Symbiote Knight

Chapter 3: Helping Hand

It had been a couple of days since that day in the forest and for some reason Jaune had felt a little different lately. It wasn't anything he could put his finger on, just little things here and there. He had strange food cravings for starters another thing was that he felt almost more focused. It was strange he felt like he was remembering things better or more like someone was reminding him, if that made sense.

Currently he was in one of the classrooms as the teacher was Professor Port going on and on about his adventures as a young huntsman. It was honestly hard to pay attention as the man just kept on talking and talking. Most of the class had a hard time staying awake, a few were able to keep notes, while a couple just gave up sometimes and fell asleep.

He once heard jokes from other students that Port's lectures could be used as a sleep aid.

At first people like Weiss and Pyrrha tried to take detailed notes but that was soon forgotten when they both had filled a notebook out after a week. They soon picked up that the only real notes they need to take were the important details about Grimm. It was still hard to pay attention, but they at least had figured out when he was actually giving them valuable information.

This of course led to members of both teams usually asking to see their notes to make sure they didn't miss anything, which they usually found they did.

Still even with that they did try to pay attention, it was a class after all. Jaune for his part was trying to pay attention but his mind kept wondering and soon he felt his eyelids getting heavy, he had tried shifting around to keep himself awake but he was losing the battle.

"Mr. Arc," Port's voice called out.

Jaune snapped to attention. "Y-yes sir?"

"Tell me my boy what did I say was the best way to deal with a beringel?"

"A beringel?" Jaune blanked at that, which Grimm was that again? Then it happened, something that happened a lot in the last few days. The image of a gorilla like Grimm showed up in his mind and then it was almost like the answer was whispered to his ear.

"You stay out of it's reach since it's strong and go in after it usually swings wide with its arms. The counterattack should be going for vitals or tendons to either kill it quickly or slow it down since you can whittle it down as it's not the most intelligence Grimm out there."

Port smiled up at him from his central spot in the room. "Excellent answer, it's nice to see students are paying attention, now then as I was saying…"

Jaune tuned him out as he signed, he had no idea where that was coming from but he was glad for it. Everyone was surprised by that, mainly because most wouldn't have been able to pull that off with Port as a teacher. Pyrrha looked on proudly as she went back to taking notes, Ruby was surprised and wrote down what Jaune said in her own notes since she had missed that part. Weiss paused for a bit and flipped through her notebook and paused.

She had found that Jaune said verbatim what Port had said, she knew as she took very accurate notes. Looking at Jaune and how he wasn't taking any notes she was wondering how in the world he managed to do that? Did Jaune actually have some kind of photographic memory or something? It seemed unfair for someone like him to just instantly memorize things then again maybe that's how someone of his skill got into Beacon.

She wondered how someone who seemed so untrained was able to get into one of the Big Four like Beacon so maybe he got in through his studies? At any rate she went back to focusing on her lessons and leaving the mystery alone, she had more important things to focus on at the moment.

For Jaune it was like he had someone helping him out, an invisible person just whispering things into his head. He found that he could remember a lot of details better lately because of it. Even his body was starting to pick things up more easily. The last two training sessions with Pyrrha at night he felt his body really picking up on what she was teaching. He didn't even feel as tired as he normally felt after training, so maybe his body was getting used to it?

Whatever was going on, Jaune was glad it was happening.

The last class for the day was of course something he was apprehensive about.

Combat Class.

Granted he was getting better but he was still learning a lot, mainly just how far he was behind everyone. Not that was anyone's fault, he never got to go to a combat school since there weren't any in the area, he lived in. Getting out of his school clothing and then into his combat clothes he hoped that today he didn't have to fight.

He picked up his weapons by the weapons room as he and his team sat down in the auditorium. Glynda Goodwitch stood there looking just as imposing as ever. She went over lessons learned from the previous class to reiterate things they should all learn. Jaune tried to remember it all, but it was a lot of information.

The first few matches went on between other classmates that he didn't really know that well. They were in the same year as him but for the most part Jaune didn't really know anyone outside of his group of friends. Well, there was team CRDL, but he didn't care for them, mainly Cardin.

Although he felt he jinxed himself when the next named was called up was himself and Dove of said team CRDL.

'At least it's not Cardin' he mentally thought as he looked across the platform where Dove stood with his sword. Jaune didn't know much about the boy or his weapon, said weapon was named Bronzewing by Dove and it was a Hallstatt sword that could change to fire rounds. To Jaune it just looked like some kind of long sword with what looked like a hilt similar to Blake's weapon.

"Very well, both students are ready?" Glynda looked at both students and when none objected, she nodded. "Begin!"

Dove changed his weapon into a modified rifle as he started firing shots at Jaune while closing in. Jaune for his part immediately threw up his shield taking the shots. He could see just over the top of it that Dove was moving in, and he had to do something.

The he could hear shouts from the crowd, but he wasn't too focused on them as he wasn't sure what to do here.

~Move~

He felt a jerk as he almost stumbled but quickly started to move around Dove. The boy turned to aim but a moving target was always harder to hit than a stationary one. He had to reload his weapon thankfully he knew that Jaune usually just stood there and took it instead of going on the attack.

He popped the cylinder and pulled out a fresh one.

~Attack, attack now~

Against Jaune felt this proofing as he moved forward, he could see the surprise on Dove's face as he quickly tried to jam in the new rounds, he barely got them in and only fired on more shot before Jaune was on him swinging his sword. Dove was forced back as he tried to parry but it was hard with his weapon in this mode.

The others watched Jaune continued with this attack.

"Jaune looks a bit more aggressive today," Blake tilted her head at the new way Jaune was fighting.

"About time too," Yang grinned. "He always just stood there, you got to move around and use your foot work."

Pyrrha felt a little hit to her pride by their commentary, mainly because she couldn't fault them. She had been focusing on the basics with Jaune, with his stance and how to strike properly. She had only just touched on movement lately, but she was glad that Jaune was showing some initiative.

"He's going to have to do more than this to beat Dove though," Weiss crossed her arms.

"Can't you be a little supportive?" Ruby asked her.

"I will when he shows some progress at the moment he's barely hanging on," she replied never taking an eye off this.

"Go Jaune you can do this!" Nora shouted out with a silent but supportive Ren next to her.

Dove wasn't sure what got into Jaune today, but he needed space, he saw his opening and kicked the boy's shield sending him back a few steps, it was just enough time he needed to switch his weapon into sword mode and now it was his turn to go on the attack.

Jaune knew he was in trouble when Dove pressed the attack, he had been doing so well but now he wasn't sure what he could do with this. He kept his shield up and was looking for an opening, but Dove wasn't giving him any. He thought about how he moved before, and it threw the other boy off so when Dove went for thrust Jaune side stepped it and swung his own sword.

Dove was caught off guard but not so much as he took a step back parried with his sword, it was a sloppy parry, but it worked well enough.

Jaune mentally cursed, that was close but not close enough. Maybe with a bit more strength he could overpower Dove but unless he suddenly got stronger that wasn't happening. He was trying to think of something to do while trying to block each strike from Dove.

Suddenly Jaune got an image in his head, of him lightly taking the hit of the sword and pulling back and pushing the sword away to make the other boy open to a counterattack.

'I mean…why not, I don't got any other plans,' he figured where the insight came from but he had been getting those lately and they seemed to work out. So when Dove struck down with and overhead swing Jaune knew he had a chance. He stepped back just before the sword impacted and just when he felt the weight of the sword he pushed hard to the side.

Dove wasn't expecting it, he put so much momentum and weight behind the blow that when Jaune didn't take it, all that energy kept going forward. When Jaune pushed his shield aside Dove didn't have the leverage to stop it. His sword went wide as she stumbled forward and suddenly felt the sting of Jaune's sword catch him in the arm.

His aura flared as it took the damage, but the boy had to make some distance. He checked the board for a split second, his aura was already in the yellow one more hit and it could get sent into the red.

'Yes! Okay that worked…now what?' Both students were circling the other. Jaune was keeping just enough distance to keep from Dove using his weapon's reach while making sure he could dash in if the other boy tried to turn his weapon into gun mode.

Dove knew this too and he wasn't happy, how in the world was this loser giving him issues? If he lost here, he knew Cardin wouldn't let him live this down. He figured to hell with it, just rush in and beat him down with pure strength. Cardin did that all the time and it always seemed to work on Jaune in the past.

With that the boy charged forward and gave a huge overhead swing, Jaune jumped back but the boy followed up with a thrust to keep up the momentum that pushed Jaune back when he put ups his shield. Dove was now being very aggressive in his swings trying to whittle away at Jaune's defense.

Then he noticed the mistake, Jaune tried to swing back but it was sloppy, and the grip didn't look just right. So Dove threw all his weight behind his sword and when the swords hit, Jaune lost his grip and his weapon went flying across the floor.

"Oh crap," Jaune knew he was in trouble now.

While team CRNL cheered on their teammate, those supporting Jaune started to worry. Pyrrha gripped the seat in worry, Nora stopped mid cheer now paling at the sight of it. Ren sighed and dropped his head while he didn't show much emotion, he had been hoping for Jaune to pull out a win. Yang clicked her tongue disappointed but at least Jaune showed some improvement. Blake just stared almost counting the seconds, Ruby looked deflated as Weiss sat back unimpressed.

Jaune held his shield up not sure what to do, his weapon was too far away to reach and if he ran for it, Dove would be free to attack him.

"Give up now and safe yourself some pain Jaune," Dove taunted him.

Jaune felt like he should give up, what can he do?

~Don't give up, still hope~

'Huh?' Jaune felt a sense of support and encouragement although he wasn't sure where it was coming from. While nice he wasn't sure what to do, then like before an image came to his mind. It was like he could see himself do it but would it work?

'Well either I go down giving up or I go out fighting if this doesn't work,' he thought.

Looking at Dove, he steadied himself. "Give me all you got Dove."

"Your funeral," he swung as Jaune blocked, he swung again as Jaune's shield took the blow. And again, and again.

Glyda was about to call the match over if Jaune couldn't defend himself then there was no point in continuing. This was a class of learning not one to just beat students into the ground. She was about to call out when she noticed something. She adjusted her glasses as she looked at Jaune Arc. He didn't look like someone who was waiting to lose but someone planning something.

Given her experiences teaching students for years she would give him a few more moments but only a few, anymore and she would have to call the match.

Jaune's arms felt tired, every blow was sapping their strength and he knew he couldn't keep it up for long, but he just needed Dove to get in the right position. Just the right swing to-There!

Dove went for a double handed overhead swing leaving his torso exposed. Jaune did just as the image in his mind showed him. He jumped forward and slammed his shield into the boy's chest, Dove let out a pained grunt, but it wasn't over. The blow was just to stun him and most importantly get his chin exposed as Jaune wrenched his shield up as the top of it slammed into Dove's exposed chin.

The boy's aura broke as he hit the ground dazed from the attack.

Jaune stood there blinking looking down at Dove who was struggling to move as there was silence in the auditorium.

"The winner is Jaune Arc," Glynda's voice called out.

Jaune jerked suddenly at that, he won? He looked to the board and saw that Dove's aura was into the red. He could just make out Nora's loud voice cheering for him from the group of others from his own team and Team RWBY, well okay Yand and Ruby were cheering, Blake was politely clapping along with most of the students and Weiss stood there with an unreadable expression, but she did look a bit surprised at the outcome.

"That was awesome with how he used his shield there at the end!" Nora excitedly jumped up.

"Man, when did you teach Jaune that one P-Money?" Yang asked the red head.

"I…didn't," Pyrrha was surprised by the move. She had seen similar ones before since she too fought with a sword and shield like Jaune, but she hadn't gotten around to shield combat yet in their training. Maybe she needed to revise her estimates if Jaune pulled out a move like that on his own to increase the difficulty of his training. He had been improving a lot faster lately and this fight was more proof of that.

She hated to think she was holding him back. She was starting to see the challenge in training another person. She only had her own training and experiences and so she couldn't train him like she had been so her training of Jaune was lighter when she first started. She was starting to think she had been going too easy on him up to this point. She resolved to make this a learning lesson for herself on how to teach Jaune and to improve both him and her teaching methods in the future.

"So, you think that's an improvement?" Ruby asked Weiss with a grin.

Weiss rolled her eyes she was if anything a woman of her word as she clapped along with the rest of them. He had won so it was an improvement, small but still an improvement.

When Dove could stand both students were now in front of Glynda as she went on the positives and negatives of their match. Dove was admonished for leaving himself open too many times in the match that Jaune took advantage of, but Jaune was also for losing his weapon.

"Keep in mind students this is a perfect example of what can happen in the field." The teacher explained to everyone. "You can lose your weapon in combat either from what happened to Mr. Arc here or even to damage. The important thing is to not give up and find unexpected ways to still come out on top."

Jaune was happy with the win and the praise he got for what did. He felt like he was now one step closer to being a real Huntsman.

For the symbiote inside of Jaune it too felt happy that its host was doing well. The boy had a long way to go compared to some previous hosts but the symbiote felt like the boy could get there in time. It had been learning a lot while recovering, this school held a wealth of information it was just too bad that Jaune didn't study as well as some of his friends. She symbiote had tried to push him into studying better but only with limited results.

It was still far too weak and even just now helping taxed its strength. At least it was no longer in danger of dying but it would still take some to regain its full strength. In the meantime, it had been enjoying the environment. Jaune was surrounded by helpful and kind people, well maybe for the most part. The one named Blake was kind of stand offish, and the one named Weiss while he could feel his host's feelings of attraction, the girl seemed to have some issues.

Being around so many different species and so many hosts both male, female and others that most species didn't have names for, gave the symbiote a large collection of knowledge to deal with non-Klyntar races. From what it observed the girl seemed to have a huge weight on her all the time, all that pressure was coming out in negative emotional states. It wasn't sure what, but to the symbiote it seemed there was some outside force that was nearly constantly on the girl.

Unfortunately, this was only a guess as the host wasn't very close to her.

Another odd observation was how close Jaune's partner seemed to be, normally in some civilizations some of her actions could be considered courtship rituals. Jaune however didn't seem to notice them or maybe they weren't for his species. The symbiote was still learning the social norms of this culture through the host after all. That was one set back to being a long-lived species like the Klyntar, so many different races had different social norms that you had to learn.

Sometimes you would find situations that some species wouldn't have issues with and others where the issues could cause a full-on war. It was confusing and so every Klyntar had to relearn the social norms of every new species or culture they assimilated into.

At any rate the symbiote was getting stronger and soon he would attempt to communicate with the host on a more intimate level. The dreaming hadn't gone as planned the human mind was a little unique and took getting used to. Just a bit more time and soon it would be able to fully contact the host, it would have done so much earlier if it hadn't been so injured in the crash.

The symbiote got comfortable as it watched the host get congratulated by his friends when he returned to his seat. It could feel the happiness and pride growing in the host which made the symbiote happy in return. After all what the host felt the symbiote would feel and vise-versa.

On the plus side without anyone knowing of Klyntars and some of the negative histories about the corrupted, perhaps when it was strong enough it could get to know these friends of his as well.

TBC…