Hello again!
I originally planned to hold off on another chapter for a few days so I could get more input on the OC idea, but I've gotten into a habit of daily uploading and I don't really want to stop.
I might shift to uploading every other day to make the chapters longer. 4-5k words seems like a good goal to shoot for.
Now, without further adieu, let's begin.
Ozma was not having a good day.
He finally found the tower he had been searching for weeks, only to find it empty.
He spent the night searching the tower for any clues as to where the princess might have gone.
Eventually, he did find something. Two sets of footprints. One set was smaller and tighter, Ozma assumed this belonged to the Princess. The other set was wider, and Ozma assumed this other person was a man judging by the imprint left behind by what could only be combat boots.
Another knight, perhaps? It was possible. The king might have sent another knight to help expedite the process of finding his lost sister.
Thankfully, the footprints were fresh. That meant he was only a day or so behind the princess and the mysterious stranger.
Ozma sulked over that fact for a moment; he had missed his mark by a single day. How unlucky.
He slapped both sides of his face to regain focus. "These prints lead north; the closest village in that direction should be... Aegis, I think." It was a small village that housed hunters and farmers, if he remembered correctly.
He'd never personally been there before, but it was said that Aegis produced some of the finest meat in the entire frontier. His mouth watered just thinking about it.
Ozma stretched for a moment. "Time to get moving," he said.
Jaune woke up an hour before sunrise; he was not pleased.
He sighed and sat up. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, Jaune promised himself that he would optimize his Mana Sense as much as he could; no time like the present.
He crossed his legs and rested his back against the large tree, under which he slept.
In the past few days Jaune had made many comparisons between Aura and Mana. He decided to try and apply his knowledge of Aura to find more similarities.
Back at Beacon, Ren had once told him that Aura was like a muscle; the more you used it, the stronger it became.
If you were to compare a Huntsman that worked near the safety of large cities, such as Vale, to a freelance Huntsman who operated on the frontier, you would find that the frontier Huntsman boasts a larger Aura Reserve and significantly greater Aura Control due to their constant exposure to life-threatening situations.
Jaune hoped that Mana Sense worked in a similar fashion. After twenty minutes of switching Mana Sense on and off every ten seconds, he came to the conclusion that he was right! He could now reliably activate Mana Sense every seven seconds.
That may not sound very impressive, but even a small step is still a step forward.
Jaune looked over to Salem's sleeping form; she usually woke up right at dawn. That gave him about forty more minutes of practice before they continued their journey.
If he was lucky, he might be able to activate Mana Sense at will before Salem woke up.
His mind wandered for a moment. "I wonder what else I can do with this," he muttered before returning to his practice.
There was work to be done.
Salem jolted awake as she heard a wall collapse to her left.
She looked for the source of the danger only to see Jaune standing in front of the collapsed stone, angrily muttering something about "diminishing returns".
Salem wiped the remaining sleep from her eyes. "Are you all right? What happened?" Her voice was still a bit groggy.
Jaune was nursing his right hand, which he had apparently punched the wall with. "Mana is stupid and I hate it."
Salem sighed in exasperation. She quickly learned that Jaune was prone to exaggeration when he was annoyed. "Sit," she said, "and tell me what happened."
Jaune sat across from her. "I spent the last hour working on my Mana Sense." That filled Salem with pride; she was happy to know Jaune was an eager student. "It took me an hour, and I only managed to chip off five seconds from my activation time."
Salem was utterly shocked. Jaune had accomplished in just one hour what it took Salem one month to achieve. Perhaps Jaune was the real prodigy.
"Jaune, you are making stunning progress" Seriously, it was unfair. "Most beginners would still be mastering how to flow their mana, yet you are miles ahead. You should be proud."
He was to a certain degree, but he was also impatient. His aura had been his biggest asset; losing it was devastating.
"While I was practicing, I sensed a large mana presence south of here." Jaune worried that the God of Darkness was throwing him another curveball and decided to evacuate immediately. "We should get moving."
Salem quickly agreed. Unlike Jaune's fears, hers were more centered around her stepmother finding out she had escaped and deciding to send an army.
The pair were both in agreement that they did not want to find out what was on their trail.
By Jaune's estimation, it took them about five hours before they could see the settlement off in the distance.
He was certain he had gone deaf from Salem's excited screaming.
As the pair got closer to the village, Jaune got a good look at the surroundings. The village was surrounded by flourishing farmland, and the sound of cows mooing also reached his ears.
A farming village was a familiar sight to Jaune. His hometown, Ansel, was a backwater frontier village that was relatively isolated from the rest of the world, so the villagers had to become self-sufficient. They weren't complete hicks, though; Jaune still had fond memories of visiting Ansel's arcade with his siblings.
Salem interrupted his thoughts by dragging him forward. "Stop being so slow! We have a village to explore!" She really was too excitable.
A random villager approached the pair. "Hello there! Are ya new to Aegis?" The man stood at a respectable six feet tall, sporting a full brown beard and a bright smile.
Jaune was quick to respond before Salem could dig them an early grave. "Yeah, we're travelers just passing through," he offered his hand to the burly bald man. "Jaune."
The man gave him a firm handshake. "Nice to meet 'cha. I'm Tyr, I'm the number one leatherworker in Aegis." Tyr's eyes shifted to Salem. "And who might this beautiful young lass be?"
Salem gave him a curtsy. "Greetings, my name is Salem." Her voice bled excitement. It seemed the only thing that could beat Salem's social anxiety was her thirst for adventure.
Tyler let out a hearty laugh, "Bah, no need to be so formal, lass." He gestured to the town around him, "Let me be the first to welcome you to our humble town. Want a tour?"
A bright smile crossed Salem's face. "Yes, please!" Jaune looked at her out of the corner of his eye; he could have sworn that he felt her heartbeat shake the ground.
Tyr happily guided them through the town, pointing out each significant building. Salem hung onto Tyr's every word as she excitedly analyzed everything he pointed to.
For nearly two hours they explored together. The entire time Salem had stars in her eyes, happily chatting with strangers, observing crops she'd never seen before, harassing a cow, and intently watching some of the town's artisans at work. She was over the moon.
Jaune followed her every step of the way. He couldn't stop a smile from crossing his face. Seeing her buzz around from place to place reminded him of his first team outing at Beacon, Nora had gotten them permanently banned from two restaurants and three arcades that day. Good times.
Tyr stopped in front of a large building, roughly in the center of town. "For the last stop on our tour, the most important building of all!" He paused for dramatic effect. "The Tavern! There's enough mead and steak in this here building to appease even the most ravenous of appetites."
Salem's mouth watered at the thought of real steak. It had been so long since she tasted it.
Jaune rolled his eyes, as it turned out Salem's stomach had beaten out her manners.
Tyr got a good laugh out of her expression "Seems like the lass is hungry, c'mon in, my treat."
Salem rushed forward, completely oblivious of the two men laughing at her.
Jaune nodded his head towards Tyr "Thanks for this, we owe you one."
Tyr gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, lad," he said. "Let's not keep the lass waiting."
Jaune followed the man into the noisy tavern and immediately spotted Salem, staring longingly at a stranger's frankly gigantic ribeye.
He quickly pulled her away before she could decide to pounce.
The trio sat at a table in the corner of the tavern. A waitress approached them as they sat down. "Welcome to the tavern!" she said. "What can I get for you?"
Tyler looked at the girl with mock hurt, "My own daughter won't even call me her pops! They grow up too fast!"
Jaune and Salem both laughed at that remark. The waitress blushed, "I do have the right to refuse service you know." Tyr's face paled.
Jaune stepped in to save the poor man "a steak for each of us, please," Tyr gave Jaune a greatful thumps-up.
"These two 're travelers I found wandering in town," he pointed to Salem. "The lass has been eyin' every plate in here. Might want to hurry."
Salem's face quickly turned red as the attention was shifted to her.
Tyr's daughter bowed before leaving to put in their order.
Jaune spoke up to end the ensuing silence. "So, Tyr, would you happen to know where we could find a map around here?"
The large man stroked his beard. "Only maps you'll find 'round here are maps of this region." Tyr's daughter returned with three cups of mead. "My brother might have an extra one from his old adventurin' days. I'll ask 'im tonight."
Salem stared at the cup in front of her inquisitively. She had never tried mead before. She vividly remembered asking her father if she could try it when she was a little girl. She still laughed at the look of shock on his face to this day.
She took a quick breath before taking a large sip. Then she took another, and another.
Jaune watched in horror as she finished the entire cup in less than thirty seconds.
Salem leaned back in her chair and let out a contented sigh. "Mead tastes wonderful."
Tyr's daughter returned with their food and a refill for Salem.
Dinner was lovely.
Was being the operative term.
By the time the trio finished eating, Salem and Tyr had each drank seven full cups of mead, and they were both feeling the effects.
Salem sluggishly pointed a finger at Tyr, completely missing him. "You think you can outdrink me, old man?" Her competitive spirit shone through, even in the worst of times.
Tyr puffed out his chest. "Aye, lass. In all of Aegis, I am the only man who has never lost a drinking contest." He raised his voice so the whole tavern could hear him.
Salem stood so quickly her chair fell backward behind her. "I challenge you, Tyr of Aegis! I shall be the one who ends your reign!"
Jaune sighed, this was gonna be a long night.
Thirteen cups later, both sides still stood strong; neither side was willing to back down.
Jaune watched in exasperation as the duo screamed for another round. It reminded him of a night in Vacuo a few years prior, the night had been dubbed "The Final Battle of the Dragon and Monkey God." Yang and Sun had drank for ten consecutive hours before Sun finally dropped.
It was hilarious at the time, but it wasn't so funny when they saw the bill the next morning.
Salem and Tyrs' drinking contest had drawn quite the crowd; just over fifty people were all huddled around watching the two.
Jaune caught a glimpse of one of the waitresses comforting Tyr's daughter, who looked absolutely dead inside.
"We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen!" Jaune turned his attention back to the table where the duo sat. "The glutton had finally been felled! What was your name, Miss?" Salem ignored the man's question and tried to walk towards him. "I dud it, Jaun." She collapsed into his arms a second later.
Jaune sighed before raising his voice, "The Mead Maiden has ended the Glutton's reign of terror!" The entire crowd cheered.
He picked up Salem's unconscious form and brought her back to the table where Tyr had collapsed.
Jaune felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Tyr's daughter standing behind him. "Excuse me, sir," she said. "I hate to ask, but could you help me drag my father upstairs? I would be happy to provide you and your friend with housing for the night."
Jaune moved over to Tyr and slung him over his shoulder. Tyr's daughter looked like she had just seen a mythical being. He understood why; her father must have weighed around two hundred pounds.
He moved to grab Salem in the same manner.
Tyr's daughter led him to the top floor of the tavern. "You can just drop him there." When Jaune dropped Tyr, it shook the entire tavern.
"I'm afraid we only have one unoccupied guest room," she pointed at the room across from where he'd just dropped her father. "If you need anything, I'm in the last room on the right."
Jaune smiled and nodded, "I appreciate it." He moved to enter the room before stopping and turning back. "I never caught your name," he offered his hand. "I'm Jaune."
She stared at him for a moment before shaking his hand. "Freya," she said softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Jaune." She curtsied and left him alone with Salem.
Jaune entered the room, not expecting much. The room was small; it had one bed, a window, and a desk.
He gently dropped Salem onto the bed and sat down in the desk chair.
Jaune had enjoyed the day; the people were great and the food was even better. It reminded him of his old RNJR days.
A thought had been running through Jaune's head since his training this morning.
His old Semblance, Aura Amplification, had ingrained a habit in him. He often asked himself what would happen if he amp'd X person with Y semblance? Mana sense was basically just amplifying all your senses so you could make sense of the mana around you, kind of like a radar.
What would happen if he applied mana sense to specific parts of his body, such as his eyes for example?
It was time to experiment.
Salem opened her eyes and immediately regretted it.
Her head felt like it was being split open.
"Jauneeeee" she whined pitifully "Fix me, pleaseeee."
Jaune crouched next to the bed as though he were about to whisper in her ear. Instead of lowering his voice, he raised it. "Rise and shine, Princess!"
Gah! That traitor!
"Let this be a lesson about responsible drinking," he laughed smugly, before offering her a cold cup of water. "Drink. It will make it feel a little more bearable."
Salem chugged the water; it wasn't very ladylike, but she was too hungover to care.
Jaune sat at the edge of the bed. "So... I made a mana breakthrough last night while you were busy being unconscious."
Those words cleared her head more than the water did.
"I should probably ask this first, is there any mana technique that allows you to actually see magic?" The question confused Salem. Beyond 'Mana Sense' as Jaune called it, there had never been any other sensory techniques.
"Judging by your face, I'll take that as a no," Jaune gave her the most smug smile she had ever seen. He continued, "Well, oh great teacher of mine, I have just invented a new Mana technique."
what
what
"What?!" She yelled. Jaune had only studied magic for twelve days; there was no possible way he'd already invented a new technique.
Jaune laughed at her reaction. "I call it Mana Sight," he said. His eyes shifted from their normal blue to a vibrant yellow. "It allows me to actually see mana. I can see your mana flowing through your body right now."
Salem's head was spinning. That practically made Mana Sense useless. Her eyes turned into slits and she stared at Jaune like a lion might stare at its prey. "Teach me."
"Has the student already become the master?" Jaune laughed as he saw Salem's fierce pout. "When you taught me Mana Sense, you said to imagine yourself coated in Mana. Mana Sight is just a more refined form of Mana Sense. All you have to do is coat only your eyes with Mana."
That was... incredibly simple.
Salem immediately tried it.
She was unsuccessful.
She tried several more times to no avail.
Jaune watched her with his Mana Sight active. Each time she tried to coat her eyes with the focused Mana, it was either too small or too large. "Use Mana Sense first," he instructed her, "then slowly focus it on your eyes. I'll tell you when to stop."
Salem tried her hardest not to look away from those piercing yellow eyes that were staring into her soul.
She closed her eyes and focused. Trying to slowly condense mana was a task in itself. Mana was ment to flow, not be shaped. Even still, she tried.
"Now" Jaune ordered, "Open your eyes."
Salem slowly opened her eyes. She saw Jaune sitting in front of her, but she could see his glowing yellow mana surrounding his eyes.
This was revolutionary! The gods had blessed her with a truly amazing friend.
She looked around the small room she was in. Through the walls, she could see the figures of other people, each with different colors.
"So, what do you think? Not bad for a novice, huh?" Salem's eyes narrowed; her cockiness was rubbing off on him.
She refused to stroke his ego.
"I suppose it might just be adequate." Jaune laughed playfully pushed her over.
"Let's go get some breakfast," said Jaune, standing up as his stomach growled. "Tyr's waiting downstairs. And I'm starving."
Salem laughed at his expense.
The Tavern was significantly quieter in the morning.
Salem was more than thankful for that.
As the pair descended the stairs, they saw Tyr slumped over the main bar, nursing a cup of water while being scolded by an older woman.
Jaune interrupted to save the poor man. "Morning Tyr, I would say good morning, but you look awful."
Tyr looked up to see Jaune and Salem approaching. "These are the two I was talking about Zisa! That lass is the one who beat me!"
Jaune offered his hand to the woman. She was just under Salem's height. "Good morning," he said.
She gave him a much firmer handshake than he had expected. "Zisa, I'm this oafs wife." She turned her attention to Salem. "And you must be the so-called Mead Maiden, Slayer of the Glutton."
The expression on Salem's face was priceless.
Jaune laughed and patted Salem on the back. Her entire face was red. "Please, just call me Salem," she pleaded.
Zisa smiled at Salem. "It looks like you're already suffering enough, girl. You're safe from my lethal scolding."
Salem let out a sigh of relief she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Jaune sat to Tyr's right and Salem sat next to him.
"I really hate to bother you this early in the morning, but we really do need that map Tyr" Jaune hoped to plan their trip to the next nearest village and leave as early as possible.
Tyr shakily stood and made his way to the door. "Let's go talk to him," he said, letting out a long yawn. "I'll be back soon, dear."
Zisa was busy giving him the silent treatment. Poor guy.
The trio made it about twenty steps before they were stopped.
Jaune drew his Crocea Mors from its sheath and parried an attack from what appeared to be a cane.
"Step away from the princess, you barbarian!" the unknown assailant called out as he arranged himself into a combat stance.
When Jaune locked eyes with his attacker he froze.
The man that stood before him was incredibly familiar.
He looked like an older version of Oscar, but with more disheveled hair. He was a knight and used a cane. That could only mean one thing.
Ozma had found him.
How much more unlucky could one man get.
That's it for today, folks.
I'm glad to see so many people enjoying the story.
I hope to keep entertaining you all for the foreseeable future!
At the end of the last chapter "rusted" was corrected to "rust" for some reason.
Fun fact about the author. I type and edit this story all on my phone.
Clearly not my best idea.
Anyways, until next time!