Was a bit busy this week so I haven't posted this earlier. Enjoy reading!

Chapter 3

It was a peaceful morning.

Jaune rushed through the canopy, foliage crushed under his feet as he ran as fast as he could. Behind him were dark figures of grimm chasing after him relentlessly, growling and howling as they tried to catch their prey.

"Alright." he muttered under his breath, mentally preparing himself. "Let's do this."

He turned around and drew Crocea Mors in one swift movement.

His eyes hardened as he immediately locked into the different figures. Eight beowolves in total. The pack leader, a beowolf that was bigger and meaner than the rest but not quite the level of an alpha beowolf, was right in the middle followed by another two. There were also three on the left that split off, as well as another two on the right.

The pack leader along with the other beowolves pounced straight towards him with its maws wide open, roaring and intending to bite his head of with its sharp teeth—

Jaune's other hand that wasn't holding the sword snapped up, His palm hit the beowolf's underbite gnashing the jaw shut, and making the grimm's head snap up along with twisting its body midair backwards. The motion also made him overextend and he used the movement to twist his body and jump high—his body twisting horizontally like a gymnast and avoiding the other beowolves that attacked him below.

It also gave him the wonderful view of the pack leader's throat. Crocea Mors blurred, and when he landed back down, the body of the pack leader landed on its back beside him, headless.

One down, seven to go.

The remaining beowolves didn't even care what happened to their pack leader and they wasted no time trying to attack him again. Jaune's eyes sharpened as he observed their movements, reacting with what he knew from previous experiences of fighting this type of grimm.

A slight tensing of the legs was met with leaning out of the way when they pounced at him. Bringing an arm back was received with dashing underneath the shoulder of the same arm, where it either passed over him or hit him without enough force because of the lack of leverage.

He danced around the constant assault with his sword snaking up and took opportunities to damage them. It cut through vulnerable muscle and sinew, earning him roars of pain, until it is silenced with another strike from his sword.

Six. Five. Four and three.

He slashed his sword at one of the Beowolf's heel, turning it unbalanced and making it stumble. It died with a single slash of his sword that cleaved its head in half.

Two.

Another tried to desperately kill him by thrashing around, roaring hatefully as it did so. Jaune cleanly dodged the dangerous yet incredibly telegraphed attacks and managed to get inside its guard. It died to a slash that cut open its chest.

One.

The dead body of the beowolf slumped on the ground, leaving his visage whose sword and armor was covered in black ichor which were quickly turning into wisps, making it look like he was steaming. He stood there for a moment, surrounded by the bodies of the beowolves that were already dispersing into the wind.

Then, a twig snapped from behind.

The last beowolf roared as it attacked him from behind. It hid and bided its time instead of attacking like the rest, and now it tried to strike the vulnerable back of the one slaughtering them when their guard was down. A tactic that one of the more clever grimm likes to use.

Unlucky for it that Jaune never let his guard down in the first place.

Jaune's foot slid as he turned around faster than anyone could follow, with his eyes locked on the grimm behind him. Then he slashed before the grimm could bring down its arms, the practiced motion ingrained in movements making his sword sing through the air in a deadly arc.

The force was enough to cut it in half diagonally, with the beowolf letting out a pained gurgle before it fell on the ground dead.

Zero.

And with that, the entire pack of Beowolves were dead.

Jaune took a deep breath, then exhaled. His hand fished out something from his pocket and he looked at it. A scroll, one that he had bought for himself for convenience.

It was displaying a timer.

"One minute and twenty seconds? Huh." he said in pleasant surprise, letting out a smile. "I think that's a personal best."

Ever since he had defeated his first grimm, Jaune continued to practice fighting them after that, He sought out different types of grimm from beowolves, ursas, to boarbatusks. He observed their movements and tried to learn as much as he could from it before defeating them.

Following that, he tried to fight groups of them when it was getting too easy. That was when it started to become much harder—there were plenty of times when he went home with wounds adorning his body because of it. Thankfully, it wasn't to the level that he couldn't hide it to his family, so he managed to keep it a secret.

After that it took a few times, but he managed to be strong and experienced enough to beat entire groups at once. Now he just needed to get better and better at it, until he could manage to defeat large amounts of grimm effortlessly.

A huntsman wouldn't be anything less.

He let out an excited smile. Then. he looked up to see the sun on the sky which had already risen significantly. He had started this at dawn and had gotten quite about a hundred kills or so and now it was already morning.

"I guess I better go back now. I still got school for today, after all."

And so, Jaune went home with a bright and satisfied smile on his face.

School in Ansel, as always, was boring.

Jaune half-listened to the teacher in front of the classroom as they droned over some topic. He already knew about it, courtesy of reviewing the lesson weeks prior so that his family wouldn't be suspicious of him spending his free time training or fighting grimm.

Nevertheless, he didn't want to spend time unproductively, so hidden in his hand he trained using the grip strengthener as he sat quietly in the back of the class. His muscles burned from doing it hours on end but it was still better than sitting around and doing nothing.

But still, it didn't make things any less boring.

And judging by how his other classmates barely looked like they were paying any attention as well, it looked like they felt the same way. The bland voice of the teacher who felt like they didn't want to teach a bunch of teenagers didn't certainly help.

Salvation however, came in the form of the school bell ringing.

"...Alright, that concludes our lessons for today. Be sure to do your homeworks I gave you and pass it next time we meet." the teacher stepped away from the chalkboard. "Dismissed."

Saying that, the teacher left and the classroom turned noisy as class finally ended. Students left their seats to talk to friends, but some started to pack their things to go home. Jaune was one of those people, tossing his exercise tool back to his bag and zipping it up.

He was about to leave the room but a tap on his shoulder made him pause. He turned to see a classmate was smiling at him. And not just any classmate—it was the beautiful girl near where he was seated, someone who had plenty of guys confessing their love towards, or at least from what he had heard.

What can such a popular girl want from him?

"Hey, Jaune." she greeted. "Are you leaving the classroom already?"

"Ah, yeah." he said, slightly surprised at her suddenly addressing him. "Why, is there something you need?"

"Oh, nothing. I just needed to get home early and wanted to join you." she looked down, before looking up at him shyly. It looked cute. "I-Is that alright if I do that?"

Oh, was that all? Jaune shrugged.

"Sure." he agreed.

The girl's expression brightened. "T-Thanks, Jaune."

He walked towards the door of the classroom with the girl. He could see that the boys of his class were glaring at him from the edge of his vision, probably pissed at why someone like him would spend time with a girl like her. Well, it's not like Jaune didn't agree, but she was just asking for them to walk together. Nothing special.

Oddly, he could see that there were females glaring at the girl too. He doesn't know anything about that, though. Was it a personal issue…? Well, it wasn't his business to pry.

Though, he noticed that the girl beside him fidgeted as they started walking through the school halls. Jaune felt a bit uncomfortable since he might have gotten involved in some school drama—something he tended to not get tangled into because he was a bit distant to his classmates.

Still, it wouldn't stop him from being a good person.

"Are you okay?" he asked her in concern.

The girl stiffened. For a moment it looked like she was about to run away, but instead she seemingly thought better of it and instead took a deep breath.

"U-Um, well, I was just going to ask…" she started. "What are you going to do on the upcoming break?"

Jaune blinked in surprise. Oh yeah, there was something like that coming, wasn't it? The end of the semester is near. That means more free time for him.

Which also means that he's going to be spending it doing nothing but training.

"I guess not much. Probably play some games or something." he answered vaguely. She doesn't need to know what he's really going to do. "I think I'm going to spend the break doing nothing."

"R-Really?" the girl looked hopeful for some reason. "Then, is it alright if we meet during—"

"Jaune!"

A familiar voice called out to him and he turned to look at the source. Just beyond them were his older sisters, Iris and Cerise. It was Cerise who called out to him with a hand raised up, and the both of them approached.

As they did so, Jaune couldn't help but notice that other people were looking at the two of them with something akin to awe and fascination. He knew that her sisters were very popular in school because of their beauty and personalities, so this reaction was entirely natural for them.

Iris was well known for being a smart girl and a cold beauty. In the house rarely does she emote, but she expresses herself with dry wit and sarcasm most of the time. Despite that though, his short-haired bespectacled sister projects herself as a reliable senior that younger years can depend on, one that has many followers because many admire her looks. And it shows due to the fact that she's the Student Council president in their school, following after Luna when she had graduated.

Cerise was the opposite. She was energetic and sporty, and well-known as the ace of the Volleyball club who had led their team to victory in tournaments on many occasions as well as appearing on national TV once as well. The pony-tailed tomboy was fit and beautiful which gave her many admirers, and it certainly didn't help that the girl was approachable and friendly to all people to help that.

His other sisters were like them too. Marron, despite her laziness, was a bonafide genius. The same for Daisy when she wasn't using her brain to play games instead. And if he was right, their youngest Lily would be just as special as well.

Jaune, compared to them, was nothing.

"H-Hey, Cerise." he greeted his sister awkwardly, who came running at him with a big smile on her face. "What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just wanted to check on you." she answered, going next to him and bumping him affectionately. "So, what's been going on?"

"...Nothing much? I was just walking home." he blinked when he noticed something, before he looked around. "Hey, where did Iris go?"

Cerise waved a hand. "She just needed to do something. You know, teaching people lessons and all that." she answered.

"Ah, she's going to help a teacher?"

"Something like that."

Huh. She must be really busy. Also, Jaune noticed that his classmate was nowhere to be found. She probably already left out of nervousness of being around Cerise. It's going to be awkward if you just hang around a school idol and his brother, after all.

Cerise leaned on his arms as they walked like some intimate couple. The sight of them turned heads of the students near them. He would've been embarrassed if they weren't siblings. "Sooo… you know how the break is coming up in a couple of weeks or so, right Jaune?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Apparently, mom said that we're going to do our usual trip to Mistral during it." she revealed, making Jaune look at her in surprise. The tomboy grinned at him. "Yep. She told us this morning when you missed breakfast when you were out jogging."

That was the excuse he made when he went out earlier. To be fair, he wasn't entirely lying. He did jog, or well, he ran when he was fighting the grimm. Still, this came as a surprise. "I see, thanks for telling me."

"Sure. Now make sure you prepare your things alright? Wouldn't want you to forget your underwear like last time."

Jaune put a hand on his face, cheeks heating up as he groaned. "Yeah yeah. You guys are really never going to live it down, are you?"

"Quite so, dear brother. The sight of you panicking as you went commando, especially on the beach, was a sight to see."

Jaune turned to the side to see Iris walking towards him. He frowned.

"I thought you were helping teach lessons with teachers?" he asked.

Iris raised a brow then exchanged glances with Cerise beside him. There was something he missed there, with the twins communicating wordlessly somehow. Then for some reason, she let out an enigmatic smile. "Oh, I did teach a lesson, alright. Did Cerise tell you about our planned trip?"

"Yep!" Cerise let go of his arm and moved away. "Anyway, we just wanted to say that to you. You're going home early, right? Me and Iris are going to be staying here for a while for some stuff. Things are busy for my club and the student council when breaks are near."

He nodded his head. "I'll be buying some stuff on the way home. I'll get you and Iris some ice cream. Your favorites." he said thoughtfully, earning him a bright smile from both girls. "Anyway, see ya."

Jaune was about to walk away—

"Oh yeah, Jaune!"

He turned around to look at Cerise questioningly.

"If some girl wants to ask you what you plan to do at the break, you answer them that you'll be with your family, alright?" she said. "You're gonna be spending your time with us."

Then she gave him a wink and walked away, her pony-tail swinging behind her.

"...Okay?" Jaune said, slightly confused. He turned to Iris. "What was that about?"

The bespectacled girl's lips curled up and she reached up to pat his cheek. "It's best if you don't, Jaune. Stay clueless. It's part of your charm."

Like her twin, Iris turned around and walked away as well, leaving Jaune alone with a perplexed expression on his face.

Then, his eyes narrowed.

Wait… Was she saying that some girl was going to ask to spend time with him? Actually, didn't that girl from earlier just do that? Were they saying that she's interested in him?

"...Pshh, yeah. Right."

Fat chance of that. He was just Jaune, an awkward teenager and the black sheep of the family filled with special people. Compared to others out there, he was nothing.

Jaune turned around and started to walk home, shaking his head in exasperation. There's no way a girl would find someone like him attractive. It's a waste of time to even consider.

Still… going to Mistral, huh.

"I wonder what I can do there…?"

And Jaune's exponential growth is continuing. Still as dense as ever though. As of now, Jaune is the literal definition of a Himbo. He's also going to Mistral for his family's usual camping trip now for their break. What's going to happen there, one wonders?

That's all. If you have any criticisms please leave a review. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!