A/N

Just a quick note for people who are assuming Jaune's little Jaunra-savy moment (I'm not apologizing) was foreshadowing or setting in stone a future event, it wasn't. Remember that Jaune is currently trying to change the future using bits and pieces of information he has from a potential future in which he did not acquire said bits and pieces. Basically, the oracles Jaune gets are what the future would be if no one received an oracle between then and now, meaning the simple act of receiving said oracle changes the outcome. Only major events are largely set in stone barring constant deliberate interference.

A/N end


Mordred Arc hated the concept of luck.

It was something used by people who hadn't put in enough effort to explain their losses and write off others' successes. From a logical standpoint, it was a laughable concept: If something had a chance of occurring 50 percent of the time then that was that, simply because it occurred more or less often then that did not change anything. From a less cynical standpoint, Luck was the difference between a person reaching B-rank and them dying before reaching C-rank. That was why she hated it.

For all that her efforts were her own, she couldn't deny that all she had accomplished might not have been possible if not for luck. The luck to be born into a family of hunters, the luck that each and every member (herself included) of said family possessed natural talent and ability bordering on unnatural with few exceptions.

Or rather, no exceptions, nowadays…

But that was just her luck. The way it always turned out. The way it apparently always turned out for every member of the Arc bloodline. They would always find themselves in the middle of the worst possible situations and then somehow come out of them better than ever, even if the others around them didn't fare nearly as well. Good wrapped in bad, a gain found only with loss.

An escort mission goes to hell, with opponents far more than what they were ready for yet somehow, she survives while those she was assigned to protect perish.

An opponent beyond her team that they somehow beat with her nearly unscathed and her teammates critically wounded.

A hint to the location of a missing loved one, only to find the trail cooling far too quickly.

Her brother finally showing the talent to reach his dream, only as he disappeared into the night.

She -along with the rest of her family- had recognized Jaune's voice the second they'd heard a single note of that video. The voice of her brother, of a boy with so much talent in everything except what he so desperately wanted, or so they had thought. At the end when she saw him move, saw him slip passed that redheaded girl in the last few moments of footage of him, Mordred had realized her brother could already move at least a third of her own peak speed, to say nothing of his downright unnatural acceleration rate.

Her parents alongside herself, Jane, and Sapphire had been in Mistral by the brink of dawn the next morning, with Lily taking a temporary leave from Signal to look over their younger siblings. After realizing that fully censoring Jaune's face from circulating videos was both an exercise in futility and surprisingly pointless (Between the shadow from the tree he'd been sitting in and the excessive glare reflecting off Crocea Mors, very little of Jaune's face had actually been captured on video) they had quickly moved to find leads on the runaway Arc's location or destination. With the help of Haven's headmaster, they had linked Jaune to dozens of incidents over the course of the last few months and to equally numerous rumors of a masked boy with baleful blue eyes rampaging through the city's underworld.

For the Arc family and Mordred in particular this all led to a startling revelation: that her once clumsy, doe-eyed, and naïve little brother was the cause of a several-fold increase in hardened Mistralean criminals willingly (desperately) turning themselves in, pale faced and shaking, just to get off the streets and away from him.

Yet somehow the most spine chilling thing revolving around this incident was what little portion Mordred had heard of a murmured comment from professor Ozpin as he looked over what they'd found so far while the others continued scouring the city. Mordred wasn't sure why exactly Jaune's recent actions and growth had drawn the man's attention so sharply, but she wasn't going to refuse help from the man who was considered Remnant's strongest huntsman by any means.

"… I see… so he's one of…" the strongest huntsman had mumbled gravely, in a manner that was somehow wistful, like someone recalling a bitter memory from oh so long ago.

Mordred had waited for a moment, expecting him to continue before taking a sharp step towards him and spontaneously demanding "One of what?" when it became apparent the headmaster was lost in thought.

A sudden spike of primal fear shot down Mordred's spine for a minuscule yet overwhelmingly oppressive moment as the headmaster started, the legendary huntsman inconceivably caught off guard, reflexively slipping into a combat mindset and stance momentarily in his surprise before instantly relaxing even as Mordred collapsed to her knees, panting and shaking.

Blinking once Ozpin flinched before beginning to apologize "My sincerest apologies miss Arc," he began with genuine remorse "my mind went drifting back to a rather… strenuous… event in my life. Although it hasn't happened in years until now I tend to get a bit twitchy around that subject."

"M-my brother" Mordred managed, cold sweat dripping down her back "What…" she exhaled a shaky breath "What does it have to do with my brother" she demanded, heedless of her shaking body.

The headmaster frowned, opening his mouth momentarily before sighing "Nothing you need to worry about, it's not something that poses a new threat to your brother's safety and I can't even say for certain if I'm right about it." He paused "Please trust me on this" The man said firmly.

Mordred frowned momentarily before nodding reluctantly and returning to the task at hand.

3 months after their search of Mistral began, the Arc family was forced to give up, having failed to find a single significant clue as to Jaune's whereabouts, destination, or goal.

Yet another dead lead.


Joan Arc was currently attempting to exact some horrible vengeance upon an inanimate object for crimes she knew full well it was entirely innocent of.

Her awareness of the training dummy's innocence did nothing to stop her from impaling it with the point of her Dual-bladed assault lance and then cleaving the left side of its torso open as she removed her weapon by yanking it to the side with violent force even as she spun with the momentum and sliced it again, fully bisecting the inanimate object in a disturbingly brutal manner for an 11-year-old girl.

Joan was red faced and panting heavily for reasons entirely unrelated to physical exertion and entirely related to the sheer burning indignation and rage she felt towards her current situation. She shouldn't be stuck at home in the Arc manner beating up wooden dummies that no one in her family would get anything constructive out of hitting. She should be in Mistral trying to find her idiot twin brother to drag his ass back home and punch his stupid girly face in until he cried and apologized for ditching her and leaving on his own.

Not that she'd forgive him that easily. He'd have to work his ass off to make her forgive him, doing all her chores, cooking her multicourse meals, singing her to sleep, braiding her hair and…

Joan let out a strangled sob as she fell to her knees, tears spilling from her eyes as her anger sputtered and died. She let out a choked bitter laugh. Who was she kidding… the moment he was home safe she'd probably grab onto him and not let him go for weeks after trying to be angry and then caving after few moments because where was he! she was so worried and scared! and why couldn't he just come home! Her breaths came in strangled gasps as she shook, her eyes red as tears continued to flow down her face and onto the ground.

15 months. 70 weeks. 490 days.

That was how long it'd been since her twin brother had vanished one night without warning and not returned.

Her parents knew something. Just like Mordred and Jane and Sapphire and Lily and even Amethyst, while the only thing she and Azure got were cryptic statements that Jaune was fine and he wasn't dead and that they couldn't say any more for some reason that she knew was bullshit. It was because she was 11 and Azure was 13, and they were both too young to be told some terrible truth involving her twin, and it was for her sake, but what her parents and older sisters just couldn't understand was that anything would be better than them telling her nothing. Was he Hurt? Captive? Dying? Was he… was he already dead and they just didn't want to tell her because she was too young?

Those were the thoughts that had haunted her for the first year after Jaune's disappearance, right up until she heard that singing voice that she instantly recognized as his and saw the features she knew with every fiber of her being were his despite the fact that every single stupid video had failed to fully capture his face even once because of some stupid glare from that crappy sword her twin was still lugging around for some reason. When he got back she'd make him something a hundred times better and put a tracker in the damn thing so he couldn't run again without her dragging his ass back home!

That was what she'd thought back then, 3 months ago now, thinking that with a lead they could find him without a doubt. But then her parents told her she couldn't go to Mistral with them and then 2 weeks passed, then a month, and then 2 and still nothing. He was gone without a trace.

Again.

Her hands tightened around her weapon as she pushed herself back to her feet letting loose a controlled yet fierce swing with her weapon, shifting it between forms smoothly and with increasing force even as her breaths began to come in desperate gasps and her arms started to burn. She'd be stronger next time. Strong enough that they couldn't just tell her no and leave her behind, despite the fact that she knew him better than anyone else, despite the fact that if anyone could find him it was her.

"I won't let you disappear again… Jaune"


Lie Ren was currently suffering.

"Well that's our fearless teacher's peerless domestic skill for you, huh Renny?" Nora Valkyrie chirped before tilting her head and looking away from the video she had cued up on her scroll "Wait does singing count as a domestic skill?"

"I don't… think…. so" Ren gasped, trying to catch his breath as pain shot through his arms.

"Well what is it then? Like an extradomestic skill or something? Like a human versus an alien!" the girl chirped.

"It doesn't… work that… way… Nora" the boy continued even as he continued performing pushups, his arms shaking as his heart hammered.

"Ooh! Ooh! Is it an Extra-extra-domestic skill then!?"

"Still no" The boy refuted, struggling to breathe slightly "now could you… please get… off me" the boy rasped "this is…. hard enough…. as it is".

"Hm?" Nora asked from her perch on the boy's back "no can do!" she denied "Mr. K said I was supposed to help you exercise!"

"How… is this… helping?"

"I dunno" Nora replied airily "but I saw it on television so it must be a thing!"

"W…what?" Ren panted.

"Then next comes training with thousand-pound weights and then in 100 times gravity!"

"How would you… even… pull the last… one off?" Ren managed.

"With Gravity Dust of course!" the girl chirped pulling a chuck of shiny black crystal slightly less than the size of her head from… somewhere… "I found some a little while after Jauney left!"

"Gravity dust… doesn't exist… Nora…" Ren replied.

"Really?" Nora looked scandalized momentarily before tossing the 15-ounce chunk of black dust in her hand away with her aura enhanced strength, not even watching as it skipped once on the ground and then skidded into a storm drain, falling into the rapidly flowing water and getting drawn away out towards the ocean. "That's too bad… must've just been a shiny rock then" she pouted, the picture of absolute disappointment.

Sensing her disappointment, the exhausted Ren made to cheer her up "Don't… worry… about-"

Nora suddenly perked up, cutting him off "I guess we'll have to do it the old fashion way then! 10,000 pound weights while training at the top of the tallest mountain in Atlas and doing laps around town on our hands!" she declared standing up and stomping her feet heroically… while still standing on Ren's back.

Ren grunted in pain "my kidney."

"Yes, yes, you can have as many of your weird kidney beans as you want while training!" Nora responded as if making an immense concession "Now let's go!" she declared, kicking off Ren's back towards… somewhere she could get training weights, presumably, as Ren collapsed on the ground.

"Nora…" the boy called with what air remained in his lungs "w-wait"

"Don't be a slow poke Renny!~" the girl called back "hurry it up~!"

The boy who had been saddled with a force of nature on a perpetual sugar rush currently in the form of an 11-year-old girl for a lifelong companion just groaned.

"If I die young… at least I'll get to sleep in" he lamented momentarily before pausing and imagining the equally harsh, if not vastly worse, training his short-term teacher and friend was probably putting himself through at that very moment. Sighing briefly the boy forced himself to his feet "Coming Nora!" he called jogging after her, still panting harshly.


Jaune Arc was currently freezing to death.

Okay so maybe he was exaggerating somewhat.


«Cold Resistance» is now level 41!


But only somewhat.

Yanking himself out of the water with a heave Jaune noted mildly that his health bar had just dropped below 50% and not so mildly that he felt like his blood was -quite literally- turning to ice in his veins.

A number of hostile hisses and growls brought him out of his increasing worry about his blood's state of matter and back to a slightly more immediate concern. Namely the 4 Sabretooth Grimm currently trying (with some success) to murder him. Slipping to the side as one attempt to tear out his jugular Jaune carefully flowed into a flash step in order to dodge, this time only somewhat cracking the ice beneath his feat rather than shattering it outright, as he had the first (second, third, etc.) time he'd attempted to use the movement technique on the surface of a frozen over lake. The numerous holes in the ice he'd made while evading the feline Grimm served as an additional danger to the battle that applied to… just him, unfortunately.

While Grimm could be harmed by extreme cold from Ice Dust and such, they were largely immune to mundane forms of cold, which translated to them being able to ignore temperatures up to 40 degrees below 0 before rapidly becoming vulnerable to it when the temperature started transitioning from holy-shit-my-balls-are-freezing cold to this-is-now-physically-deforming-matter-because-of-extreme-cold-contraction cold. The fact that a Grimm's body had to reach -40 degrees to start experiences negative effects rather than merely being exposed to -40 degree temperatures meant that none but the most severe Atlesian Winters would see any Grimm freezing to death.

Seeing as the current weather was a comfortable -20 degrees, it was unfortunately impossible for any Grimm to reach that point on a day like this. While the water was obviously slightly warmer below the 6 or so inches of Ice covering the lake, being soaked on a day with 30 mile-an-hour winds still sucked like nothing else. In fact, his passive health regeneration (which was up to around 390 points a minute during battle) was being used almost entirely to negate the effects of the extreme cold on his body. Of course, considering that 2 months ago he'd actually been outright losing health simply from the environment during combat, he considered breaking even quite nice, even if it had taken him reaching level 155 and getting «cold resistance» over level 40 before managing to break even.

Not that he was really angry of course, he'd gotten almost 100 points in vitality over course of his time in Atlas, even without spending single stat point from leveling up and discrediting his base +1 per level bonus. Of course, considering he hadn't had a cold resistance skill prior to getting to Atlas, it had been no small undertaking to make that much progress.

'Jaune… Attention' a not-voice resounded through his… soul? Jaune still wasn't entirely sure about the metaphysics of it all.

"Right" Jaune mumbled drawing upon the full effects of Gamer's mind as the slight delirium and flightiness brought about by the extreme cold faded and he refocused fully on his opponents. While his gamer's body would negate cold damage, it wasn't to the point of fully making Jaune immune to minor effects brought about by cold, and the passive activation of gamer's mind wasn't exactly flawless at repressing it either, considering it wasn't necessarily from an external source as much as it was his body's response to extreme cold.

'better…' the voice in Jaune's head commented upon his return to proper sanity, before going quiet, apparently exhausted or tired by the action.

"That still takes some getting used to" Jaune mumbled, aware that the voice wasn't a sign of his failing sanity and was instead a sign that Crocea Mors was 'waking up', however slowly, something that had occurred a handful of times in the last 2 months. Pushing his sword's sentience to the side Jaune speculatively at the 4 sabretooth Grimm surrounding him, focusing most of his attention on the highest level one of the group.

«Saber-toothed Reaver Lv151»

With an appearance roughly similar to a species of Saber-tooth cats that had gone extinct some millennia ago, they were ruthless hunters that typically hunted alone, typically as in with exception to Jaune and his apparently overpowered (from a certain perspective) brooding skill. Considering the remaining 3 of the group were in between level 120 and level 140, even the Jaune of 2 months ago would be firmly in the realm of screwed. But now?

The muscles in its hind leg shifted slightly, preparing to pounce subtly as the remaining Reavers covered the other escape routes…

Jaune's foot landed firmly on its skull as he jumped over it, flash stepping without care for the recoil as the technique forced the Grimm's face to crash into the ice harshly, shattering it and leaving the predator with its face momentarily stuck in the ice as a blade tore through its back as Jaune flipped over it with a slash, breaking the encirclement with ease. The other Reavers attacked and Jaune slipped through their attacks smoothly as his blue eyes suddenly blazed with light and he began darting around quickly, following his opponent's movements with apparent desperation even as he managed to return a counter or two, causing minimal damage on his opponents.

Jaune was holding his own against 4 C-rank Grimm in what was almost a deadlocked fight. The battle had been going on for more than an hour now, and considering there'd been half a dozen of the feline Grimm when the fight had started, Jaune had made more than a little progress. While the 2 he'd killed were marginally the weakest of the group, the others had a number of injuries across their forms, somewhat hidden by their thick fur but present none-the-less. Making sure he continued panting heavily as he faced his foes, Jaune was forced to push down a smile as he let the unnatural glow of his eyes peter out for a while, and with the heavy drain of the technique he'd momentarily activated vanishing he felt his aura slowly begin to replenish.

Of course, considering he had nearly 60% of his aura left, he wasn't exactly hurting in that department. It was funny really, that his opponents' impressive display of what would otherwise be a virtue was what was steadily allowing Jaune to gain the upper hand. Patience, as it were, wasn't exactly a good thing to have against an opponent who had reached the point of recovering more than 1.3% of his total aura a minute inside of combat.

While his opponents were smart enough to consider the concept of wearing him down from the cold and exhaustion, they were unfortunately (for them) not smart enough to see through the fact that his 'exhaustion' only seemed to apply in regards to minor negatives towards himself, namely hits that he took without expending aura through his aura shield or eyesight and flash step techniques that dealt negligible damage. That being said, cats were smart enough that they'd probably catch on sooner or later, and start getting the idea that wearing him down was simply letting him slowly recover his aura reserves, hence why he was still waiting while wearing the Grimm down slowly before revealing he was not nearly as tired as he appeared.

His opponents returned to circling him from some distance, clearly still expecting him to grow exhausted or succumb to the cold with time, unaware that the longer they did so the more his aura recovered from his initial all-out fighting and (with his most recent level up in cold resistance) his health recovered point by point. Considering the fact that his Flash step skill had leveled up once during the battle when he began shattering the ice beneath his feet less and less when he kicked off, Jaune was actually the one who stood the most to gain from this prolonged battle.

As the standoff continued and his aura reserves continued ticking towards 70%, Jaune decided to go on the offensive once more, his eyes blazing to life as he darted forward with a vengeance, focusing on the most heavily injured and weakest member of the group, aiming to eliminate it from the fight for good. Momentarily caught off guard by the sudden vigor of their 'exhausted' opponent the remaining Reavers were slow to react as Jaune's blade tore into the beast, carving out its eye and as he blocked its counter smoothly.

As the other Grimm closed in Jaune quickly adjusted his shield, bashing the creature in the face and slipping around it, momentarily letting go of his shield and swinging his blade down on the Grimm's hindleg with both his hands and managing to lop the limb off before he quickly recovered his shield from the air and darted off, escaping the counter from the remaining Grimm as he spun to face them. With the weakest half blinded and hobbling the remaining 3 charged Jaune with a vengeance, only for the boy to bolt forward with even more speed and precision than he'd shown at the beginning of the fight. Dodging the attacks, Jaune used the massive forms of the Grimm as shields from the others' sight as he disengaged, disregarding the 3 battle-ready Grimm and setting once more upon the weakest.

Unable to invert their moment with the ease Jaune could, the combat ready Reavers scrabbled on the ice as they fumbled to turn around, leaving Jaune full leave to finish off the injured Grimm. Disregarding any pretense of exhaustion Jaune bolted forwards towards his remaining opponents, picking them off one after another until only the last and strongest remained.

Injured and facing an opponent with uncertain remaining stamina, the feline turned and fled.

Jaune smirked, drawing his Rifle for the first time in the entire battle and sighting his fleeing opponent, his eyes glowing with increasingly bright ethereal light.

It darted to the side with impressive agility dodging the...

The first round struck its hind-leg

Recovering it flung itself in the opposite direction throwing the shooter's aim…

The second soon followed, then the third and fourth.

Hampered by its injuries, it darts to the side, running horizontally from the shooter while zig-zagging to evade…

The rest of the rifle's magazine is emptied as the Grimm begins to stumble, unable to continue its pace as it slowly succumbs to its injuries and collapses heavily. A few moment later it begins to disintegrate as Jaune smiles lightly, reloading and holstering his weapon as his eyes cease glowing. He quickly closed the vast majority of his popups without reading them, leaving only a few important once to go over quickly. He'd set cold resistance to popup for a few moments even during battle considering how it affected his health loss while fighting, but other skills and gains were still obstructed during combat.


You are now level 159! You have 20 stat points to spend!

«Firearms mastery» is now level 35!

«Expert blade mastery» is now level 45!

«Defensive arts» is now level 47!

«Preternatural eyesight» is now level 44!

«Flash step» is now level 6!

«Exhaustion resistance» is now level 45!

You have gained 3 points of vitality!

You have gained 2 points of Strength!

You have gained 4 points of dexterity!

You have gained 1 point of Intelligence and wisdom!

Based on continued presence of certain behaviors and actions, developing trait has been strengthened and is now closer to manifesting. Depending on the gamer's action, this trait may manifest in the near future.


4 more levels, some skill ups, and a few bonus points in his stats. Pretty good for a two-hour long deathmatch in the middle of a subzero winter hell against a half a dozen man-eating monstrosities. It was honestly kind of unfortunate that Saber-toothed Reavers were such a rare Grimm species, at least this close to Atlas, otherwise he'd be able to make daily trips with this kind of reward, for a while anyway. He'd gotten a couple popups like the last one, although he couldn't exactly figure out what tied them together yet, seeing as they'd seemingly been at random after battles.

It was weird thinking that the leader of that pack (pride?) of feline Grimm was actually probably around as strong as the Nuckelavee he'd beaten by luck barely 8 months ago, to say nothing of the other 5 Grimm present this time around. While they weren't pushovers, they were nothing like the overwhelming opponent the Nuckelavee had been back when he'd fought it, although that was more because of him than the Grimm he'd fought.

Dumping his remaining stat points into dexterity, Jaune put off further introspection in favor of moving back towards Atlas, donning a random cloak from his inventory to conceal the fact that he was still dripping wet and beginning the hour-long trek back to civilization.


Once he had returned to his hotel room (thank god for shady people willing to take an unaccompanied minor's money without asking questions) and taken a shower Jaune allow himself to take a proper look at his status and skills in full for the first time in a while.

Considering he was already aware of what his skill did, he went ahead and disabled the skill descriptions momentarily for ease of viewing.


Name: Jaune Arc

Title: Underdog, Master of Life and Death

Age: 11 years

Aging rate: 50% normal human rate (inapplicable until 18 years of age)

Lv: 159

Health: 29700 [100%]

Health regen: 13.42% per minute (reduced by 90% during combat)

Aura: 59700 [100%]

Aura regen: 13.87% per minute (reduced by 90% during combat)

Vitality: 460 (1380)

Endurance: 414 (1242)

Strength: 411 (1233)

Dexterity: 561 (1683)

Intelligence: 465 (1395)

Wisdom: 429 (1287)

Stat points: 0

Luck: ?

Charisma: ?

Major skills

«Dance! Dance! Legend» (Unique tier skill) lv 62
«International man of mystery» (Elite tier skill) lv 60
«Plague doctor» (Expert tier skill) lv 58
«Indestructible master of housework» (Unique tier skill) lv 55
«Legendary Nevermore knight» (Unique tier skill) lv 51
«Defensive Arts» (Expert tier skill) lv 47
«Brooding» (Expert tier skill) lv 46
«Expert Blade mastery» (Expert tier skill) lv 45
«Light armor creation» (Expert tier skill) lv 45
«Exhaustion resistance» lv 45
«Preternatural eyesight» (Expert tier skill) lv 44
«Advanced reconnaissance» (Expert tier skill) lv 42
«Cold resistance» lv 41
«Advanced Engineering» (Advanced tier skill) lv 39
«Military Tactics» (Advanced tier skill) lv 36
«Firearms mastery» (Advanced tier skill) lv 35
«Advanced Aura mastery» (Advanced tier skill) lv 32
«Aura shield» lv 24
«Unarmed combat mastery» Lv 23
«Aura channeling» lv 22
«Oracle» lv 20
«Rapid recovery» lv 13
«Physical damage resistance» lv 12
«Limit Cut» (advanced tier skill) Lv 11
«Overwhelming» (advanced tier skill) Lv 10
«Flash step» (Unique tier skill) lv 6


If he was gauging it correctly, then his Dexterity was probably pushing into High C-rank and perhaps even nearing low B-rank, even if the rest of his stats were still resting around Mid C-rank. While this was good -monstrous even, considering his start point- it was still not enough to risk infiltrating the SDC HQ, even with his impressive stealth skills. While it wasn't like he would definitely fail, there was at least a 40% failure margin that he didn't feel the need to chance when further preparation could drop it.

He'd also been foiled on the more technological side of things, not by competence and skilled programmers, but by what he could only assume was laziness.

Atlas's entire network of mechanized units were connected wholesale to the CCT, which meant trying to find a proper direction for hacking a specific group or around a specific topic was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Looking up Schnee through less than legal means, would give him an ungodly list of Schnee assault unit 0001a, Schnee assault unit 0001b, so forth and so on forever. Even if he had the patience and time to shift through the entire list he would have to do so in extremely short intervals to avoid being detected.

While this might seem like a good defense system on Atlas's part, it was more along the lines of there being so many easily hackable yet 'secure' outlets that finding the right one was too difficult. While creating a virus that would hack everything and set every mechanized unit in the entire kingdom under his control and then figuring out what stuck out after that might work, Jaune didn't exactly want to become an international terrorist at this point in his life (or ever, really).

That said, programming something a little subtler might be a valid answer to his issue, particularly considering «Subversive arts» had reached level 60 and ranked up to a higher tier. Although it reconfirmed how shitty of a naming sense his semblance had, his Elite tier stealth skill «International Man of Mystery» had given him an incredible boost to his stealth and hacking skills, even if he'd spent the first month after he'd acquired it having to deliberately force himself to just say "yes" instead of "Yeah baby!" every time he responded to a question. He also now had a mental collection of odd slang he didn't really understand and had committed himself to never use.

He didn't know what it meant, but somehow, he felt certain an 11-year-old should not be using the word Mojo as a descriptor for some part of his personality.

Anyway, while it was somewhat outlandish, creating a virtual intelligence program would help mitigate some of his current manpower issues, seeing as they were some things a computer program would just always be more efficient for than a human. Like going through stupidly large lists for the one option he wanted.

Of course, creating said program was much easier said than done, and it would probably take him months before he trusted it to reliably go through the horrendous list of SDC network outlets within the available timeframe, and that was with him hacking through the firewall. But while the necessary work was a bit too much for a single job V.I. the fact that it could also eventually serve as a pilot for a bullhead or as a hack tool for when he was preoccupied amongst other alternative uses made it more than worth putting in a few hundred work hours. Of course, since doing it all consecutively would drive him insane he'd been interspersing it between other minor jobs and preparatory actions.

Humming softly, Jaune closed his gamer menu and began tapping away at his scroll.


"Are you certain?" An authoritative voice demanded.

"Y-yes, your grace" a hooded figured responded stutteringly "The information acquired by headmaster Lionheart has been confirmed as irrefutable."

"Interesting… you may go." The voice hummed ponderously.

"Yes, your grace" the hooded figure bowed and quickly left.

"A renegade Arc, huh? That's something you don't see every day… or century." A pause "I wonder if…" Pale flesh with umbral veins contorted into an amused expression as the Queen of the Grimm smiled softly "but what does he seek? Power? Riches? Fame? Or something else?" She mused "Regardless, an Arc has many uses, particularly if they can be reintegrated into the fold after… taking up alternate views."

For a moment, the Queen of the Grimm lost herself in thought before wordless summoning an oddly shaped Grimm to her side.

"Summon young Cinder, I have a mission for her." The Queen paused for a moment "Tell her… she is to go after an interesting little pawn that has appeared on my game board."

"Of course, your grace." A man's voice responded from the transmitter Grimm "I'll send a messenger right away!"

Alone once more, the Queen of the Grimm looked out to the corrupted Ruins that surrounded her base on the dark continent.

"What will you do, dear Ozpin, if one of your ever-loyal families births a traitor? A traitor they will still love as kin and struggle without end to 'save' from my clutches, regardless of his actions? A traitor they would hate and despise you for slaying even if his allegiance was made clear?" Salem laughed softly "The greatest failing of your millennia long allies, so naively believed a strength, will tear them away from you. Their love and loyalty to blood, rendering your past with them water under a great bridge." She laughed again "Whether they come to my banner or simply leave yours, they will never abide or befriend one who slays their kin, dear Ozpin. So what will you do... if I give you no other choice?"

"What will you do… when the unity that is your only hope manifests to ruin you?"


Standing tall, a serious expression on his normally laidback face, Qrow Branwen stared at his leader and the man he trusted above all others with an expression of disbelief "Are you kidding me Oz?"

The headmaster of Beacon took a sip of coffee before replying simply "I'm afraid not."

Qrow starred at the man for a moment before letting out a sharp sigh and shaking his head in disbelief "Have you told Lilith or Alexander? Or Mordred for that matter, she's been out hunting for the kid damn near nonstop since he vanished."

"I have not."

Qrow starred at Ozpin like he'd grown a second head "Well why the hell not? They're his family, if this kid really has some weird-ass nigh-suicidal disposition, then they have a right to know!" he roared "Dealing with Yang's hotheadedness is bad enough, and that's when Tai and I know where she is. From the sound of it that kid has something a dozen times worse and is running around like he's got more death wishes than he does siblings."

"What would it change?" Ozpin shot back "The second they know they'd go out in full force, completely disregarding political or social consequences and for what? A miniscule increase to the chance they might find him? We both know that mass mobilizations against him aren't going to do anything but force him deeper into the shadows… Particularly in light of that footage you stole from Mistral's black ops." Ozpin shook his head "While they erased everything about why they were after him, we know without a doubt that their best wasn't nearly good enough. Although Mistral has the worst special forces, Jaune still completely overwhelmed them in all aspects when he was 10, Qrow, its far better for him to remain largely unopposed until he's faced with something he simply can't overwhelm than it is to allow him to sharpen his skills by trying to slowly close a noose around him."

Qrow let out a helpless sigh, lost for words momentarily before mumbling "It's a real thing then? This… suicidal adaptive conditioning or whatever the hell it is."

"Yes. It's an irregularity that rarely manifests in a member of the old bloodlines, something that halts conventional growth but drastically accelerates it when the inflicted is in danger of termination." Ozpin replied, "Attempting to predict the growth pattern of someone inflicted by this irregularity is nearly impossible, they grow in days what others do in months, in years what takes most decades."

"Shit" Qrow mumbled "I thought you told Mordred it didn't pose a threat to her brother's safety!"

"It isn't polite to listen in on other's conversations" Ozpin said tiredly.

"Just answer the damn question Oz! now!"

Ozpin sighed heavily, exhaustion visible on his face "I said it wouldn't pose a 'new' threat to her brother's safety." He corrected "and it doesn't, he's either had the irregularity since birth or he doesn't have it at all."

Qrow stared at him in disbelief "That's splitting hairs Oz, you know damn well that explanation wouldn't calm anyone down."

Ozpin sighed again "Yes, and I am prepared to face their anger and accusations once the time comes."

"And when is that?"

"Whenever Jaune comes home, whether by himself or by outside interference" Ozpin stated calmly.

"…outside interference huh?" Qrow mused "So you were serious, you want me to track him down?"

"Yes… with the new fall maiden under our protection, the remaining maidens can wait a few years, but Salem mustn't be allowed to get her hands on Jaune." Ozpin confirmed "His covert skills may be enough to overwhelm Mistral's best with some effort, but your own surpass them by such a large margin that they might as well be toddlers. Sending anyone less than my best option from the get-go would just leave room for him to grow."

"It's really that big of a thing then?" Qrow mumbled.

"Given enough time, people in possession of that irregularity either become S-ranks or die, they don't suffer under the same glass ceiling or limits that most others do, so long as they face sufficiently powerful opponents they grow ever more powerful." Ozpin confirmed "While normally an Arc would never betray or stand against their family, the irregularity can cause a sense of battle lust and euphoria during combat, destructive emotions that I fear Salem may be able to use to sway him to her side." Ozpin explained "Jaune running away from his family for some reason suggests a weaker than normal connection to his family, particularly for an Arc. While I can't be certain, Salem is as charismatic as she his ruthless, and without forewarning or prior understand of her true nature, Jaune might succumb to her influence."

"A rogue Arc… shit that wouldn't end well" Qrow mumbled.

"Indeed. Our only saving grace is that Salem herself is unaware of the disposition, as far as I'm aware, members of the old bloodlines under her rule either haven't had someone born with the irregularity before, or otherwise have culled them due to their apparent lack of talent without realizing their true potential."

"But if she gets the kid…" Qrow trailed off.

"She might figure it out, yes" Ozpin agreed "and her position as ruler of all Grimm would allow her to artificially cultivate someone with that irregularity by concealing her absolute control over the Grimm from them and throwing them into countless 'life or death' battles that are not nearly as risky as they seem."

"Y'know Oz, I'm starting to actually understand why you're trying so hard to keep this secret" Qrow mumbled taking a drink from his flask "But realizing I'm starting to agree with the decision of hiding information about a missing kid from his family is also making me feel like a scumbag".

"Then find him and bring him back, Alexander and Lilith can keep a secret well enough that I don't mind informing them once Jaune is back in their custody."

Qrow grunted, a grimace on his face as he took another long drink from his flask, emptying it this time "It's supposed to be our -my- generation's time to deal with all this..." Qrow mumbled to the centuries old headmaster in front of him "Yet why the hell does it already seem to be falling into the laps of the younger generation? Ruby's got the last pair of silver eyes in existence, Raven's bullshit is sending Yang's attention towards the criminal underground, the new fall maiden is barely 15, and now the youngest Arc -an 11-year-old- has suddenly become a potentially game-changing piece in a global shadow war!" he finished with a roar before an exhausted sigh escaped him "We were supposed to keep this part of the world as far away from the kids as possible, and for a time I thought we were succeeding… but now it seems like there's no stopping their involvement… like all our efforts were worthless."

Ozpin frowned softly "Where we fail, others must pick up the slack" he admitted "we have little control over who does so, nor over the method they use to do so. The only thing we can do is strive to ensure that as little as possible must fall to others and beyond that… to prepare those we can so that if our problems fall to them, it doesn't destroy them."

Qrow grimaced "You're right… I guess" he attempted to take a drink from his empty flask before scowling at the empty container. "I guess I better get started then" he mumbled moving towards the window before pausing "Don't tell Tai, he's better friends with the Arcs than I am, and considering he's still getting over Summer's death… the last thing he needs is to have to keep a secret like that from family friends" Qrow stated bluntly before his form momentarily disappeared, leaving behind a crow that quickly flew from the window.

Ozpin watched empty window for a moment, his face expressionless and tired, before sighing and returning to work "Only time will tell if this is yet another mistake" he lamented.


A/N

Crocea Mors is best protection from paparazzi. If this were an anime Crocea would also serve as the source of the convenient light bars used for censorship.

Things are starting to pick up, with Jaune catching both Salem and Ozpin's eye for different reasons. While in reality the concept of Jaune falling to Salem's side considering what he knows and what she has planned is laughable, both Ozpin and Salem have no way of knowing this. Ozpin is aware of Jaune's disposition, having encountered it previously when he first met -redacted- and come to understand that it only manifests in people with certain lineage's (Like the Arc family). On top of this, Jaune is currently using his computer skills to make a V.I. to fulfill various tasks like remote hacking and bullhead piloting and Crocea Mors is slowly reaching the point of 'waking up'.

Also, yes Nora did randomly find a 15-ounce chunk of black dust worth around 100 million Lien only to throw it away like a common pebble and forget it because Ren thought it was worthless. Come on, its Nora, if anyone's going to randomly find the Remnant equivalent of enriched weapon grade uranium just lying around by complete chance it's going to be her.

also, yes if she ever finds out gravity dust really does exist after she gets Magnhild she'll probably go find some more (with all the effort of going to pick up groceries b/c Nora) and then somehow manage to turn Magnhild into an honest to god gravity hammer.

"Look Renny! I killed a mountain!"

"Nora!"