Current Aura Level for Jaune arc at beginning of chapter: 14/30

Wild Huntsman

Beginning Trial and Goron City

Jaune stood up from his seated position, only to hear a Monk's voice. "Chosen one...The hero called Jaune. The time has come. You are now ready to test the limits of your courage. Come to where you were reunited with the Master Sword in the Korok Forest. Take heed of the words of the Deku Tree. Then, you shall be granted power." Not only that, but his scroll vibrated as more and more "EX Quests appeared". This was confusing to him. However, the fact that there was something to do with his sword and that there was an "Ancient Mask" stolen by that thief they had recovered some gems from once peaked his curiosity.

Plus, when they got to Akala, Ruby would be excited over the rumors of an "ancient horse armor".

"Okay...how did these quests get into our scrolls?" Weiss asked, inspecting her device intently.

"I don't know...but I heard a monk's voice." Jaune said, "There is something to do with the Master Sword as well."

"The Master Sword?" Daruk asked, "Isn't it already powerful?"

"Remember the Deku Tree's words? The sword hasn't fully recovered." Pyrrha noted.

"First things first...I want to check that strange Ancient Mask rumors. It was said information about it was in the ruins by the Great Plateau." Jaune said, as they all teleported to the Bosh Kala Shrine. Heading south as Jaune used his Thunderblade to strike down monsters, as he back-flipped over a Moblin's swing, he blurred forward and it collapsed and dissipated into smoke.

"Are you sure you didn't absorb Ruby's Semblance?" Yang teased.

"I'm...pretty sure...I think it's...Link's training as my eye spots an opening and my body reacts." Jaune said. Yang nudged him as she picked up it's Boko Bat. Spare weapons were always a good idea in Hyrule.

He picked up a basic wooden bow as they passed some remains of decayed and mossy Guardians, and continued down the path. Soon, they entered the ruins and saw a book sitting on the remains of a shelf. "Okay..." Jaune said, "This said he stole eight relics from Hyrule Castle...Ancient Mask...Where soldiers gathered, Lake Kolomo...garments of a man who wished to be a fairy, ruins where trade flourished, ruins where sinners were imprisoned, and village next to farmland, all in Hyrule Field...Princess of Twilight, her helmet, temple ruins soaked in waters of Regencia River...armor of Phantoms, Hyrule Field..battleground where brave souls tested their skill, ceremonial grounds where royal guards are honored, ruins where soldiers gathered..."

"They're all riddles." Pyrrha noted.

"Well duh!" Yang said, "He was a thief, not a pirate. Did you expect an X marks the spot?" Jaune blushed at their Gerudo outfits, averting his eyes. "Are we flustering you?" She teased.

"Yes." Jaune simply said, making them blink at how blunt he was. "Seven Sisters." He said, "I'm not one to brag about ladies or try anything unwanted...they would beat me to a pulp if I did...mom didn't raise me to be a heart breaker and not be a gentleman..." He then blinked, "Hey! I remembered more of my family..." He said, gazing at his right hand.

He quickly ducked behind some rubble out of view and changed into his Zora armor set. However, night started to fall, so they made a campfire and sat around it. Come 5 am, when the sun was still new, they set off to Lake Kolomo. It was after 7 am when they arrived at the Garrison ruins, and found another Korok. Using Magnesis, Jaune found a treasure chest buried in the ground next to the ruins and tugged it out. Taking off his Zora Helm, he opened up the chest and pulled something out before staring at it and putting it over his face. He turned around, startling everyone. Daruk even activated his defensive skill at the sudden fright. There was a mostly purple heart-shaped mask with red, white, and brown designs. Two yellow spikes poked upwards and forwards from the two top sections, while four yellow spikes protruded from the sides, the tips of the bottom three spikes colored red, green, and blue respectively. It had eerie, orange eyes with small green irises and black pupils that glowed with an almost sinister light.

Revali composed himself quickly. "Majora's Mask." He said, "An eerie mask passed down from ancient times. It is said wearing this makes it harder for monsters to find you...but the weak-willed will be consumed by it's power." Jaune tucked the mask into his pouch after staring at it and put his Hylian Hood back on.

"I know what you mean, that felt almost addicting." He said, before he teleported to the shrine near the pedestal of the Master Sword. By the time the others arrived, he had changed into his armor. He stepped back to the pedestal.

"Hm? What's this? A voice beckoned you here? I see...So the time has come." The Deku Tree said, "I shall now tell you all I know about the arduous trial that awaits you."

Yang and Pyrrha glanced at each other, both mouthing the word "Trial" with a look of shock.

"That sword you have reunited with...the Master Sword...it has yet to realize its true splendor. This trial shall test your courage to ensure you are worthy of this splendor." The Deku Tree explained, "It is called the Trial of the Sword. It will challenge you as you have never been challenged before. All of your weapons and armor will be sealed away. You must face your enemies without the tools you've come to rely on. Once you have tempered your soul and proven your wisdom and courage by completing the Trial of the Sword...the Master Sword shall truly be yours!...Hm. Unless my eyes deceive me, you seem quite willing to take on this trial. A hero through and through! Now, Jaune...Place the Master Sword in its pedestal." Jaune glanced down at the spot he drew the sword, he unsheathed the Master Sword and struck it into it's pedestal, before he became streams of blue light and that light was sucked into the sword.

Jaune awoke in a strange realm. There, he heard a Monk's voice. "To the blade's chosen Hero...In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer the Trial of the Sword. You presently lack the power necessary to wield the true splendor of the Master Sword...You must fortify your mind, body, and soul by eradicating all obstacles that appear in this realm. In this illusory realm of Sacred Mystery, anything can happen...All that you obtain here will be lost upon your return to the reality you know. Chosen Hero of the Master Sword...Overcome the Trial of the Sword and claim the blade's true splendor!" Jaune felt his weapon belt, Sheikah Scroll, and pouch...the first and last being empty. He took a step and felt the air flowing across his body.

Wait...air?!

He glanced down, showing he was just in his underwear and blushed. "I am so glad none of the others are here...they'd never let me live this down."

He first fought off a group of Bokoblins, claiming a Boko shield, Boko bat, Boko spear, and woodcutter's axe. He ate a seared steak that roasted over their campfire to replenish some of the aura lost in the battle. After clearing out the camp of apples and stamellla shrooms, he approached a blue pedestal, appearing in another room.

Outside of the realm, Pyrrha was panicking over Jaune's sudden disappearance. "Pyrrha, settle down!" Yang said, grabbing a hold of her shoulders.

"He's not on the map!" She said, gazing into Yang's eyes before looking away. "I'm...scared for him. He still doesn't remember everything."

"It will be alright. This is Hero we're talking about!" Yang said.

"Yeah! He was tough enough to eat a Goron delicacy with his brother!" Daruk added, "Man what I wouldn't give for some Death Mountain Rock Roast right now..."

Pyrrha and Yang looked at Daruk in disbelief, the Goron having admitted to Link and Jaune basically eating a rock. Pyrrha then shook her head.

"But...what if he dies?" Pyrrha asked.

"We have to believe in him. That's all we can do." Yang said.

Jaune emerged on Floor 7 of the Beginning Trials after defeating a Stone Talus. He had his Woodcutter's Axe, Soldier's Broadsword, Moblin Spear, Spiked Boko Club, Spiked Boko Spear, and Moblin club collected as weapons. For bows, he had a Boko bow, Spiked Boko bow, and Traveler's Bow with ten arrows and 6 fire arrows. He had a Traveler's Shield and Soldier's Shield, and had 2 palm fruits, 5 apples, 3 bananas, 1 stamella shroom, 2 fleet-lotus seeds, and 2 wildberries. He tensed, expecting another fight, but was surprised when he arrived at an oasis with boxes, 3 treasure chests, mushrooms, a fairy, an apple tree, and 3 armored carp.

"You know...when this is all over, we should make a little pond like this at home." Jaune said, gazing around after catching the fairy and fish. He opened the treasure chest and sighed, "Only weapons...they could at least have given me pants..." After collecting the resources, Jaune cooked a tough fish skewers, two tough fish and mushroom skewers, two might meat and mushroom skewers, a hasty simmered fruit, an energizing simmered fruit, a simmered fruit, and a mighty simmered fruit.

Eating the few apples left to nearly restore his aura, he gazed at the oasis and continued onward through the trial. He emerged at a rocky location surrounded by water with an electric chuchu visible. After shooting the chuchu, making it explode in a burst of electricity, he heard the other monsters in the room. Swimming over to where the chuchu was, he saw a couple purple lizalfos. After a tense battle, with a bow and a few collected weapons shattering on the lizalfos's tough scales, he saw a basic one across the room. He soon defeated it, the moblin club shattering before he threw a boko spear at it, the spear splintering and embedding itself into the lizard monster, killing it.

Entering the next room through the blue portal, he was immediately struck by the projectile shot by an octorok. Killing it and gazing into the room, his heart plummeted as he saw an electric wizrobe...in a rocky room full of water. If that wizrobe got a single attack off...well, he wasn't Nora. It would hurt...badly. switching to his fire arrows, he shot the other Octorok, drawing the Wizrobe's attention away from him.

He quickly swam to the island where the wizrobe had been prancing and started pelting it with fire arrows so quickly, not only did it drop it's Lightning Rod, but Jaune's traveler's bow also started cracking. He sighed as he inspected his bow, knowing it wouldn't take much more strain before falling apart. As a blue portal lit up in the room, he took a deep breath and stepped into it.

Floor ten was a bridge base of lizalfos over water. He was at a disadvantage. Lizalfos could shoot out pressurized jets of water while in it like an arrow, while if he fell into the water, he would be helpless. Not only that, but these were black lizalfos; which had some of the toughest scales among the lizalfos race. His movement options were limited, while they could also leap out of the water onto the docks effortlessly. That's when he got an idea.

They had metal armor and weapons, and he gave a confident smirk as he pulled out the lightning rod. He swung it, an orb of electricity bursting forward and shocking both lizalfos. By the time the flimsy yet useful weapon was drained of it's power and shattered, one of the lizalfos burst into smoke and the other was jittery as remnants of electricity coursed through it's body. After striking down the last creature, he teleported to room 11, where a raft sat facing platforms over an expanse of water. He snipped the rope holding the raft with his spear and stood on it as the wind pushed it forwards, taking aim with his bow at the archers in the lookout towers while step-siding their fire arrows. He was forced to eat his meals after the fairy saved his life when a moblin ambushed him. Jaune shoved it off the platform into the water, where it turned to smoke upon impact. It was then he realized something.

Mipha's Grace could not activate in this realm.

He tried building up power, and realized that his relatively new Urbosa's Fury could not activate either.

His Hero's Adaptability Semblance was locked in this realm.

After stockpiling the fire arrows he could find, he entered floor 12, where a hinox lay sleeping. Hinox were the more "alive" less "skeletal" versions of the stalnox. Unlike stalnox, they could be active both day an night. While hinox are known for mostly sleeping, it was noted that they were gigantic, had more strength than Nora; able rip apart trees and use them as clubs, and would become active if anything walked close to them.

They were also known to eat anything; even travelers.

They kept the weapons of their "meals" on a necklace around their neck, as a testament to their victories.

And now he had to face one in his underwear, using only collected weapons. Just great. He prepared his fire arrows and Serpentine Spear as he approached the beast. As it jarred awake, Jaune stabbed it a few times with his spear. As it stomped over to him, Jaune stepped backwards until the hinox ripped a tree from the ground and he shot a fire arrow into it's eye, making it drop the tree and fall into a sitting position on the ground. He ran at it, ripping the Knight's Shield, Knight's Broadsword, and Knight's Bow off it's necklace before stabbing it a few time and it stood up, making him dart between it's legs and emerge behind it lest it stomp on him. Unbeknownst to him, it's standing, hunched form rivaled the height of the Grimm known as a Goliath.

He shot a few more arrows, the beast letting out rumbles as the arrows burst near it's eye, but it continued forward undaunted. Jaune had to jump backwards as it slammed a hand where he once stood, the earth shaking on impact as he shot another fire arrow into it's eye and made it collapse. He stabbed it a few more times, gritting his teeth in frustration as it's thick, leathery skin seemed to absorb most of the damage. The shaking of the ground made Jaune's hands tremble as he shot another fire arrow, narrowly missing it's eye. He was forced to run as he saw it's arms swing backwards, moving out of the way as both hands clapped together where he once stood as the hinox's lone eye stared into it's hands, looking for it's meal. Jaune took the advantage to shoot another fire arrow, this time hitting it's eye and making it fall down as he attacked it once more. It stood up as Jaune moved and grabbed the tree. He lined up a fire arrow and shot, only for the hinox's free hand to block the arrow. It approached menacingly as it licked it's lips, bringing the trunk of the tree upwards, ready to swing.

Only to receive a fire arrow in it's eye and a spear to it's massive gut. Jaune stood back as the hinox stood up once again, noticing the cracks in his spear. Jaune tossed it into the hinox's gut and moved backwards as it shattered, pulling out the knight's broadsword. It hunched over him, licking it's lips as its hands prepared to grab him, only for Jaune's fire arrow to strike it's eye and his knight's broadsword to finally pierce it's worn gut. It let out a guttural yell as it turned black and burst into smoke. A foul stench wafted through the area, making Jaune cover his nose and mouth. Then, the portal lit up. Stepping into it, Jaune appeared in a place that was dark, with blue lights representing stars over glowing designs mimicking the landscape of Hyrule. There were three staircases. One lead to a floating platform, the second to a higher platform, and the third led to what looked like a monk's dwelling in a shrine.

Jaune realized with a start that this must have been the first of three trials. Then, he heard the monk's voice again. "To the one chosen by the sacred blade...I commend your efforts in this trial. You are now strong enough to wield more of the Master Sword's power than ever before. Courageous hero...chosen by the blade...Take hold of the Master Sword."

Jaune moved forward up the floating stairway, seeing the other two staircases vanish. In the lowest platform, in a spot similar to its pedestal in the forest, was the Master Sword. Jaune grabbed onto it, and pulled it out, vanishing in a blue light, only to reappear in the forest with his armor on holding the sword. The Triforce symbol on the blade glowed white as he swung it, before Pyrrha tacked him into a hug as Yang kept him steady.

"Ah. You have finally returned." The Deku Tree said, "You look stronger than when last I saw you...The Master Sword you wield is now more powerful than before. But be warned, it is still recovering. If you desire still more power and wish to retry the blade's test...once again place the Master Sword in its pedestal."

"Not right now." Jaune said, "The first trial showed me that I must temper myself and gain more experience before I can unlock more of it's potential."

"A wise decision." The Deku Tree replied, "The trials ahead are far more difficult than the first, it would be wise to better prepare yourself."

"So...what now?" Ren asked as he ate a simple mushroom skewer.

"We head to Death Mountain and free Vah Rudania." Jaune said, before they all teleported to Hateno to rest and prepare for the arduous journey ahead.

The next morning, the group had some seared steak for breakfast as Daruk ate some rocks. After they finished, they teleported to the Soh Kofi Shrine in the Lanayru region, which had a trail leading towards the border of two unknown regions, one of which is where Death Mountain and Rudania was. The volcano with a cloud of smoke seemed to loom over them, even from that distance. It was a daunting task to be sure. Jaune's thunderblade was ready to use as his Master Sword held it's spot; sheathed on his belt. As they ran forward, they came across a man on a blue-roan horse.

"Nice to see you!" The Hylian greeted, "I'm Zorona, and I live for mystery. One mystery lately has kept me sleepless like no other...It's that danged Fang and Bone. Who runs it? What do they sell? And is it really true you can find it at night out by Skull Lake?!" None of them had heard of that shop before, and were also curious...but they had a task to accomplish. Jaune showed off Urbossa's Fury in order to charge up Nora for the trip ahead, who had been sluggish due to a "lack of Renny's pancakes" as she called it. Jaune gazed down the side of the cliff before he jumped down, pulling out the paraglider to safely land on a spot not on the map. He glanced around as the others followed him. There was something...familiar...about this place.

The woodland stable had mentioned a Foothill Stable leading to Death Mountain, Jaune recalled with a grimace. Yet, he didn't want to quick travel yet again, as Revali's piercing gaze made him tense in frustration for some reason...and also ironically, Nora also had what he called "Fast travel motion sickness."

The journey wouldn't kill them...hopefully. They were Knights of Hyrule, Hunters of dark creatures! Birds and butterflies flew across the purple flowers and golden prairie grass they tread across carefully. They soon re-entered Central Hyrule northeast of Hyrule Castle...stopping mournfully at decayed ruins of people's homes.

As they drew closer to the stable in the early afternoon, Weiss was starting to fall behind. "Maybe we should bring our horses?" She suggested.

"Not a good idea, little lady." Daruk said, "Death Mountain is a dormant volcano. The horses wouldn't like the volcanic ground. Also, if it is like the rest of Hyrule, it's sure to be filled with monsters...I don't think you want one killing your horse."

"Good point." Weiss said with a small frown.

When they were nearly there, there was a deep laugh and one of the giant soldiers of the Yiga Clan appeared out of thin air, wielding their strange katana. With Jaune's thunderblade, the Yiga soldier would be stunned in one spot as he attacked, as electricity flowed from the blade into the Yiga's body. Finally, the man dropped his katana and mighty bananas, vanishing in a cloud of smoke. Jaune picked up the large katana, inspecting it's unique shape.

"Head to the stable...this...this is the Windcleaver the boy in Hateno wanted to see! Plus...I think Ruby would love to inspect this!" He said, as he vanished in a blue light.

For showing Nebb the windcleaver, Jaune got a silver rupee. Next, Nebb wanted to see an ancient battle axe +...which Jaune happened to have from a previous Test of Strength. Showing Nebb the weapon got Jaune another silver rupee. The next weapon was something Jaune hadn't heard of yet...the frostspear. He smiled seeing the swords gone from the weapon display, as that meant Ruby was engrossed in discovering the secrets of the weapons of Hyrule, so he put up the Windcleaver on the display for Ruby to find. With a nod to himself, he teleported to the shrine next to the Woodland Stable. Upon arriving, he saw his...self-proclaimed girlfriends along with his friends waiting on the trail leading into Death Mountain.

Still he wondered...why him? Why chose the one who failed Link and Zelda? Was it something from what he couldn't remember? Mipha's grace soon activated as they were ambushed by both a Yiga Soldier and a couple purple Lizalfos as he took the blows for Yang and Pyrrha without even thinking. Afterwards, he still had a small chunk of his Aura missing from the fight, so-as if to spite the Yiga- he ate a few mighty bananas he collected to restore it. The food of Hyrule was...unique in it's health and Aura restoring properties.

However, they were forced to retreat to the stable as, not only were they ambushed by both a purple and black lizalfos, but it started to storm, lightning nearly draining Jaune of both Aura and life. Spending the night to restore health and Aura did cost some money, but Jaune was being cautious. Anything could happen on the way. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Plus it did give him the opportunity to visit a traveling salesman to get more supplies and trade gems and monster parts until he had a total of 2,103 rupees.

They continued back on the trail at 5:20 am. Seeing a purple lizalfos try to camouflage itself into the rocks, Jaune took no chances. He froze it with an ice arrow before shattering it with the windcleaver he got from the second Yiga soldier; shattering it and leaving behind monster parts. The black lizalfos continued to attack, but seeing it turn it's attention from him to his friends made a strange feeling rise within him...It wasn't anger, or hatred or even frustration.

It was desire...a desire to protect. He tossed the damaged windcleaver aside, the blade shattering against rock, and drew the Master Sword. With a leap, the blade sliced through the beast's neck and sent it tumbling down the cliff as it exploded into smoke. He sheathed the Sword that Seals the Darkness as he took out a guardian sword, saying nothing as he turned his back to the gazes of his companions.

He would carry out Link's Legacy. He would silently bear the burdens of the world on his shoulders...no matter the cost.

Farther up the trail, Ren notched a Fire Arrow and instantly dealt with an Ice Wizrobe. Unlike Electric Wizrobes, Fire and Ice Wizrobes were weak against ice and fire respectively; as their bodies were not accustomed to the other extreme temperature. However, a feeling of...familiarity soon became overpowering to Jaune, and he climbed up a nearby cliff, staring at the Military Training Camp. He looked at his armor, quickly recalling that that it was familiar because he WORE armor like that (minus the hood) when he was in Team JNPR of Hyrule. He pulled out the photo album, and saw a picture similar to that environment...and then a memory hit him.

Zelda was inspecting his and Link's wounds (Jaune having more injuries than Link's cut) after dealing with a swarm of powerful monsters...but Zelda noted that both the scale and number of monsters attacking were more than they had been...She feared it was an omen signaling the return of Calamity Ganon.

He gazed outwards as the sun set. "Too true, Princess..." He whispered to himself. The group saw the tower clearly as they approached the peak Jaune stood on, staring at the tower. "Well, I can't see the stable, but we can hit the tower if you'd like."

"That sounds like a lovely idea!" Pyrrha said, and they soon drifted downwards on paragliders. However, they were forced back south as the very air started to make smoke rise from their clothes. "I take that back...it's too hot...and I'm in heat-resistant clothes!"

"Hmm...Death Mountain never used to be this scorching hot." Daruk said, unaffected by the heat, "Something is wrong."

"Wrong?!" Weiss asked in disbelief, "It's so hot, the temperature reader on our scrolls says 'error' in red!" Ending up in more...reasonable temperatures away from the tower, the group soon found a hot spring where a Korok was hiding. The hot water soothed away their aches and started restoring any missing Aura. Their shrine sensors also went off, signaling that they were close. A view through their scopes allowed them to pin that location, and as they drew closer they saw a horse-shaped building. They had found Foothill Stable.

Jaune didn't hesitate as he headed to the M'oa Keet Shrine, pausing only to pick up a fireproof lizard...which he remembered was an ingredient in fireproof elixir. Revali watched Jaune go into the shrine.

"Sorry guys, but I have to head to Hateno...this heat isn't good for me and as much as I hate to admit it, if my feathers are cooked I'm grounded...which is terrible for a Rito. " Revali said, vanishing in a blue light as he started preening his own feathers. After he left, Nora took a deep sniff of the air where he stood.

"Anyone else hungry for roast bird?" Nora asked innocently as Ren sighed.

After Jaune returned from his quick trip to pray at a Goddess Statue to have another chunk of his aura unlocked, they arrived at the stable.

"So...what are we supposed to do? The very air starts setting us on fire." Ren asked as Jaune sat down near the cooking pot as he rubbed his chin in thought. Then a lady stable-hand heard them.

"Then you're probably heading to Goron City?" She asked.

"That's right!" Nora said excitedly leaning on Ren's back.

"I thought so...Hold on...dressed like that?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes...not like we have any other choice." Jaune said.

"See...this is how tourists get a bad rep." She said, "That place is sheer cliff after sheer cliff, and it gets so hot past the second checkpoint that your body will catch fire." Everyone shivered at that description, "Normally I wouldn't stop a stranger from heading to their doom, but I kinda like ya'll. So I guess I have no choice but to sell you these fireproof elixirs. They can protect you from the burning air. Even Goron City Regulars usually take at least three elixirs with them...until they can afford fireproof armor Gorons sell."

They each decided to buy six, for safety...and then work on getting Fireproof armor as quickly as possible...Jaune had to fix Yang's hair before they left the stable, as the air had burnt some ends and made it very stiff-much to her anger. Afterwards, he cooked up a Seafood Skewer, and stored some while giving the rest among the group to eat before the trip. At the Maw of Death Mountain, facing the region to the East...they froze seeing a fully active and mobile Guardian scanning that entryway.

Jaune's breathing shivered as a memory flashed through his mind.

Multitudes of blue beams struck around them, as one crawled up the destroyed body of another with it's spider-like legs with sharp metallic claws. A red beam focused on him...

He took a deep breath, shaking his head as he gathered his courage. It was not time to face it...as it was in a direction away from both the marked location of the Tower and of the dot representing Goron City. Thanks to their change in direction, they hadn't needed any Fireproof Elixirs yet when they arrived at the Eldin Tower, which Ren started scaling up with Nora hanging onto his back like a sloth. A half-hour later, the map of the area appeared on their scrolls as the tower activated. Each person grimaced after teleporting to the top of the tower as they pulled up their maps, revealing "rivers" of pure lava.

With no other choice, they each gulped down the foul tasting Fireproof Elixir and moved towards the dot representing Goron City.

They eventually arrived at the Goron Southern Mine after finding another Korok (strangely unaffected by the heat) in the early evening and approached a man with a strange helmet.

"Oh, hey! Perfect! You all showed up at just the right time!" He said, "I'm on my way back from Goron City, but forgot to buy souvenirs. I wanted to capture some of those fireproof lizards that live here on Death Mountain, but those suckers are quick. Say, you all look pretty speedy. I bet you all could catch a ton! If you bring me 10 each, I'll give all of you some heat-resistant armor. So what do you all say?"

"We're in!" Jaune said. At first, each non-Goron in the group with him wanted to protest until they learned something.

Fireproof lizards were everywhere in this area. It was not at long until each person had ten and brought it to that man. In return, the man gave them each a Flamebreaker Armor. "I got these in a deal in Goron City, but have no use for them. You can buy the rest of it in Goron City." After each finding a spot to change in private, their fireproof elixir wore off...but other then the air being extremely hot, they weren't bursting into flames.

"Not flattering, but at least it works." Yang said, straightening her hair. It was nearly midnight as they went farther on the trail, picking up more fireproof lizards (just in case), when there was what sounded like an explosion, and molten rocks of fire and lava rained down along the path besides them.

"That's new. It didn't use to do that." Daruk noted. As they approached the gate, a wailing, mechanical cry echoed through the air, as a stone, metal, and mechanical lizard with flaming, clawed feet, walked across the side of the volcano, letting out the loud cries.

"Was that?!" Ren asked with wide eyes.

"The Divine Beast Vah Rudania." Daruk said, confirming his suspicions. They first went to the armor shop to complete their Flamebreaker Armor, and after selling monster parts and gems before buying the rest, Jaune was left with only 198 rupees...and was glad they had a home they could teleport near as not to spend a lot of money on inns.

Jaune's first stop was a shrine just near Goron City. After emerging with a Spirit Orb, he handed Yang a powerful weapon he had retrieved in the shrine; a Goron Stone Smasher. He then cooked a Hearty Fish Skewer before he heard some Goron sounding very upset as others in town were swarming Daruk. He entered that Goron's house and found out that his little brother had yet to return from Gorko Tunnel. Nora had picked up and was now wielding another version of Yang's new weapon; called a Cobble Crusher. Jaune stopped by the group staring at them dead in the eyes.

"Helping a Goron with his brother...I'll be back soon." He said, before starting to scale the cliffs.

Each person sighed as they shook their heads. "Ever since he drew the Master Sword...he's been taking on more and more tasks." Ren said, "Right now, his mind must be like a turbulent storm upon an open sea."

"Still, it IS our fearless leader we're talking about. The guy who once wrote left and right on his shoes in case he got a concussion that confused his sense of direction." Nora said from her position on Ren's back. "Boop!" She said, poking Ren's nose. This time, he didn't sigh. He was starting to have an idea what that action meant. He slowly turned his head while lifting his right arm.

"Boop." He quietly said, poking Nora's nose. She froze as her face turned red and slid off as she lost her grip. Her gaze became unfocused as she mumbled the words "Renny. Boop." In a loop over and over before she shook her head, grabbed him, and ran off.

"Well...At least they finally got together-together..." Pyrrha said awkwardly.

"I hope Nora has enough decency to celebrate in private." Yang added, staring at the direction Nora dragged Ren off in. A nervous chuckle escaped both of their mouths as they shifted uncomfortably at that thought.

"Seriously...so uncivilized." Weiss said, "I swear Nora totally ignores the meaning of the words self-restraint." Blake just gave Weiss a glance. It was almost something out of a book series she read 100 years ago.

"Nora is...Nora..." Pyrrha concluded. When a blue glow shone from the shrine near Goron City, they knew Jaune had returned. Not only that, but he had a stronger white glow around him, signifying another chunk of his Aura had been unlocked.

"I knew he had a lot of Aura." Pyrrha said with a small smile.

"Huh? What do you mean by Hero has a lot of Aura?" Yang asked.

"It's...hard to explain, but I'll try." Pyrrha said, "Have you ever played video games?"

"Oh yes! All the time!" Yang said, "I loved playing with Ruby...I really hope video games stopped existing like cars and guns did in the past hundred years." She shivered.

"Well, then you know of a life bar, for example...hearts" Pyrrha said, and waited until Yang nodded that she understood. "A civilian without their Aura unlocked has one heart on their life meter. A child with their Aura recently unlocked would have three. An experienced Hunter would have anywhere from ten to twenty hearts..."

"Okay...but what does that have to do with Hero?" Yang asked.

"If I had to estimate...with that last chunk, Jaune would be at 16 hearts on a life meter." Pyrrha said, and at Yang's look of shock, she gave a teasing smirk, "And he has the potential to reach thirty."

THUNK.

Pyrrha watched in shock as Yang sat down as her legs collapsed in shock.

"What happened here?" Jaune asked.

"Nothing!" Both huntresses said quickly, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Well...I'm not going to push." Jaune said, "I'm going to go back to the mine, to try and find ore to restock our monetary supplies since it's afternoon right now. You all can come if you want...or you can rest. Tomorrow, we're going to investigate Vah Rudania."

A shiver of anticipation went through their bodies. Twice they missed out on helping Jaune with a Divine Beast.

They weren't going to do so again!

Jaune Arc stats:

Aura: 16/30

Shrines: 44

Koroks: 45

Skills learned: Mipha's Grace, Urbosa's Fury.