Author's Notes: Soooo, my friend introduced me to Armored Core 6, rage quitted multiple times at the bosses but still had a blast though it took me ages to get all the endings. As a result, it took time away from the story itself so apologies for how long it took to put this up.
I'll jabber on some more at the end. Enjoy.
When Jaune sat down in his second class of the day, he had hoped that it would be a normal one. Well, relatively normal in comparison to whatever Professor Port's class had been. Though he supposed even if it wasn't, he expected to have an easier time with it since history was one of his better subjects thanks to Ozma's tutelage.
At least, that was what he thought until a green blur slammed through the door, startling him and every other student. The green blur then zipped over to the front of the class where it stopped, revealing a tall and thin man with a large pair of round glasses on his face. Before anyone could say anything, the man cleared his throat.
"Greetings students! My name is Bartholomew Oobleck and I am your history professor! Today,we are going to be talking about…" the man then launched straight into a lecture which caught everyone by surprise and sent them scrambling for their notebooks.
Normally, this wasn't an issue for him as he had some experience with similar teachers back at Ansel. However, none of it prepared him for how fast Professor Oobleck talked as a flood of words spewed out of the man's mouth in rapid succession. The man literally talked a mile a minute as he spouted off facts and details so quickly that he had trouble writing them down. He tried to keep up with the rapidfire lecture but his hand cramped up from the hectic writing pace so he threw in the towel.
'Ugh! I give up!' Jaune grumbled in frustration as he dropped his pencil and laid his head down in defeat. He stared at his notebook next to his head and sighed at the pages that were filled with a jumbled mess of words and half finished sentences.
He turned to his team and saw that Nora was fast asleep with Ren, who had opted to just listen to the lecture while seemingly uncaring of the fact that Nora was using one of his arms as a pillow.
Pyrrha on the other hand was somehow keeping up with the lecture. Maybe he could ask her if she could lend him her notes later.
Then he looked at Team WRBY to see how they were faring. Weiss, like Pyrrha was also keeping up with Oobleck's lecture. Ruby on the other hand, was struggling if the strained look on her face was anything to go by though he could also a determined glint in her silvery eyes.
Which immediately fizzled out when he saw her hand cramping up.
He silently wished her well before turning to Yang was also listening to the lecture like Ren. Blake seemed to be doing the same though the novel that laid open on her lap told him plenty which one she was paying more attention to. Though she seemed to have brought her scroll out and saw that it was recording the lecture.
Huh, why didn't he think of that?
He then turned his attention back to Oobleck who was zipping around the front of the class between sentences and taking quick sips from a thermos that must have brought out when he looked away. From what he could understand, the lecture was about the Founding of the Four Kingdoms. At the speed he was going, the man was probably aiming to cover all Four Kingdoms by the end of the class.
'Ozma, are you sure you you got the right guy?' Jaune asked skeptically. He was a little surprised when Ozma told him that he recognized one of the teacher's names as his old protege's name. He was happy for Ozma that he'd see another familiar face and he had been looking forward to seeing him too. Now however, he was a little doubtful if the man was the same one Ozma had told him about, "He seems…a little off."
'I know my old protege anywhere.' Ozma said confidently, 'He may be a little…excitable here but he means well.'
'A little?' Jaune snorted while raising his brow, 'Oz, you know the strangest people.'
'Indeed I do, you being one of them.' Ozma said retorted lightheartedly.
Jaune rolled his eyes but took the comment in stride. He then decided to follow Ren's example and listen to the lecture, leaving Ozma to his own devices.
While Jaune was busy with the lecture, Ozma looked down at his old protege, Bartholomew Oobleck, or Bart as he and Oswald used to call him. The young man he once knew had changed since he last saw him. He was obviously much older now and his green hair was now a wild mess compared to the neat trim he was used to.
He fondly recalled how annoyed Bart would get whenever his hair got mussed up from using his semblance which made him reluctant to use it unless it was necessary. Though given how he was zipping around the room, he seems to have accepted the effect his semblance had on his hair. He also noted how Bart's attire reflected the state of his hair as the half tucked shirt, and lopsided tie as well as the popped collar was a far cry from the prim and proper look he had in his youth.
At least his enthusiasm for history hasn't diminished in the slightest. And given how passionately he was speaking, it seemed to have grown since he last saw his protege. Though his thoughts were interrupted when Jaune let out a low groan.
He could feel the frustration radiating from his host and it was obvious why. While he was used to how fast Bart talked whenever he talked about history, it was impeding his ability to teach as many students, Jaune included, couldn't keep up. Fortunately, he had just the solution in mind for this problem.
'Jaune, I have an idea…'
Curious about what Ozma had to say, he nodded his head subtly and listened. His expression then turned skeptical at what Ozma told him and looked at his history professor with a doubtful look in his eyes.
'I don't know, Ozma. You sure it will work?' Jaune asked.
'Trust me, have I ever led you astray?' Ozma asked.
'Yes.' Jaune answered immediately, catching Ozma off guard.
'Give me one example.' Ozma demanded.
'How about the time you got me shot by telling me to run laps around the walls?' the incident had involved one of the militia guards shooting him after mistaking him for a bandit. This alone would have been fine as his aura protected him. That is until the gunfire spooked the rest of the guards into shooting at him too.
Suffice to say, the situation ended with Jaune and the guards getting chewed out by the head of the militia. He also got grounded once his parents heard what happened and to add insult to injury, he had to give up his allowance for the next few months to pay for the bullets the guards used up on him.
It was also how Jaune started his hatred for being shot at.
'To be fair, we didn't know that there had been reports of bandits in the area at the time. Besides, your aura kept you safe.' Ozma insisted.
'Getting shot still hurt.' Jaune grumbled.
''Then it's a good thing you won't get shot if my idea doesn't work. Worst that can happen is that you get yelled at.' Ozma stated.
'Well, I don't want to get yelled at either.'
'Understandable. Then I guess you'll have to go through history class like this for the rest of your time at Beacon then…' Ozma pointed out.
'...'
As Ozma expected, it didn't take long for Jaune to cave and raise his hand, "Excuse me, Professor Oobleck?"
"Doctor!" the history professor snapped irritably, "It's 'Doctor' Oobleck to you, young man. I didn't earn my PhD for fun, thank you very much!"
'So he finally got it. Just as he said he would...' Ozma noted proudly.
"Err, yes doctor…" Jaune said in response. He could hear the other students murmuring and saw a few staring at him. It started to feel like the PSA incident on the airship all over again. He wondered if it was too late to back out now.
"Very good! Now what is it you want to ask me, young man?" Prof-Doctor Oobleck asked.
'A little late to turn back now, Jaune.' Ozma pointed out.
"Umm, sir. Could you talk a little slower? I'm having trouble following your lecture. If you don't mind that is." Jaune added hesitantly before bracing himself for the worst. The other students has also gone quiet, waiting to see how their history professor would react.
Ozma just rolled his eyes and sighed. Teenagers.
"Of course I don't mind!" Oobleck answered.
"Wait, we could have just asked all this time?" a faunus girl with rabbit ears exclaimed in disbelief before she realized all the stares she was getting and shrunk in on herself.
"But of course! I am always happy to accommodate my students when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge…within reason." Oobleck answered before turning back to Jaune, "Now young man, could you tell me which part of my lecture did I lose you?"
Not expecting Ozma's idea to actually work, Jaune hadn't thought of what to say. Fortunately for him, Ozma did and told Jaune to repeat after him with the promise to help him with his homework later, "Umm, I think it was at the end of the Unification Wars."
"Ah, it's not too far back so I can start over from that point again. Of course, only if the rest of the class is fine with it." Oobleck said before looking to the other students for their input.
No one spoke up against it.
"Excellent! To reiterate, the Unification Wars was a series of conflicts that brought an end to the feudal states and formed into the Kingdom of Valea, from which you all can guess is from where Vale got its name. Sir Oswin, a knight who had been instrumental to ending the war was crowned King and…" Oobleck still spoke quickly but had slowed down to a more manageable pace that everyone could understand better.
As Jaune and the rest of the class took down fresh notes, Ozma listened to the lecture in content. He already knew the topic by heart and even gave lectures on it before with Oswald. Though having someone else teaching it to him was a novel experience, especially since his former student was the one doing it. He was sure Oswald would be just as proud of their student as he was right now.
Jaune became confused when he inexplicably started feeling happy and proud mixed with hints of nostalgia. It took him a moment to realize that this was Ozma's emotions spilling over onto him. Ozma usually kept his inner thoughts and emotions locked up behind a mental barrier. He had explained to him that it was to keep their thoughts separate from each other so as not to distract and affect him.
And feeling someone else's emotion was indeed distracting, especially since it made him view his own history teacher, who was a grown man, like how a proud parent would be with their own child. He was too young to be a dad!
However, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to disturb Ozma. From what he felt, he could tell that Ozma must have been close to Oobleck so he decided to leave it be. He put up a mental barrier like Ozma had taught him to block out the emotions from bleeding into him. It wasn't perfect as he still felt twinges of Ozma's emotions but it was more bearable than before so he turned his attention back to the lecture, letting his friend reminisce in peace.
Time passed and the bell eventually rang, signaling the end of morning classes.
'Oh, has that much time passed already?' Ozma sighed deeply in disappointment, 'Such a shame…Are you alright, Jaune?' he asked when he noticed his host's discomfort.
'I'm…fine. Just a little headache.' Jaune lied while massaging his temple. While his mental barrier did mute Ozma's emotions, the bits that did get through still made it difficult for him to concentrate.
"Alright students! We'll end the lecture for today." Oobleck stated, "Please remember to read through the assigned chapters. We will be discussing them next time." a number of students groaned at the number of chapters they'll have to go through, "Come now, it's only some light reading."
Jaune felt the headache coming back when he saw the number of chapters that popped up on his scroll. If this was light reading then he'd hate to see what Oobleck considered to be a regular amount of reading. At least he'll know what he'll be doing over the weekend now.
"And with that, class dismissed!"
Several students quickly stuffed their things into their bags before rush out the nearest exit in droves. Judging by the direction of the stampede of footsteps, they were going to the cafeteria. However, there were some students who were taking it slow, like Team JNPR who took their time packing.
"Hi Jaune!" Ruby greeted cheerfully when Team WRBY passed them by.
"Hey Ruby, what's up?" Jaune asked.
"Just wanted to say thanks for getting Professor Oobleck-"
"It's Doctor!" Oobleck suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone, including Ruby who let out a cute squeak when she jumped, which made Jaune chuckle.
"Hey! Don't laugh!" Ruby said while glaring daggers at him.
"Sorry. Now what did you want to tell me again?" Jaune asked while raising his hands to placate her.
"I was going to thanks for getting Prof - Doctor Oobleck to slow down but now I'm too mad at you to do it!" Ruby pouted while crossing her arms.
Jaune smirked as he was reminded of the many times his sisters got mad at him for one reason or another. Given how familiar he was with the situation, he did what he usually did to placate his sisters, "Sorry Ruby. How can I make it up to you?"
It was an advice his dad had shared with him long ago to help him with girls who got upset with him and despite it being so simple, it was surprisingly effective as it had gotten him out of trouble with his sisters on more than one occasion.
"Then let's go get your sword checked out at the armory, like you promised." Ruby said.
"Oh? Jaune didn't tell us about this." Pyrrha said curiously.
"Yep! Jaune promised me just before Initiation! His sword is super tough and I want to know what it's made of so I can make my precious Crescent Rose super tough too!" Ruby said excitedly before narrowing her eyes at him, "You didn't forget you promise, did you?"
He did forget but Jaune knew better than to admit it, especially if it concerned a promise he made, "Course not, but could we do it after lunch?"
Ruby's silver eyes lit up with joy as she nodded, "Great! Then it's a-"
"Come on Ruby! Let's go already! I'm starving!" Yang called out impatiently as she, along with the other members of W_BY waited by the door for her.
"Coming! See ya later, Jaune!" Ruby said before running off after her team, leaving Jaune with the rest of his team.
"Shall we get going as well?" Pyrrha suggested. "I'd like to ask more about what you promised Ruby over lunch."
"Oooh! Oooh! I hope they're serving pancakes!" Nora said while hopping excitedly in place.
"I doubt they'll be serving breakfast foods for lunch." Ren reminded as he placed his hand on her shoulder, making her stop hopping.
"Aww…wait, could you whip some up for me?" Nora asked while giving her partner a soulfully pleading look.
"I'll see what I can do, Nora." Ren promised to which Nora cheered as the team moved to leave for the cafeteria.
However, just as they left the lecture hall, Jaune suddenly felt melancholic for some reason before realizing Ozma's emotions were bleeding into him again. He could guess why Ozma was feeling this way. Then an idea popped into his head.
"Jaune, is something wrong?" Pyrrha asked in concern, "You've been standing there for a while."
"Yeah, I just realized I forgot something back in class." Jaune answered.
"Do you need any help looking for it?" Pyrrha offered.
"Nah, you three go on ahead without me. I'll catch up with you when I'm done." Jaune said before turning around and going back into the lecture hall.
'Hmm, I didn't notice you forgetting anything. What did you leave behind?' Ozma asked curiously.
'I didn't.' Jaune answered as he walked past where his team sat earlier and down towards the front of the room. 'I just wanted to talk with Oobleck for a bit.'
'And what did you want to talk to him about exactly?' Ozma asked, suspicious of his host's intent.
'Dunno, you're the one that's going to be talking so you can decide.' Jaune stated. It didn't take long for Ozma to realize what Jaune was intending to do.
'Jaune, I appreciate what you're planning but-' Ozma said only for Jaune to cut him off.
'Oz…you don't need to hold it in. I know how you feel…literally.' Jaune said seriously. Ozma soon realized what had happened.
'Jaune, I'm sorry I let my emotions affect you but you don't have to do this. Seeing my old friends alive and well from afar is more than enough for me.' Ozma said while quietly cursing himself for being so careless. 'Let's go join your team and enjoy some lunch.'
'A little late to turn back now, Oz.' Jaune repeated Ozma's own words back cheekily as he approached Oobleck who had his back turned to Jaune as he had his head buried in a book. "Excuse me, Doctor Oobleck?"
"It's Doctor Oobleck!" the man snapped heatedly before whirling around and leaned in to Jaune's face, filling the boy with a feeling of dread.
"Err, that's what I called you." Jaune choked out. The feeling of dread promptly vanished as Oobleck leaned back.
"Oh! My apologies! I'm so used to students not using my proper title that it's become a reflex." Oobleck said while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Ah, you're that student from before. The one that asked me to slow down, aren't you?"
"Er…yeah. I mean, yes sir. My name is Jaune Arc." Jaune answered automatically.
"Well met, Mr Arc. Now, what can I help you with?"
"I…Umm…" Jaune stammered
'You didn't plan on what to say, did you.' Ozma sighed.
'Nooo…yes? I'm working on it, alright?' Jaune racked his brain for ideas before one popped into his head. It was a bit random and abrupt but he ran with it anyways. He cleared his throat before speaking, "I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier."
"You're quite welcome, young man." Oobleck said while smiling kindly at Jaune. "Now is there anything else?"
"Actually, I wanted to ask your help with something."
"And what would that be, Mr Arc?" Oobleck asked curiously.
"You see, I grew up listening to my grandpa's stories about my ancestors and how they were warriors who fought to protect others." Jaune said fondly as he thought back to the countless times he sat on the living room floor, listening to his grandpa's stories.
"And those stories inspired you to become a huntsmen?" Oobleck guessed.
"Yeah…I loved those stories and a part of me always wanted to find out more about them. Like when or where they happened." Jaune said. "And I was hoping to see if you might know anything about them." It started off as a white lie but now that he said it, he actually grew curious about it.
"Being inquisitive is a good thing, Mr Arc but why ask me? Surely your family could have told you more? What about journals or other similar records."
"Only my grandpa knows the stories but he likes to exaggerate." Jaune said, which made Oobleck chuckle.
"I can certainly relate to that." Oobleck said, undoubtedly referring to a certain portly professor. "Still, this means that your family history is passed down orally. How far back does your grandfather's stories go?"
"To the Great War. My grandpa told me that my great-great-grandfather fought in it." Jaune said proudly.
"The Great War, you say? There are historical records on it so we could cross-reference your grandfather's stories with to verify their authenticity." Oobleck said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "If we can verify them then we might even learn of events that have never been recorded before. Hmm, truly fascinating…" Oobleck paused to take a sip of his flask.
"Does that mean you'll do it?" Jaune asked in a hopeful tone.
"I don't see why not. Who knows, you might give me enough material to write a thesis." Oobleck said and chuckled, "If that does happen, would you mind being listed as co-author?"
"Umm…sure?" Jaune said with some uncertainty. He didn't understand what Oobleck was talking about but he agreed anyways for Ozma's sake.
"Excellent! Now that we've reached an agreement, would you like to start now or arrange a different time?"
"I'm fine with doing it right now." Jaune answered before Ozma could protest.
Oobleck then took out his scroll, "I hope you don't mind if I record this." Jaune nodded in consent, "Very well, Mr Arc. Please proceed."
Jaune nodded as he cleared his throat, 'All yours, Ozma.' he then relinquished control of his body to Ozma who was forced to take over to keep Jaune's body standing. 'And don't make any excuses about not knowing the stories. You listened to those stories with me enough to know them by heart.'
Ozma grumbled internally as he felt Jaune's presence retreat partway into his own subconscious so as to give him some privacy with his old student. While he was annoyed with his host for meddling, he was still grateful for the opportunity to speak with his old student again. He recalled one of the earliest stories Jaune's grandfather had told him and recounted the story word for word to Oobleck who listened with rapt attention.
The story was about how a young blacksmith apprentice who had defended his village from bandits after the men in his village was conscripted and taken away by the local lord to fight in the war.
The blacksmith apprentice had been deemed too small and weak by the lord's knights to join the army and yet he was the one to rally the surviving villagers together to fight and even drive off the bandits before rescue had arrived, forcing the knights who had dismissed him earlier to acknowledge him as strong.
That blacksmith apprentice was Jaune Arc's great-great grandfather..
After Ozma finished retelling the story, he and Oobleck started discussing when and where the story might have taken place so they could have an idea on where to start looking. Speaking with his old student reminded him of the days where he and Oswald would debate with each other and their student. He enjoyed himself so much that he broke character though neither he nor Oobleck noticed as they became engrossed in their discussion.
"... a lord being personally present when levying peasants into their army would imply that they were a lord of a small region." Oobleck stated. They had been trying to discern what rank the lord might have been so as narrow down which region's history to investigate.
"However, this lord had multiple knights serving him, something a minor lord can rarely afford." Ozma argued in turn.
"Hmm, you make a good point but there are records of minor lords retaining multiple knights during the Great War so-" Oobleck said before he was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming open.
Ozma turned Jaune's head and saw Ruby standing by the door with a clearly unhappy expression on her face. "Jaune? Have you seriously been here this whole time?" Ruby demanded as she stomped down the aisle towards him.
"Umm...yes?" Ozma said while doing his best impression of Jaune's usual cluelessness.
'Hey!' Jaune complained.
Oops, he had meant to keep that to himself. 'Then feel free to retake the reins then.' Ozma said before he felt Jaune's presence coming forward and the two seamlessly switched out just in time to see Ruby stopping in front of them.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Ruby demanded angrily though given their height difference, she had had to look up at him, making her less intimidating than she had intended.
Jaune then felt his stomach grumbling, reminding him that he hadn't eaten yet, "Umm, lunch time?"
"That was over an hour ago." Ruby deadpanned.
"Wait, really?" Jaune pulled out his scroll to check the time and saw that Ruby was right, "Wait, then shouldn't we be in class right now?"
Ruby quirked her brow at him, her anger forgotten. "What classes? Do you mean the electives? Those don't start until next week."
"Indeed. We want to give you students time to adjust to Beacon first before you decide on the electives you wish to study." Oobleck added helpfully.
"Then why were you looking for me, Ruby?" Jaune asked.
'Didn't you make a promise earlier?' Ozma reminded.
"Oh…the promise." Jaune said sheepishly, "Sorry, Ruby."
"You should be sorry, buster! Do you have any idea how long it took me to find you?" Ruby complained before staring down at the floor, "I thought you had ditched me."
Looking at Ruby being sad made him feel bad, like he had just kicked a sad puppy level of bad. "Can I still make it up to you?" he offered which seemed to be the right thing to say as a smile lit up Ruby's face.
"Good! Now come on before all the good spots at the forge are taken!" Ruby said before hooking her arm around Jaune's and started dragging him away.
"Ruby, hold on! I haven't eaten yet." Jaune spoke up while trying to keep up only for Ruby to suddenly stop and let go of his arm, causing him to stumble forward and barely stopped himself from falling by grabbing onto one of the nearby seats.
"Oh right, I almost forgot. Your partner wanted me to give this to you." Ruby then held a paper bag out to him, "She was with me for a bit and wanted to give it to you herself…but a bunch of people crowded around her. Something about autographs and selfies."
Jaune accepted the bag and opened it up to find a couple of sandwiches wrapped in plastic along with a small bag of cookies and to his delight, a can of People Like Grapes. He made a mental note to thank Pyrrha later as he unwrapped one of the sandwiches and bit into it. Huh, ham and cheese, not bad.
"Come on, you can eat while we walk." Ruby while pulling him along though at a less hurried pace.
Jaune nodded as he let Ruby lead the way to the exit though before he left, he turned around and waved to Oobleck, "Thanks for your time, sir! Let's do this again sometimes."
"Of course, Mr Arc, I'd be delighted." Oobleck answered amicably.
"Yeah, bye professor!" Ruby chimed in before pulling Jaune out the door.
"It's doctor!" Oobleck shouted after them before he sighed and let out a soft chuckle as he leaned back into his seat and looked down at the notes he had written down during the discussion he had with the boy.
There wasn't much there due to how brief it was but they did have a possible starting point to begin their research. Still, as he went through them, he recalled the discussion and couldn't help but wonder why the boy's mannerism felt so familiar. It was almost like he was speaking with…
He shook his head to dismiss the thought and turned his attention back to his own work.
Author's Note: So there's the reveal, Oobleck was Ozma and Oswald's old protege. Not sure if it surprised anyone or not since I did leave a teeny tiny hint in the first chapter.
Originally, the idea was to have Oobleck be the one Mulberry called in to test Jaune in his practicals exam. The idea was to either hold out until the time ran out or for him to get in a clean hit. Jaune would have gotten his ass whooped handily but lasted long enough to pass. But that got scrapped after how much I enjoyed writing the fight against the Drone Chimera and you know the rest. Plus, I wanted to give Jaune a win after what I put him through.
As for the history lesson Oobleck taught, I'll be honest and say that I have nothing really planned for that aside from the brief mention of another of Ozma's previous incarnation. So any resemblance to real life history is purely coincidental.
Jaune's ancestor was obviously inspired by the many fics featuring Jaune as a blacksmith with Coeur's Forged Destiny though without the game mechanics. I made him a blacksmith (apprentice) since he was the one that forged Crocea Mors and would have had some inclination to learn how how mechashift works and incorporate it.
Anyways, there's going to be a bit of a time skip next in the next chapter and be mostly slice-of-life at Beacon for Jaune. Also, I have something else in the works for a one shot story though it's mainly just an idea at this point so it might not get out depending on what happens. Guess we'll see.