The weekend passed fairly quickly for team JNPR after their eventful Friday. Not long after Jaune and Ren had returned from getting food they were met with an extremely happy Nora. A thing that Jaune had soon learned led to bone crushing hugs. Seriously how did the girl half his size have more strength than an ursa?
Anyway, she had a pretty long talk with miss Goodwitch where everything was explained to her. The aftermath was a set of bruised ribs for Jaune along with a basically adopted sister. Oh and also miss Goodwitch was now referred to as auntie much to her chagrin, and secret enjoyment.
Other than that Jaune had talked with his team about the elective classes that Jane had shown him. Considering they had a good deal of free time after combat class they each agreed it would be a good idea to expand their horizons. Of course for some that was easier than others.
Nora had, surprisingly, the easiest time as she chose to take advanced dust chemistry taught by Professor Peach. In her own words 'It'll help make bigger explosions fearless leader'. Yeah Jaune felt like he would have a headache later on, but he just couldn't find it in himself to deny her.
Ren had chosen to take on two electives at once. The first was a class on setting up frontier towns and their security, a very common job for huntsmen considering establishing these towns were essential for procurement of dust veins and farmland. The second was an introduction to psychology class, as with his semblance, Ren felt he would be pretty well suited to the occupation.
Pyrrha...well Pyrrha hadn't actually chosen any of the classes yet. She wanted to take an elective, but at the same time the only thing outside of training she had known was tournament fighting. Considering applications aren't due until this Friday Jaune had offered that she spend some time thinking over her options.
As for the leader himself, well Jaune had decided to take three electives. The first two were the same as Nora and Ren's first choices, though for different reasons. For the advanced dust class it was because he was slowly developing a fascination for just what dust could do if used properly. Dust was most commonly used in the element it was found as such as fire, wind, or ice, but Jaune was curious what combining different types of dust could achieve.
As for the creation and security of settlements, well Jaune had grown up in one of those settlements. He knew firsthand the difficulties that could be had should something go wrong or even, brothers forbid, if there was a grimm attack. With that in mind he felt it was part of his responsibility to help and ensure others would be safe in towns like his.
Finally there was his final class, mechanical engineering. Don't get him wrong Jaune was not a gear head by any means, but neither were his teammates. Bullheads and other modes of mechanical transport were essential for Huntsmen to respond quickly to threats on the frontier. Unfortunately when the supply of those vehicles comes from a single company that had a stranglehold on the market the quality wasn't exactly stellar.
B.I.N.C or Bullheads Incorporated is the single manufacturer and distributor of bullheads on all of Remnant. That meant they were free to charge what they wanted and cut costs wherever they felt justified. More than once there had been a story of a bullhead malfunctioning and landing a team in dire situations. That was reason enough for Jaune to take the course in case something like that ever happened to his team they could be prepared.
Other than that team JNPR had spent their weekend training in the mornings and relaxing in the afternoons. Of course there was the occasional hangout with team RWBY, but for the most part the weekend was rather quiet. Now it was Monday and time to get back to classes.
With Jaune
So far the day had passed by like any other for Jaune Arc. Classes had been interesting, Nora had regaled their sister team with another one of her dreams, and now they say in combat class waiting for Professor Goodwitch to begin.
Just as he thought of the woman she began walking into the middle of the arena, though she wasn't alone. Joining her was the headmaster who, like always, appeared relaxed and holding his mug. "Attention students." She announced silencing any chatter that permeated the room.
Idly Jaune noticed that there were a lot more students present than normal. In fact he noted that he saw Velvet and her team and several others that weren't usually in this class.
"I'm sure some of you have already noticed the increased number of your fellow students today. That is because the headmaster has seen fit to implement a temporary exercise that will last the rest of the week." She announced causing a wave of murmurs to break out.
"What do you guys think the headmaster's got planned?" Yang asked from her teams row of seats in front of JNPR.
"If you be quite I'm sure we will find out soon." Weiss reprimanded as she gave the headmistress her undivided attention.
"Students." The simple, singular word from the headmaster was enough to once again instill complete silence in the room. "It has come to the attention of myself and the other headmasters of the other academies that most teams develop a form of tribal mentality. What this means is that it's very common for teams to trust and work with their teams very closely, but often very few others." He stated pausing for a few moments to let the information sink in.
"Headmaster, how's that a bad thing?" A beret wearing girl, Velvets leader if Jaune remembered right, asked.
"It isn't necessarily a bad thing miss Adel." Ozpin replied. "As teammates trust and cohesion are the very backbone of keeping yourselves alive. However, this does lead to many problems when teams decide to go their separate ways after graduation. More often than not those that do find it difficult to work side by side with other huntsmen." He explained.
"This can and has led to casualties." Professor Goodwitch added sharply.
"Indeed, the inability to adapt to working with others outside a single team is a detriment to any huntsmen or huntress." The headmaster affirmed. "For that reason we will be conducting a number of match's and exercises that pits students against each other in groups randomly. This will only last the week and serves as a test of sorts before the Vytal festival arrives."
"What's this have to do with the festival?" A random student asked.
"I'm glad you asked." Ozpin replied with a small smile.
After having spent some free time with the man it was one Jaune recognized. It was the Headmaster's 'I have a crazy idea' smile, very similar to his I know something you don't know smile.
"These exercises are being conducted by all four academies. Each and every student will be scored on their ability to work with others and their ability to adapt to their teammates. During the Vytal festival a special exhibition match will be held where the top four scorers from each academy will be paired randomly together." The headmaster announced.
Jaune was confused for a few moments before he realized what the headmaster was doing. He had purposely made the exercise a competition to encourage more reluctant students to actively work with their random teammates. It wasn't a bad idea, but it certainly had a few risks.
"With that said, I will now turn your attention back to Professor Goodwitch." Ozpin stated.
"Today's exercise will be straightforward, a three versus three match. When your team of three is formed you will have three minutes to strategize before the match begins." She announced causing a wave of excitement to build.
"That's not good." Jaune stated quietly to himself though his team and sister team heard him.
"What do you mean?" Blake asked turning in her seat to look at him.
"Three minutes isn't a lot of time to work out a strategy with two total strangers. Not when we need to discuss semblances, fighting style, and weapons." He explained.
"He's right." Weiss stated. "It will be a test to see how we can relay information to each other quickly and effectively to form a passable team."
"The first team will be Yang Xiao Long, Nora Valkyrie-"
"Hell yeah, we've got this in the bag." Yang cheered while giving a giddy Nora a high five.
"And Cardin Winchester." Professor Goodwitch finished causing the pair to immediately deflate. "The opposing team will be Jane Doe, Yatsuhashi Daichi, and Jaune Arc." She announced.
Jaune blinked in surprise before standing and heading to the changing rooms with tide that had been called. It took barely a few minutes to get changed, especially considering he only really needed the ace, and he soon joined his teammates in the arena.
Having already met Jane he turned his attention to the stranger of their group Yatsuhashi. Yatsuhashi is a very tall young man with shaved-short black hair and tanned skin. He has a long short-sleeved robe, which he wears on one shoulder over a black muscle shirt. The robe is fastened at the waist by a leather armored belt with two pouches on it. He also wears brown pants and black-and-green boots. On his back is the single largest sword Jaune has ever seen.
"Hi Jaune Arc, I've met Jane before." Jaune introduced holding out his hand.
Yatsuhashi took it while give Jaune a smile. "Yatsuhashi Daichi, please call me Yatsu, nice to meet you. I thank you for defending Velvet."
Jaune simply gave him a smile. "Don't mention it, I'm happy to help."
"I don't mean to intrude, but we have two minutes and thirty seconds left." Jane stated. "So Jaune, our opponents are all in your year, what can you tell us?"
"All three are power types." Jaune started to explain.
"Wait power types?" Yatsuhashi asked confused.
"Yeah, all three go for power above all else. Their fighting styles, semblances, and weapons all revolve around causing as much damage as possible." Jaune explained. "Cardin focuses on melee, but realistically is the least threatening. Yang is the greatest threat, she's excellent in hand to hand and her gauntlets double as shotguns."
"Semblance?" Jane asked.
"Kinetic absorption of a kind, the more damage she takes the stronger she becomes when she activates it." Jaune explained.
"What about the ginger, she seems...chaotic." Yatsu stated as he cast a glance at Nora shaking her hammer at Cardin.
"Nora is just as dangerous as Yang, but only if she absorbs electrical energy of any kind. She can use it to enhance her strength and believe me you would rather be hit by Yang." He replied with a shudder.
"Alright I suppose we should describe ourselves." Jane stated causing the boys to nod. "Going by your description I'm a support type. I specialize in strike and retreat tactics which is easier with my semblance." She explained.
"Power type, I have no ranged weaponry and prefer close combat. I have a semblance, but am prohibited from using it by my team leader." Yatsu explained quickly and shortly.
"Understandable, I'm a power and support type. I can hold my own in hand to hand and I have a pistol for medium to close range. My semblance let's me be both offensive, defensive, and supplementary any any time." Jaune explained.
"Like the logs for substituting or changing appearance?" Jane asked remembering his matches last week.
"Right." Jane replied affirmatively.
"We have thirty seconds, plan?" Yatsu asked looking at the timer Goodwitch had set up.
"I have one, but its rudimentary." Jaune stated quickly.
"Better than going in blind." Jane replied.
Getting a nod from his other teammate Jaune had them huddle close as he whispered his plan. He barely had enough time to get through it when the timer rang.
"Time is up!" Professor Goodwitch announced. "Take your positions." She instructed.
With a final nod to his temporary team Jaune stood across from Yang causing the blonde brawler to grin. Yatsuhashi stood in front of Cardin, returning the younger students glare with a stoic expression. Finally Jane stood across from a grinning Nora, casually smiling as she twirled a small knife in hand.
"Begin."
It was the signal that kicked off the chaos. Yang charged straight for Jaune throwing a combination of fast right and left jabs that he proceeded to parry. The two traded blows as Yang continued to throw punches, kicks, shotgun blasts trying to land a solid hit on Jaune.
As for the aforementioned Arc, he was doing his best to hit Yang on the wrists, elbows, and shins to stop both hold off her advance and prevent her from building up her semblance. When she suddenly dropped and went for a leg sweep he saw an opportunity. Jumping over her he flipped and grabbed Yang by the shoulders throwing her as he right led himself, but not before intentionally pulling her hair.
"Oops...sorry Yang, I took some hair." He said not at all sorry for what he did.
When Yang stood up Jaune gulped as he saw her blood red eyes. "You're dead Arc." She grit out as her hair exploded into flames.
"Me and my plans." Jaune mumbled to himself as he was forced to jump away.
Not a moment later Yang came barreling down on his former position. Ember Cecelia barked as as she fired off a wave of fire that arced out from her landing. From there she gave little reprieve as she shot off two rounds and flew towards Jaune at break neck speeds.
Substituting with a log Jaune just barely made it out of the way as the wood was practically disintegrated. Appearing behind Yang he punched her in the back knocking her forwards slightly. From there their fight was can and mouse as Jaune dodged Yang's wild punches and kicks, occasionally getting an opening to land a hit of his own.
For her part Yang was starting to tire, she had kept her semblance up for over a minute already and she had yet to land a decisive blow. Idly her eyes snapped to the overhead meter to see she was already at sixty percent. When she felt her head snap up and a kick land in her midsection she realized she had given Jaune too much of an opening.
Head snapping back to her opponent she was momentarily met with the image of a much larger fist. A fist that she shot out to meet only for her semblance to flicker out at the last second. Without the power boost she wasn't able to overpower her new opponent and instead was forced into a deadlock.
"Hi~" a new voice whispered in her ear causing Yang to snap in that direction.
That was the wrong move to make as Jane swept her legs right out from under her. Yang had no time to adjust as she was practically bat into the air by the flat of a very large sword.
"Sorry Yang, but I'll see you next fall." Jaune said as he suddenly appeared above Yang. She would have cracked a smirk at the pun if he didn't immediately follow it up with a kick to the gut.
Only moments later and Yang met the arena floor. She tried to stand up only to suddenly be staring down the barrel of a familiar revolver.
"Stay down Yang." Jaune warned.
Looking up she saw that he was right in front of her. As she looked around she grimaced as she saw Yatsuhashi to her right poised to hit her again and Jane right behind her twirling a knife.
As for her own team...they were already eliminated? Cardin was knocked out stuck in the wall of the arena, in fact it looked almost as bad as if she had punched him into it. As for Nora she was pouting while standing out of bounds.
"That's enough, the winners of this match are Jaune Arc, Yatsuhashi Daichi, and Jane Doe." Miss Goodwitvh announced stepping back into the arena.
Jaune smiled as he high-fived his temporary team for their victory. He did blush a bit as Jane suddenly gave him a very tight hug.
"What the hell happened!" Yang asked bewildered. He really didn't blame her all that much, he made sure Yangs attention was on him and only him.
"I will allow Mister Arcs team to explain, it was an adequate strategy for the time allotted." Professor Goodwitch stated with a small smile.
"You can explain Jauney, it was your plan after all." Jane stated while leaning against Jaune.
"Well...out of the three of your team you were the most dangerous Yang." Jaune started causing Yang to smirk at the compliment. "You were also the easiest to distract." She immediately stopped smirking.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked narrowing her eyes at Jaune.
"N-nothing!" He stuttered realizing how wrong he had worded that. "What I mean is that your semblance is really strong, but when you get mad you use it without thinking." He explained.
"Like a raging bull!" Nora chimes in smiling as she stood beside Yang.
"Exactly." Jaune immediately agreed. "Like it or not when you get mad you focus solely on what upsets you, tuning everything else out. Combine that with your skill and you become scarily hard to deal with...in a one on one at least." Jaune explained.
"But you weren't alone, you focused solely on Jaune and ignored your other teammates. Considering we were at a disadvantage power wise that was stupid." Jane cut in causing Yang to flinch a little at her bluntness.
"While Jaune distracted you it left your teammates divided. I quickly overpowered and defeated Winchester while Jane distracted Valkyrie." Yatsu picked up.
"With the numbers in our favor we teamed up on Valkyrie, ringed her out, and then moved on to you." Jane added once again.
"It was pretty simple really." Jaune stated with a shrug. "What was your guys strategy?" Jaune asked curiously.
"Pound you...hard." Yang replied with a frown. They really didn't have a plan, Cardin had tried to take charge and boss them around. Of course she and Nora didn't take that shit so they ignored him.
"Maybe next time Yang, but I hope you can take me alone. I don't bat for the other team and Nora's practically family." Jaune replied with a smirk causing Yang to blush madly.
Despite all her teasing and bluster she was in fact a massive virgin. Hell she hadn't even had a boyfriend before. All those 'dates' were just her excuse to go track down info on her mother.
Jaune was swiftly swatted over the head by a riding crop as Professor Goodwitch glared at him. "Watch your mouth mister Arc or you will be joining me for detention." She threatened. "Now onto both teams performance."
Team JNPR Dorm
Jaune stood in his dorm room alone. Seeing as it was normally time for dinner he had sent his team on ahead while he had gotten a quick shower. Though that wasn't the only reason he had sent them on ahead. In truth he needed an excuse to get away so he could visit the lottery room. He hadn't visited since last week with the headmaster and headmistress and with nine tickets in his inventory he was a little excited.
As he stepped through the door of light that appeared in the middle of the room he saw Luck sitting behind her table with a bored expression. That changed however as she saw him, immediately she lit up as if a switch had been flipped.
"Jauney! Finally decided to come and visit poor, little, old me?" She questioned with a smile.
The question held no real heat behind it, but Jaune winced a bit. He really did wonder if Luck ever had any visitors or if he was the only one that she ever saw.
"Sorry, I just wanted to build up some tickets." He replied.
It was true, he wanted to get as many tickets as possible for the next campaign special. Unfortunately, he couldn't just go to the Emerald forest and farm grimm with his team. Beacon was actually pretty strict on allowing first years into the forest outside of official outings. That left him the only options of his daily tickets and Professor Ports class.
"It's fine, I get it." Luck replied with a cheerful smile. "So how many you want to roll today Jauney?" She asked in excitement.
"Ummm...let's go with five." He stated handing over the correct amount of tickets.
Luck took the tickets gleefully as she gestured to the wheel. "Spin away dear winner~" she cheered.
Jaune smiled at her excitement as he placed a hand on the wheel and gave it a good spin. The wheel spun for only a few moments before spitting out a small gold ball with the chibi face of a white haired child doing a 'cute girl' pose.
"Congratulations you've won prize number two thousand twenty one! A world token for the beautiful world of Teyvat!" Luck cheered. As she picked up the ball and set it in the table it transformed into a gold coin with the same design.
"What's a world token?" Jaune asked in confusion.
"A one time use token that lets you visit its associated world." Luck explained with a cheshire smile. "One use and poof, you can go back and forth just like you can here." She explained.
"That's...wow." Jaune stated dumbly, not sure what else to say.
"Alrighty next, next!" She encouraged excited to see what else her customer would win.
Putting the token away in his inventory for now Jaune reached out and gave the wheel a stronger spin. This time it took twice as long before the wheel started to slow down and spit out a pale blue ball that had the picture of a person exhaling a cloud. When Luck put the ball on the table it transformed into a scroll that had the same color pattern as the ball.
"Congratulations you've won prize number one thousand nine hundred and twelve, the Mist Breathing Style. This particular style was used by the young Hashira of Japans demon slayer corps Muichiro Tokito." She congratulated.
Jaune looked at the scroll curiously for a moment before deciding to put it away for later. Spinning the wheel for the third time Jaune didn't bother trying to apply anymore or less force. This time it barely spun before spitting out a completely black ball.
"Ooooh, sorry dear customer it looks like you received a trash ball." Luck stated with a wince.
"Trash ball? Is that like a failed roll?" Jaune asked.
"Yep, it happens every now and then where you roll one and win nothing." Luck explained.
"Alright, let's try this again." Jaune stated as he spun the wheel once again.
Once again the wheel spun for only a moment before spitting out another small black ball. Jaune stared at the ball without saying a word.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Jaune?"
"One more time."
Without saying another world Jaune reached out and gave the wheel another spin. This one may have just been a bit, slightly too strong as the wheel kept spinning for over a minute. When the wheel slowly came to a stop after a while a gold ball with the depiction of an old piece of paper and quill came out.
See the small ball Luck picked it up to examine it before her eyes widened drastically. "Jaune! Put it in storage quick!" She shouted in a panic throwing it at the teen.
Deciding not to ask questions Jaune did as he was told. When he threw the ball into storage the icon that popped up was that of some form of air ship he had never seen before. With a questioning look to Luck he was greeted with a sigh of relief from the woman.
"Whoo...that was too close." She stated. "That was prize number forty thousand and one. Otherwise known as the Warrant of Trade, a document which describes and sanctions the accepted limits of a Rogue Trader and his or her descendants' operations across the galaxy of the universe of the 41st millennium." She explained. "It's also housed in a gigantic spaceship." She stated.
"What?" Jaune asked, his mind still attempting to catch up.
"Look it's all very, very technical so I'll leave it for this pamphlet to explain." She stated as a small pamphlet with the crest of a double headed eagle on the front appeared in hand.
Jaune took the pamphlet and immediately put it away in storage. Hey if this thing had freaked Luck of all people out he was going to read it only when he could handle it.
With his five draws over with Jaune bid goodbye to his favorite lottery attendant before stepping back into his dorm room. Luckily it appeared no one else had come back in the time he was gone. With a small smile he left the room behind intent on not keeping his team waiting...otherwise Nora would eat his portion of dinner again.
Training Dimension
Later that night Jaune opened his eyes to find that he was once again in a forest clearing. Much like his time with Kakashi sensei this clearing was large and gave ample room for training, however it also felt different in a way. It felt as though it was more serene than what he had trained in before.
"So you're Jaune Arc?" A feminine voice asked.
Looking to his right Jaune was greeted by a blonde woman maybe in her thirties wearing a grass green haori. Underneath she wears a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her pants. The feature that immediately caught his attention however was the purple diamond center of her forehead.
"Lady Tsunade?" Jaune asked hesitantly.
Kakashi had given brief descriptions of the three legendary sannin when he had given Jaune a lesson on his worlds history. The reason he was hesitant in his guess however was because Kakashi had said the woman was much older than the one in front of him, even if their physical descriptions aligned.
"Good, Kakashi did teach you something." She replied with a small smirk. "Now let's see how well he taught you to dodge."
There was no other warning or preamble before a tree was ripped out of the ground and sent sailing at his head. Performing a quick substitution Jaune was just barely able to dodge the projectile before looking at his newest trainer in horror.
Kakashi had said lady Tsunade could be scary... he had understated that! She was terrifying!