AN: How appropriate. Luck managed to publish the next reading chapter, so I manage to publish the next chapter too.
Explorations
"So Yang, how come you're tying your hair now?" Rex asked out of curiosity.
"None of your business," Yang said rather rudely.
This surprised Rex a little. The boy then turned to Dragunov with a questioning look. "What are you looking at me for?" the dragon asked, "It's not like I care how she does her hair."
"Okay..." Rex drawled unsurely.
Azurda shook his head at Rex as he kept flying. This morning they had left the Ardainian camp and were flying to where they last saw Torna, and by extension, Morytha. If there was anything left of either. Of course, everyone was on his back.
"Do you really think you can find anything that would clue you in on how you created Wind Dragunite?" Mythra then asked, "I mean. I remember when I wanted you to make gems for me, but you... refused." For some reason, Mythra scowled deeply like the memory offended her.
"You mean he threatened to make you unable to sit for a week?" Yang asked with a grin.
"What?" Pyra covered her mouth with her hands in surprise.
Nia gave a disbelieving look to the blonde Aegis, "Mythra, what is she talking about?"
"I have no idea." Mythra turned away from everyone, cheeks flaring.
"Don't bother, Mythra. Thauron saw us talking." Dragunov said with a grin, "Shame you don't have Siren to threaten me this time."
Mythra got on her feet and summoned the white Aegis Sword. "Want to see me make a threat Dragunov? Because I don't need Siren to do that to you! Let alone go through with it." Golden eyes narrowed on Dragunov.
"Is that so?" Dragunov asked with a deadly grin and got on his own feet. "Because when I'm done with you, you won't sit for a month."
Suddenly, Azurda dropped a little, startling everyone and making Mythra and Dragunov fall on their butts.
"No fighting on my back." the dragon-like Titan said, looking back to glare at the Aegis and dragon like a parent.
Mythra grumbled, while Dragunov shrugged and they both took a more comfortable position.
Yang then laid down on the grass that grew on Azurda's back, "Hey, Drag, if you had to make the Wind Dragunite from scratch, then why would it take you years?"
"What kind of question is that?" Dragunov asked, looking at Yang in disbelief.
"Come on, I'm bored here. Besides, I'm really curious, don't you just take whatever mineral you want and make whatever gem you want?" Yang asked again, craning her head back enough to get her Blade in her field of vision.
"That's not how it works." Dragunov replied, sounding offended, "Not even close!"
"Then how does it work?" Yang asked, rolling onto her stomach, "Why can't you make the gems fast?" Dragunov's jaw dropped at Yang seemingly not understanding how much work it actually takes to make gems. He tried to form words to say but found himself unable to. "Drag, whatever it takes may be obvious to you, but it's not to me. Come on, throw me a gem here." Yang grinned at her joke.
Everyone else rolled their eyes while Dragunov chuckled, "Fine, fine. Okay, as you know, I take minerals that I want to use and make gems of them. For example, do you know what diamonds are?"
"Priceless gems," Yang replied easily. This answer earned a stare from Dragunov. "Uhh... " Now Yang looked awkward.
"A diamond is crystallized carbon," Dagas answered for Yang with a look of contempt.
"Thank you, Dagas." Dragunov said, giving his Driver a look like he was ashamed of her ignorance. "Now, to make a diamond, I would need carbon, the purer the carbon, the clearer the diamond. That is if I don't want to give it an alternate color. If I add just a little bit of certain... impurities, I can make a diamond of a different color."
"Doesn't impurity make a diamond less valuable?" Nia asked.
"Normally it would, but colored diamonds are much rarer to find in nature than the clear ones." Dragunov explained patiently, "Now as I said, I need carbon to make a diamond, but the colors I need to add come from whatever materials I want to add. Different materials add different colors, but that's where the problem comes from. The Dragunites were each created with a very, very, very specific color in mind. This means I had to find the exact materials, find out the exact ratio of the said material I need to use, and of course, the ideal crystallization procedure. See my problem?"
"Ahh, so the problem you had creating each Dragunite was finding out the exact materials you needed to have the desired color, and then you needed to find out the exact quantities to add the exact shade you wanted." Dromarch summarized, "Sounds like a daunting task simply finding the required materials alone."
"At least someone is getting an idea now," Dragunov said, giving his Driver a look that said he wished she was this smart.
Yang didn't like it, but decided to keep that to herself. Instead, she had another question. "So when you made those gems in Uraya, you were basically just trying whatever you got your hands on because it didn't really matter what you got?"
"Yup." Dragunov said simply.
"But umm... how exactly do you do the crystal- Never mind." Rex cut off his question when Dragunov's cracks glowed red.
"Okay, why is that such a sore subject to you?" Yang asked, her expression slowly morphing to disturbed, "Do you..."
"Do I what?" Dragunov asked, quirking an eyebrow at Yang.
"Do you... you know, eat the minerals and let them out the back?" Yang asked, looking a little disgusted. And she wasn't the only one. Especially Mythra who looked like she could go sick.
"...I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that so that I don't have to hit you," Dragunov said with a smile that was betrayed by his cracks glowing orange.
"You could've just said no." Yang said, now waving her legs out of boredom, "So, how do you do it?"
Dragunov turned away from Yang and didn't answer.
"Hey! Don't ignore me." Now Yang was annoyed.
"Give it up, Yang." Mythra sighed, though she was glaring at Dragunov, "This guy wouldn't tell anyone how he does the crystallization, not even Thauron."
"What exactly was Thauron like?" Rex then asked, "Compared to Yang I mean."
"Not that different. Both are blockheads-" "Hey!" "Protective of those they care about, and he was hopelessly in love with Lora." Mythra chuckled at the last part.
"...Did... Mikhail really call Dragunov uncle? Back in the day I mean." Nia then asked, staring at the dragon in disbelief.
"No, Thauron did." Mythra said, giving a teasing look to Dragunov, "Draggie wasn't happy about it."
In response, Dragunov ripped a handful of grass and threw it at the blonde Aegis. Mythra barely brought her arms up to guard herself from it. "It's Dragunov to you, blondie." Dragunov said in annoyance.
"What? I've heard Yang calling you that." Mythra protested.
"And you are not Yang." Dragunov said like he was explaining something that should be common sense.
"D'aww. Thank you." Yang said, acting cutesy.
"You're welcome." Dragunov said, grinning from ear to ear, seemingly forgetting his earlier annoyance with her.
"Yeah, keep taking his side and I won't help you anymore." Mythra said to Yang, crossing her arms beneath her breasts.
"Sorry, Mythra. I'm his Driver, I have to take his side every once in a while. Especially on the rare occasions he's nice and useful." Yang said with a smile.
"I'm sorry, useful?" Dragunov looked at his Driver with a suspicious look. In response, Yang smiled sweetly as she twirled her hair with a finger playfully. "You're blaming me?" Dragunov asked with a look of outrage.
"Am I wrong to?" Yang asked, never dropping her smile. Dragunov blew smoke out of his nostrils before turning away.
"...I know I'll regret this, but what are you two talking about?" Nia asked apprehensively.
"Nothing." The fiery Blade and Driver spoke in unison.
The others looked a little suspicious of what these two were talking about.
"We're getting close now." Azurda then said, causing everyone to look ahead. Including Yang who rolled on her back and got up to sit.
Sure enough, out in the distance were the remains of Morytha, the vegetation that formed the World Tree was still intact, and most importantly, around the base was Torna.
"I think I see some large craters around the city?" Wulfric said, squinting his eyes at the landscape. "I'm pretty sure they're new."
"Perhaps debris from the top fell upon it." Dromarch theorized.
"I'm just glad Torna is still there," Dragunov said as the dead Titan looked to intact. Or at least the area where Auresco was didn't seem to have any new craters.
"Okay, let's go to the capital, if anything about Dragunov survived, it's probably there." Yang said and Azurda did fly towards the old capital of Torna.
Rex looked to Mythra, "Was the capital of Torna where you were first awakened?"
"Hm? Yes... Yes it was." Mythra said, looking away from Rex.
"...Mythra." Rex said in worry.
"It's nothing. Let's get this over with." Mythra said as Azurda was landing right on top of Sacshum Sand Garden.
"So where do we start?" Nia asked first looking at the ruined palace.
"Considering the price on these Dragunites, I would assume any information regarding them was in some kind of vault," Dagas replied.
"Then that's what we should find," Rex said as Azurda shrank back down and fluttered into Rex's helmet.
"Just be careful Rex, the palace isn't necessarily safe anymore," Azurda warned.
"So, we just need to watch our steps," Rex said without sounding worried, "That's easy enough."
"For some more than others," Yang quipped while teasingly looking at Dragunov.
"Are you trying to start something, Yangie?" Dragunov replied with a warning look.
Yang dropped the teasing, "I'm serious, you're heavier than the rest of us, so be careful not to fall through a floor or something."
"Fair enough," Dragunov dropped his own look. With that, the gang moved inside the badly burnt and in some places collapsed building that was the royal palace of Torna Kingdom.
As it turned Azurda was right about everyone needing to watch their steps. Some of the flooring, the ones on the upper floors at least, was very noisy. Dragunov also gave up on moving to the upper floors when the bottom step of the stairs couldn't handle his weight. Instead, he decided to check if there was an underground vault or something.
As Dragunov was doing that, Rex and Mythra were going through different rooms, trying to find anything that could mention the Dragunites. Books, scrolls, any kind of document that could indicate how to make them. Sadly, all they found were broken pieces of furniture, and ruined hallways, some of which had collapsed. And if any kind of book was in any room, it was either degraded beyond reading or burnt.
"Mythra, are you okay?" Rex asked again.
"I'm fine, Rex," Mythra said more insistently.
"I get it." Rex said, earning a surprised look from Mythra, "This was the place where you were awakened, and you tried to protect it."
"That's not it, you idiot." Mythra said, looking annoyed, "You don't know what happened here."
"...You're right. I don't." Rex said. Mythra looked surprised at the admission, "I can only guess, but you don't have to keep it all to yourself anymore. I'm here for you."
Mythra wasn't sure if she wanted to smack Rex or kiss him. "You will hate me if I tell you," Mythra said, hoping that Rex would drop the subject as much as she hoped he would still ask.
"I don't see how that's possible." Rex said with a smile.
"...When Jin said I destroyed Torna, he wasn't wrong. Or at least... not entirely." Mythra said, not looking at Rex. "During our fight against Malos... I lost control and... I just couldn't stop. By the time I could... Torna was burning..."
"...Was that the first time the Aegis Sword you had as Pneuma appeared?" Rex asked.
"Yes... But as you can guess from that story you heard; Addam couldn't control it." Mythra added in. Before she knew it, Rex had moved to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Whuh? Rex!"
"It's all right now. That can't happen anymore. Not as long as I'm here." Rex said with conviction, "I won't let you go through that anymore."
"...Idiot," Mythra said angrily despite hugging back. Then the two took enough distance from each other to gaze into each other's eyes. Mythra wasn't sure if she was imagining it but to her, it looked like Rex was taller now. Mythra still had to look down towards him, yet...not as much as usual. Rex started to lean in slowly and the blonde Aegis did the same. When their noses were almost touching, Mythra broke out of the hug and backed away.
"Mythra?" Rex said in concern.
"It's nothing." Mythra said, her face flushing, "Just...know that I appreciate you." And then she walked out of the room they were currently investigating.
"...What just happened?" Rex asked no one in particular, his own cheeks felt a little warm.
In Garfront, Roc was pacing around the many tents that make up the residence. Although there are talks about building actual houses, the tents were easier to set up and cheaper. Still, if they did a good job of providing shelter. Some of the residents that were here since his former Driver Vandham's times greeted him, which the avian Blade returned. Even though he himself has no memory of them anymore. Roc tried his Resonance again to locate Rex. Sure enough, he was now very far away, and not in the direction of Temperantia. When Roc first got here and presented the job of finding out about Arrogant Behemoth, Yew and Zuo had asked if he had met Yang and Dragunov. From there, Roc found out about the job that hit a bit of a roadblock. One that Yang and Dragunov could supposedly help clear. The two men wouldn't go into details on that one, but Roc figured that he must have missed her on his way here. And if Yang needed a lift somewhere, then perhaps she found Rex and he is now helping her. Roc let out a small sigh, as he had also heard that Blake's second Blade was doing a rather dangerous job. Roc knew that there was no chance of Perceval being back after only a couple of days, but he still moved towards the reception desk to check on it.
His stride however was halted when he noticed a woman already talking to Yew and Zuo. Judging by her demeanor and aggressive stance she was angry about something. But that wasn't what made Roc pause. What made him pause was the fact that this woman was wearing a dark blue uniform with red winglike extensions. And from the position he was in, he could see the red stripe in her neck-length hair.
"Is that?" Roc muttered as he tried to find a spot where the woman wouldn't see him coming. If it was whom Roc thought it was, then he wanted to know what she was doing here.
"-seven of them so far, and we are working on finding the last one," Yew explained in annoyance.
"It's been weeks since my Driver requested them, and I didn't come all this way for nothing again." The woman complained back.
"Again?" Roc thought.
"As we have said many times, those gems aren't so easy to find. Besides, haven't we made progress every time you came to check on us?" Zuo took over, "It may take some more time, but we will have those gems delivered to the agreed location."
"Which we still don't know, by the way." Yew chimed in.
The woman dragged her palm across her face. "First off, the drop-off isn't mine to tell. Second... You're right. You have made more progress every time I came to check. It's just that my Driver is getting really impatient."
"Well, that's not our problem," Yew shrugged briefly, "Still, the next time you visit, we should have all of them."
"I hope so." The woman said before walking away. Which allowed Roc to finally see the half-scissor Core Crystal on the woman's chest.
"It is her," Roc muttered as he looked after the woman until she was out of eyesight. How did Ryuko get a job from here without his knowledge? Deciding to get to the bottom of this, Roc walked to Yew and Zuo.
The two saw the avian blade coming. "No, Roc. Neither the search team you requested, nor Perceval has come back yet." Yew said with a sigh.
"What job did that woman have with you?" Roc asked, earning a surprised look from the two.
"The one just now? Why do you want to know?" Yew asked.
"Because she tried to kill Rex not that long ago," Roc said crossing his arms, earning surprised looks from the two.
"...Are you sure it was her?" Zuo asked.
"Dark blue sailor uniform. Dark blue hair with a red stripe. Has a Core Crystal in the shape of a half-scissor. There's no mistake." Roc listed. "The only thing missing would be her weapons, which would be two swords that look like halves of a scissor." Of course, that last detail isn't very relevant considering how Blades can make their weapons appear.
Yew and Zuo shared a look. "Judging by how you're asking about it, I guess she failed." Yew then said, "But why did she... Scratch that, let's move somewhere else." With that, Yew stood up and turned to Zuo, "Can you take care of the reception until I'm back."
"Sure thing," Zuo said. With that, Yew led Roc to a small pond behind the reception with a large tree growing out from the middle of it.
"Okay, I need to hear the details of the attack. Also, I need to hear why." Yew quickly said.
"There's not much to tell, Rex, Pyra, Mythra, and Wulfric were in Fonsett when that Blade, Ryuko, attacked him out of nowhere. Apparently, her Driver wanted the Aegis." Roc explained.
Yew nodded along, "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Anyway, where did you learn her name."
"We found out that she and her sister were Blades of an Ardainian officer. And that the said officer's little brothers grew up with them. Sadly, the Core Crystal hunters got them." Roc explained, "I'm guessing that their current Driver purchased those two from them."
"Well, that complicates things." Yew said, looking around to make sure they had no extra audience, "The job that we got from her Driver is finding the eight Dragunites. We technically have all of them, but the Wind Dragunite is broken."
Roc's eyes widened, "Is that the job that Yang and Dragunov were going to help with?"
"That's the one." Yew affirmed, "They were going to find clues on how to make a new one."
For Roc that explained why Rex had moved. Maybe Yang and Dragunov had taken them wherever they think these clues might be. However, the fact that Ryuko's Driver was involved with a job from them... This gave the Avian Blade an idea. "Yew, I'm going to need a favor from you regarding Ryuko."
"I hope it's nothing that goes against our policies," Yew said with his arms crossed, but still relaxed.
"Oh, I won't ask you to terminate the job, or give out personal information, if you even have any," Roc said, knowing that they probably don't know who Ryuko's Driver is anyway.
In the palace, Dragunov found a heavy vault door in a cellar. Sadly, there were two problems. The first problem was that the door was very sturdy. The second one was that the door was closed with a combination lock and a strange-looking keyhole.
"So... even if we figured out the combination, we still need the key," Nia said, with a weary sigh, "Can't we just bust it down?"
"And risk bringing this whole place on top of us?" Dagas asked with a quirked eyebrow. Aside from the door, the whole place seemed to be in rock.
"I wish Roc was here, maybe he could pick the lock," Rex said as he looked at the sturdy door.
"Rex, I'm not sure Roc could pick this lock," Azurda said, looking at the strange keyhole.
As this conversation was happening, Wulfric was inspecting the rock walls. "Dragunov, come here." the beastly Blade then said. Dragunov let out a small sound before walking to the left side of the door. Wulfric then pointed to a particular spot on the wall, "On my mark, you strike there, I strike here." Wulfric explained as he pointed to a slightly higher spot he was going to strike.
"What are you up to?" Mythra asked, "Didn't you hear Dagas? This place could fall on top of us."
It seemed like the two weren't listening as they both took a stance. "Everyone, stand back," Wulfric said as he wound up his fist, steam rising from two protrusions on his back while Dragunov's cracks glowed gold. "Now!" Wulfric yelled out just before Mythra could scream for either of them to stop. The two Blades struck their designated spots with all their might. The two spots cracked which then spread in a network around the door.
"Everyone get out!" Rex yelled out, just before the wall crumbled, revealing a hole that led around the door to the vault behind. But it also kicked up some dust that made everyone cough a bit.
"There," Wulfric said first as the dust settled. "We have made an entrance."
"Are you crazy!" Mythra screamed," We could have been buried alive!"
"No, we wouldn't have." Wulfric said as Dragunov entered the vault, "The wall was weak in the spots where Dragunov and I struck."
Mythra prepared for another verbal attack before Pyra placed a calming hand on her sister's shoulder, "Mythra, Wulfric is an earth Blade. I'm sure he knew exactly what he was doing."
Mythra still looked angry but didn't say anything. "Seriously?!" Complained Yang who had entered the vault right behind Dragunov. "There's nothing here!"
With that, everyone else filed into the vault. The place was mostly empty. There were a few pieces of gold, jewelry, and other small valuables, but the place was definitely emptier than one would expect. "The Tornans must have emptied the place in a hurry before leaving," Rex said as he picked up the few gold coins that were there.
"Rex?" Pyra said a little unsurely.
"Well, no one's going to use this anymore." Rex shrugged as he kept picking things up. At the back of the vault, Dragunov had found seven small stone tablets that were on sturdy-looking stone pedestals.
"No way," Dragunov said as he placed one tablet back on the pedestal before picking up another one. "No." Dragunov put that one back. Then picked another one. "No." Then he repeated the process more impatiently.
"You found something?" Yang asked just when Dragunov picked two at once.
"This one!" Dragunov exclaimed before placing one tablet back and inspecting the one in his hand.
"You found something?!" Now Yang was more eager as she dashed to her Blade's side and tried to look at the tablet herself.
"These tablets have ingredients for all Dragunites I have ever made," Dragunov said with a look of absolute glee, though it dropped a little as he looked at the remaining six tablets. "Except for Water Dragunite."
"Seriously?!" Yang cheered, "That's awesome, now we can just make it today and-" "It's not that simple." Dragunov interrupted, "These are ingredient lists. It doesn't say anything about how much of each I need to use. Not to mention it doesn't detail the crystallization process."
"I'm sorry, but don't you just... you know, crystallize it?" Nia asked.
This earned another half-lidded stare from Dragunov. "Nia... you might as well say that boiled fish and fried meat are the same thing."
"Huh?" Nia looked baffled at the comparison. "Where did you...?"
"Anyway..." Yang butted in, "You just need to get enough of these ingredients and then just do enough trial and error, right?"
"Essentially yes, but it could still take me days to figure out the right combination and process," Dragunov said.
"Good enough for me," Yang said before fishing out her scroll and taking a picture of the tablet.
"What are you doing?" Dragunov asked as Yang then started taking pictures of the other tablets.
"I can't risk these tablets breaking during our trip back." Yang said like it was obvious, "Besides, they're easier to carry this way."
If looks could kill, Yang would have spontaneously combusted at Dragunov's glare, "Yang if you're planning to sell those-" "Who would I sell it to? You're the only one who can make them. Besides, you said it yourself, these are only ingredients lists."
Dragunov's jaw dropped, not expecting that kind of answer. "...If you say so." Dragunov said looking at Yang like she was being weird.
Mythra then stepped forward, "If you ever feel up to making-" "No." "I had to try," Mythra finished. With that, Dragunov picked up the remaining tablets carefully.
"I wonder why something as valuable as these tablets were left behind." Rex then muttered as they were making their way out of the cellar. "I mean, just Water Dragunite was worth 2 million gold."
"They probably thought they wouldn't get another chance to make them." Mythra explained, "Because Dragunov went with us to fight Malos. And when Torna fell... they probably already thought that Dragunov was no more." The blonde Aegis looked guilty at the last part. Rex moved in to grab Mythra's hand in a show of support.
"...Maybe if you had reached Thauron in time, Lora could have made him, and by extension me, snap out of it." Dragunov said looking at nothing in particular, "Perhaps that could have made the difference for Torna to still exist today." Then the dragon Blade growled, "Then again, that wouldn't have stopped Amalthus. And who knows what he would have done."
"You're right." Mythra admitted before smiling and squeezing Rex's hand a little, "Besides... Pyra wouldn't exist today either."
"Thank you." Pyra said with a smile of her own as she moved in and took Rex's other hand.
Nia's couldn't stop herself from souring a little, but kept her feelings out of her face.
Yang opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped herself and looked at Dragunov. "What?" The dragon asked after catching his Driver's stare.
"Nothing." Yang said, letting out a laugh.
"That's not nothing." Dragunov said with a quirked eyebrow, "What are you hiding, Yangie?"
"Just realized that Thauron and I might have at least one more thing in common." Yang said before looking at the tablets, "Are you going to take those?"
Dragunov brought his hand over his chin, tail swishing idly as he thought for a moment. "...If you swear on Ruby's life that you won't sell the pictures you took to anyone then I think I feel comfortable leaving the tablets here."
"Drag, like I said-" "Yang..." Dragunov interrupted, giving his Driver a warning look. Yang threw her hands in the air, "Fine! I swear on Ruby's life that I will never sell these pictures to anyone, give them away or otherwise try to use them without your approval. Sheesh, you're paranoid."
Dragunov nodded in approval before putting the tablets back on the pedestals. "Then we got what we came for, let's go. I got business in Garfront now."
"Are you planning to have them find the minerals you need?" Rex asked.
"That, and lots and lots of carbon." Dragunov affirmed, his tail swishing more rapidly, "I'm getting heated up."
Yang then took a look at her Scroll and searched for the picture that she was sure had the ingredients for Wind Dragunite."Carbon isn't on the list here. I mean... you said that diamonds are crystallized carbon, but doesn't it not being on the list mean it's not needed?"
"Or maybe whoever made the list thought it was so blatantly obvious that there was no need to." Dragunov snarked.
Yang glared at her Blade, but her cheeks still tinted red ever so little.
"Are we going or not?" Dagas said impatiently.
"Yes." Yang and Dragunov said as one. The two looked at each other in surprise. The two shook their heads and walked out the vault. With everyone else following.
As they walked out however, Mythra stalled a little, which Pyra took notice of. "Mythra, is something wrong?"
"No. Nothing is wrong." Mythra quickly said.
Pyra looked like she didn't believe it, "Mythra."
"I don't want to talk about it." Mythra then said, not meeting her sister's eyes.
Pyra let out a sigh, "Alright then. But if you ever feel like talking, I'm here for you."
In Mor Ardain, the gang was having dinner in the dining room. The investigation on Ellenora's death was inconclusive. At least in the sense that the culprit couldn't be identified. Sadly, without proper evidence, the Red Lobsters couldn't be convicted. And their testimony wasn't enough.
But there was one little thing that distracted everyone from that problem.
"Ruby, how long are you going to pout?" Roze asked.
"Shut up." Ruby said uncharacteristically rudely. Something that worried everyone else. "Yang is in so much trouble when she gets back."
"It couldn't be helped." Blake sighed, "If that was the payment for looking into Red Lobsters, then it is what it is."
"But she went on an adventure without me! Without us!" Ruby complained.
"Yeah!" Nora and Electra agreed.
"Well... I guess all we can do is wait for them to come back." Jaune said carefully.
"Including Perceval." Nox showed on his scroll even as a chunk of blood sausage disappeared into the hole of his inner mask. It was still amazing how he was able to hide his face even though everyone knew by now what it looked like.
Blake still felt that she should have gone too. But alas, Bumblebee could only carry three at most.
"Though I would prefer if we solved this case as soon as possible, I cannot say our time so far has been unproductive." Otohime said with a smile. She had learned a lot about Aura thanks to Ren's assistance. Of course, the water Blade was reluctant to allow her Driver to act as a test subject, but she relented when Ren said he trusted her.
"Indeed. There are now many questions about Aura I have never thought of." Ren commented as he placed a hand on his chest. From the experiments so far, Otohime has determined that there is a source that generates Aura. Though the nature of that source remains unknown Otohime has learned how to seal and unseal it.
Blake also looked to Otohime. "Like if there is some kind of source to Aura, then is it unique to a Remnan or can anyone have it?"
"But if the former is true, then how did Rex gain Aura?" Pyrrha asked the important question.
"Maybe the Aegis Core he had on his chest did something." Qrow contributed, "After all, I've never heard of anyone reacting to Aura awakening like they were jolted."
"That is my theory as well." Otohime agreed. "Though the most interesting thing I have found of Aura so far are the colors."
"How so?" Ruby asked, forgetting her pouting.
"Ren's Aura is magenta, Nora's is pink, yours, Qrow's and Pyrrha's are red. I wonder if the color is significant or merely cosmetic." Otohime thought aloud. "I would also like to study someone who has no awakened Aura to see if the term "awakened" is accurate description."
"That reminds me, you said that when semblance is used, our Aura...flares?" Pyrrha then mentioned on what Otohime discovered when she asked Ren to use his semblance while she was inspecting his Aura.
"That is how I see it." Otohime said, "Though I find it curious that an activated Aura and inactive Aura feel no different."
"Why is that?" Nora asked, now curious herself.
"Since Aura is not activated, it should feel...dormant, I suppose. Yet when Aura is activated, as you call it, all it does is form a protective shell around your body. Only when using a semblance is there a difference between how Aura behaves."
"Or when manipulated consciously," Ren added in.
"I wonder if Jimmy is going to be mad about Otohime learning more about Aura in a few days than what his scientists learned in years." Qrow chuckled at the thought as he took a sip of juice he had. The veteran didn't feel like dealing with Kasandra stealing his drinks.
"But there is still master Talos being able to...'capture' that source and take it for himself." Joana pointed out, "And supposedly that came from Adenine looking over Atlas research and instructions on making Flesh Eaters."
This made everyone turn to Pyrrha, but it was Jaune who decided to ask, "Pyrrha, do you know how the...process works?"
The Fall Champion shook her head, "Talos only said that during the process to make a Flesh Eater, he would also identify my Aura and capture it."
"Wouldn't that mean that any Blade could learn to identify Aura?" Electra asked with a tilted head.
"And Talos did that within three days." Otohime said with the smallest of frowns before curling a finger over her chin, "Then again, Adenine must have guided him on how to do it. How long had she been practicing... And with whom."
"I think that part's obvious." Nora said with a grin, "With Oobleck of course!"
Otohime resisted an annoyed look at Nora. As obvious as it was, she had a hard time believing the eccentric teacher at Beacon for agreeing to something like that without question. He couldn't possibly be that head over heels for Adenine. Then again, Otohime also wouldn't be surprised if she would have to address the book lady Blade as Mrs. Oobleck the next time they met. The Imperial mother resisted a smile at the thought.
"Stop that!" Oscar suddenly cried out, earning worried looks from everyone else. The poor boy looked flustered with his cheeks red. "...Ozpin said something... weird." the boy explained awkwardly.
"What did he say?" Herald asked with an apprehensive look.
"...I don't want to repeat it." Oscar turned away from everyone and tried to shrink away. Or at least that's what it looked like.
"Roze, do you have any idea?" Ruby asked her Blade.
"I'm not sure. And I'm not sure I want to know what made Oscar react like that." Roze replied.
Ruby was still curious about what Ozpin said to get that kind of reaction from Oscar, but she was a little afraid that she wasn't going to like what she heard. So, she decided to keep her questions to herself. Then her thoughts drifted to Penny. More specifically if Tora and his dad had done anything weird to her. Or if Penny herself had gotten any weird ideas. "I should call her." Ruby thought and started finishing her meal quickly.
AN: There we go, Dragunov's job is shortened by years. Roc just found out who the job Yang and Dragunov were helping with was from. And Otohime has been learning about Aura.