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The ability to fly was one of the few things that humans wanted to master from the very beginning.
To move gracefully through air like a bird, not being bound to the earth under our feet by gravity that acted like chains restricting our freedom.
Our ancestors dreamed of the day when their feet would leave the ground, allowing them to spread their metaphorical wings and soar.
Still being in a slight shock from the sudden launch, Jaune Arc could tell them all that it was heavily overrated.
They could argue that he wasn't flying per se, more being lobbed like from a catapult so it wasn't the same.
He could argue back that they could shove their argument up their nose, he was the one flailing through the air in the end.
Thinking quickly he straightened his body, spreading his arms and legs to slow down the tumble and somewhat regain a bit of control.
With adrenaline pumping through his veins, the whole world moved in slow motion. It was a strange feeling, to be flying like that.
Between the terror of his quickly approaching demise and the exhilaration of doing something extremely dumb that no sane person would do, there was a bit of joy connected to the fact that at long last he could use his hard training and start his journey of being a huntsman.
'Okay… flight. How do I survive this?" Feeling that he started to lose upward momentum, Jaune started to analyze the problem like Sally's notebooks taught him to.
'Flight, what's used for flight? Wings? No, too complicated. What's needed to fly? Counteract gravity by lift generated from wings… or thrust generated by engines like in a Bullhead.'
Starting his descent, Jaune moved his arms in front of himself, palms facing forward.
'The jet engine in a Bullhead works by compressing air, creating a mixture of air and dust, combustion, high speed exhaust provides thrust.'
Focusing the ambient Aura he created a glowing ring of energy in front of each hand while using his own, internal energy to reinforce his whole body to withstand the pushback.
'Visualize… Focus… Just like Sally wrote…'
A few seconds before crashing into the trees he activated his improvised technique, a great gust of wind starting to quickly slow him down.
The two rings in front of his palms working like engines, just without the middle steps. Taking in air in great volume, the technique compressed it before ejecting it out the other side, pushing him the other way as physical laws dictate.
"Yeah!" Smiling like a loon, with arms trembling from the forces he had to hold in place, Jaune couldn't help but exclaim from excitement.
Feeling understandably confident, he pumped more air into the glowing rings in front of him while decreasing their size to increase compression, aiming his arms a bit lower to clear the big tree that he would clip with his legs otherwise.
It took him approximately one tenth of a second to understand that momentum, gravity and the said tree had a different opinion.
Losing balance, the blonde Aura user moved his hands out of place, causing his still active technique to push him into a spiral.
Exclaiming in a very manly, and certainly not high pitched girly manner, Jaune crashed into a tall tree with a loud thump.
"Ughhh… I'm not flying any time soon…" Mumbling into the very comfortable bark of the tree that was kind enough to arrest his further fall, he decided to stay there a few more seconds just to be sure that his leafy friend felt appreciated enough for its help.
"Hey, you there!" Hearing a peppy, girly voice, Jaune looked to the ground, finding a rather short girl with orange hair and jade eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Are you a sloth faunus?"
XxX
This was bad.
No, worse than bad. It was catastrophic.
Nowadays, hardly anything was a cause of concern for Cinder.
A few years earlier she might have been a slave but she escaped and had her revenge.
She might have lived in the streets of Mantle for a short while but with her unlocked Aura and destructive Semblance she immediately climbed the 'social ladder' and nobody tried anything with her.
Then her Mistress took her under her wing, promising power beyond anything she ever dreamt of. It looked a bit suspicious but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Now… Now she was totally screwed.
Mistress gave her only one real job for as long as she knew the Queen of Grimm. Only one direct command, something that Cinder would gladly fulfill if only she knew how.
Walking across the Emerald Forest, she couldn't help but feel dejected that she would disappoint her Master yet again.
She tried, she really did.
There's just too little information from what she remembered.
A man, capable of defending himself and if she wasn't wrong, an Aura user.
With Ozpin keeping an eye on her, Cinder couldn't use her more invasive methods, leaving her to flail in the dark with the hope of miraculously finding her target.
Even with her mind in turmoil, she immediately picked up on the fact that the abundant to this moment noises of nature significantly diminished.
In a flash of flames two, obsidian black scimitars appeared in her hands as if from thin air.
Scanning her surroundings she immediately spotted a few Beowulfs trying to flank her, their pitch black fur quite easily distinguishable from the greenery.
Finding an outlet to the frustration that was creeping up on her for days, Cinder launched herself at the closest one with a sweeping strike aimed directly into its open maw.
Feeling how Midnight easily separated the head of the beast from the rest, the ravenette couldn't help but smile slightly at the carnage that she was going to unleash.
The rest of the Grimm didn't wait any longer, springing out from their hiding spots, their jaws wide open and claws ready to rend flesh apart.
Not waiting for the beasts to close the distance she moved once more to the nearest one, diving under a wild swipe of its claws and racked both of her swords across its stomach, cutting deeply.
This is what she really liked in her Master's creations. Deadly, powerful, and clean when disposed of. That move just now performed on a human would get really gory, guts flying everywhere.
On Beowulfs? A bit of dark liquid here and there and even that evaporated nearly instantly.
Moving swiftly between her foes, Cinder dispatched them one by one. The mindless beasts swarming from all sides didn't seem to mind, each one of them viciously trying to do anything they could to wound, to hurt, to kill.
Suddenly, from one of the closest bushes a man sized maw of a Grimm snake shot at her, already open and ready to swallow her whole.
Twisting her body, the half Maiden used one of her blades to stop a Beowulf while using the other to intercept what looked to be the black head of a King Taijitu.
Just when she was about to blast her new assailant with a gout of flames, a green clad student crashed into it with his fist glowing a deep pink color.
With a pained roar the snake head was launched away, jerking his other half out of the foliage in the process.
"Hello." The black haired man greeted stoically, his sharp eyes taking in the situation. A pink lock of hair to the side of his face would look out of place if not for his pink eyes that somewhat made everything work.
"Hello to you too." Greeting back, Cinder had the urge to squeal in delight. She forced it back down obviously, but it still was there.
A man, can fight and is clearly an Aura user.
Maybe she wasn't as screwed as she thought she would be.
XxX
If anyone would ask the Headmaster of Beacon Academy what he liked the most in his work, he would undoubtedly reply that free coffee.
That wouldn't be a lie, but even if it was the most important thing, there still were things other than his beloved dirty bean water.
One of those things was observing how skillful and dedicated the next generations of future huntsmen were.
Of course, there always were those that didn't excel, trying to coast on their natural talent or other things. Sadly, those students rarely got through the whole course.
Thankfully, there also were those that shined like rough diamonds, just waiting to be polished and grinded into the best Huntsman they could ever be.
Sipping from his magically enhanced coffee mug (best use of the severely diminished powers of the immortal wizard ever), Ozpin observed on his tablet how one Ruby Rose somehow managed to talk Weiss Schnee of all people to get on top of an Alpha Nevermore.
This sight brought a fond smile on his face, a similar thing happening years earlier with the girl's mother, Summer Rose. The face that Qrow made when she somehow dragged him on top of a Deathstalker and rode it to their finish line would forever be carved into his memory.
Ah… good times.
Hearing a strange noise to his side he observed an even stranger, surprising phenomenon.
You see, you could say that Ozpin, the current incarnation of Ozma, had seen nearly everything.
He witnessed the aftermath of a war against Gods. He witnessed the rise and fall of numerous kingdoms, nations and cities. He saw death, happiness and everything in between.
Taking that into account, it wasn't easy to really surprise him those days.
Despite all of this, the sight of his deputy chuckling to herself with a small smile was so bizarre that he could have sworn that somehow, someone spiked his coffee.
"Glynda?" Deciding to discover what caused this state of being, the old Wizard tried to get her attention
"Yes?" When Glynda Goodwitch snapped her attention to the Headmaster, her face returned to its stoic indifference, her voice curt and professional.
"Something good happened? It's not often you show your good mood so openly." And it was true. The combat instructor of Beacon Academy was infamous for her strict, cold, no nonsense attitude.
"Hmm… you could say that I found an interesting student." The blonde woman explained, tapping on her own tablet to switch between the cameras and drones that were following the initiates through the forest.
"Oh?" That did pick his interest even more. Glynda Goodwitch having a favorite amongst students, the first years to boot? "Who are we talking about?"
"Son of Nicolas Arc, Jaune. One would think that as the only son of the prominent Arc family, Jaune would follow in the footsteps of his father but surprisingly it's a total opposite." The deputy explained, finding the drone she was looking for.
"Really? Now that I think about it… weren't you the one to monitor his application examination?" The wizard asked, now observing how miss Xiao Long was fistfighting a few Ursa.
"Yes, yes I was." The way she spoke was once more, surprisingly peppy. "Imagine my surprise when mister Jaune Arc turned out to be a honest to Gods Aura Master."
Ahhh… that would explain things. Truly a surprising turn of events.
It wasn't a secret that Glynda Goodwitch, even despite her rather young age for a professor, was looking for someone akin to a successor or a pupil. With her favorite form of combat being the manipulation of auric forces, it wasn't that easy to find a student that she could fully take under her wing.
"Congratulations, I suppose. If Mister Arc passes the initiation you are more than welcome to offer him your private mentorship." Switching his view to the drone that was following Miss Rose and her partner, Ozpin couldn't help but smile at the frantic expressions of the two of them as the irritated Nevermore was viciously trying to shake them off.
"Oh, I think that he won't have any problems with that." The blonde woman stated confidently, walking up to her employer with a smile that honestly sent shivers down his back. It seemed that the fear of bright eyed blonde women still was deeply ingrained in him even after all those years.
Taking a peek at the offered device, Ozpin's eyes immediately focused on the blonde man in a black hoodie with a cartoonish rabbit's head on the front and plain blue jeans.
He was crouching as if for a jump, a frantic Ruby Rose running in circles just behind him. Raising an eyebrow he took a quick glance on his own tablet just to see that the drone he was following was taking a dive after Weiss Schnee who, probably screaming bloody murder, was falling from the skies with her rapier just out of reach.
Not even three seconds later Jaune Arc showed up on his tablet, catching the falling girl and landing rather harshly.
"Hmm… quite impressive." Nodding slightly, the old wizard took a sip from his cup.
"Oh, I assure you that it wasn't much compared to the other techniques he used earlier. I think that he uses his semblance subconsciously, the amount of Aura that boy can use is simply astonishing. Certainly much more than even I could muster." Glynda continued to praise the student, which was starting to feel a bit disturbing to the much older man. The blonde seemed to really latch to the idea of having a protege of her own.
"Oh, look! Here he goes again!" Taking yet another swig from his trusty, enchanted mug of never ending coffee, Ozpin decided to humor his subordinate and looked at the offered screen.
It took him a few seconds to process what he saw, after which it took yet another few seconds to fully register the scene.
"PFFFFFFFFFFTTTTT!" Only to violently spit out his beloved beverage while simultaneously inhaling a part of it and starting to choke shortly after.
Looking at him with surprise, Glynda started to help him, the tablet that was still playing the live feed of the fight between the students and two Alpha Grimm forgotten for the moment.
On the said screen was the scene of Jaune and his Ginger haired partner attacking an enormous scorpion with the help of Cinder and her own partner. While everyone was using rather standard weaponry for a Hunter, the blonde teen wielded a sword made out of bluish energy in his right hand while his left was for some reason gathering a glowing orb of the same energy in an open palm.
"T.. That! L… *cough*... Lumen Flashsword!" The headmaster exclaimed, taking his deputy's tablet into his own hands and observing the boy more closely.
"A what?" Allowing her superior to take the device, Glynda looked at him a bit suspiciously.
"A… a technique that should be long forgotten. Certainly not something in the hands of a young man like Mister Arc." The bespectacled man said, suspicion heavy in his voice.
"Dangerous?" His blonde companion asked, more from curiosity than apprehension.
"Very. It focuses and condenses energy into a blade capable of cutting through anything, it seems that Mister Arc didn't master it fully though." He explained, seeing how the blade occasionally faltered or lost its defined shape.
'That's clearly magic…' The immortal wizard thought to himself. 'This is quite literally impossible… the new humanity lacks any way of utilizing magical energy. This can have quite serious connotations… This is either an one in a lifetime Semblance that gave this young man the access to arcane forces or more likely… She's planning something…'
"Hmm… I can see what you mean." Glynda continued, not aware of the turmoil the older man felt inside. "Maybe it's from stress? See here?" She said, pointing to a heavily damaged pincer of the Alpha Deathstalker." He cut through this with ease at the start with this energy sword of his but since then it seems to lose quite a bit of its cutting ability. It's surprising that this Aura construct is so solid though… He managed to block a few Nevermore feathers just earlier with it."
'That's because it's not Aura. A Lumen Flashsword was the most used spell among the Royal Guard when he was but a mere Knight…' The immortal Wizard mused, the sight of the flashy technique stirring memories long forgotten.
His gaze never left the blonde teen, even when he retreated behind his friends and dispelling the blade from his hand brought both of his hands together, a glowing sphere of energy starting to gather between his palms.
When with that gesture the old Wizard felt the movement of the ambient arcane energy from this distance his eyebrows nearly left his face with how high they went, the star-like ball of energy between the blonde's hands causing the monitoring equipment to stutter and malfunction.
With a shout of warning for his teammates, Jaune Arc thrusted both of his arms forward, the gathered energy shooting off in a continuous blast that tore through the Alpha Deathstalker like paper.
Not ending there, the blonde 'Aura' master swung his arms around with visible effort, the still going on attack striking into the wing of the Alpha Nevermore overhead that was in a stalemate with Ruby Rose and her impromptu team.
"See? I told you that he would qualify. He showed me something similar in his test but certainly not on that scale." Hearing his deputy, Ozpin looked dumbfounded at the sudden pillar of bluish light rising in the distance from the forest.
"Lumen Stream… that's…" Witnessing one of the most destructive spells ever created in one of his initiation examinations wasn't something the old Wizard could ever predict.
It was weak and severely underpowered. Unstable too, taking into account that its form was wavering quite heavily.
But this certainly was one of the great siege spells developed by the arcane university he was studying under when he was but a boy.
This had Salem written all over it.
XxX
"Achoooo!" Sneezing violently, the Queen of Grimm barely managed to catch her headset before it fell to the ground with the sudden motion.
"Argh…" Groaning from the unpleasant feeling, Salem slumped in her seat when she saw that this unwanted action cost her the game.
"Whoever just thought about me, I hate you." She mumbled out, entering the queue for another online match. "Unless it's you Rusty, you have a free pass…" The Queen of all Evil added at the end, just in case.
For a few moments the only sounds in the room was the click clacking of the controller's buttons and the rustling of clothes from the way the oldest gamer girl in existence leaned from side to side with the movement of the character on the screen.
"Hey… Mojo…" She called out to her pet/friend.
"Squawk?" The trusty Nevermore replied back, lazily sitting on its perch.
"Don't you feel a bit forgotten lately? I know that Rusty is trying his best right now but… I want to play a bit with him too…"
"Squawk."
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