Volume 2

Chapter 3

Paradigm Shift

Monday, February 28th, 4 BFB

(16 months ago)

(1 month, 9 days after Day One)

City of Vale

Aura. Based on the things it could do, Lee would have likened it to the fictional concepts of ki or chakra back in his old world, since, whatever name you chose to call it by, it was, at the end of the day, an esoteric power which came from within. However, to hear it described in this world, it was actually the manifestation of one's very soul. And as such:

"You must allow yourself to feel your power, Caerulean. There is no need to force it out, as it is already yours to command. 'For it is our actions alone which grant us immortality. Through our own efforts, we become paragons of ambition and control. Infinite in potential and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my power enable thee.' Thus was the chant I used when I unlocked your Aura, and not a word of it was misspoken. You possess power, Caerulean, you must simply learn how it feels before you will be able to grasp it."

Those words of wisdom had been spoken to him by Cinder. The pair were currently seated on grassy ground facing each other, in a secluded section of a park. It was still dark outside, but the sky was beginning to lighten; the best environment they could get for Lee to focus on identifying his Aura, Cinder had said. He had been skeptical about just how early he had to wake up in order to participate in this training, but considering that Cinder would be waking up even earlier, Lee would not complain. He had instead been grateful about how far out of her way Cinder was going to train him, and thus vowed to give it his all.

In hindsight, his earnestness may have been the root of his problem. Chiefly, that he was struggling to even be consciously aware of his Aura. This had left Cinder and the rest of the gang confused, as every single one of them could, if need be, identify the sensation of their Aura, and had been able to almost since the moment they had it unlocked. That confusion had only grown to encompass Lee himself when Cinder had proclaimed that, when she unlocked his Aura for him, he actually possessed a fairly large amount. So for him to not even be able to feel it when he searched for it? He had to be going about it the wrong way. Hence this meditation retreat.

"Your Aura is the very manifestation of your soul, Caerulean, but before you can wield it, you must ask yourself; what does that mean?"

Well, in scientific terms, Lee was clueless. Obviously, there had to be some sort of science behind it, esoteric as it might seem to his previous worldview, but even Remnant's finest minds had yet to divine just what Aura was. Thus, one had to take it on faith that it really was their soul. But faith was not something which came easily to Lee, being Agnostic. That being said, Lee was not about to try to disprove something that seemed to have worked for untold thousands, if not millions of people before him; he simply needed to find the answer which worked for Lee.

If Aura worked the way everyone on Remnant claimed it did, then he could see why he had been failing to consciously manifest it. Going back to the ki example, Lee had expected it to work similarly to that. Regardless of the source, Lee had been thinking of it as life energy, rather than soul energy, and thus something that was generated by his body. But now that he was consciously thinking about it, Lee realized that he must have been subconsciously equating the two to be the very same thing. But they weren't. Though he didn't have any concrete belief about what comes after life, his very presence on Remnant, in a different body than what he remembered having on Earth, was proof enough that one's soul was not necessarily bound to the life within the body they happened to be inhabiting. Thus, searching for Aura to come from within his heart or some other part of his body was doomed to fail. If he thought of it as coming from his own consciousness, however, that meant if he focused on his brain, where his consciousness was housed…

"Well, that was quick."

Blue/green eyes blinked open at the deadpan remark, the faint undertone of surprise being, in turn, surprising enough to Lee that he could not tune it out. For the briefest moment, he was treated to a raised eyebrow from his mentor, seated seiza style across from him, before it settled into her usual cool gaze. But what was that cyan colored light in his peripheral visio-

"Oh." A quick glance down revealed that the glow had been coming from him. "I guess it really was that simple…"

"Apparently so. Now, since you've managed to retain your hold on your power, tell me; what does it feel like?"

"Good." Came the immediate, earnest answer. Ever since the concept had been explained to him, Lee had been excited to harness his own Aura. It was what allowed Huntsmen, Specialists, and other Aura-trained individuals to perform the superhuman feats that made them stand out from the masses. Though Semblances and training made it so that the spectrum of soul-fueled abilities was vast, it was no secret that an Aura-trained individual did not need to have a physically enhancing Semblance to be stronger and faster than the average person. So with Lee now having grasped how to achieve that, he was ecstatic.

"That's to be expected, Lee. But I was looking for a description of the sensation, not your emotional state."

Blinking, Lee did his best to ignore the sarcastic undertone to Cinder's comments; anger, after all, wasn't exactly conducive to learning. With that in mind, Lee tuned out his other senses, focusing only on his Aura. "It feels like… It feels like a pool of water. It isn't warm, nor cold, it's like it's the exact same temperature as I am. When I touch it, I feel it permeating through my whole body… But if that's the case, I suppose that would mean I'm doing the enhancement thing all over. That means the next step is learning how to channel it into just one limb, right?"

"Not necessarily." Cinder retorted. "Though it is true that you can empower one part of yourself at a time in order to boost the strength and durability of that part, you should first focus on making sure you can maintain that feeling when it counts; we'll start on that tomorrow, with help from the others."

"So… what should I do for now?"

"I had planned for this to take you at least another hour or two."

"Then I guess we should head back?"

"Not just yet; while I did not expect it, I did prepare for this possibility. Keep ahold of your Aura."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lee could not help but raise a brow of his own, however, as Cinder rummaged through her bag, placed on the blanket beside her. It was not at the fact she was rummaging, however, or anything to do with the bag itself (though he might have made fun of her for the flame motif if he had been there with her when she picked it out). No, what had him raising his brow was the glowing red crystal she extracted from it.

"Really, ma'am? You keep a Fire Dust crystal in your purse?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Had it been anyone else, Lee might have called the bluff. On Neo or Emerald, for example, the aggressive tone combined with a glare and light blush would have been cute, and Lee would have opted for sarcasm and been confident he could get away with it. On Cinder, however, it was definitely intimidating rather than cute, so he chose to refrain from humor.

"No, ma'am, but… isn't raw Dust volatile?"

"It is, but not to the extent you're thinking. A crystal this size would create only a small explosion if someone were to somehow set it off." Cinder's (embarrassed?) glare quickly morphed into an evil smirk. "That being said, this crystal is your next test."

Lee gulped, not exactly reassured. However, while he may not have known Cinder for long, he felt that he had known her long enough to know that she wouldn't have him attempt whatever it was she was going to have him do if she didn't believe him capable of it. So, Lee gulped, and carefully accepted the Dust crystal.

"Relax, Caerulean; the crystal will not explode, as long as you do not handle it rashly."

"Right… No sense in pysching myself out over an inanimate object." A pause, as Lee took a deep breath, then let it out shakily. Once more, this time with a smooth exhale, and Lee was calm enough to continue. "Okay… What do you want me to do with this?"

"Are you still tapped into your Aura?"

"No."

"Good, you remembered your Dust safety instructions."

"Ain't gonna catch me blowing myself up…" Lee grumbled with a glare, causing Cinder's eyes to crinkle just slightly with restrained amusement.

"As I said, that will not happen, so long as you handle it with care. Now, reach for your Aura again."

Blue/green eyes closed, as Lee once again reached for that pool. It was much easier to find this time, now having done so before, and as soon as he touched it, that slight sensation of being enveloped in water returned. On the outside, his body once again emitted a slight blue glow.

"Good. Now, however you located your Aura, do that again, this time with the crystal in your hand. But do not connect with it just yet."

Again, Lee had to bite down his apprehension, in favor of trusting that Cinder wouldn't try to make him blow himself up… At least, not without good reason. But as far as he was aware, he had yet to give her one, so he should be safe.

"Okay Lee, you got this…" Calm once again, Lee focused his awareness on the Dust crystal in his hand… And, to his own surprise, he could sense it there, the same way he could now sense his Aura. It was different, though; where his Aura felt like a pool of thermoneutral water, the crystal in his hand felt like a cloud of hot gas inside of a container… 'Fire itself,' Lee supposed.

"Okay, I've got the Fire crystal, but haven't tried to 'touch' it yet. What do I do now?"

Lee could hear Cinder hum, in what sounded like approval to his ears. The corners of his lips lifted ever so slightly, forming the ghost of a pleased smirk. Even so, he was fairly certain she rolled her eyes at him, not needing to have his own open to be able to tell. He didn't care though; he was proud of his own progress, dammit!

"Now, focus on your other hand, and try to visualize a small flame appearing above it. Once you've got the image in your mind, you can 'touch' the crystal."

A determined nod, and then Lee set about achieving that task. Grasp on his Aura? Check. Image of a small flame in his free hand? Check. Now he just needed to grasp that container…

"Woah..." When he had grasped it, Lee had almost instantly felt the flame appear above his hand. But he had also felt how the energy from the crystal had heated up his Aura as it traveled from the hand that gripped the crystal, up his arm, across his shoulders, and down his other arm until it reached its destination.

"Incredible…" Cinder murmured, seeming to echo Lee's own awe. "Caerulean, please confirm for me; did you think of the flame in your hand, or did you think of the process of guiding it there?"

"The flame, just like you said."

"Well then… it would appear you are naturally gifted. Most have to visualize the process first, which has a tendency to lessen the effects if their minds are unable to keep track of both the process and the end result. I wonder…"

An hour later, Lee and Cinder were seated in the same place at the same park, but now better prepared. Laid out on the blanket between them were several Dust crystals, freshly purchased from a quaint little shop called From Dust to Dawn. Fire and Water, each in the colors that one would expect for those elements. Air, represented by light green, contradicting those who might have expected that to be Earth (which was somewhere between brown and orange.) Electricity, which, being yellow, might have subverted Lee's expectation of it being indigo. But, indigo was too close to violet, which represented Gravity (though it could be such a dark violet that it began to approach black, such as the crystal Cinder had procured). Plant, which was a leafier, more saturated green than Air. And last, and in this case, actually least, Hardlight. It was the rarest Dust, and thus the most expensive, so Cinder only had a small crystal of it. A shame, since the Cyan colored Dust matched his Aura nearly perfectly.

Over the next hour, Cinder had Lee test his affinity for each Dust type. They started with Fire, just so Lee could refresh his memory of the sensation, which remained much the same. Next up was Water, blue as a sapphire (or perhaps the open sea), but possessing the inner glow which was typical of Dust. Lee had guessed that his affinity for this type would be low, based on his seemingly high affinity for Fire, but a brief test had proven that to be a false assumption.

"It feels… not cold, but cool. Like, room temperature. When I touch it, my own 'pool' of Aura is eager to guide it, but once it's outside of my body, I can barely feel it anymore." Lee had, on Cinder's suggestion, attempted to form a floating orb of water. It had been just as easy for him to guide the Water energy from the Dust crystal to his hand as it had been for the Fire crystal, but unlike with Fire, Lee hadn't been able to maintain his grasp once it left his body. So, rather than an orb, he had simply shot a small glob of water a few inches above his palm, which, without any sort of force keeping it there, did what you would expect and fell right back down to his hand. However, it did fall more slowly than normal water would, and it had still been spinning when it fell. And once it landed in his hand, he was able to form it into an orb… He just couldn't make it float. Not quite a failure, but not exactly as precise as Fire.

Up next was Earth. "This one feels… huh." Lee paused for a moment, moments after making mental contact with the crystal. "It's weird; it feels hard, but brittle when I first touch it. But after a moment, it seems to become like clay, waiting for me to mold it. It doesn't seem like it wants to flow quite as well or as fast as Water and Fire do, but I guess that's because I'm thinking of my Aura as a pool which fills my body, and the energy from Dust gets caught in the current. Since it's Earth, it isn't liquid or pure heat like the other two; it's solid, and since I'm not trying to force it, I'll have to wait for the current to carry it to its destination. But once it leaves the pool and is exposed to the outside world, it should 'dry' into the form I want…" The form he wanted to achieve in this case had been the same, a floating orb. And just as had happened when Lee had been using Water, the Earth energy coalesced into a sphere a few inches above his palm, but instantly fell down once it had formed. Unlike the water, however, Lee was unable to make the orb spin, even once it was in his palm.

"I think I understand the pattern here."

A moment later, the floating ball of whirling Air energy in his palm proved him correct. However, Cinder was the one to comment this time:

"Interesting: it seems you have an equal affinity to generate all four basic elements from Dust, but when trying to actively control them, the state of matter mat- is important. Gas seems to come easiest to you, while liquid is tenuous and solids are completely outside of your control once formed. Let me guess; this one feels and flows similarly to Fire, but without the heat?"

"Yeah, that's mostly accurate, but for some reason, this just feels a bit more natural than Fire did."

"Alright, that will be something to keep in mind when we design your combat style. Now, onto the next crystal, please."

Building on their theory, Lee chose the yellow crystal next: Electric Dust. Same as he had with the other four, he reached for it with his Aura, and…

"Woah! I feel… charged!" In an instant, Lee was on his feet, jogging in place, seeking to use up some of the energy his body had suddenly been infused with. "Makes sense seeing as this is electricity we're talking about, but still, whatever I expected, I didn't think it would feel this good! I feel like I could run a marathon with all of this energy!"

Despite herself, Cinder let out a small laugh at Lee's antics. "Yes, that sounds correct for your first time, particularly since you seem to visualize your own Aura as a pool, and water tends to conduct electricity rather well. Have a look at yourself."

Lee did as he was told, and stopped mid-jog at what he saw. The hairs on his arms were standing straight up, but that wasn't what was so surprising. What did surprise him was the yellow streaks of Electric energy which were arcing around his entire body. Which, now that he was actually seeing, he noticed he could also hear and feel. As he stated, he didn't feel like he was getting electrocuted; it just felt like he had extra energy coursing through his veins. But if he was able to control Water, Earth, Fire, and Air to do what he wanted, then he should be able to do the same with Electric as well, right? That thought in mind, Lee concentrated on guiding the current towards his hand, and with a triumphant shout, thrust it up towards the sky, generating a potent, sustained bolt of crackling lightning.

Lee cackled, while Cinder… If Lee had looked over towards Cinder, he might have been treated to the rare sight of her expressing visible shock. Eyes widened, lips parted into a slight "o" shape. A soft "oh my…" muttered to herself. It was exceedingly rare for someone to show that much aptitude, to express that much power and control, on their first attempt at using Dust. That itself was shoc- surprising enough. After a few moments, however, when Cinder looked down towards the Electric crystal Lee was holding in order to gauge when the cackling teenager would run out of Dust and be forced to stop, the sight of a crystal that did not seem to have lost any of it's glow left her astounded. If that was the case, despite Lee's impressive display, then that meant his consumption rate was near zero.

'By the gods…' Came Cinder's shocked thoughts. 'If he can maintain that consumption rating under duress, then with enough training, he might eventually have the ability to fight a Maiden by himself and win… I'll need him at my side when the time comes.'

Shock now giving way to delight, Cinder quickly schooled her expression back into a cool smirk, the one that projected confidence in both her protege's abilities, and her own ability to nurture them. But Lee was so caught up in the exhilaration of firing off a lightning storm from the palm of his hand that he missed it. When he finally did stop (a quick glance from Cinder revealing that, yes, the crystal was in fact still at about the same level of brightness as when Lee had started), Lee only saw the expression Cinder was choosing to let him see. One which Lee himself happened to match.

"I'm definitely building my fighting style around Dust."

Cinder did not need to answer that with words, her widening grin conveying that she both approved and was equally excited to see what Lee would become capable of. So much so that when, 2 weeks later, Lee and Neo presented Cinder with the blueprints for the gauntlets he had envisioned, she had no further suggestions to make. Though she did finally have to reveal that the rate he consumed Dust Crystals was abnormally low when Neo asked why neither of them thought Lee needed to be able to quickly replace the Dust loaded into them, the process had already become so natural to Lee that knowing this didn't ruin it. And when his choice of armament was proven correct a few months after that, when he channeled Electricity through it to put Hei Xiong down for the count?* Cinder had high, high hopes for Lee.


Heh. I didn't know enough about the world at the time to make the connection, but now that I think about it, Cinder really would have been a great fit for teaching Dust and Semblance Applications at Beacon. Obviously, she has a whole host of other problems that would prevent her from teaching at a secondary school or even one of the Huntsmen academies in this life, but take away the anger issues and the fact that bitch just wants to watch the world burn? She was a damn good mentor, the best I could have ever hoped to have gotten… Which, come to think of it, is probably why whoever shoved me through that portal made sure to put me in her path…

I digress.

I know I should have at least mentioned my Dust training back when we were talking about my first year with her; I guess it just slipped my mind, wanting to get to all the action. Ironic, considering I was in the middle of reliving the action of my first tournament match before I got here, but then, you're the one who wanted to know how my ability works, right? Can't blame you; there's few enough people who can use Dust without a Focus like I do, and even fewer who can do that with multiple types, let alone just about every type. Incredible, I know, but statistically believable as the result of a very specific Semblance. Or so you probably thought, until you saw just how my Semblance let me go toe to toe with the Fall and Spring Maidens…

But again, let's not get ahead of myself. That comes much later in the story, as you're well aware. For now, let's get back to the tournament…


*AN: A reminder that I retconned that fight so that Hei Senior survived the encounter with Cinder's gang, if you're reading this before I (eventually) go back and rewrite Volume 1.

To Meister Pear: Thank you thank you thank you! That's the type of critical review I love to read! I admit, I didn't realize back when I was originally writing Volume 1 that I was doing far too much 'telling' and not enough 'showing' when it came to the development of the relationship between Lee and Neo, but I plan to (hopefully) rectify that with some of the events I have planned for this volume, and especially in Volume 3. I don't want to spoil my own story here, but Volume 3 is currently planned to be a replacement for Roman Holliday (which I won't spoil for you since you mentioned that you haven't consumed much RWBY media since Volume 7. I highly recommend reading it, however, it delves into the backgrounds of Roman and Neo, and how they came to be who they are).