CHAPTER 1

He woke up with a sharp pain in his right shoulder.

He groaned in pain and opened his eyes to see that he was in a forest. And he was dangling about 5 meters above from the ground… with a red and golden colored spear stabbed into his shoulder and sticking him to the tree.

He groaned in pain, a part of him wondering why he didn't felt even more pain in his shoulder.

Not that being stabbed didn't hurt but it was still in the manageable level which shouldn't have been possible.

He must be into shock or maybe it's the adrenaline? He wasn't sure.

But where was he? And why was he stuck to a tree like a…

Memories suddenly assaulted his mind. Memories of him filling a Waifu Catalog just because it was fun. Memories of him dying to a truck. And last but not the least, memories of the loser known as Jaune Arc whose body he had… substituted in.

Ah… so that's why the spear stabbed into him and the armor he was wearing seemed so familiar.

It seemed like Pyrrha Nikos didn't quite 'nailed' the shot this time.

He took a moment to bask at his own pun before he started thinking of ways to get out of his unfortunate situation because the spear buried in his shoulder was really starting to hurt now.

So if he remembered his choices correctly, then he bought Shroud of power and Dragon perks.

If he turned into a fully body Dragon or even a mecha Dragon then he should be able to get out of his situation but he wasn't sure if Ozpin had put cameras around here and he didn't want to show his Dragon form to the old wizard.

Shroud of Power it is then.

But before he could use the Shroud, he noticed some movement below him.

He looked down and saw a beautiful white haired girl whose features strongly resembled that that of Weiss Schnee. Except that she was a real person this time and not a 3D cartoon character.

She must've heard his struggles because she looked up at him and her features contorted in disinterest and indifference before her eyes widened in shock at the blood leaking down his shoulder and through his armor.

He could see indecision in her eyes as she wondered whether to help him or to simply leave. Must be his Social talent at work if he's able to read her so easily with so little facial movements from her.

In the end, she huffed and made a few glyphs in mid air before she jumped on top of them one by one until she was standing in front of him. On a glyph. In mid air.

Why the hell did people in this world didn't believe in magic when they could do things like this?

He spent a moment being awed by her semblance before she cleared her throat and he was forced to look up at her.

"Before you say anything. Know that I already have a partner." She said with narrowed eyes.

He gave a nod and she created a glyph below his feet, allowing him to stand on it before with a tug, she pulled the spear out of him and the tree.

He stifled a cry of pain and fell on his knees.

Weiss looked at the blood pouring out of his shoulder with worry and then shouted "Girl! Stupid Girl! Come here."

He heard the sound of footsteps "Hey! I am not a stupid gir- Ohmygod what happened to him?"

Weiss used a few more glyphs and allowed him to gently land on the ground as he saw a young girl with a red cape and silver eyes running toward him with worry on her face.

The protagonist of this world eh?

"Jaune. What happened to you?" the girl who he was pretty sure was Ruby Rose asked as she knelt down beside him, her hands fidgeting around her skirt, wanting to stop the bleeding help in any other way but not wanting to cause him any more pain.

"Can't you see that he's bleeding you dolt?" Weiss asked in an impatient voice "Quick. Give me your cape so that we could wrap it around his arm and stop his bleeding."

"My cape?" Ruby asked with worry. He knew that the cape belonged to her mother and was one of the few things that her mother left behind for her before she left the mortal coil. And thus he understood why Ruby would hesitate to give away the cape like this.

"Yes you dolt. Your cape. Give it so I can stop this fool's bleeding shoulder."

Ruby hesitated for a moment longer before she looked at the blood flowing down his shoulder before the hesitation was replaced by determination and she quickly unclasped the cape and handed it to Weiss who quickly started to put it around his shoulder in an effort to stop the wound.

He grunted in pain as the red cape tightened around his shoulder and stopped the blood flow.

"Thank you." He said, his voice coming out weaker than he intended.

"Jaune! Are you okay now?" Ruby asked.

"No you idiot. Can't you see all the blood he has lost? We need to get him out of here asap." Weiss replied.

"But… why didn't his aura help him?" Ruby asked.

Weiss looked contemplative at that question but before she could say anything, they heard the sound of bushes being moved and went into fighting positions with both their weapons pointed at where the sound was coming from.

He wondered if he was about to see the first grimm in this new life but then a human figure emerged out of the bushes.

A red haired girl with wide and expressive green eyes and a red and gold colored spartan armor.

His favourite character in the RWBY series. Until she was killed off by Cinder.

Pyrrha Nikos

"Oh god! Jaune! Are you alright?"

He could see Weiss stop herself from saying a scathing remark.

"He was stabbed by a spear into the tree." Weiss said "I believe this is yours?"

Pyrrha took the blood stained spear and he could see the discomfort and worry in her eyes as she bent down and checked up on his wound

"I'm so sorry about this Jaune. I was afraid that you'll suffer a bad fall and I-"

"Don't be." He said, putting more effort in his voice so that his words won't come out in a whisper. "You made the right decision. Without your spear, I might have died from the fall. So don't beat yourself over it. Okay?"

The worry in her eyes didn't diminish but she gave a nod.

"Jaune. We need to get you to a hospital." Ruby said.

Weiss sniffed "Do you have any method to call the professors?"

"I think-" Pyrrha started but he cut her off with a "No!"

"No?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No." He said with determination, some of his strength returning to him. "I am completing this initiation test."

"Jaune. You really should listen to her. You've lost a lot of blood as it is." Pyrrha said.

He shook his head. He couldn't afford to fair the initiation test. Couldn't afford to go back to his (Jaune's) home. Couldn't afford to not be a hunter. "I'm completing this test."

"Jaune…" Ruby spoke but he cut her off with a wave of his hand and stood up from the ground, feeling his knees shake from the effort. Pyrrha came to support him but he waved her away.

"No." He said as he finally managed to stand up on his feet. "I'm doing this. On my own if I have to. I've come so far. I'm not going to quit now."

Then an idea struck his mind and he spread the shroud through his entire body, under his armor and clothes so that the girls won't see. He made the Shroud act like an exo skeleton. Making it support his body and allowing him to move with it's help.

"We're not going to carry you to the End line." Weiss said with scorn but he could sense the worry hidden underneath her biting words and he gave her a nod.

"That's alright. If you don't want to help me then I'll just have to do this on my own."

"We're not leaving you here Jaune." Ruby said with uncharacteristic seriousness and Pyrrha nodded by her side.

"Yes Jaune. We're not going to leave you here. Not when…" Pyrrha paused "I saw all of you at the same time so I don't know who my partner is."

Weiss opened her mouth to say something but Ruby overrode her with her usual enthusiasm "I met Weiss first. So she's my partner."

Weiss sighed and rubbed her nose while Pyrrha turned and looked at him with a gentle smile "Then you and me are partners Jaune. And we'll reach our destination together."

He gave them a grateful nod before picking up his sword and shield from the ground, those items feeling strangely heavy because of the blood loss.

"I still don't understand why your Aura didn't stop the spear." Weiss commented from the side and both Ruby and Pyrrha turned to look at him curiously.

He quickly looked through Jaune's memories and came up with the answer.

"My mother… she lost her parents, her brothers and her husband to the Hunter Profession. She didn't want me or any of my sisters to become a hunter. So… she didn't unlock my aura."

"You don't have aura?" Weiss asked with a flabbergasted look "Then how did you expect to survive the Initiation test?"

He couldn't come up with an answer and just shrugged in the end.

"It's alright Jaune. We'll help you pass the initiation test and you'll become a fine Huntsman." Pyrrha said as she put a hand on his chest "And the first step is to unlock your aura."

"Huh?"

Before he could saying something else, he felt a warm energy coming inside his body from Pyrrha's hands as she started the chant.

"For it is in passing that we…"