1.01

He was covered in blood. This was a fact that took him a while to realize. He was not used to being covered in blood. The grimm did not bleed. But people did. People and animals, though Jaune had never gone hunting in his life.

He remembered the way Weiss had bled on the floor of Haven Academy after Cinder had thrown a hot spear through her stomach. Jaune had managed to save Weiss, his semblance had finally appeared when he had been at his lowest. Desperate to save his friend, his once crush. Jaune had seen Penny's blood too. After he had stabbed her.

Jaune was shaking. Trembling as the adrenaline left his body from the quick and deadly encounter with the monster. The Ogre. Jaune's blue eyes locked onto the still figure of the Ogre and he swallowed.

Ogres did not exist on Remnant. Or at least as far as Jaune knew. As of recent times, several fairy tales had turned out to be real. His headmaster at Beacon had been a part of a few. An immortal soul trapped within his own destiny to stop Salem. An immortal being with only one goal in mind, destruction.

Jaune's eyes lowered away from the now dead monster and he found his hands covered in blood. The grimm did not bleed. Only people and animals. …so what did that make the Ogre he had killed?

He felt his breath coming in short and he was hesitant. He didn't want to pry the crying woman off of him. He didn't want to get blood on her clothes. He was already feeling bad for the creature. Had there been no other choice? No other option but to slay it? Jaune tried to rationalize the combat in his head. But his mind was buzzing with guilt. It was all coming back. Penny.

The [Knight of Remnant] did not cry. He stood frozen in place as the woman cried her heart and fear out. She had been terrified of that monster. That… thing.

"Um… miss?" Jaune started, and his voice was already faltering, squeaking, and he hated it. He coughed to clear his throat and he tried again. "Miss? Are you okay?"

The young woman sniffled and nodded against his armor. When she looked up to smile at him reassuringly he noticed some of the blood on his breastplate was now smeared across her cheek. But she didn't seem to mind one bit. "I'm quite alright. Thank you, thank you brave ser [Knight]. I don't- I just don't know what would have happened if you hadn't- if you hadn't been here!" She teared up and wailed.

There it was again. First the voice in his head had said it to him. And now she was calling him that word too. A [Knight]. Not a knight but a [Knight]. There was a difference, one was just a word while the other variation echoed inside of his soul, his very being.

"Ma'am…" Jaune put on a weak smile and he gingerly hugged the young woman back. "I'm just glad you're okay. And I'm not a knight." He felt silly being called a knight. It was like he really was in a comic book or at least some form of fantasy media.

"You- you're not a [Knight]?" She asked, clutching onto him like her life depended on it.

The danger was gone. The Ogre was dead. And Jaune was trying not to feel awkward with a stranger hugging him like this. "Well I mean… I heard a voice in my head call me a [Knight," he admitted.

She sniffled and nodded before finally pulling herself away from the hug and blowing her nose on her plain clothes. "Then you are a [Knight]. A brave ser [Knight] who saved my life. I owe you a great debt that I will repay however I can. I promise."

Jaune tried not to recoil from the sight of her blowing her nose into her own clothes. He tried not to shiver too but that could be passed off as residual excitement from the fight.

"You'll do anything?" He questioned her quietly. Heroes weren't supposed to ask anything of those that they saved. And Jaune did feel awkward asking a stranger for help. But his mom had once told him that strangers were just friends he had not met yet. Which had been true up until he had met Cinder Fall and the rest of Salem's followers.

She nodded and rubbed at her eyes and nose. "Anything."

Jaune sighed and he didn't know what to ask for first. He was still rattled from that fight with the Ogre and the fall and everything before that.

"Um… do you have anything to eat?" He asked sheepishly, a small blush forming on his cheeks.

This caused the young woman to giggle and she gave Jaune a thumbs up. "I'll show you to the house. I can cook us some eggs. I'm Laiel."

"I'm Jaune," said the [Knight of Remnant] as he offered Laiel a hand to shake without thinking. The woman's entire demeanor had changed over just a few minutes. "It's nice to meet you, Laiel."

Laiel eyed Jaune's extended hand for a moment before clasping her fingers with his. "It's a pleasure. I've never seen a real [Knight] before."

A wry smile formed across Jaune's lips. "Really? Never?"

"Never!" She smiled and led Jaune out of the barn and away from the Ogre corpse.

Jaune took one last look back at the dead beast. "Should we uh… do something about that?"

"Hmmm?" Laiel hummed. She looked back over her shoulder and then waved a hand. "Nah. He ain't going nowhere. Let's get something in our stomachs first before we try to cut its head off."

"...excuse me?" Jaune blinked and nearly tripped as he gave Laiel the side eye.

"Yeah, you know. Cut its head off. I reckon we could split the reward half and half. Since it did try to rip me apart and have me for breakfast. Then again… you did save me." She bit her lip and then she shook her head. "But that big bastard broke down my barn door. And I'm no [Carpenter]. And my [Basic Crafting] skill doesn't cover making barn doors. Not any good ones worth using at any rate. Can I at least have enough of the bounty to get that door fixed? Please? You can have the rest ser Jaune."

"Er… when you say… bounty…" The [Knight of Remnant] wasn't sure what he was supposed to be asking. What he did know was that he was not supposed to be sounding like an idiot to the girl who called him a hero. He sighed. "I'm sorry Laiel. I don't understand."

This made Laiel pause. She turned to face him and she gave him a suddenly suspicious look. "What do you mean?"

"I…" Jaune faltered and he looked away from her. "Is there some place where I can rinse this blood off?" He asked instead like a coward.

She watched him under her gaze for a moment longer. Her pale green eyes flickering down to the blood on his armor for a moment before nodding. "There is a stream nearby. I'll point it out to you ser Jaune."

It was cowardly to try to change the subject. He knew it in his bones. Pyrrha would not have done that. Penny would not have done that either. They both would have cut to the heart of the matter. But Jaune was not… either of them. He wanted to procrastinate. To put this off for as long as he could but even conversation wasn't distracting enough.

He was covered in blood. Grimm did not bleed. That had been an Ogre. And Laiel seems perfectly fine cutting its head for some bounty. Jaume tried to imagine it and he gagged.

"Are you okay Jaune?"

Jaune covered his mouth and he winced. He wasn't ready to be called vomit boy by throwing up on this young woman's shoes. Was he really just going to take her food after saving her? What was he even doing here still? What would Ruby do? What would a real hero do?

The [Knight] shook his head and he felt like he was choking. Something was weighing down around his throat and he couldn't breath. "No, I'm- no I'm not," he started quickly, still holding his hand against his mouth. His bloody hand. He pulled his hand away and his lips felt wet with blood. The scent of iron was so close to his nose. His eyes widened and he doubled over, throwing up onto the dirt next to the pair of them.

Laiel took a step back and watched Jaune with worry. "I'll be right back!" She exclaimed before rushing off towards the farmhouse.

Jaune groaned and stared down at his own vomit in morbid fascination as he wiped at his lips with the back of his hand. It didn't help dry his lips one bit. He felt like crying. But he would not cry. He had to stand tall and firm. Like an unbreakable rock. He was doing a poor job at that. Some [Knight] he turned out to be.

The words came back to him again and he closed his eyes.

[Knight of Remnant]

[Skill- Lesser Toughness]

[Skill- Basic Aura Control]

He was a level 1 [Knight of Remnant]. Like in a video game. It was a class, with a level, and he had gained skills. Jaune would have called it all some elaborate prank made by someone good with illusions like Emerald but… even his own soul- his aura was telling him what felt so impossible to believe.

"Where am I?" Jaune croaked quietly as he tried to look up. And looking up at the sky made him feel dizzy. Because the only way he could explain it was this- the sky looked bigger than normal. Like he could see even further. Like the sky was deeper, wider, vaster. As if the world was bigger. "What-"

His breathing had quickened and he thought he was going to vomit again. Or just have a panic attack. That didn't sound like a very knightly thing to do. How come Laiel seemed so calm now when she had just been a crying mess back inside the barn?

It was an easy thing. To want to believe that he was dreaming. Or that he was inside of a video game. But it was too real. Far too real. "Where- where did I fall? Are the others here too? Where…?"

He had been the last to fall. Yang, Ruby, Neapolitan, Blake, and Weiss had all fallen before him. Jaune had almost made it out. But almost wasn't enough. Winter had been right in front of him. He remembered seeing that last look on Weiss' older sister's face before she had gone through the portal. Leaving him to fall. She was a hero too.

All of his friends were real heroes. They saved people. They didn't kill people. And they didn't kill their friends. Only Jaune Arc did that.

"Here!" Laiel huffed as she came back to his side, carefully stepping around his little puddle or vomit, and handing Jaune a glass of water. "It isn't much. But you should drink ser."

"Laiel…" Jaune coughed before taking the glass of water and taking a sip. Then a sip turned into a mouthful and then another. Soon he was tipping the whole glass back and sighing in relief. He smiled and handed her the glass back. "Thanks I… I have a few questions that I really… really need to ask you, Laiel."

"Of course, take your time Jaune," she smiled and waited patiently.

Jaune took a deep breath before getting to the quick of the matter. "During that fight I… I heard a voice in my head. I've never heard it before in my life. It said… I obtained the [Knight] class. Or something like it. A… [Knight of Remnant] class. And I gained two… skills?"

Laiel considered his words and then her eyes widened. "You haven't heard- you haven't leveled before?" She asked incredulously.

"No… never." Jaune shook his head.

"...you… picked a fight with an Ogre… without any levels… to save me?" She asked him slowly.

"Well yeah," Jaune shrugged. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"...and you killed it all by yourself without any levels?" She continued sounding disbelieving.

"You did kind of stab it with your pitchfork before I joined the fight."

"...but you have armor… a shield and a… broken sword…" Laiel glanced back towards the barn and she frowned. "Are you… just making fun of me?" She crossed her arms and she glared at Jaune.

The [Knight of Remnant] blinked in surprise. "What? No!" He waved an arm and he glared back at the young woman. "Look, Laiel. I need help. I need a lot of help. I have no idea where I am. One second I was falling and then I was just here. I fought that monster to save you even though it was no grimm that I have ever seen before. And now I have a class and a level and skills!" Jaune reached up to grab at his hair until he remembered he had gotten it cut. So instead he kept his palm against the side of his face. His cheek felt wet from blood that wasn't quite dry yet.

Laiel wasn't quite sure what to make of the [Knight]. He was not making any sense to her. But… he was also the first real [Knight] she had ever met. And he had saved her life. That Ogre would have done… terrible things to her before probably eating her alive once he had his fun with her. She bit her lip and turned away from Jaune. She owed this man her life.

"...I said I would repay you in any way I can," she repeated for him to hear. But it was something she had needed to hear again as well. She sighed and began walking back to the farmhouse. "Have you never… heard of leveling or classes before?"

It was easy for Jaune to catch up, matching her pace, and walking beside her. "Never."

That was just impossible for Laiel to believe. "That's just… really hard to believe, ser."

"It's the truth," Jaune stressed. "Where I come from. People don't level."

"Really?" She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I promise… on my… honor as a [Knight]."

Well if he put it like that… Laiel nodded. "Everyone has classes. Everyone can level. Our classes are our livelihoods. Our paths in life. We level when we grow from experiences and sometimes we get skills when we level up," she told him. "I'm a [Farmer.] But I'm also a [Cook] and a [Cleaner]."

"But how did I gain my… class? How did I level up to begin with?" Jaune asked.

Laiel shrugged. "I'm not sure. Usually we only level when we're asleep. That bastard must have hit you pretty hard…" She looked at him with concern. "Are you alright? You must have counter leveled. I've heard stories about that…"

"Yeah, I'm fine Laiel," Jaune said with a smile. "What do you mean by counter leveled?"

"Just that," she said to him. "You were being hard pressed in a fight and you needed to level… or… you would have died. You learned enough experience to level up and you met all the requirements to gain the [Knight] class."

"...so I'm… I really am a [Knight]?" Jaune asked skeptically. "But I'm not… I'm not chivalrous. I'm not some great warrior. I'm not really a knight." He was so far from the ideal knight from the stories he had read about. He wasn't honorable. He was a liar and a cheater.

"Of course you are ser. If you're a [Knight]. Then you are a [Knight]. It's that simple. You wouldn't be a [Knight] if you weren't a [Knight]."

"..." Jaune didn't know what to say to that. This… video game world believed he was a [Knight]? A [Knight of Remnant]? He felt undeserving of that title. That class… who or what had given him that class? Who had judged him worthy of it? And was he really in a video game… or someplace like a video game? Maybe he was trapped in one of those realistic simulations in Atlas. Jaune realized he had plenty more questions to ask. Things he needed to know.

"Come on, Jaune," she nudged him in the side playfully causing him to wince. "I'm sure you must be hungry after slaying an Ogre. I'll make as many eggs as you want. That's a promise!"