cardin wasn't far off from that. [1]

"Heh. Maybe. But only because you're so pitiful, I'll be only gentle for a bit, don't you worry," he smirked. Looks like I got him where I want, I thought. The next thing for me to do was make this moment something he would not forget.

I gave a nervous chuckle to delude Cardin for the last time. The lights outside the arena turned off, and holographic screens showing both of our aura gauges emerged. I gave a faint smirk, knowing how this would go.

"Ready? Begin!" Miss Goodwitch commenced.

I held my sword tight and remained calm as Cardin horizontally swung his mace aiming toward my face which I dodged right in time then used my shield to uppercut his face, pushing him back. He shook his head, stupefied over what just happened.

The next thing he saw after clearing his vision was me stepping forward before giving him a series of rapid slashes which he was too stunned to counter, quickly draining his aura. He stumbled back before getting angry and charged, trying to slam me with his mace, which I dodged by simply sidestepping, barely affected by the mini-explosion he caused. Once he turned to me, I bashed his face with my shield twice before swinging my left arm sideways, striking him with my shield rim. The next thing I know, I was able to knock him to the ground.

"Consider this my free notes for ya'," I leaned toward him with a smirk.

He opened his eyes and looked at his screen, he was shocked to see that his aura levels were already at the red and mine were still full, it was already over. "WHAT THE FU—!"

The buzzer rang and the lights turned back on before anyone knew it. I heard the audience murmuring shock, amazement, and confusion. I guess the so-called Defender of Podunk was back with vengeance, though, I have pretty much gotten to the point where it barely bothers me. As shameful and undeserving it is, being on a pedestal does have some of its perks, and this was one of the only times where I wasn't ashamed of capitalizing on it.

To be honest, I was pretty scared that it wouldn't work out as planned, but it turned out to be comically easy since Dad and even my non-Huntsman sisters with limited training offered more challenges when sparring with them. Hearing Cardin scream in agony was pretty satisfying too, he was too stupid and angry to be a serious threat. I know his type, they're the kind of jackasses who strives from picking on those who are seemingly weaker than him to hide the fact that he was a pathetic excuse of a living being who'd otherwise get his ass handed to him in every other situation. It's a wonder I had to wait until this moment to teach him a lesson. If it was that easy, it could have saved me the trouble.

"Jaune Arc wins the match… by flawless victory within thirteen seconds… A new record among freshmen," Miss Goodwitch announced, sounding just as surprised as everyone else.

There was an awkward silence in the audience until clapping was heard from Nora. "That's our Fearless Leader!" The rest of my team joined in followed by Team RWBY then the rest of the class. Some shouts and whistles were heard during the applause.

Cardin gripped his hands and tried to get up, needless to say, he wasn't pleased getting beaten by someone who he thought was lower than dirt in thirteen seconds. "What?! No!"

"Students." Miss Goodwitch uttered, which silenced the audience. "Cardin, were you aware of who you just faced?"

"Does it really matter?" He responded bitterly, whose body was faltering after recently getting beat up.

"He is the son of Caiaphas Arc! One of the most exceptionally skilled individuals I know. Being trained under him, you were outmatched the moment you faced him, added that you let your guard down hence why he was able to defeat you within seconds. Did the introductory match with Miss Hisakawa teach you nothing?"

Cardin had no answer, he just stared at her, faintly grunting. Miss Goodwitch continued. "Mister Winchester, while you have proven yourself to have fighting skills sufficient enough for acceptance within this academy. You need to humble yourself. Arrogance is one of the leading causes of death in the field, along with incompetence."

Losechester (a nickname which is more appropriate now) just distraughtly looked at the ground. Miss Goodwitch then turned her gaze toward me. "Mister Arc, due to your background, I anticipated that you'll be able to handle this skillfully, but even then you have still managed to catch me by surprise."

"Oh, it was nothing. I only followed what I learned from my father." I said as modestly as I could. In hindsight, that might not have been the best response to avoid more trouble but it was almost worth it.

"Is that so?" she mused. "I guess one opponent must have been too easy for you. Since we still have time, you could show the class how one extraordinarily skilled warrior could handle several opponents."

I immediately lost my gratified grin. Those words struck me like venomous lighting that was enough to put me all in a state of shock, disbelief, and terror that the satisfaction and adrenaline of defeating Cardin disappeared within me the second she stated that.

She turned to the audience. "Since the match was too short We will have another one. Only this time, Mister Arc will face the rest of Cardin's team. Since the last match was proven to be too trivial for him and his aura levels are still full, he will fight by himself as per the rules; I believe this is an adequate enough handicap for him to give us a fairer fight."

The class cheered with anticipation. Meanwhile, my jaw dropped as my mind went into a panic while trying to remain calm as I didn't want them to notice my insecurities and get anyone to exploit them. I was not able to anticipate facing everyone else in Cardin's band of delinquents after humiliating him and I should have known that defeating Cardin without holding back would eventually backfire. I wasn't sure if I could handle his teammates ganging up on me.

"Would the rest of Team CRDL kindly enter the arena?" Miss Goodwitch said. Russel and Dove stood up and dragged Sky into the following since he was too hesitant to go. "Mister Winchester. Please return to your seat and rest. Your team will take care of this."

He angrily hobbled out of the arena. "You won this one, Arc." Cardin spat when he passed through me. He approached his teammates who had just come out of the entrance. "Crush him."

His teammates minus Sky nodded. They all pulled out their respective weapons; Russel with his dual daggers with dust chambers, à la Weiss's rapier. Dove with his sword-revolver, which to his credit, was actually a decent weapon if you ask me. And finally, Sky's weapon, which is a halberd-rifle like Bleu's weapon, which means I already know how to counter it, especially considering that Sky is less skilled and far more anxious than Bleu, who was already a full-fledged Huntress when she challenged me. Russel and Dove both have faced with vengeance written all over them, Sky, of course, was meanwhile whimpering.

"You just wasted your luck on the last match, bunny jacket. Big mistake thinking you can get back at us." Russel said.

"Yeah, you should know your place, nerd!" Dove dissed.

Nerd? I thought. I refuse to believe that he was being serious when insulting me with that and it made me feel less pathetic. Say what you want about me, but at least I don't use insults that sound like they came from crappy high school dramas that were written by out-of-touch 40-something adults.

And with that, my apprehensions against them deteriorated and it almost motivated me into wanting to punish them for calling me with a less-than-original insult. It also made me realize that they were just as conceited as their thickheaded leader and that might not be too different from facing Cardin solo after all.

"Hey, uh, just so you know, this isn't anything personal." Sky said to me.

"What was that, Sky?" Russel turned to him.

"Uh, nothing."

Just as I thought I was done with birds. I went back into my battle stance and told myself to remember my training. Being somewhat familiar with these idiots and without Cardin's leadership, they'll all be focused on trying to put me down without regard for tactics. Just like every other boneheaded brute in this academy. [2]

"You can do it, Jaune!" Pyrrha motivated.

"Yeah, show them who's boss!" Nora stood raising her fist.

"We believe in you!" Ruby cheered.

All the lights on the room, barring the one on the arena, of course, all turned off while Cardin's aura screen changed to show all of his teammate's aura gauges as well as another gauge that represents the team's overall aura. Miss Goodwitch then started giving out the instructions. "This will be a three versus one battle. You will be given five minutes for this match. When the timer runs out, whichever team that has the most aura combined wins assuming an entire team hasn't been knocked out by then. Have I made myself clear?" All of us nodded, and with that, she officially declared a match. "Good. You may begin when ready."

We continued staring at each other for a few more seconds when all of a sudden, Russel fired a round of fire dust which I blocked just right in time. Lowering my shield, I saw him running towards me before leaping, ready to thrust both of his daggers in a reverse grip. I raised my shield again and blocked his strike before using it to push him back. I went on to parry all of his attacks with my sword before looking to my right and seeing Dove approaching me as he was about to swing down his sword. I deflected him mid-swing with my sword and parried his following attacks while fending off Russel with my shield.

Dove suddenly rushed back and switched his weapon to its gun mode, I quickly bashed Russel's face with my shield before turning my shield towards Dove and blocking his gunshots. I was able to sense something coming towards my legs so I leaped up and looked down and saw a halberd sweeping near the ground. I turned my head back and saw Sky giving a nervous chuckle. I chose to ignore him for the moment since he was already shaken and his buddies were still actively trying to pin me down. A bullet ran near my face, making me look back at Dove who quickly started reloading since his chamber ran out. I used this opportunity to focus on Russel who attempted to flank me from the other side.

I blocked his flurry of slashes with my sword before clashing with him as I continued to block Dove's gunshots at the back until he switched back to his sword and tried to strike, I quickly turned around while swinging my shield at Russel's face as I parried Dove's attack. I suddenly heard a gunshot and quickly turned towards Sky with the shield covering me. I then bashed the shield on Dove, trembling him back and making him open to attack.

After giving him a few slashes, I quickly dodged back from a thrust from Sky's halberd before clashing blades with Russel at the back. He flipped back and started firing electric dust which made me dart around the room before I got close to him, causing him to stop and jump to the side before lunging at me while rolling in mid-air.

No, I don't think so, I thought. I caught him with my shield and shoved him to my back, making him fall to the ground before I sliced his aura to the red while he was lying.

"Russel Thrush is out for the match!" Miss Goodwitch announced.

"Dammit!" Russel cursed as he slammed the floor.

"Bunny jacket one, puke-colored mohawk zero," I smirked at him, referencing his last taunt to add insult to injury, literally in this case. All he could do was glare helplessly.

One down, two to go. I looked at Dove and Sky, who were furious and frightened respectively. I bolted toward them while they tried to shoot me down with their guns. I engaged Sky who went to block my slash with his polearm, before turning my attention to Dove, using my shield to bash away his defense then turning back, shoving away the tip of Sky's weapon before it fired, and pushed him back. I went back to Dove and swung my sword, causing him to block and parry before sweeping his legs under him, collapsing him to the ground. I gave him one last swing of my sword as his aura lowered to the red.

"Should have kept your eyes open," I said. I always wondered why he looked like he always kept his eyes shut looking like Professor Port's long-lost son, or maybe it's just me. [3]

"Dove Bronzewing is out! Only Sky Lark remains on Team 2!" Miss Goodwitch announced. The screen showing Team CRDL-minus-C's aura has Russel and Dove both crossed out with Sky being the only one left. The team's overall aura is at orange, with only a third of it remaining.

"Time to bring down the sky." Making my one last quip, I turned my gaze towards him, who was shuddering like there was no tomorrow. Since he was the least bad among the team in terms of personality and the only one there who had the mental capacity to think this entire thing is a farce, I'll go easy on him.

I stormed toward him and proceeded to overwhelm him with a flurry of slashes. He wasn't able to attack since he was too occupied trying to block everything I threw at him. Eventually, he had enough and threw the towel while his aura was still light-green. "This is hopeless!" He yelled. "I yield!"

The buzzer rang and lights turned back on as Miss Goodwitch walked back to the arena "Jaune Arc has once again, won the match."

The room was bombarded with applause, I looked at my team and saw Pyrrha standing up and clapping as hard as she could while Nora jumped while raising her fist to the air then giving Ren a hug who was noticeably smiling. The only person who wasn't cheering was unsurprisingly Cardin, who was sitting with his arms folded, glowering at his team's failure.

"Good work. Mister Arc. As expected from your family. You truly are an exceptional fighter." Miss Goodwitch commended.

Taking on Cardin's entire team wasn't the plan at all. I chose to follow my training instincts and win because I had to meet their expectations, otherwise Car-dimwit would continue harassing me with more ammunition if I lost. Team CRDL mostly lost because they were over their heads. Had they been someone else and more serious, I would have needed more luck to win.

"Mister Lark. While you chose to make a decision that is normally frowned upon, I cannot blame you for it. I am somewhat pleased to know that you're aware that you have little chance of winning and accepted defeat." She then looked at Russel and Dove, who both were standing on the sidelines, flustered and shaken by their defeat. "As for the rest of you. You need to plan your attacks if you are to face someone who is levels above you. Just because an opponent is outnumbered, it doesn't instantly mean you have the upper hand. A skilled individual can make a quantity of a group meaningless."

"Can we go back to our seats now?" Russel whined.

"Not yet. You still have something to answer for. That goes the same for you, Mister Arc." Miss Goodwitch responded, and I already knew where this was all headed.

She turned back to the audience. "That is all for the day. Remember, everyone—the Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!" she announced, exciting the students, most notably Team RWBY, who were all pumped up after the mention of the tournament. Blake meanwhile, looked just as disinterested as ever.

The bell rang, ending all of the classes for today. Everyone left the combat hall so they could spend the rest of the day for themselves. Of course, Team CRDL and I stayed after class because of some unfinished business. The juvenile delinquents were lined up facing Miss Goodwitch's unimpressed face as I stood beside her.

"Cardin Winchester. While you and your friends have been causing a lot of ruckus since the first day. I cannot be more disgusted with what you did to Mister Arc a few hours ago," Miss Goodwitch scolded.

"But, ma'am. Even if that's true, then shouldn't Jaune be able to fend for himself? After all, he is an exceptional fighter, was he?" He replied while making an insulting parody of an innocent smile.

Miss Goodwitch's eyes further narrowed. "Mister Winchester, answer me this honestly: Do you think I'm stupid?"

Cardin flinched as he lost his grin and started to whimper that he couldn't answer. Miss Goodwitch continues to berate him. "Mister Arc has already proven to be superior against you and your team. I'm sure Mister Arc would have taken care of you had you not chosen to attack while he was unarmed and alone unprovoked. Now normally, I would stay out of students' personal affairs as they are expected to deal with them themselves, but after I heard you stole a fellow student's essay and passed it as your own has caught my ire. Is that true?"

The quartet continued to shudder and sweat profoundly at the stern witch. "Don't try to lie. Know that I would eventually find out the truth, and if you ever tried to hide it from me, you will know why my former enemies sometimes called me 'The Wicked Witch'," she intimidated, emphasizing on 'former'.

They looked at each other before giving in, making Cardin and Russel give a dim nod. "As I have suspected. Are you all trying to get expelled?! I cannot be more disappointed in you four right now. You will all stay in detention for the day. As for Mister Winchester, you would be staying in detention for a week, I will also make sure that the essay you submitted to Professor Peach would not be graded, as they rightfully belonged to Mister Arc."

Cardin was furious but knew he could do nothing, so all he did was look down on the rest of his team.

"Now, I want you all to apologize to Mister Arc immediately." She slightly and gently pushed me toward them which I didn't think was necessary at all.

Cardin rolled his eyes and sighed. "Sorry, Jauney-boy," he said, disingenuously, of course…

"Politely…" Miss Goodwitch urged as her eyes narrowed further.

He groaned before apologizing again. "Alright, Alright! I'm sorry for being such a jerk, Jaune!" It still sounded forced, but it was something at least.

"Yeah, sorry." Russel followed.

"I regret this…" Dove said.

"No hard feelings, right?" Sky weakly grinned.

"Good." She turned to me. "Mister Arc, you may go now. You four stay. I am still not done with you."

I nodded before walking to the exit. I looked at them out of pity and saw Cardin's gaze still distraught at me. I shrugged it off and left the room. He had a lot to think about, so was willing to let him take the hint. I had enough of them for the day and I wanted to refresh my mind after everything that happened these past hours and I got what I came for.

After walking out of the exit of the combat hall, I was greeted by the sight of my team and Team RWBY. All were still congratulating me on my recent win. "Here he is, the bane of CRDL!" Nora bounced.

Pyrrha went to my side with a satisfied look. "You did great, Jaune. I'm so proud of you."

"Looks like Cardin won't bother you for a while," Ren remarked, showing a little bit of a rare smile from him.

"Yeah! You showed those mean ole' bullies who they were messing with!" Nora cheered.

"You were amazing! You beat all of them with barely a scratch! Oh, you have got to teach me sometime!" Ruby squealed.

"Looks like Vomit-Boy has promoted himself to Vomit-Man!" Yang quipped.

I could only smile at the praise my friends were giving me while feeling nervous that I might have raised their expectations of me because of this. "Thanks, guys, really. But I only did what I should be doing. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, after all."

"Oh, don't put yourself down, lady-killer. You beheaded a giant bird and put some birds in their place. I'd say you're just good at what you do." Yang tapped the back of my armor. "I guess Cardin was a little jaundiced, eh?"

There was not a single laugh or groan but instead silent stares of confusion. I wasn't even sure if that was a joke at all. "Oh for fu—fudge's sake!" She swore. "I know some of you eggheads got that! Is it that right, Weiss-cream?"

"Do you seriously study the dictionary to make your puns?" Weiss responded.

"Hey, at least I try!" Yang exclaimed.

I chuckled for a bit before getting my team to accompany me out. I needed a break after beating a bunch of bullies and I still have another essay to write which I only had because Cardin wouldn't stop harassing me that class, and I want to finish soon so I don't end up sleeping tomorrow, and not because of some mustached professor's tall tales.

At least after this, he and his lackeys are now the least of my problems. I was finally able to focus on problems that mattered. For the moment at least...

=o=

1 True to his father's abilities which were mentioned earlier in this volume's prologue, Jaune's sword-fighting ability was quite unmatched even when he was a Huntsman-in-training at Beacon in credit owing to his rather diligent training. Of course, he was very modest about it, rarely acknowledging the full extent of his skill with a blade.

2. Knowing Winchester's tactical knowledge. I doubt it would make much of a difference.

3. This is simply another case of typical Arc witticism. There are no relations between Dove Bronzewing and Peter Port. Some people just have the natural tendency to squint perpetually.