"Aargh" jaune yelled as he swung his sword upwards and knocked vernal off her feet by using his full strength. Cinder saw her opportunity and moved in from jaunes rear hoping to land a strike with her duel daggers. The blonde heard the scrap of gravel beneath cinders feet and knew where she was so he flipped his sword over his back and blocked the two daggers from landing their mark.
Cinder was surprised but jumped back to put distance between them only for jaune to follow after. He brought his sword low and cinder believed he was going to strike just like he did with vernal but when he swing his sword a bunch of dirt flew up and got cinder in her face. She was blinded and jaune took the chance to end spar by knocking her blades away before connecting the pummel of his sword with her forehead.
Cinder fell back with a painful cry as her back hit the floor, she tried to stand but a pointed blade pressed against her throat and kept her from moving. Vernal slowly rolled on the ground until she got to her knees and then pushed herself up to her feet. Jaune smiled down at his defeated enemy until she cleaned her eyes enough to see him "I win" he stated.
The sound of clapping was heard as Alec pushed himself off his seat "good work jaune you seem to be taking your lessons pretty seriously and the results show". Jaune put his sword back into it's sheath before giving his master a slight bow "I try my best". A hand ruffled the blondes hair until he pulled away "no need to be so stiff boy" Alec said with a smile.
The master looked at the clock on his scroll and sighed "looks like trainings over for today, get cleaned up and head to the dining hall". Jaune nodded and rushed off to do as instructed leaving Alec with cinder but moved to help vernal since he probably hurt her more. The older man looked down a the raven haired girl "how long you planning to lay there in the dirt"?
Cinder pushed herself up onto her feet and started to leave when Alec stopped her. "Cinder" the girl turned to the man who spoke her name "you need to know that if you don't start improving I have orders to get rid of you from Salem herself". The girls eye's widened "w-what but why"?! Alec crossed his arms and gave her a firm glare "because the weak have no place here and Salem needs someone strong enough to stand at jaunes side and watch his back".
Cinder gritted her teeth in anger "what makes him so special? I'm far smarter then he is"! Alec chuckled "trust me your nowhere near jaunes level...at least not yet. The boys been doing this since he was four and now he's close to being seven which means he's got three years on you and vernal".
"That still doesn't explain why everyone treats him like he's royalty" she spat. Alec just stared at the girl like she was the stupidest kid to ever walk the planet "in case you don't know, jaune is the equivalent of a prince here in the Grimmlands because of his adoption by Salem. Even if he wasn't adopted by Salem his bloodline is of the Arc lineage and that is a boon in itself".
Cinder was a little confused and knew she'd be looked down on if she asked but curiosity got the better of her "what's so special about the Arc bloodline"? Her master frown her way "I guess watts isn't really doing his job as well as I thought. The Arc family has always been filled with heroes, kings, queens and knights of what people might consider as legends".
Cinder couldn't help but be surprised as Alec continued in his story "the one thing that put them at the forefront of many warriors was their inheritance of a great deal of aura. As you can imagine most Arc's were born with enough aura to put others like mine and yours to shame but add their unique luck to gain powerful semblances and you got nearly impossibly strong warriors. If you take a look at their history you'll learn that the last king of vale, the one that ended the war between all the kingdom's was actually an Arc himself".
Cinders eye's nearly popped out of her head before she turned towards the direction jaune and vernal disappear into the castle. "Then there's the boys father who was a warrior that even the mindless Grimm felt fear for. That man wasn't human or at least that's what it probably felt like when you were in his sights". As Alec said his peace about Nicolas he couldn't help but feel the burning pain of the scar the man in question left him.
Cinders brow furrowed before she turned towards her master "whatever happened to jaunes father"? Alec watched his young student for a moment "this is between us and no one else understand"? The girl nodded to her master feeling like there was a little trust she was receiving with this secret.
"It took a greater monster to end him" he said as he stared at Salems castle. It took cinder a good minute to put the pieces together but when she did she felt a greater respect for the woman who brought her here. "Come on it's time for food but get washed up first, ain't trying to lose my appetite because of your stench".
Cinder sniffed her armpit and really didn't smell much but that was probably because she was used to it. She didn't waste anymore time and left for what she believed was a much needed shower.
Little cinder wanting more than she deserves already. Little girl needs to chill before she becomes like her actual version...lol.