Coral pov

Jaune had been acting weird for quite a while now, Coral loved her brother even if she wasn't all that vocal about it or tried to show it in any way really but that didn't make it any less true.

It started when he visited the library for the first time which in of itself was weird, Jaune hated books to the point of not even wanting to read story books. What else he did with his time around Ansel? she had no idea.

But when she entered the library and spotted him not only intently reading a book but taking notes alongside it he'd officially captured her interest, in her opinion very few people ever took notes while reading something that wasn't school related and the only thing that she could be certain of was the fact there was no possibility he had any kind of book relating to school in any way. Meaning her brother was doing something only avid book readers ever did, including her and even then she only tended to do it while reading her favorite series.

So naturally she started keeping an eye on him. And if the last few weeks taught her anything it was that her brother was extremely punctual, he started waking up at seven and made it a point to hang out in the living room for thirty minutes practically to the second, which was just long enough for most of the family to spot him.

He'd then run off into town and vanish for a while before coming home around four. The eight and a half hours he would disappear for made her curious and she couldn't help herself. So she plotted, purposefully going to bed early so she could be awake before he was and made sure to leave the house five minutes before he did.

Sure enough her brother was right on schedule as he quickly walked away from the house, she was quick to follow. He made his way to a nearby park; it didn't have a playground in it, more of a place to appreciate nature without having to worry about the Grimm.

But Jaune didn't follow the walking path, instead he jogged directly into a large set of bushes. Which was already odd but what made it worse was the fact he never came out of the bush.

I decided to wait and see what he would do rather than try to sneak into the bush and find out for myself. That train of thought didn't last very long, I saw myself as a very patient person. I might've been wrong about that, but after three hours of staring at a bush waiting for Jaune to walk out of it I got a little fed up.

I mean this definitely isn't normal right? Is he sleeping and if so why wouldn't he do it at home? In his bed!? Or was he even in the bush at all? As much as I would love to sing my praises I'm not exactly the most perceptive of people at times he probably could've snuck away if he noticed me.

Oh crud, did he see me? What could he be doing where if he saw me he would feel the need to hide and run away?

My head spun with questions as I tried desperately to answer them eventually I put my foot down, fuck it who cares if he catches me searching for him? I'll be spinning in circles forever if I don't take a look.

Working up the courage I slowly approached the bush and began to push my way through as quietly as I could manage. Which if I was honest wasn't very quiet, I couldn't help but cringe as leaves crunched against me and the bushes shook as I forced myself through.

But once I made it to the other side I did in fact find Jaune. Luckily he was still undisturbed and unaware of my presence. That's one point to the asleep in a park theory.

Currently he was sat in the center of the bushes settled nicely in between them so he wasn't touching any of them yet they blocked sight of him from all angles. He was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and hands drawn into his lap.

I had a hard time believing he was actually asleep while sitting upright, but his eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and measured.

Who sleeps like that?

The position of his hands were also a little weird, rather than comfortably laid in his lap his palms were pointed towards the sky with his fingers loosely curled not quite making a fist but not relaxed either, both hands were touching as he pressed his knuckles together.

The whole thing seemed odd to her, had her brother lost it? Or was this him trying to achieve something?

Quietly she pulled away as she began racking her brain for any reason that might explain his behavior.

Is it meditation? She had heard of monks and philosophers engaging in that sort of activity, but Jaune? I'd have never thought of it.

I watched over his bush for another hour before heading back home. I was curious but not curious enough to sit out in the heat and watch him imitate a statue for hours on end, and while I wanted answers I didn't want to interrupt him either.

Instead I figured I could simply ask him when he came back home, and so I began my new waiting game this time from the comfort of AC whilst surrounded by my books, a remarkably better situation than I was in earlier and one I was more than happy to wait in.

Like clockwork Jaune came back home around four hung around for a bit after dinner before locking himself away in his room once more. I gave him thirty minutes before I followed using Amber as an excuse.

We had a lot of people in one house with a few of us sisters sharing a room, so we sisters all forged a pact. Since Jaune had a room all to himself if we ever needed some time away from everyone we could take refuge in Jaunes room and no one was allowed to follow. Except Jaune and our parents obviously.

Funny thing was Jaune never had a problem with it, if anything he acted like some kind of discount counselor whether it was as simple as playing with Amber or listening to Saffron vent about her new girlfriend and how she had to keep guys off of her.

So with Amber as an excuse she claimed the right to Jaune's room, which wasn't out of character for her either. Jaune was naturally quiet so his room ended up being a nice place to read without being disturbed, and he always let her read for however long she wanted, there was even a time or two where I fell asleep in his bed while I was reading.

The first time it happened I had woken up to find him asleep on the floor, and had taken to yelling at him, I believe. "Were siblings I don't mind if you sleep next to me, hell I'm in your room, I get you were trying to be nice but you'll just make me feel bad. Now get in bed." Were my exact words.

My original intention was to confront him about what exactly he was up to in the park. I quietly slipped through the door trying not to disturb him like I normally did, just to find him sat in the middle of the room in the same meditative state.

She wanted to disturb him and question him, but she couldn't bring herself to. The simple act of theorizing proved to be too enticing to her. So instead she sat at his desk and watched him meditate as she pondered, trying to come up with any reason her brother might be so intent on meditating.

She was lost in thought trying to recall the book he was reading, she hadn't been paying attention when he left so she never saw the book cover and it was driving her mad, it had to be because of that book, right?

He had found something or was trying to do something, but what? Reach enlightenment? Jaune was smarter than he acted or at least smarter than he believed he was, But that just didn't seem like Jaune.

It was then a strange flash of light caught her attention. Quickly abandoning her train of thought her attention was drawn towards Jaune, but nothing was there.

She intently watched him for a few moments but when nothing happened she wrote it off as a figment of her imagination, it wouldn't be the first time she thought she saw shadows of people at the edges of her vision, this didn't seem any different.

Without hesitation she returned to her train of thought, just for her to catch just a glimpse of it again moments later. Slightly annoyed when my attention shifted fully back to Jaune just to find him yet again sat peacefully and undisturbed.

Was it a window? There's gotta be a bit of sunlight getting in from the window or something.

She stood, quickly pulling the curtains closed ensuring no light was making it into the room, once she was pleased with the lack of sunlight she returned to her chair to continue her theory crafting.

Another flash disturbed her from her thoughts, angry she whipped her head around searching for its source, her eyes went wide as a shocked gasp wormed its way out of her mouth.

This time the light did not vanish, no it did quite the opposite. She watched as her brother was wreathed in a white light that resembled a flame as a smile played across his lips. He seemed to relax himself further if that was even possible as he drew in a deep breath and flexed his hands.

He seemed pleased with himself as he was utterly distracted and still hadn't noticed her presence, it was about then Coral finally found her voice.

"What the - !?" Her voice trailed off, she was too confused to compose a proper sentence at the moment.

Jaune startled as he brought his eyes to her, finally taking notice of her presence clearly confused and taken aback.

Good at least she wasn't the only one.

Jaune held a hand out as he tried to calm her while he struggled to his feet. "Coral please don't-"

In his haste he managed to trip over his feet landing onto his bed, quickly scrambling off of it.

The light quickly faded as though it never existed leaving a panicked Jaune.

Yanking himself back to his feet he slowly approached Coral with his hands held out like he was trying to calm a wild animal. His face contorted in thought and panic, it didn't take a genius he wanted to keep whatever had just happened a secret especially as she watched his mind race.

"Explain." Coral spoke a single word and it brought her brother to a halt, but when no words came she decided to elaborate. "Explain what just happened and I'll consider telling no one."

She didn't know how to feel about his reaction, Jaunes face morphed from worry to hope then into deep thought. Normally Jaune was withdrawn, not extremely but he wasn't very open about the stuff he liked or disliked, Mom kept making tomato soup for lunch because she thought Jaune liked it turns out he faked that because had spent time cooking lunch in the first place.

But now his emotions were plain to see and it irked her, Jaune, her baby brother, the kid that never really cared so he just picked whatever you liked. The kid that you'd spend months watching trying to find something he likes other than X-Ray and Vav only to fail and not for a lack of trying, was currently showing more raw emotion and hope than she'd ever seen in his eyes.

"It's a huntsman thing …"

Ah, that explained it. "Okay, what kind of huntsman thing?"

Jaune sat onto his bed as he tried to explain. "It's called Aura, it's a manifestation of my soul, it's meant to protect me and make me stronger as well as heal me if I get injured, something every huntsman has to have."

Coral was quick to question his claims. "It protects you? How exactly?"

"It's supposed to be a shell of light that's strong enough to take a couple blows from an Ursa without even scratching me, kinda like a force field."

The thought of it blew her mind, with her parents being huntsmen she listened to them about everything relating to it from how grueling the training would be to just how strong and deadly the various types of Grimm truly were.

So the thought of being able to take even one blow from an Ursa was staggering to her. But their parents had never mentioned Aura and she'd taken their parents at their word, they had taught them everything, so she never looked into it. But now Aura had changed that.

Were they trying to hide it? If so then why? And with something like this every problem Dad ever had about training Jaune goes right out the window.

"Jaune?" Coral broke the nervous silence as she processed the new information.

"Y-yeah Coral?"

"Think you can use this Aura stuff?"

"Uuumm, Maybe I only just unlocked it I'm not sure."

Coral hummed. "You want my silence?"

"Absolutely." Jaune responded without hesitation.

"Then I assume this means you're trying to become a hunter not only without Dad but behind his back?" Jaune tensed but slowly nodded his head. "Fine, but I have two requirements."

Immediately Jaune was looking straight at her eagerly awaiting her terms.

"Firstly, block this with your Aura." The moment Coral finished speaking she launched the heavy tome she had carried into the room with her at Jaunes head, he wasn't ready.

In amazement she watched as a brilliant white light flared to life the moment the book made contact with Jaunes face, it made a heavy Thud as the thick tome slammed into Jaune, throwing him back onto the bed and in moments the light was gone again.

Before Jaune could sit back up Coral was on top of him. She had faith her brother could keep himself together, while he wasn't strong per say he wasn't exactly weak either, but that book should've done something, a scuff or a mark at the least or a bloody nose at worst. Instead Jaune didn't have a hair out of place and his skin was unblemished as it had been before she had thrown the book.

Coral mumbled under her breath. "You weren't lying." Coral was amazed, it had really protected him.

"Of course, I'm trying to get you to help me here. I'm pretty sure lying would do the opposite." Jaune frowned as he allowed his sister to inspect his head hoping it would help his case.

After a moment Coral spoke again as she met Jaunes gaze. "Secondly, and I can't stress this enough, you're sure you want to do this."

She watched as Jaunes gaze hardened as he looked up at her. "I've never been so sure of anything else." His voice didn't waver, his words steady and sure, she would've believed the words came from her father rather than Jaune and it pushed her over the edge.

"Fine." Coral relented as she stood next to Jaune's bed crossing her arms.

Jaune's face lit up immediately as he quickly climbed out of his bed trying to hug her. "Yes! Thanks Coral I won-" She would've loved to let him continue and shower her with compliments she most certainly deserved, sadly she wasn't done quite yet.

"Hold your horses there bro, I'm not done yet." Jaune froze mid hug, backing away only slightly as she continued talking. "I'm not just going to stay quiet, I'm gonna help you out too."

Coral couldn't help but grin as her brother looked completely baffled, he looked as though he wanted to ask a question but was too tongue tied to do so, but that was alright she was pretty sure she knew what he wanted to ask and had no problems helping him out.

"Well someone's gotta cover for you while you're training, how often do you think Mom or Dad will just ignore you being gone literally all day before asking you what you're up to? Especially if no one in town saw you hanging around, did you even come up with an excuse ahead of time?"

Jaune stuttered and locked up, she didn't even need to see his face to know he didn't, but she saw it anyway, yup … the look of shame, it's a good thing she was the one to find out first.

Coral just rolled her eyes at him. "I'm gonna write up a few summaries on the books I read, memorize them and as far as anyone else is concerned the Arc family has lost yet another child to the library, and I totally see you there almost everyday and almost all day."

Jaune launched into movement as he snatched his older sister off of the floor. "Thank you, Thank you, thank you." He cheered as he spun Coral around in a circle as he trapped her in his embrace. "There can't be a better sister."

As much as Coral was loving this, if Jaune kept it up she'd be puking down the back of his shirt and that would most likely lose her the title of best sister, so she demanded Jaune place her back on the floor, which he did after a few more moments of Coral yelling at him.

Slowly Jaune set her back on the floor allowing her a moment to regain herself and settle her stomach.

"Okay, Jaune I've got some work to do, you get some sleep because I expect to see you working hard." Jaune continued to give her that goofy smile of his as he replied.

"Of course." With a satisfied smile she departed from his room and immediately began plotting.

The only reason the daughters of the Arc family didn't try to influence Jaunes training was because of their parents, both Mom and Dad had pulled all the girls together and explained to them exactly what a Hunter was meant to go up against and due to the horror of what they explained no one wanted to encourage Jaune to chase his dream even if we couldn't push him away from it.

But if their parents had chosen to omit something like Aura from what they explained, just what else did they decide to not mention? The job was surely dangerous, that was absolutely certain, but how much of it was exaggerated to get the girls on their side? Was it truly nothing more than a meat grinder that kept the kingdoms running? How badly are Huntsman actually hated by some of the communities, and how well do most jobs truly pay?

She'd do some research on her own and most likely rope the other siblings into helping her maintain the facade.

Honestly it was going to be easier than Jaune realized to convince them. All of the Arc sisters felt bad for Jaune, wanting to do nothing but one thing and to have both parents fully deny him until it was long past time for him to begin training. It scared the rest of the Arc kids, if that was how they reacted to Jaune how would they react to us?

It was fear that made them stay their opinions, fear of something they were all scared of but had never been directed at them, and so they used Jaune as a shield. If dad was focused on him he wouldn't even think about us.

Coral felt disgusted with herself, she had all along but was unwilling to face it using the excuse her parents gave her of. "It's far too dangerous for him to even try." And she had no doubts the rest of her sisters felt the same way, even little Amber.

She may have been far too late to make much of a difference but she owed it to Jaune to try and in a way had already failed him, Coral refused to do it again and when she had enough of her own evidence all of the Arc siblings would support their brother in chasing his dream.

It was the least they could do.

/-/

Jaune pov

Jaune was over the moon, he couldn't believe it, twice he had pinched himself and twice he was still unsure of whether or not he was dreaming. He was certain if he managed to get any of his sisters on his side it would only be after grueling hours of convincing and bargaining.

Instead Coral had agreed with him almost immediately which didn't make much sense to him as he thought his own words were nowhere near enough to earn that response. He considered his part in the conversation to be extremely lacking.

Mainly because it was his panic speaking more than anything else. While his mind raced like a herd of cats on fire, he thought of everything but at no point did he manage to complete a single thought.

Then Coral agreed and his mind went silent. Jaune wasn't joking when he said that had earned her the title of best sister, he loved all of his siblings and enjoyed being around them. Despite his struggles with their parents he never once blamed them for the denial of his dream as they freely chased their own, if anything he encouraged it.

After all they were all kids with the same parents, if Jaune couldn't find a way to do it how could he expect them to? So he moved on and continued to spoil them all the same. But then Coral accepted him, and who he wanted to be.

It threw Jaune for a loop when he was handed something he hadn't realized he wanted, simple acceptance and support. He wanted to doubt Coral at first, but when she started talking about alibis and her plan to help him he saw the look in her eyes, the cold calculating part of herself that was working madly to pull something together.

It was a look he didn't see often, she wore only when she was convincing their parents she wanted to be a writer and when she was developing a plotline for something she was writing. So when she wore that expression as she spoke there was no doubt that she was lying and he was overjoyed.

So much so he couldn't help but pick her up off her feet and swing her around, he knew how easily her stomach could give and he didn't care she could douse him in vomit and it wouldn't change his opinion of her.

Jaune smiled as he slowly drifted to sleep, his mind consumed on what to get his older sister, she absolutely deserved a present after this and he wouldn't settle for anything but the best.

/-/

The next morning Jaune awoke he smiled as a new screen greeted him.

Repeating Quest

Getting in shape

Complete the following exercises

5 km run (0/5) incomplete

50 Push ups (0/50) incomplete

50 squats (0/50) incomplete

No timeframe

Reward - 1 stat point

Failure - Nothing

Accept

Yes No

Now who could say no to a free stat point? Without hesitation he pressed yes causing the screen to vanish, to his surprise words filled the right top hand corner of his vision as the quest objective remained viewable at any time, and whenever Jaune wasn't focusing on them the words shrunk leaving his line of sight undisturbed.

With a new goal set after obtaining his Aura he was quick to leave the house making sure to wave to coral as he left. He didn't have to consider where he would train, he already had one in mind.

Lewis Arc, his grandfather. Jaune missed him dearly despite his troubles remembering their time together, Violet and Saffron had been kind enough to tell him all about what he used to get up to with his grandfather when he was still around.

Those memories brought him to a particular part of Ansel. Off near one of the edges of town there was a memorial dedicated to every hunter that fell protecting the town, it was a large imposing thing that was placed in the center of a grassy field. But if you wandered past it you'd find a covered pavilion with a dirt trail leading away from it into the tree's.

Gramps said he liked this place because no one ever really came by and he could spend the day in peace.

That and you never really had to worry about safety, despite it being on the edge of the wall-less town it became tradition to pool money together any time Ansel lost a few Huntsman to a invasion and invest it into the defenses around the memorial, it was a way to guard their memory and show respect to the fallen even if you didn't know them and Ansel was sure to make every Lien count.

Sure enough as Jaune approached there wasn't a soul in sight, a welcome sight for the young boy. He took his place at the beginning of the dirt path as he began to stretch, he may not have been the most active of people but with Blanc as a sister you'd end up knowing a thing or two, and he knew exercising without stretching was a recipe for disaster.

Once Jaune felt he was limbered up enough he gladly faced his first challenge, a five kilometer run, he'd ace it.

Jaune had never been so wrong in his life. Currently he was leaning against a tree as he stared at the words in the corner of his vision, the anger and disbelief on his face was apparent.

5 km run (1.6/5) incomplete

50 Push ups (0/50) incomplete

50 squats (0/50) incomplete

"What do you one-point-six I've done five laps now!"

Jaune let himself fall into the grass next to the trail as he attempted to persuade his lungs not to give up on him entirely.

This doesn't make any sense. The loop is half a kilometer long and I confirmed that but I've managed five laps, so why isn't the counter at two and a half?

Dread filled Jaune as he tried thinking his way through his new found problem.

The counter didn't shift until I got here and started running. That being said, why didn't it count any of my movements after I left the house?

Jaune groaned as a realization washed over him, it was because he walked. Did The Game really expect him to be moving at a certain speed in order for it to count? Jaune huffed as he pulled himself to his feet,

Well, if it was gonna be picky better to get as much done as I can while I can. Settling into as good of a pace as Jaune could manage he continued his run despite the burning sensation in his legs.

*Ding*

Through extensive exercise you have gained 1 Endurance

The pop up brought a smile to Jaune's face as he ran, and maybe, just maybe he started to enjoy the burn.

/-/

Jaune could no longer say he enjoyed the burn quite the opposite in fact, his body had started screaming at him a while ago but he was determined to mark at least one item off his workout checklist. Unfortunately determination is only a part of the formula for success and he must've been lacking in everything else.

Because as he laid on the ground struggling for breath feeling like someone had run him he stared at the counter in his vision.

5 km run (4.6/5)

He was so close and had even gained an additional point of End and Con, but he had nothing left to give and worse yet the sun was way past the midpoint in the sky somewhere in the three to four o'clock range.

He was a little disappointed in himself that he didn't have this done yet and was already considering heading home for a shower. Every time he burned out Jaune simply laid in the grass for a bit, but over time his rest's got longer while his active running time got shorter. That's when his treacherous brain began plotting against him.

'It's only half a kilometer you could run that on your way home. There's no need to only run out here, why kill yourself and then head home? Just do it at the same time.'

Jaune wasn't sure what to think of himself when he realized he was currently laid back in the grass trying to convince himself he was allowed to go home. He huffed, sure maybe the distances he could run weren't exactly record breaking at the moment but for someone who only ever lightly jogged from place to place had anyone expected better?

He had to remind himself he was at the beginning and the road to becoming a huntsman was a long one, besides it wasn't like anyone was depending on him to get better so there he could go at his own pace so long as he didn't get complacent and stopped improving.

Slowly he walked home. It was an attempt at getting his breath back under control while still making it home at a decent time, he was pretty sure he achieved his goal by the time he made it home.

Once back he didn't bother with announcing himself or making sure he was seen by other family members instead he went straight for the shower.

Jaune used to think his older sister Blanc crazy because of her preference of shower.

She would sing the praises of a cold shower and he thought her insane, obviously the comfort of a nice hot shower was far superior. He would have to apologize, never before had Jaune been so comfortable in a shower.

Jaune swiftly found his bed after his shower as he wrapped himself in its loving embrace and almost managed to drift off before someone entered his room.

He groaned regretfully, opening his eyes to find Coral looking down on him with a singular raised eyebrow.

"Wanna tell me why you looked like you got hit by a truck?" She questioned.

"Working out, gotta start somewhere." He mumbled as he glared at the ever present counter in the corner of his vision that still wasn't complete.

Jaune heard her let out a short huff of amusement as she dropped something onto the pillow next to him. "Got it, anyways here's your list of summaries and facts about a few of my favorite books, if need be we can fake talking about them, just be sure to follow my lead."

She leaned down to ruffle my hair. "I wouldn't recommend falling asleep yet either, foods about to be ready and mom will be concerned if you show more interest in sleeping than eating."

Doing my best to squash the disappointment that welled within me I pulled myself from the grasp of my bed, Coral was right and I knew it so to keep myself awake I pulled the packet of paper and started reading making sure to thank her as she left.

Sure enough dinner was soon called and Jaune was quickly back in bed eager to move onto the next day.

Jaune was ecstatic as he stepped out of bed, he knew what the effect of Gamer's body was but when it took away any soreness he should've had from the previous day it really put into perspective just how valuable the Perk was.

After consuming his breakfast at a record breaking pace he was once again out the door. His thoughts entirely focused on the list that was beginning to burn a hole in the corner of his vision, he wouldn't stop until he cleared the first objective and at bare minimum half of another.

The sound of footsteps pulled him from his thoughts, turning he found one of his older sisters had chased him down. Blanc, while not the tallest, was easily the most athletic of the Arc children and the only one to keep her blonde hair short always saying 'it gets in my face if it's any longer.'

"Hey bro catch!" She hollered, suddenly a bottle was launched at my face, but unlike the book Coral had thrown at me I managed to snatch it out of the air as Blanc came to a halt beside me.

"Don't worry Coral told me everything, and yes your darling sister is here to help you out." She gave me a smile as she resumed walking in the direction I was headed, my immediate response was to thank her but she quickly shushed me.

"Ah!" She held a finger out. "Don't thank me yet, we haven't even gotten started yet, and trust me I plan on making you bleed." Her smile was nothing short of sinister and I did my best to match it, my reaction seemed to satisfy her as she began peppering me with questions, all of which I was far too happy to answer.

It wasn't long before we stood back at the dirt path. "Right, you said you wanted to start with running right?" I nodded. "Okay, well first put the bottle I gave you on properly, the straps aren't meant to be a handle to hold it by." She gestured to her own leg where a water bottle had been strapped to her thigh by a similar holster.

"You can keep that one, it was just my extra anyway, consider it a present." She shifted her attention to the trail as she continued. "Go ahead and limber up, then you can move at your own pace and I'll follow, if I have any advice I'll stop you but be warned I'm told I can be a bit of a slave driver."

Not even Blancs ominous warning could keep the smile off my face as I hastily agreed.

I didn't make it a minute before Blanc stopped me, she launched into an explanation on posture, placement of my arms, the stride I took and how that affected cadence even how my foot landed on the ground as I ran.

The changes took a minute to get used to but the changes were obvious even to me, nothing really took away the strain that came with the activity but it made everything more comfortable as I ran. The Game seemed to agree with me as minutes into my running another window popped up.

*Ding*

Through exercise you have gained 1 Dexterity

The change was small and if I hadn't been informed I probably would've missed it but for a moment it felt like my legs loosened up and became almost more precise, just a subtle shift in the way I was moving. It made me feel more confident in my stride and far more eager to keep running.

The satisfaction that came with completing my first task was immense, the pure joy I felt as I watched the words turn green before shifting to the word complete then vanishing altogether left me pleased.

To make Blanc happy we continued to run for another Kilometer before I requested moving to a different exercise, despite my wishes to keep running in an attempt at getting another point of dexterity I felt it a little more important to finish the quest. Something she seemed more than happy with as we diverted from our loop through the woods back to the pavilion.

Blanc took the lead. "Right, you mentioned squats but seeing as we just got done running I say we focus more on your upper body. Besides, keep straining your legs like that and they'll give out on you. I'm amazed you're doing this well today, Coral said you were probably running all day yesterday."

I awkwardly chuckled. "It's probably my Aura, it's supposed to heal as well as protect."

Blancs eyes snapped to me. "You're telling me you're fully recovered from yesterday?"

"Umm, yea." I nodded confirming my confusion.

Blanc just looked amazed. "Jaune, what exactly did you do yesterday?"

"I ran about five kilometers, I think. Why?" Blanc looked dumbfounded.

"Jaune, your average person who doesn't work out or at least actively jog can only really get one or two, maybe three kilometers at best. But you're saying you did around five and your legs aren't even sore?"

"Yea, I guess so." Blanc immediately started cackling.

"Jaune?"

"Yea Blanc?"

"I'm gonna work you till you explode." Her expression was crazed and her smile was evil. I couldn't stop the shiver that ran down my back but I did my best to meet her intensity regardless.

"Bring it, I'll take anything you can throw at me." I'd be lying if my resolve didn't shake a little when my sister's demented grin widened, but I wouldn't hold back or stop now, not when they were finally taking me seriously.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Blanc crossed her arms as she stared me down. "Drop and give me fifty."

Without hesitation I dropped to my hands and tried to perform a push up, but I didn't make it very far.

"Stop!" Blanc huffed. "Jaune what is that supposed to be?"

I cringed. "What I hope can be considered a push up?"

Blanc let out a deep sigh. "Stay here and don't move a muscle." She was gone the moment she finished speaking, returning moments later with something in hand. A stick appeared in my vision, lightly tapping my hand.

"First move your hands further apart, if you keep them close it makes the pushups harder and you're not at that level yet."

I gave her a blank look. "Really a stick? Why?"

She just smiled. "Yep so I don't have to lean forward to correct you, well … that and when you don't listen I can do this." She proceeded to whack the hand that had yet to move according to her directions, and since I wasn't expecting it my Aura didn't block it. It was scary watching my health bar deplete, even if it was the smallest sliver. Both the sight of my health bar and the pain hastened my hand into moving where she wished.

"Hey."

Blanc had no care for my cries having already moved on. "Next, straighten your back, you look stupid." She lightly tapped my stomach with the stick, I straightened my form until she was satisfied.

"Better, now give me a pushup." Without delay I lowered myself not enjoying the way my arms burned with strain as I lifted myself back up, I quietly smiled to myself as the pushup counter increased by one. However I was the only one pleased by my performance.

"Tsk, you call that a push up?" Without waiting for a response Blanc turned around and rummaged through a small bag she brought with her, revealing a small yellow ball just bigger than her hand.

"Meet your new friend Jaune!" Quickly she set the ball beneath my chest, uncaring for the questioning glare I sent her way. "You can name him if you want but your new friend here only has one job, and that's to let you know you've gone low enough!" Blanc gave me a sadistic smile. "If you don't touch the ball with your chest the push up doesn't count, now again!"

Biting back a rather distasteful comment I obeyed, digging deep with every push up hating the way my arms wobbled and my muscles burned, I made it through ten more before giving out accidentally crushing my new "Friend."

Blanc giggled before setting a water bottle next to my head. "Drink." She demanded.

I snatched the water bottle away as I greedily drank its contents. "My arms." I complained between breaths.

Blanc just laughed again. "Yep, that's about what I expected. Hey bro, do your arms burn?" I nodded, her smile widened. "Do you know why?" expecting a dumb answer I shook my head rather than give it any thought. She laughed. "Easy, it's weakness leaving the body. Now back at it I gave you ten minutes, it's your turn to give me ten more push ups."

Groaning, I rolled back over leaving my precious water bottle behind and got to work. Another ten push ups and a few whacks from Blanc as she corrected my form had my arms crying out in strain but it came with a welcome sight.

*Ding*

Through extensive exercise you have gained 1 strength

The rest of the day seemed to fly by as Blanc did her own exercises next to me, stating. "I may focus on running but I'll look weird if I only work out my legs, and I like looking good."

By the time we made it back home my arms felt like they were made of jelly and I was worn out but after another point of strength and having managed to cross another item off my list I was smiling like a madman.

Repeating my routine from the day before I found myself under the curious gaze of my mother at the dinner table.

"So Jaune, what have you been up to? It's been a while since you've come home so worn out."

I wish I could say the words that came out of my mouth were due to panic as I desperately tried to think of something that would distract my mother, in truth though all kinds of things had been swirling around my head as I endured my sister's spartan-like training.

"I've figured out one of the Arc household mysteries." I proudly stated.

"Oh?" my mother gave me a curious glance as I managed to capture everyone else's attention at the table.

"I fully understand why Blanc does not have a boyfriend." Our mother did her best to stifle a giggle while Saffron tried not to choke on her drink. In an instant the table was thrown into a chaos of laughter and shouts.

When it came to my sisters I rarely got a word in edgewise so when I did the moments would stick with me, this time around it looked like the comment would stick with everyone including our father who made no effort to hide his chuckles.

Unfortunately my comment earned me a punch to my very tender arm making it far more painful than the hit should've been.

That's when mom spoke up. "Okay Blanc that's enough, I'd chastise you but I think Jaune earned that one." Our mother spoke through what could only be described as a shit eating grin. From there the dinner table descended into conversation as Blanc desperately tried to take the conversation to other topics, something Saffron wouldn't let happen until mom got involved.

Eventually managing to sneak off to my room, rather than immediately laying down I stared at my bed in contemplation. My arms may hurt but my legs were pretty alright and while I hadn't done the exercise with Blanc she had shown me the correct form while I was resting.

Rather than rest I decided I would be done with this quest tonight, Gamers body would heal me come morning so I decided powering through it would be best.

I did a few experimental squats to figure out what the Game deemed acceptable and then forced myself into a deeper squat, after all like Blanc said. "No pain, no gain."

/-/

With shaky legs I held back my manic laughter as I stared at a new screen.

Quest - Getting in shape - Complete
Reward - 1 stat point

I dismissed the window as I let myself fall unceremoniously into my bed, my body felt like a wreck but I had never been more satisfied. I began to slowly shift under the covers as I began to fall asleep only for a soft chime to interrupt.

*Ding*

Repeating quest

Getting in shape part 2

Complete the following exercises
Run 10km (0/10)
Squats 100 (0/100)

Pushups 100 (0/100)

No time frame

Reward - 1 stat point

Failure - Nothing

Accept

Yes No

Without moving I accepted the quest, grateful the system could work off of thought as I wasn't sure I could bring my hand to press the button and didn't want to lose the quest just because my body wouldn't cooperate at the moment.

I fell asleep the moment my head found my pillow, already eager to get the next day started and start chipping away at my next quest.

-/-

Jaune arc

Lvl 2.

Title - N/A

Aura - 180

Hp - 140

Mp - 60

Str - 9

Dex - 7

Con - 8
End - 10

Int - 6 -

Wis - 9

Cha - 5

(5 unassigned skill points)

Semblance - The game

-/-

Perks

Gamer's body - after 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep The gamers body will return to its healthy state refilling both the Hp and Mp bars.

-/-

A/N- Hey guys its been a minute, I've been having a great time putting thought into this Fic and trying to figure out the Arc family dynamic and I think I've pulled off something good, I know some people wanted Jaunes sisters to be totally him training but it just makes training impossible and in my head its probably how Jaunes parents have been keeping track of him.

That and in order to get them to agree with keeping Jaune from chasing his dreams they may have skewed the truth a lot to make sure they're daughters sided with them, not an extreme amount of family drama but a good bit.

If there's any confusion feel free to ask or simply leave a review if you have any opinion's or tips on writing.

And as always thanks for reading and I'll see you next time. :)