Jaune Arc, The (Non-Gamer)
Chapter 2 - Making Friends
"Um, excuse me, sir, what-what exactly is a laaaaaaaaaanding -"
Jaune didn't have time to finish, as he was launched off of the launch pad, deep into the woods.
Ozpin calmly took a sip of hot chocolate from his mug. Ahhhhh, the fresh cries of inexperienced students was always music to his ears.
Luckily, a spear seemed to catch him by the scruff of his collar just in time to prevent him from being turned into meat paste.
Ozpin hummed to himself, contently. Well, that was one less angry family to deal with.
Technically, helping another student land was against the rules, but Ozpin never really enforced that rule. It meant less paperwork for him, at least.
Jaune was now to stuck to a tree. Pinned to it, more accurately.
But at least he wasn't did or fatally injured, so that was nice.
The one who had caught him, Pyrrha, let him down from the tree gently, which he appreciated.
Apparently, they were partners now, which promoted the whole friend screen thing to flicker into existence again. Naturally, Jaune pressed yes.
Jaune took another quick glance over it, hoping to learn something about what the whole thing was about, though not to much success.
Pyrrha's screen was similar to Ruby's, in the sense of it being a different color (light scarlet) and having a lot of numbers that were higher than Jaune's. Unlike Ruby, though, it seemed like all of her number were higher than Jaune's. Her "aura" thingy was also higher than Ruby's, at a nice "2200" number.
The main difference that Jaune had noticed, though, was that her "title" was "champion", and that her "class" was the term "gladiator (lvl. 15)". It also seemed to indicate that her "class" was some sort of "advanced class", whatever that meant.
The whole thing couldn't help but get Jaune to wondering just what exactly "class" meant in the first place. Was that sort for something, like "classification", maybe?
Well, that would be pretty cool, as that would mean that Jaune was classified as a knight. It may have been reflective of his own thoughts, but nevertheless, it was reassuring to think that he did subconsciously believe in himself.
The term "gladiator" really suited Pyrrha, too, based on her choice of weapon, and her apparent history.
Now, Jaune only hoped that Ruby wasn't an actual Grimm Reaper, or anything.
Jaune hadn't been paying much attention to his conversation with Pyrrha, but Jaune suddenly snapped back to it as soon as he heard the term "aura".
"You...do know what aura is, right, Jaune?" Pyrrha had given a concerned look, especially as Jaune seemed to have zoned out for a little bit.
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Of course I know about aura! Who doesn't know about aura, right? Do...you know about aura?"
Pyrrha was growing increasingly concerned about the competence of her new partner by the second. But, kindly, she give him the benefit of the doubt, anyway.
Slowly, she went on to explain and demonstrate...
Having run out of hot chocolate, Ozpin grimaced as he was forced to fill his mug with coffee instead.
Inwardly, he cursed at the popularity of the wretchedly bitter drink, as he took a small sip of the black slime that filled his cup.
It wasn't that he hated the smell or the fragrance of coffee, per say. But rather, the drink really was just too bitter for him. It reminded him, in some ways, of the Grimm with its black hue and its vicious assault on the tongue. Of course, the simple solution would've simply been to add some milk or cream to his coffee. But Ozpin refused to lower himself to such a point. He was a man, for Goodness' sake! And he refused to let the Grimm known as "black coffee" get the better of him!
Still, now that he could relax in his office, Ozpin did have to wonder...
That boy, the one known as "Jaune"...
Why was he having such a hard time with initiation? As far as Ozpin could tell, with his magic, Jaune was one of the "heroes" that Ozpin occasionally ran into every few decades or centuries or so.
One of the "otherworldly" ones that came from another world, only known as "Japan". The ones blessed by some deity (world overseer) or the other, with what they termed as a "cheat" skill (Ozpin still had no idea what that term meant, after all these years).
For some reason, they had always come from the strange world, only known as "Japan", without exception.
Ozpin could only presume that "Japan" must've been a very fierce war-like world, one that necessitated it being filled with such Heros (or at least, with many very talented and powerful individuals).
Ozpin had peered into the source of Jaune's strange presence when he hadn't been looking, and he had traced the source of Jaune's power back to "Japan", too.
Interestingly, though, Jaune Arc didn't seem to have come from another world. At least, not as far as Ozpin could tell.
His clothing, mannerisms, and sense of speech all spoke very clearly of being a Vale native. But that was certainly curious, in and of itself.
Did that mean that there was some sort of trouble going in "Japan", that one of its guardian duties would bestow its power upon a native rather than a Japanese?
Was there a lack of shortage of heroes in the world of "Japan"? Or, perhaps there was some sort world-wide conflict happening there, and they could no longer spare to send over any of their heroes?
Hmmmmm...
Curiouser, and curiouser, Ozpin though to himself.
Another strange thing about Jaune's hidden power was that it was apparently working off of a system that was labelled as "FiFan system".
All the heroes that Ozpin had run into in the past had ran off of a system an "Dragon Quest System", but Jaune's, uniquely, was a "FiFan system".
Ozpin had to wonder what it all meant...
Was it some sort of prototype for a new iteration of the system...? Were they using Vale as the testing grounds for a new potential weapons system? Or...?
Ozpin grimaced as he took another sip out of his black (the detestable Grimm-stew).
He didn't know what it all meant, but he didn't quite like it.
Still, only time would tell, whether this all bode good or ill, for the future of Vale...
"Oh, so that's what aura meant!"
Pyrrha gave Jaune another concerned look, as he seemed to bask in his newfound realization.
Well, Jaune didn't seem to be the most skilled as a huntsman or anything, but at least no one could argue that his aura, if nothing else, certainly qualified him as one.
The sheer amount of it was pretty astounding - up to roughly about three times that of an average adult huntsman's.
If nothing else, he could probably just endure and stonewall a Grimm's attacks until he got the chance to cut off its head. Or just keeping on cutting until it died.
Still, Pyrrha was concerned for her partner. If he ran into a group of Grimm, he'd be out of luck, as they all pounced on him at once.
And against any huntsman that he might have to face off against in the future? He'd stand no chance.
Jaune still needed some serious training, to be sure. And Pyrrha would never forgive herself if she had let something happen to Jaune because of his lack of skill.
Inwardly, she resolved to train him as hard as she could, if he would so be willing to learn from her.
Meanwhile, Jaune didn't seem to notice anything about Pyrrha's internal musings at all. Instead, he was too busy focusing on his new (facescroll-like) notifications.
Aura now unlocked.
Classes now unlocked, Skills now Available.
Classes: Knight, White Mage, Paladin (lvl. 10 Knight and lvl. 5 White Mage pre-requisite)
'Oh!' Jaune though to himself, 'Maybe class meant as in literal classes?! As in like, this thing is connected to online classes, too?'
As in, he could choose to take these online hologram classes and learn skills from them to apply to everyday life.
The knight and paladin classes in particular sounded pretty cool, and he'd love to take some lessons in chivalry and knightly etiquette from them, though he had no idea what a "white mage" was.
Knights were knights, obviously. And paladins were like, a title for elite knight that had healing skills? Or something, at least his vague knowledge that he had gained from the folk-tales of Charlemagne that were so popular back in his hometown.
But what exactly was a "white mage"? Like, somebody who could cast magic, but was white? Honestly, Jaune though that was kind of racist.
But, then again, who was he to judge?
Besides, did magic even exist, in the first place? Semblances were a thing, but how exactly was he expected to learn how to do actual magic from a few classes?
Apparently, it was a pre-request to becoming a Paladin though, so he'd have to look into it sometime.
For now though, Jaune pressed on the "Knight" button, which brought up another notification.
Jaune Arc is now registered as a "Knight". Class change complete.
Jaune hummed to himself contentedly.
He was really looking forward to those chivalry lessons! Now, he was one step closer to his dreams of becoming an awesome knight and huntsman!
He might even have a chance of wooing Weiss off her feet. (Well, he's have to call her "Snow Princess", now, instead of "Snow Angel", but that was a small price to pay for a change in Weiss's impression of him.) He could imagine it now, swiping Weiss off her feet, as he brought her a rose in his mouth atop a white horse!
"..."
Pyrrha just looked on in concern, as Jaune started cheerfully giggling to himself. Was he really going to be alright...?
Author's Notes:
Jaune is gonna be so disappointed when he finds out there are no actual classes to take or tutors to lesson to on chivalry lessons, lmao
Jaune's Stats VS Pyrrha's Stats
(Final Fantasy II Usage Improvement System)
STRG: 24 (+2) VS 207
AGLI: 25 (+0) VS 155
CHRS: 24 (+1) VS 35
INTL: 39 (+1) VS 45
WIS: 16 (+1) VS 12
Aura: (3600/3600) VS (2200/2200)
Compatibility:
(Jaune) Compatibility with Pyrrha - High
(Pyrrha) Compatibility With Jaune - Extremely High
Affinity:
(Jaune) With Pyrrha - Friendly
(Pyrrha) With Jaune - Friendly, Interested
Next chapter, getting along with Ren (Class: Monk) and Nora (Class: Berserker (Hammer)). Also, Cardin VS Jaune sparring classes.
Yang is also a Berserker, by the way. Though her class would be the "Berserker (Brawler)" type instead.
Weiss, "Magical Fencer", Blake, "Ninja", Adam, "Samurai", Ozpin, "Sage", Miss Goodwitch, "Psychic", and so on...