Chapter 5
Jaune opened his eyes at the feeling of vibration on his bed, rolling over to his right he could see his scroll jutting out from underneath the pillow. The small light indicator was flashing as it buzzed with his morning alarm, reaching out he grabbed it to turn it off.
Sitting up slowly he looked around to see if he had woken anyone up but all three of his teammates were still asleep. He wasn't surprised, not many people woke up at four in the morning even Pyrrha who considered running the entire perimeter of Beacon, twice, an easy warm-up didn't wake up till five.
He slowly made his way over to the dresser and pulled his workout clothes out before heading over to the bathroom.
As he stripped his clothes off, he couldn't help but think about the last few days. It had felt like a crazy dream for him, to finally be in Beacon where heroes were trained to protect the people.
Had he not tried at all he would be back in Arcadia training to be some military officer. Which to be fair to his father, he would still help people but he never understood what it was they were fighting.
The reports he had always read seemed to give the impression that they weren't actually authentic Arcadian Military reports but watered down version. This begged one very simple question to Jaune in regards to them.
What were they hiding?
He shook his head, now wasn't the time to focus on that. He needed to get his morning routine done for breakfast started. He made it a point to eat with his teammates at every meal as a way to further cement their relationship.
Jaune was pretty sure that Nora trusted or at least liked him. Ren on the other hand was either a really docile person to others or he didn't like him. Then again it might just be a normal case of shyness.
Maybe they should go out to Vale, maybe see a movie or eat out at some place?
Nodding to himself he stepped out of the bathroom holding his folded night clothes in one hand. Setting it on his bed he looked around the dark room to see if anyone was awake but thankfully no one was awake.
Jaune grabbed his water bottle and hand towel then left the dorm room, careful not to close the door too hard before heading down the hallway. Now all he needed to do was find where the school's gym was, he went to go check his scroll for the school's map but when he went to pat his pockets he was surprised to find them empty.
He had forgotten his scroll in the dorm room.
"Great."
15 Minutes Later…
Jaune finally made his way into the gym, the lights were on but he was even more surprised to see a few people already there.
On the far side of him was a girl with a pixie hair cut who was by a speed bag letting loose while to his far right was a second girl with raven black hair who was squatting with a bar that had at least six plates on it.
Jaune nodded to himself then walked towards the cardio section towards his right where he stood in front of a row of treadmills. Doing a quick stretch to loosen up his legs he hopped on one, turning it on he brought the machine up to six miles then began a light jog.
A few minutes passed by then Jaune started to pick up pace slowly, before he had gotten into Beacon he would already be taking deep breathes. Now though he assumed his Aura was helping his body tremendously as he was now sprinting at fifteen miles per hour without it putting a massive strain on him.
As he pumped his legs and arms he wondered if he could find some weights to strap on himself as Areto had done when she trained him.
Speaking of Areto, he couldn't help but think about what she and the rest of his family was up to at this point. He knew that his old man would be starting on his way back to Arcadia but his mother and sisters should already be in Arcadia.
Unless they didn't take an airship but instead took a ship, which would mean that they would still be out at sea at this moment. Which was kind of dangerous even with the Navy escorting them since he read about sea creatures that most people in the Arcadian Navy didn't like to fight.
Aside from typical Grimm creatures such as the serpent like Sea Feilong there were also the much rarer Krakens. Giant squid like Creatures of Grimm that tended to crush or break ships in two to eat the passengers as they're dumped in the cold sea.
However there was other equally if not more dangerous creatures that people described that could take on any two Arcadian warships and win without even having a scratch on their hides.
Jaune could feel the sweat start to form and run down his body soaking his shirt now. His lungs began to burn a little but he relished the feeling as he maxed out the treadmills speed at twenty miles an hour.
He began to lose track of time as he focused on sprinting, he felt surprisingly far more relaxed as he pushed himself than he had at any other point in the last few days.
"Hey!" Someone called out next to Jaune and he cursed violently as he nearly slipped. Hopping onto the sides of the treadmill Jaune took several deep breathes as he turned the speed way down on the treadmill. Jaune looked over to see Cardin standing with his arms folds, a curious look on his face.
"Oh, hey Cardin." Jaune said between deep breaths.
"Nothing much dude, you were going pretty fast there." The taller teen pointed out as Jaune wiped his sweat covered face with the collar of his soaked shirt.
"Ah, it's nothing."
"You say that but I came in here ten minutes ago and you were running at that speed the entire time till I came over." Jaune shrugged as he looked around quickly to see that more people had arrived to the gym.
"Wanna hit the weights with me? You seem like you can keep up with me for a little while." Cardin said and Jaune rubbed his chin in thought.
"I don't know."
"Come on dude." Cardin pressed and Jaune relented.
"Fine, let's go." He said as Cardin smiled and slapped his arm.
"That's what I'm talking about, the rest of my team isn't as serious as me when it comes to training but I suppose I'm already more than a few steps into it than they are." Cardin explained as they headed over to a row of benches for bench pressing.
"That's not unreasonable I suppose, maybe they've got different workout methods in accordance to their weapons or fighting styles." Cardin glanced at him confused.
"What do you mean?" Jaune shrugged a little.
"I mean, what kind of weapon do you use?" Cardin smiled at that.
"I use a mace."
"Well there you go; a mace needs good under body strength and grip to be wielded efficiently. Sure you should train your entire body to be able to move or respond quickly but strength is the key to using your weapon." Cardin nodded.
"That's a pretty good assessment what about you?"
"Me? I use a sword and shield so really it's an all-encompassing training for me. As my trainer always said, a swordsman should be able to move fast, strike hard and take a hit. So if I focus on one muscle group too much the chances of falling into an identifiable pattern can be a determent against an opponent." Cardin had a small frown on his face as he slid on a pair of forty five pound weights to either side of a bar then laid down on the bench.
"That shouldn't be a problem against the Grimm; they're just mindless monsters to kill."
"Mindless, maybe but still dangerous if fighting them was truly easy then they wouldn't be such massive problem would they?" Cardin snorted at that as he started lifting and lowering the bar at a steady pace.
"That's just because other people aren't pulling their weight, you and I, we're doing what needs to be done. Everyone else is just being selfish cowards more concerned about their own goals than the collective good and the Governments encourage that independence." Cardin said as he set the bar back on its rest then stood up and Jaune took his place.
"I mean isn't that what the Great War was all about? Individuality is the key for us to be the best we can be." Jaune said as he gripped the bar then raised it up.
"I'm not arguing against that but I just think society should just stop tiptoeing around the subject of how Huntsmen and Huntresses should be treated like they should be, as heroes. We're saviors of those that are weaker and they should acknowledge that in how they treat us." Cardin said as Jaune raised and lowered the bar repeatedly.
"I'm gonna have to disagree with that to a certain extent, it's one thing to want to be acknowledge for the work Huntsmen and Huntresses do but we shouldn't demand to be treated better than everyone else."
"Huntsmen and Huntresses are heroes and should be treated as such." Cardin repeated and Jaune grunted as he set the bar back on its rest and sat up. In the corner of his eye he could see Pyrrha walking into the gym now.
"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this Cardin." Jaune said as he stood up and looked at the taller teen as he slid an additional pair of plates to each side of the bar.
"Fair enough." He said as Jaune stuck out his hand.
"I'm gonna go talk with my partner, good luck with your workout." He said as Cardin gripped his hand and shook it. Jaune headed over to Pyrrha who was stretching under a pull up bar, Jaune walked up to the pull up bar on her left.
"Heyyyyy." He said and cursed himself mentally at how weird that greeting was, Pyrrha looked up and smiled at him.
"Good morning Jaune, I was surprised to find you had already left when I woke up." She said as she stood up straight. Jaune however couldn't help but admire her workout outfit, a pair of black gym shorts with a red outline and a crimson tank top.
"Ah, well, yea, I guess I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd blow off some steam by coming here early." He said as he coughed into his fist.
"Is something a matter?" She asked a brief flash of concern crossing her face but Jaune looked up at the pull up bar.
"It's nothing to worry about." He said as he reached up and rubbed his hands on the metal bar before gripping it.
"If it was nothing to worry about then you wouldn't have needed to come here early." Pyrrha pointed out, Jaune opened and closed his mouth then nodded.
"Okay, you got me there." He said and Pyrrha just laughed softly as she grabbed the bar above her now as well.
"So Jaune, what's on your mind?" She asked as she started doing pull ups.
"Ah, it's just the usual I guess. I'm still concerned where I am with Ren and I think Blake doesn't like me." Jaune said as he started doing pull ups as well. In the corner of his eye however he could see that Pyrrha was already switching over to more complex moves.
She was keeping her arms straight as she leveled herself with the bars at shoulder height while her legs were tucked in as she twisted at the waist to her left and right. Jaune on the other hand decided he should switch it up as well.
"Well I don't think Ren actually hates or dislikes you. From what I can tell he just seems to be a quiet person as for Blake I think it's best to reverse a final decision on that till you can actually talk to her about it." Pyrrha said as Jaune swung back and forth until he could get the momentum to swing his knees over the bars. Then he slowly lowered himself down till he was hanging upside down with his legs wrapped around the bars then began to do crunches.
"Fair enough." Jaune grunted before focusing on his workout by the time he reached his twentieth repetition he looked over to see Pyrrha was now doing some other bizarre exercise that quite frankly just made him want to stop in order to watch her move.
Pyrrha was now above the bar with her leg straight and her feet together as she began to lower and raise herself repeatedly. Jaune honestly didn't know what that was meant to do over traditional pull up workouts but he supposed it was just something she did.
In the end the two of them continued to work out together but Jaune couldn't help but feel a little awkward about it since he didn't really say anything. Sure he'd respond to a few of Pyrrha's questions like his favorite food or what he'd like to do for fun but other than that he didn't say anything to the red head.
"Well the cafeteria opens up for breakfast in forty minutes, we should head back to get changed into our uniforms and wake the other two up." Pyrrha said as she wiped her face with a small white hand towel that she had brought with her.
"Right…Let's go." Jaune said as he drank a mouthful from his water bottle then held it out towards Pyrrha; the red hair girl didn't seem to have her own bottle.
Jaune remember how much Areto told him that it was important to keep hydrated as the cruelest torture that a soldier could bring upon themselves was not having enough water.
Pyrrha hesitated as she looked down at the bottle in Jaune's outstretched hand. She could see that Jaune was distracted as he had a thoughtful look on his face. She took it and as she drank from it she couldn't help but feel the heat explode from her face. She hoped she wasn't blushing.
The water however was nice and cool. She closed the cap to the water bottle and handed it back to Jaune who smiled as he took it back.
A part of Pyrrha was glad that he didn't notice but another part realized that she was a little disappointed that he didn't care or at least notice.
"So shall we go?" Jaune asked and she nodded. As the two of them left the gym Pyrrha couldn't help but admire him from behind a little. Jaune was physically well fit person and to her he looked rather handsome.
At the same time there were a few things that were rather odd about him. The biggest thing was why he didn't have his Aura unlocked, had he gone to a Combat School then they would have unlocked it for him.
Though from the way he talked, it seemed he was trained individually. This wasn't that strange, as there were a number of other students that had gotten in without going to a combat school, for instance Weiss Schnee.
Even then whoever it was that trained them, they would have unlocked his Aura for him. So how come his Aura was stilled locked even during Initiation?
Lastly was his name, Jaune Arc, for some reason Pyrrha couldn't help but get a strange itch of recognition whenever she heard it.
She needed to get to the bottom of this.
Elsewhere…
Alexander stood on the cliff side watching as four Lightnings roared through the sky above him. Three Valkyries thundered as they set down on the beach. Waiting for them were nearly two full Contuberniums of his Praetorians that escorted his injured daughter and her friend.
They were not the only people being guarded however. With them were another dozen wounded men and women of the Intelligence Agency.
Lastly were the bodies of ten operatives that had died in the field with them over the weekend. Ten more lives that didn't need to have ended so soon but fell nonetheless.
It was tiresome for Alexander, the constant death of those that he led. Most would imagine a near immortal warrior with centuries of bloodshed on his hands would have been fine with it.
Yet it was because he could remember every death of those that had been with him over that many years that it started to weigh on him. Very few of those that he regarded as friends ever get a peaceful death, most dying brutally on the field.
He could remember walking into the Great Hall of Murias as it burned in the fires of its death. The scent of blood and brimstone coupled with the screaming of people as they died to blade or fire.
He remembered the waves of Grimm crashing into their lines over and over again two centuries after that when he set forth the first massive campaign to expand their territory.
Several centuries later there was the Razing of Roselake, where gaps in their lines led to an entire town that had been used as shelter for noncombatant civilians to be massacred. Thousands of elder folk, women and children were butchered before word even got to him that a Grimm horde had breached their lines.
By the time Alexander had gotten there with several rifle regiments, the sight and smell of the dead after lying unburied in the scorching summer heat for a week made most of his men to vomit immediately.
"Sir." A voice said from behind him and he turned to see Zus standing a few feet away from him. The young man had a cast around his arm and a bandage that covered stiches on his forehead.
"How are you feeling?" Alexander asked and the younger man nodded.
"I'm fine sir but the Hospitallers tell me I should take it easy for a few weeks." Alexander nodded.
"You should listen to them."
"I'm fine sir; really, I can still finish the wrap up operations." Zus began to say but Alexander shook his head.
"That won't be necessary Zus; I'll take over it for you. I've already arranged with Arthus to save a spot for you to board the Nightingale." Alexander said as he pointed towards the Light Cruiser in the distance and he could see the younger man wanted to argue against him but he sighed in resignation.
"Yes sir." Zus said and walked down the hill past him towards the beach. Alexander smiled sadly at the man's willingness to continue despite his injuries but Alexander had an ulterior motive to staying in Vale for the time being.
Four Days Earlier…
Alexander fastened the greave around his leg before standing up straight. He stood in the middle of a Valkyrie with Arthus, Huelin, Dominus, Hemma, Ryoko, Bruna, Elva, Nesea, Bryony and Kai accompanying him as well.
Normally the Valkyrie could twenty five men seated or thirty standing but with a full Contubernium in their plate armor along with him made it a little cramp in the compartment. Alexander bent down to pick up his helmet; he could see his reflection in the black glass of the eye slits on his helmet.
"3 Minutes till we arrive!" The pilot's voice called out over the intercom, he slid the helmet over his head. Once the helmet was secured, there was a brief buzz and the black glass seemed to disappear as the helmet's HUD activated.
There was a stream of messages of the helmet's system gave the all clear to its status. In the top right corner was general information that was listed from time to the power status of the helmet.
Looking around he could see the ten members of the Contubernium highlighted as the helmet identified who they were. All of the Praetorians had donned their own visored Barbuta helms as well; they knew that potential dangerous that may await them.
When Alexander had asked what had happened to his daughter and her team. She told him of there being a contract for a Huntsman that was put forth from a small town in the far south of Sanus by the name of Springmond.
Having been one of the few teams that graduated from Beacon that decided to stick together afterwards, they figured that they would have been able to tackle whatever Grimm that trouble Springmond.
What they had encountered however was something that none of them expected. The town had become a twisted haven; Katherine did however remember some of the knowledge that Alexander had bestowed upon her that made her want to leave her position as heir to the Arcadian Throne.
What scared her even more however was the idea that whoever had put that contract out had in fact done so in hopes to lure her or others in on purpose.
When she started to describe the pink skinned Neverborn of the Lord of Dark Delights, Alexander knew he had to act. As such he set for that every available unit that was still left in Vale had to meet him at the coordinates of the town and to be prepared for combat.
He had even gotten in touch with the Naval Squadron that was anchored a day's travel from Patch in the Southern Valean Sea.
The Landing Helicopter Dock ship attached to the Squadron had dispatched a company of infantry who would fly in Valkyries as well. They would have arrived an hour ahead with orders to observe the town without entering it until Alexander got there.
Along with that there was supposed to be a second squadron of Vultures that would be arriving in at least another twenty minutes. When that happens Alexander hoped to raze the town Springmond and contain the threat before its influence sank too deeply in the surrounding lands.
Alexander looked to his left and even through the hull of the Valkyrie; the helmet highlighted the outline of several other Valkyries. One of them carried a second Contubernium while the rest carried various amounts of agents that were able to answer Alexander's call.
"30 Seconds!" The pilot shouted again and Alexander turned around towards the ramp. He could feel the deceleration as the Valkyrie slowed down, then declined before opening it's back ramp.
Alexander didn't need to give any orders as he picked up his greatsword which had been lying down on the seats to his right then headed down the ramp.
Turning right he cleared the Valkyrie as the Praetorians followed him, their pollaxes were held at ready. Looking around he could see that they had set down in a large field with a stream to their north and several hills in the distant east.
The metal heads of the Praetorian weapons glowed with cold blue light as their power fields were activated. Other Valkyries landed nearby with their ramps opening up to disgorge their own passengers.
They wore hard shell chest plates with inbuilt fighting load carriers and attached shoulder guards. Not only that they had vambraces that stretched from the elbow to the top of their hands and greaves that covered from the knee to the top of the foot.
On their heads were enclosed infantry helmets that had inbuilt night vision, a Friend or Foe Identification system, sound dampeners, radios and a respirator system.
Their weapons were the standard infantry rifle, the Agripinaa mark 17, which were all colored black to match their kit, one soldier ran up to Alexander, his helmet flashed him showing that it was Zus.
"Sir, I've got two and a half squads worth of agents with me." Alexander nodded as the last of the Valkyries rose then soared away, the downdraft sending a flurry of leaves from the trees towards them.
He turned to the south, eight miles away was supposed to be the town of Springmond. Yet even from where they were he could see columns of smoke rising into the sky.
"The soldiers that arrived here received my orders correct?" Alexander asked as he looked at Zus.
"Yes, they should be moving to meet us right now."
"If they received my orders then why is there smoke rising from Springmond then?" Alexander asked but Zus shrugged.
"I'm not really sure my Lord."
"Organize the squads and prepare to move now." Alexander said and Zus nodded before jogging back to the assembled group of operatives.
"Have Hilgar stick with the Zus when they're ready to move, we're going ahead." Alexander said as he looked at Arthus who nodded once.
They set off at a jog towards the town.
10 Minutes later…
Alexander raised a hand, the Praetorians stopped in their tracks then dropped into a defensive stance at his sides and behind him. There was a rustle nearby then ten soldiers emerged from bushes and behind trees in front of him. The lead figured stopped at seeing him.
"It's the High Lord you morons, kneel." The lead figure said as he dropped and the others quickly followed suit.
"Stand up, you never have to kneel to me in the field, we're all comrades out here." Alexander said as he gestured for them to stand up, his helmet flashed the lead man as a First Sergeant, the most senior NCO in an Infantry Company. As such they were often given responsibilities of leading or taking care of the Company business even over other Lieutenants.
"Yes sir." The man said, unlike Zus and the other operatives. The soldier before him wore black armor and webbing over the olive drab battle dress of Arcadian infantry.
"So what's the situation here Sergeant?" The man seemed to hesitate at that but then pointed south.
"I believe the Captain would have a better answer for you sir." Alexander nodded as he followed the squad. It wasn't long till they reached a less dense portion of the forest near the north side of the town.
There he could see around thirty soldiers in a rough line facing the town, weapons pointed towards it.
Looking past them he could see the wooden walls of the town were in ruins, they were broken and splintered to the point that it was surprising that they still were standing. Past that he could see that there were fires raging unchecked within the town.
What really caught his eye was the blurs of pink creatures that darted back and forth behind the ruined walls. There were a few bodies strewn about at the destroyed gate of the town which had been battered aside.
A thought occurred to him, if the walls and gate were destroyed. That would mean that the Daemonettes had attacked the town from the outside, not from within.
Were they summoned here? If so that meant that the summoning ritual had taken place within the forests that they were currently in. He needed to find it and destroy it.
But they needed to eliminate the Daemonettes within the town first as was there was no guarantee that destroying the ritual would immediately sever their link to the material realm.
"Arthus." He called out and the Praetorian was by his side within a moment.
"Yes my lord?"
"Take Hilgar and comb the surrounding forests, I feel there's a location that may be anchoring the Neverborn here. Find it and destroy it along with whoever is there." Arthus nodded then set off as Alexander turned to see three men walking towards him, one of whom carried a portable radio transceiver on his back.
"Sir, Captain Degassa reporting." The lead man said bowing his head briefly.
"Captain, what do you know?" Alexander said as he kneeled down, embedding his Greatsword into the ground, even as he kneeled he was still taller than the captain.
"What we've gathered is there's a force maybe forty strong of those pink bastard, it's hard to tell as most of my spotters can't look at them for too long." Degassa pointed towards the gate.
"We also think the gate is rigged but we don't know if the explosives are primed."
"How do you know it's rigged?"
"We found several boxes marked with the Schnee logo, one of them was still filled with mining explosives. So we reckoned that whoever was helping the Neverborn over there must have set it up."
"However we did check the water and found that we can cross it but it'll be a little difficult as it is about five feet deep and thirty feet wide. My other platoons however already crossed further up and down the river in order to surround the town, communications have been a little spotty. The helmet coms can't break the interference but the radio packs have enough juice to make brief orders possible." Degassa said.
"Are they in position though?" Alexander asked and the Captain nodded.
"They are but I have to say sir that we're not actually in the best position to take the town, we don't know how many people there are but my scouts suggest that the town is big enough for maybe two or three thousand. We're only barely over company strength." Degassa pointed out.
"We're not taking the town, we're destroying it but first we must cripple The Enemy, if we try waiting to strike then it may have dire consequences further down the line." Alexander said as he scanned the walls once more for movement.
"I'll understand sir; I'll start getting into contact with my platoon leaders and have them attack. It shouldn't take us more than ten minutes to get everyone through the walls."
"Alright, I'll go first and cover you while you get your men across that river. Zus! Stick with the Captain on this." Alexander called out to the lead Operative who stood a few feet away and he nodded.
"Wait, how are you going to cover us sir?" Degassa asked as he looked up at him. Alexander smiled inside his helmet as he stood up, towering over the smaller man and pulled his greatsword out of the ground.
The soldiers around him turned to look at him with his greatsword that was as tall as most of them and wider than any of their hands held side to side, the Captain nodded.
"Oh."
A Few Minutes Later…
Alexander stepped out of the water with ease, while most men would be submerged almost to their heads. He had no trouble wading through the water that didn't even reach his chest while holding his sword overhead.
Looking over his shoulder he could see the infantrymen setting up assault stubbers while the other soldiers organized into their squads. One of the squads of operatives that Zus had formed was beginning to get into the water. However they wouldn't be ready to attack just yet, which was where he came in.
Moving forward he came to a portion of the wooden wall that had been practically destroyed to nothing. Only a few sections of the wood surface was still intact, moving back a few steps he crouched low then charged at it.
The wood came apart with ease as he broke through; the now large hole where he had barreled through in the wall caused that portion of the wall to collapse. Looking at it he realized that actually helped as it spread out enough that it would be easy for his soldiers to maneuver over to get into the town.
He turned towards the town expecting to see Daemonettes standing before him instead he saw several dozen townsfolk.
All of them had crazed looks in their eyes, lacerations covered their skin, and some were covered in blood, feces, or other bodily fluids. Most of them also were in fact naked but all of them held improvised weapons of clubs, kitchen knives, axes, pitchforks and shovels.
As he readied his greatsword there was a spark and hum as the old greatsword's power field erupted along the length of the blade. There was no way he could save them and if he went easy on them then something will take advantage of that.
They were less than a dozen feet now before the front row started running at him laughing and howling in pleasure as they sought his blood.
Alexander leapt forward swinging his greatsword downward taking an older man at the shoulder, the heavy blade carved down through his torso and out his hip. The man fell apart as Alexander spun around, swinging his greatsword low separating the legs of a woman at the knees as it carved through them effortlessly.
Leaping forward as the woman fell forward, he kneed her face and her skulled shattered. In the corner of his eye he could see a young boy swinging a shovel at him; he used his greatsword's crossguard to simply push the shovel aside before swinging backwards cutting through his elbows.
Alexander spun to the side with the momentum of the backhanded swing to take the boy's head off. Turning around he could see several more people coming at him.
He lunged forward thrusting his greatsword into one man's chest while back handing the man to his left, his lower jaw shattered in a cloud of blood, bone and teeth fragments.
He quickly lifted his greatsword up splitting the man he had impaled at the chest level before swinging downward taking the third man in the shoulder carving straight through him.
The sound of footsteps got closer to him from behind and he spun around swinging his greatsword with both hands in a downward diagonal cut. The blow cleaved a portly man in two as he held up a meat cleaver; the momentum of the greatsword hit a small girl next taking her head off.
A tall lanky man covered in feces and lacerations giggled as he came at Alexander with hands that had the fingers gnawed off. Alexander sidestepped with him ease, his greatsword bisecting the man as he quickly spun around to disembowel a woman.
She fell back laughing as she started to play with her intestines as they spilled out from her open body. Alexander stepped forward raising his sabaton boot and crushed her skull as he lunged forward once more elbowing another man in the face.
His skull caved inwards and Alexander quickly took his left arm off at the shoulder before cutting through his chest separating his shoulders from the rest of his body.
Spinning around he swung wide with the greatsword carving deeply into the chest of three people at once before knocking them all with bone shattering force as he barged through them.
A well-dressed man with the skin on his shaved head covered in stitches, each connecting different colored patches of skin together on his skull was aiming an antique hunting bow at him. Alexander didn't give him time release the arrow as he lopped off the man's right arm at the shoulder before taking his head with a follow up motion of his greatsword.
At that moment rifle fire opened up behind him and as he bisected another woman he could see in the corner of his vision a number of people jerking back or dropping as gunfire ripped into them. The numerous rifle rounds sent puffs of blood into the air as the people dropped from the withering gunfire.
It was at that moment that the Daemonettes made their move which Alexander found troublesome as it meant that they were waiting for his soldiers to follow in. He quickly lopped off a man's head before turning in time to see a twisted pink monstrosity of a human body coming at him.
The Daemonette reached out to him with a pair of pincer claws. Alexander ducked down then quickly swung his greatsword in an overhead arc taking the creature's arms at the midpoint before spinning towards it's right then bring up greatsword up to take it at the armpits.
The powered greatsword cleaved through the torso separating shoulders and the Daemonette's head from the rest of its body. He looked up to see Zus leading the black cladded operatives in a steady two ranked line of firing, the first ranking kneeling as the second rank stood over them firing bursts of rifle fire.
Zus made sure to keep them from firing too quickly in order to avoid them from having to reload to close to each other. More soldiers climbed over the destroyed wall he had come through, he could see a few of them priming grenades then tossing them at buildings that Daemonettes had been coming out of.
To the south, east and west he could hear more small arms fires with the small thumps of explosives going off. In the corner of his HUD he wasn't surprised to see less than five minutes had gone by since he had crossed the river ahead Captain Degassa.
More Daemonettes started to appear; ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, Alexander gritted his teeth as he dropped into a low stance. He could hear the soldiers moving up behind him as the rest of the platoon made it within the walls.
He charged.
Present Day…
The Valkyries soared away from the beach. Leaving four of the Praetorians behind, they quickly turned to rejoin him on the hilltop.
Alexander looked down at his greatsword as it leaned against a rock; the greatsword as always was unblemished from scratches or nicks on the blade. A gift he had received from an old acquaintance long ago.
It had been a tough fight; he had to admit that much. Degassa had more than thirty soldiers wounded with another sixty confirmed dead.
The Operatives that Zus had brought with him were also hit pretty hard; even Arthus and the other Praetorians didn't come out unscathed. Of the twenty Praetorians that he sent out into the forest, four of them ended up dying with Ryoko needing surgery as she has lost her right arm.
While they had destroyed the taint of Springmond Alexander was still left in the dark as to what exactly was the point of it in the first place. The Praetorians had searched for the ritual place and found that it was a few miles to the west in a small cave but they couldn't find anything in terms of answers.
Whoever that had summoned the Daemonettes had left the moment they appeared while leaving some of the Neverborn as they had somehow knew that the spot would be found. They took or destroyed any actual trace of them being there with fire.
If anything the biggest concern he had was what Katherine had told him. Whoever did this had a plan in mind which meant they wanted to do this, most likely to test it out.
Alexander knew that he would need to look for answers not just here in Vale but also in Arcadia. He needed to talk with his wife and the others about what might be coming in the future.
Elsewhere…
Jaune was sitting in the back of Goodwitch's class, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora sat to his right while team RWBY sat in the row in front of them.
He wasn't sure what was more entertaining to watch, Weiss getting annoyed by Ruby or the fight that was happening.
Two boys from some of the other teams were clashing with swords; one was a tall skinny fellow and the other a more robust build with average height.
He didn't remember their names; in fact it always felt like whenever he tried remembering people he saw they would just be black shadows in his mind.
Looking back at the fight if Jaune had to guess which would win he would pick the shorter of the two.
The taller one had an Estoc of sorts with a gun built into the handle; he imagined that the straight edge blade was how he aimed as he was able to fire accurately from the hip on the wind up of a thrust. However it appeared that he needed to reload after every shot.
If he had to guess it may have to do with the relative small size of the weapon which wouldn't allow a large capacity of ammunition.
The other boy however had a saber, which from what Jaune had seen so far it had an internal mechanism that shift the shape of the saber into a sickle. While on his left arm was a narrow red kite shield that could cover most of his body if he twisted to the side with it in front of him.
Which kind of reminded Jaune of Crocea Mors sheathe but it turned into a heater shield which was wider but not as long as the kite shield.
"Who do you think will win?" Pyrrha asked breaking the relative silence of the group.
"I think Markoos will win." Weiss said from below.
"Who?" Nora asked.
"The one with the shield." Ren explained.
"Ooooh, I thought he was Tommy which means be the other one is actually Tommy." Nora said.
"Actually the other one is Graz." Yang said as she glanced up at them.
"Oh." Nora and the others chuckled save for Weiss and Blake. Speaking of which Jaune still didn't feel comfortable around the black hair girl for some reason there was just something off about her whenever they were together.
"So what do you think Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she nudged him with an elbow.
"Hm? Oh, who'd win, I'd guess Markoos would win. While Graz is good with his weapon, Markoos however can control the fight with the shield and his saber thingy." Jaune said and Pyrrha nodded.
"That's what I think though at the same time Markoos is a bit slow on the uptake in taking advantage of that. He spends far too much time just reacting than trying to push forward, not to mention his stance is all wrong when he's blocking with his shield. He's not leaning into it so a good push can put him off balance and with a large shield like that if he can't regain his footing properly then it'll take a few more moments to straighten himself out which if Graz can recognize that and take that moment to get a good hit on his scrambled defense then he'll have Markoos on the back foot." Most of the group looked at Pyrrha whose cheeks turned a little pink.
"Sorry." She said but Yang laughed as she reached up to patted Pyrrha's knee.
"That's our Champion for ya; always looking at a person's fighting style." She said loudly with drew a few heads to glance at them but they quickly turned away once they saw it was Yang. She had already gotten a reputation of being loud.
"Oi! Keep your hands on her, she's ours!" Nora cried out as she slapped Yang's hand away then embraced Pyrrha like a mother protecting her child.
"Shhh, it's okay little one." Nora cooed.
"Nora you can let her go now." Ren said but Nora shook her head.
"No way Ren, her hair smells really nice." Nora said as she took another sniff of Pyrrha.
"That's disgusting." Weiss said.
"How's this disgusting, do you not like smelling nice things?" Nora asked.
"I do…" Weiss started to say but Nora put a finger on her lips.
"Shhhh, come smell the awesomeness of Pyrrha's shampoo." Nora said.
"Nora that's enough you're bothering Pyrrha." Jaune said and she pouted.
"But Jaune Jaune." Jaune held up a finger.
"No buts Nora or I'm telling Ren to not make any pancakes in our dorm room." Jaune said and Nora sat down with a pout. She had somehow gotten permission from Goodwitch to allow a portable electric stove to be given to them for their room.
Jaune had no idea how she convinced the strict Deputy Headmistress to relent to such a request but it worked. So Nora now was hoping to head to Vale during the upcoming weekend to get ingredients to make pancakes.
"So who do you think she's gonna call up next to fight?" Ruby asked.
"Oh! I hope it's me or Pyrrha." Yang said with a grin as she looked up at the red head and cracked her knuckles.
"I don't think that's going to happen, she's only called up team leaders so far." Ren noted and Jaune grimaced.
The last time he actually dueled with another person was with Areto and he never got close to making it difficult for the Praetorian. Below them the match finally drew to a close with Markoos as the winner but he had barely beaten the other teen.
Professor Goodwitch started to lecture both of them about what they needed to do to get better. She then turned to face the rest of them, tapping on her scroll to remove their images from the main display.
"Alright class, we have time for one more fight. For that fight, it will be Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester." Jaune felt his hands grow cold at his name being called up.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked softly and he snapped his head to look at her. The others were looking at him as well and he realized he probably didn't look so good at the moment.
"You don't look so good." Ren noted and Jaune cursed silently.
"I'm fine, I just, not good with crowds."
"Ooooh it's stage fright." Ruby said and she flashed him a thumbs up.
"Don't worry Jaune we're behind you!" She said and he nodded as he stood up to head towards the locker rooms. As he stepped inside he could see Cardin to the far right already putting on the last grey plate of his armor on. Cardin pulled out a massive flanged mace and start taking a few swings with it.
Jaune gulped as he headed towards his locker, thankfully he remember where it was and was able to open it. Still he couldn't help but notice the small tremors in his hands, was he really that nervous?
Yes.
That was all he could think in response to that question he felt like he needed to throw up and piss all at the same time. He took a deep breath as he braced his hands against the edges of his locker.
He wanted to be here, he wanted to do excel he felt he had the knowledge to do some real good. But he was scared, nervous, anxious, frightened all at the same time.
"Jaune?" A soft voice called out from behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see Pyrrha standing there.
"Oh, hey Pyrrha." He said as he looked away from her squeezing his eyes shut wishing she wasn't there to see him like this.
"Is everything alright?" She asked and he nodded but he didn't look at her.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Please don't keep me out on this Jaune, we're teammates, we're friends. You can tell me whatever it is that's bothering you." She said and he swore he could hear the note of pleading in her voice. He took a deep breath as he stood up straight then slowly turned to look at her; he was surprised to see the worry etched onto her face.
"I'm sorry Pyrrha, I'm just nervous is all." Jaune said and Pyrrha smiled. He couldn't help but note that it was a very nice smile.
"I understand that."
"Do you?" He asked and she quirked her head at that.
"I mean, you're a four time champion right? Do you still get nervous?" She smiled again and nodded.
"Every time but my mother always told me that when I'm in the arena with a opponent in front of me I should take the time to focus on myself. I didn't understand what she meant until I first entered a small tournament during my first year in Sanctum. I learned that I had to focus not on who's watching me but on who I should be watching. I tuned out every sound, every voice, forget about everyone but the person in front of me. When the world shrinks down to just you and them then it becomes a lot easier to see what needs to be done without having to worry about what others might think." Pyrrha said as she took a few steps closer but even with her close proximity it felt like there was something else going on but Jaune just couldn't put his finger on it. Pyrrha surprisingly reached up and put a hand on his shoulder for some reason it felt really reassuring when she did that.
"I believe in you Jaune." She said and he smiled.
"Thank you Pyrrha."
A Few Minutes Later…
Jaune walked onto the fighting stage, as he took his spot he could see Cardin standing ten feet away from him.
There was a general murmur as the other students talked amongst each other on who would win; it was a little disheartening that a number of them assumed he was going to lose. Yet that disheartened feeling turned into a strange growth of anger that blossomed at their assumption on who was going to win.
Jaune looked up at the very top where his team was. He was happy to see that they were giving him their complete attention; Nora was waving her arms out yelling to break a leg. Ren as always didn't say anything but he could see the other boy nod at him.
Lastly was Pyrrha who gave him a warm encouraging smile. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he focused his thoughts; soon he lost focus on the numerous voices then all he could hear was his breathing. He didn't even realize that he had been hyperventilating but now he drew it back down to a steady pace, he opened his eyes.
"Are you ready Jaune Arc?" Professor Goodwitch asked.
"Yes ma'am." He said as he drew Crocea Mors but left the sheath at his side. From his brief time with Cardin in the gym he knew that he valued strength above all else so trying to block may not be the best idea. Instead he'd need to just be faster than him.
"Begin!" Professor Goodwitch called out and Jaune was caught off balance as Cardin jumped at him. The larger teen easily crossed the ten foot distance between them.
Cardin roared as he swung his mace down at Jaune, jumping back he was able to avoid the strike that sent cracks through the floor where he had just been standing.
He was right to avoid trying to block the strikes head on he, quickly gripping Crocea Mors with two hands he moved in drawing the sword back at his waist for a thrust.
Much to the testament of Cardin's ability to fight he spun quickly around lashing out at Jaune with a wide swing of his mace while using just his right arm to get an extra few inches of reach. Jaune however slide underneath the wide swing getting into Cardin's guard then sent a thrust upward aimed at underside of Cardin's arm.
There was a brief flash of dull light as the tip of Crocea Mors struck his arms, the force however lifted the arm up sending the larger teen off balance. Getting to his feet quickly Jaune spun clockwise bringing Crocea Mors up at an angle that struck Cardin's torso.
Cardin however took the hit as he jumped into Jaune sending him stumbling back as the larger teen brought his mace around to hit him.
Jaune jumped to the left avoiding the strike then quickly brought his blade around the strike at the back of Cardin's left knee hard enough to make it bend causing the large teen to fall to one knee.
Jaune quickly jumped behind Cardin to his left side, twisting as he moved bringing Crocea Mors to strike the back of Cardin's head. The larger teen dropped his mace as he was on his hands and knees.
Jaune was acting on instinct now from his training with Areto as he kicked the side of Cardin's head with his foot. Cardin rolled away and was now laying spread out on the ground not moving at all. Jaune stood over him, reversing the sword so that it pointed downward as he stood over him with it pointed at his neck.
As he brought the blade down he was surprised however that it never made contact with the teen's throat.
Instead it was covered in a purple glow he blinked as he remembered where he was. He looked up and realized that everyone was silent now and Goodwitch strode onto the stage.
"That is enough Mr. Arc; your opponent is down and out of the fight. Back. Off." She said her voice colder than a winter storm.
"I'm sorry." He said as he blinked a few more times and he forced his body to relax as the purple glow vanished from his blade giving him control once more.
"You may be a student but I expect you and everyone else here to fight honorably. Look at the screen Mr. Arc." Goodwitch pointed above him with her riding crop and Jaune looked up to see the screen that had their images on it.
Below that however was a bar that indicated Aura levels, his bar was barely even touched while Cardin's was in the red. More startling however was the fact that his bar was nearly empty.
"The strike you had delivered to the back of Mr. Winchester's head would have won you the match by tournament rules but had you continued with what you were doing you may very well have killed him with that next strike you were preparing." Jaune felt the blood drain from his face and hands at that as he glanced up at his team. Nora and Pyrrha both had looks of surprise on their faces while Ren had a thoughtful expression on his. Even team RWBY looked shocked at what he was going to do.
"Besides the screen above all of your scrolls have the function to monitor yours and your teams Aura's use it to act accordingly in fights. So while admittedly Cardin shouldn't have pressed the attack against someone that was better than him, what you did at the same time is something you must be aware of at all time. You all need to remember this, Aura is a mighty tool but it's not infallible and nor are you. If you make a mistake, people can die whether by your actions or lack thereof." Professor Goodwitch continued to talk though she was now addressing the class as a whole.
"Would the rest of team CRDL please come down to take your team leader to the infirmary to rest for a while, the rest of you can leave." She said and the students began to stand up then file out the main door. Jaune however stayed where he was expecting that she would want to talk with him. He looked up to see his teammates not leaving but he nodded towards Ren who started leading them out of the amphitheater.
"You and I need to have a talk Mr. Arc." Professor Goodwitch said as they were left alone.
"I know."
"Do you?" She asked and Jaune didn't respond.
"You fought well but your intent is what I'm concerned about. Were you trying to kill him?" She asked but he shook his head.
"Then what is it?" She asked as she stepped closer to him with her arms crossed.
"I'm sorry." He said unable to think of anything or raise his head to look her in the eyes. He was surprised however when he felt a hand on his shoulder, Jaune looked up to see that her hard expression had softened a little.
"I know you are but I need to know why you did that."
"It wasn't my intention Professor, I just acted on how I was trained and I was trained that my enemies in general must be put down permanently." Jaune said and Goodwitch sighed as she took her hand off him.
"I understand but for now on you need to be mindful of what you do when you fight. Remember this, you can never kill to protect. You either take life or save it." She said, Jaune nodded and she gestured to the door of the locker rooms with her riding crop.
"You may leave now." He nodded his thanks then headed towards the locker rooms to change.
10 Minutes Later…
Jaune walked into the hallway outside of the locker room, he was glad to see that no one had waited for him. He didn't want to talk or even face any of them at the moment.
Jaune had no idea why he did what he did, sure the best reason he could think of was what he told Goodwitch but he couldn't help but wonder if there was something else to it.
He bet that even Areto would have reprimanded him for his actions. He never occurred to him to ask if Cardin would yield, no instead he immediately put himself in a position to strike a fatal blow and had he done so when Cardin didn't have a lot of Aura left then who knows what might have happened.
As he walked through the hallways he realized something, he wasn't actually that remorseful at his actions but at what the others would think of him if he had done them.
In fact the more he walked the more he felt a certain joy at it. He could remember a strange rush of watching the pained and frustrated look on Cardin's face as he struggled against Jaune.
"Hey." A familiar voice called out to him. He looked up to see the others standing in front of him. Pyrrha, Ruby, and Nora looked a little concerned. While Yang and Ren gave him scrutinizing looks as if they were trying to figure something out.
Blake and Weiss however didn't have very welcoming looks. Weiss looked at him as if he was some wild barbarian while Blake looked like she didn't trust him that close to her.
"Soooo, what's up?" He asked trying to put a cheerful note in his voice, which turned about to be the wrong thing to do.
"What happened down there?" Yang was the first to ask and Jaune shrugged.
"I tried winning."
"Winning? You looked like you wanted to kill him." Weiss pointed out.
"In fact you started smiling at the end." Jaune blinked he wasn't aware of that, he looked at Pyrrha who pursed her lips as she looked to the side.
"Okay fine, maybe I got carried away. You gotta understand that was the first fight I've been in where I felt like I was actually accomplishing something."
"Does that make it right what you did down there? You acted like an animal." Weiss said as she crossed her arms, for some reason Jaune swore Blake gave the white hair girl a venomous glare at that.
"Look I was planning on heading over to the infirmary after classes to say sorry for what I did, is that okay?" A small sneer seemed to brew under Weiss's face at that.
"Sure you are." Jaune couldn't but feel a little twinge of annoyance but thankfully Ren stepped in.
"Actually I'm a little curious about what happened, you said that was the first time you've won a fight. What about when you were training before coming here?" The normally silent teen asked and Jaune chuckled at that.
"My trainer didn't believe in letting me win, I don't think I ever came close to beating her. Even the wolves left a mark on me." That last part he realized he probably could have kept quiet about as Ruby's eyes widened at that.
"Oh what's this? I smell a tail." Yang said with a wide grin.
"Was that a pun?" Weiss asked and the blonde girl turned to her.
"I don't know Weiss it?" She asked and Blake shook her head as Weiss wrinkled her face at that one.
"Now imagine what that's like living with her." Ruby said from behind her hands which she had covered her face with.
"I'm going to go." Jaune said as he turned away from the others.
"Ah come on Jaune Jaune, you don't have to leave. Weiss is just a grumpy because she's hungry." Nora said as she grabbed his arm.
"I'm not grumpy." Weiss said and Nora turned to look at her with a bright smile.
"Oh? So you're hungry then, good cause I am too." She said as she let go of Jaune's arm to latch onto the pale girl.
"You guys go on ahead; I'll catch up with you later." Jaune said as he started walking away, he didn't get far alone as Pyrrha caught up with him.
"You don't have to hang out with me." He said as he glanced at her but the red head just shrugged.
"True but I want too."
"Why?"
"Cause we're partners."
"Is that it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Aren't you going to ask me what happened during my duel with Cardin? I know you have questions."
"Hmm, I do but I also know that you'd tell me if you really felt like it."
"What makes you think that?"
"Because deep down I know you're a good guy."
"How can you be sure?"
"I don't know but that doesn't mean I can't think it."
"Maybe but being indecisive can be just as cruel as no judgment at all."
"What makes you think me or anyone else from our team or team RWBY is going to judge you."
"You make it sound like I said judging someone is a bad."
"Maybe it's not a wholly bad thing but it surely can't be entirely good."
"I would imagine judging someone's capability in a fight or whether or not they're going to lie to you is something many people would want to know."
"True but you can't be right about everything, appearances can deceive."
"In order to be deceived it requires you to trust everyone you meet."
"Do you not trust people then?"
"I trust them to do what any normal person would."
"But are we normal people?"
"Are we really any different?" Pyrrha had a strange expression on her face, he wasn't sure what it was that was he said that bothered her but he did feel responsible.
"Look Pyrrha I'm not trying to be an asshole I'm just, in a weird place at the moment."
"Its fine Jaune, I understand." He nodded not really sure what to say next, then looked at her. Pyrrha was looking ahead as they walked down the hallway but she seemed to be thinking about something as well.
What she was thinking about he had no idea, he was never really good at talking with girls which he would have thought would have been easy since he had seven sisters but apparently that didn't really count for anything.
"Well I'm going to go to the infirmary now then, might as well go and check on Cardin." Jaune said as they reached a small intersection in the hallway.
"Do you want me to come with you?" He shook his head.
"Nah I don't plan on hanging out there for long just a quick pop in and out. You go on ahead and catch up with the others." He said as he turned away from her giving a short wave over his shoulder as he left her there.
Pyrrha sighed as he watched the blonde boy walk away. She had to admit that was kind of a weird conversation even by her limited standards of experience.
Sure she found it really interesting about his viewpoints on whether or not they were normal people or well that what she assumed he meant. As it meant that he would continuously treat her like any other person; this made her very happy to know.
20 Minutes Later…
Jaune opened the door to the infirmary; it didn't seem as busy as it was the first time he visited. Though he supposed Aura sped up the healing process quite a bit.
"Do you need some help?" A feminine voice asked and he turned to see an older dog Faunus student holding a scroll tablet.
"Oh, I was just looking for a student that should have been admitted here earlier." Jaune said as he scratched the back of his head.
"Alright, what's their name?"
"Oh, uh, Cardin Winchester." She nodded as she looked down at her tablet.
"Room 14, it's down that hall and to the right." She said pointed down towards his right.
"Thank you." He said and she nodded before walking off. For some reason Jaune got the impression that she was a little annoyed, was it something he said? He walked in the direction that she told him and it wasn't long before he spotted the room. The door was slightly ajar and laughter could be heard inside so he knocked on the door.
"Come in!" A voice that sounded like Russel's called out so Jaune opened the door fully. Cardin was sitting on a bed while Dove, Russel, and Sky stood or sat around him.
"Uh, hey." Jaune said after a few moments where no one said anything, a smile split Cardin's face.
"What's up there Jauney Boy!" The others started to smile as they called out his name; Russel stood up and wrapped an arm around Jaune as he dragged him forward.
"Man you kicked my ass during that fight." Cardin said as Jaune sat down in one of the seats that were arrayed around the bed.
"Yea I didn't mean to go that far." They just started to laugh even harder and Jaune honestly didn't know what was going on.
"Man you never have to apologize for kicking ass, I'm just glad there's another human here that hold his own." Cardin said and for some reason there couldn't help but notice that something was odd about that statement.
"I know right, they even let them study medicine, I wouldn't trust them to give me a cough drop." Sky said with a small snarl on his face.
"I mean they bomb and start riots all the time how can anyone trust them." Dove pointed out earning nods from the other three.
"It's those damn politicians more concerned about getting their dumb votes even though this isn't even their Kingdom, they've got their own place." Cardin said.
"Yea the Four Kingdoms should have taken a page out from Arcadia and blocked any outsiders." Russel said which made Jaune perk his ears up; it seemed the four of them forget he was still in the room with them and had resumed some other conversation.
"Nah man, fuck Arcadia those fucking traitors are the ones that helped the animals win all by fighting dirty." Cardin said and Jaune cleared his throat.
"Uh, what are you guys talking about?" And the four of them looked at him then Cardin gave him a look that said as if he pitied him.
"My bad, before you came in we were talking about how it was stupid for the Four Kingdoms to let those damn Faunus run around as citizens but I say it's even worse that they allow them to attend Huntsman Academies." Jaune wasn't sure what to say as he looked at each of them, they all agreed with what was being said, he stood up abruptly.
"Something a matter?" Dove asked and Jaune scrunched his face into a snarl.
"Fuck off." He growled and the other teen's face darkened as he stood up.
"Whoa, calm down Jaune its okay none of those damn Faunus or traitors can hear us." Russel said a faint look of concern on his face. He reached out to put a hand on Jaune's shoulder but he slapped it away.
"What's wrong?" Russel said as he looked confused at Jaune.
"Did you really just ask what's wrong? Ya'll are being a bunch of sick fucks." Jaune said glaring at each of them anger bubbling in his chest.
"We're not assholes, we're just stating facts. Those Faunus in the White Fang go around expecting us to bow to their every need and apologize for being human, why should we? I'm proud at being human, aren't you?" Dove said as he stepped closer crossing his arms.
"I'm proud for being a good person not just because I'm fucking human. Don't you hear yourselves? You're exactly what the White Fang preach about."
"We didn't start it; we would have been fine with the way things were after the Great War. They got upset because we tried standing up to their greed, they got a Kingdom and their own continent but they wanted to do what they wanted."
"You moron, they started the Faunus Revolution because the Four Kingdoms wanted to keep them out as a whole. Not all of the Faunus could have made it to Menagerie so the Four Kingdoms were the nearest safe places for them to be." Jaune snapped at the other teen.
"So you're a filthy Faunus supporter huh?" Cardin asked and Jaune nodded.
"I am."
"Then get out, get out and never come into my sight again or you'll be the one in a hospital bed next time." Jaune shrugged as he turned away from them and headed towards the door.
"Fucking pathetic." Cardin growled, loud enough for him to hear. He stopped at the door, one hand on the doorknob as he looked over his shoulder at them.
"I'm only human after all."
I totally did that last line on purpose.
Anyways it seems things have kicked off a little. Cardin's prejudice has finally come to light, Jaune's feeling a little cranky, Nora's hungry and Alexander has to now work on scrubbing that blood out from his armor.
Originally the plan wasn't for me to stop here but I figured I should changed it in order to not make ya'll wait another week or two for it to come out. Especially since I've got a bunch of traveling to do so I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to devote to writing.
Also I've decided to put the FN Scar-H, which uses the 7.62x51mm, as the Standard issue rifle of the Arcadian Military with the Standard, Long Barrel and CQC variants. With the addition of the FN Scar MK20 SSR for those that prefer to sit in the shade along with the Rheinmetall MG 3 as a general-purpose Machine Gun which will be referred to as the assault stubber in the story. While the more hefty .50 Caliber Machine Gun, think the M2 Machine Gun, will be referred to as an Heavy Stubber. Though I'll probably mix those two up since their commonly referred to as the same thing so you'll have to forgive me on that account.
As always feel free to leave a comment or review whether you liked the chapter or not as I always find reading them to be interesting. Or if you're more inclined feel free to send me a PM I'm more than willing to have a nice chat. For those that are interested in getting a sneak peak into the structure of the story and how I'm forming it like the Arcadian Military or characters feel free to message me to talk about that as well.
Anyways till next time!