chapter 9

Jaune Arc hummed while flipping through the pages of his book. He currently sat on top of a thin wooden board on a pointy-ended bamboo stick while watching over the training of his apprentice, Nora Valkyrie. He was getting more and more used to controlling his aura but while it was a lengthy procedure, it was getting tedious.

In short, he was bored. He has already devoured several books of necessary knowledge about the Grimm and possible theories on how to deal with huntsmen or other aura users. Sadly, he can't put the theories to the test as his position as a student by day and personal sparring partner of Professor Ozpin in the magical arts in his free time. Noticing a slight change in the static electricity, the blonde saw how lightning danced around Nora. With her semblance, it is easier to help her develop an Electric skin. She would need experience to perfect it but he did not want to risk her getting injured.

Looking at Ren, the ninja of the team was looking a bit under the weather. He was more tired and a bit more... emotional than usual. It honestly reminded him of his sisters...

To Pyrrha, Jaune knew his partner was a prodigy of talent and hard work. She was someone who forced Jaune to strategize on how to take care of her. Her semblance was annoying but it can be taken care of with non-metallic weapons. He has several of them such as his mages staff but he wanted to keep it as a trump card. As of now, only Professor Ozpin, Ruby and Yang's uncle Qrow, and his aunt, Glynda, knew of his ability to use magic.

Wait, he does have a weapon capable of being used against Pyrrha. It was a fang of a Wamasu he looted from that renegade Shadowscale he hunted and killed as a favor. It was amazing and it was sharp despite being made of bone. He kept it as a spare due to its innate ability to conduct storm magic, he had to check if he still had it in his inventory.

His thoughts went to his special assignment, the war maidens from the sanctuaries. He has the key but he can't go in there yet. There were still not enough data. Conversing with the spirits of the deceased Sanctuary-dwellers was enlightening but outdated. They used different systems of magic similar to the people of Tamriel. The Nords of Skyrim's magic system focused more on Bellowing, a form to emulate the shouts of the ancient tongues, the spirit sword of the Ansei, and more. He was trained in the spellcasting of the mages guild, the Necromancy of the worm cult, and some teachings from some hedge witch, wizard, and that former Psijic he did a favor for. His focus was Alteration since it involved the manipulation of reality itself and it was less dangerous and disastrous compared to Conjuration.

His spellcasting was more similar to the style used by the Imperial battlemages focused on lethal, practical, efficient, and effective spellcasting. It was similar to the ones used by the Spellswords he had met with but more focused on manipulating the area around him. According to the files he read, Eleonora Viltaria used a longsword that allowed her to use the winds. She was a strong and talented fighter with experience and with her dragon tool...

Eleonora Viltaria. Expert swordswoman and fighter. High experience. Countermeasures: Assassination-style of combat, end the battle quickly, disarm her of her Dragon tool, etc.

Sofya Obertas. Mage, staff wielder. Standard anti-mage procedures. Data: presumed incomplete. Use crows to spy on her skills, a priority target during team battles.

Ludmila Lourie. Personality similar to Weiss. Spear user. Ice wielder. capabilities unknown. Defensive tactician. Anti-spellsword procedures, disarm her of her Dragon tool.

Elizaveta Fomina. Whip user, hot head. Uses a lightning-element Dragon tool. Anti-spellcaster procedures. Possible illusion targets to cause chaos in their team. Explore possible exploitable weaknesses.

Their Dragon tools are semi-sentient. If he can somehow create a spell via Alteration to weaken their connection then it will make his victory easier. If he can't then he can use his mastery of storm magic to redirect any elemental attacks by Fomina to their team but since Obertas is a mage, then she should have a powerful barrier that can redirect or stop anyone.

'I always hated fighting with mages,' Jaune thought as numerous theoretical scenarios formed in his mind, enhanced by his thought acceleration, along with numerous hypothetical actions he could do to solve these scenarios. They were not on the same level as the King of Worms whose mastery of magic can kill by standing in the same area as he did.

Nora Valkyrie tiredly collapsed on the floor, heavy breaths escaped her lithe form as the electricity she gathered and contained dissipated. She had held it for an hour but it drained her of her stored electricity. It was a tiring training regimen but it helped control her Aura usage.

'To think Fearless leader can store and use a larger amount of electricity than I could,' Nora thought, remembering the demonstration her fearless leader did. While it only seemed like a small amount, due to the lightning he produced, Nora felt how 'tightly packed' they were. As the student of her fearless leader, Nora was often told to 'read between the lines' by Jaune. Her training was simple yet highly effective. She knew that Jaune was training her to be used to fighting.

She had heard his nightmares and it terrified her. For her, her Fearless Leader was someone she could look up to and follow without hesitation and hear his moments of vulnerability while knowing how dangerous he could be. While holding back a lot, he could easily match Pyr-Pyr and stomp her to the ground if he wanted. During their solo training sessions deep within the Emerald Forest, she had seen countless scars on his body and with what Pyrrha said, he fought with no aura. How did he get those scars?

"Nora," Hearing her master's voice, Nora lost her balance for a split second, and the electricity she started to gather decreased. "That's enough for the day. The four of us should head into Vale, I got something to do there and I want the three of you to meet.. well talk to my older sister."

Wait, Fearless Leader's older sister? Oh! He must mean Sapphron! Fearless Leader told her a lot about his family and he was the closest to Sapphron. Turning to her teammates, Nora knew that Pyrrha, while not as close to Fearless Leader as she was, had a massive crush on him, and the knowledge of them meeting his older sister...

"Yes!" There it is! "I mean, it's fine with me," Oh Pyr-Pyr, you poor girl.

"I wouldn't mind that," Rennie said with a small smile. Wait, does Fearless Leader know?

"Good, I'll reserve the Bullheads later," Fearless Leader said with a smile. "I'm going to invite team RWBY and team JAER if they're available," And with those words, she felt Pyr-Pyr deflate a bit. Come on, Pyr-Pyr, just make your move already. If you wait too long then you'll be on your own! "I do need Yang's help to buy a bike and Ruby promised to help me look for something similar to my horns."

Dressed in a pair of slacks, a pair of dress shoes, an embroidered burgundy turtleneck shirt with a black fur-lined coat, a belt that held his katana and dagger in place, a pair of gloves with a ring on each thumb, and the ruined amulet of kings hidden under his clothes.

"Looking good, fearless leader!" Nora said with a grin as she showed him her attire. It was a pair of form-fitting black slacks, a white button-up shirt, a black coat, and a pair of formal shoes.

"You too, Nora," Jaune said with a smile. He was happy and worried that Nora was starting to adopt some of his antics such as dressing formally, but he was worried. What if she found out about his bloody history? To kill and bathe in blood was something that was engraved to his being. Even now, he struggled in combat class to not let loose and fight like he was in the Deadlands.

No, he would never let Nora become someone like him.

"So, what happened to team JAER?"

"Well, they had an assignment from the Knights of Favonius," Jaune said as he remembered how annoyed Eula looked.

"Team RWBY said they will come," Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby said with a grin dressed in her usual casual clothes. "Hey, Nora!"

"Well, well, well," Yang said with a smirk. "Looking good, lady killer."

'Lady killer? How did she know?' Jaune thought, remembering how he killed the lady from Applewatch farm. His training as a dark brother made him perfectly hide his emotions. Sensing a spike in the static electricity in the air, the Blonde turned to Blake and blinked. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Blondes are your type, huh, Blake?" Thankful for his apprentice's antics, the Blonde relaxed a bit. This was what he wanted. A normal day where he did not need to fight or kill someone or something. Feeling playful, the Divine Crusader smiled as he looked at the open window.

"The last one to the Bullheads will pay for half of lunch,"

"Wha?! No way, wait up, fearless Leader!" A streak of orange and a flash of yellow took their attention as both Nora and Jaune jumped out of the dorm room using the window.

"Hey! Wait up!" In a trail of red petals, Ruby used her semblance to catch up.

"How asinine," Weiss said as she shook her head while skating on some glyphs she made, following them while Blake just shook her head and followed them.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Jaune Arc hummed as he found himself and Ruby alone with each other. After some talking about looking for things, he and his first friend from Beacon partnered up to look for some weapon maintenance supplies. Not that he needed anything more to repair his weapon than a repair hammer. He was skilled enough to repair anything magical as long as he had enough hammers to do so.

"Ruby, I am not going to get a mecha-shift weapon," Jaune said, cutting his friend off.

"But why?!" Ruby said with a pout while hugging his arm. The two teenagers were inside a weapons shop with Jaune carrying a basket filled with supplies for his team and another for Team RWBY.

"Ruby, I use blades and I'm stronger than most people. Mecha-shift weapons are more expensive to maintain and less durable than regular weapons." Jaune explained, smiling at the nod given to him by the owner. "We're huntsmen and huntresses-in-training, we can still indulge in complicated weapons but the moment we go professional, then Mecha-shift users will have less money to spend,"

"hmph!" Seeing the pout his first friend gave him, the Blonde shook his head. Wanting to tease his poor friend, the Blonde smiled while pulling Ruby's hood up and ruffled her two-toned hair before walking ahead. It's not like he needed more weapons, he already had a lot of them from Tamriel and even if the ones in his hammerspace weren't the strongest, they were the best.

Sensing the movement of his best friend to his back, jaune smiled as Ruby wrapped herself on his back, making him piggyback carry her. "You have to buy me some cookies cookies later!"

"Yes, yes, I will," Jaune said with a smile while effortlessly carrying the Crimson reaper.

"Oh... it's happening again..." A man said causing the teens to look at him.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked

"Hey, pipsqueak, Brat," Qrow said with a grin aimed at Ruby.

"Uncle Qrow!"

"Ruby, wait!" It was too late as Ruby had already moved. Using her semblance, Ruby turned to a trail of red and rose petals before crashing into Qrow, tackling the huntsman to the wall.

"Did you miss me?" Ruby asked only for Qrow to chuckle and playfully rub her head.

"Nope!"

Unaware that a mace was going to fall on his head, Qrow just smiled at Ruby. Seeing this, Jaune looked at the Mace and cast a chantless and signless version of Telekinesis, causing his blue eyes to glow dangerously as the mace floated harmlessly over Qrow.

"That's a strong semblance you got there, kid," The owner of the store said as he watched the mace float on the Blonde's hand. "Reminds me of Glynda,"

"You know my aunt?" Jaune asked before his eyes widened as he held the mace. It was a simple weapon made of steel of some sort. Balanced and well-made, it was also the same length as the mace he once used.

"Yep! She and I used to be on the same team until I took an arrow to the knee," The shopkeeper said with a smile. "I'm Shiro, Shiro Run. Nice to meet you, kid."

"Likewise. I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc and that girl is Ruby,"

"Qrow's niece, huh?" Shiro said with a smile. Shrugging at the shopkeeper's question, the Divine Crusader returned the mace to its holder before approaching the shopkeeper. Checking everything on his list, the Blonde nodded as he waited for everything to get checked out before paying.

"We're friends,"

"Whatever you say, Tai Jr."

"Nah, this kid will be worse than Tai," Qrow said with a grin, slinging an arm around Jaune's shoulders. Already used by the antics of his drunkard companion, the Blonde discreetly cast a restoration spell to cure him of the alcohol in his system. "Thanks, Kid!"

"How do you know, Drunkle Qrow?" Ruby asked, curiously taking a peek at the blonde with her silver eyes.

"He tried to attack me. I almost killed him," Jaune replied nonchalantly. Hearing this, Qrow winced as he remembered how he was instantly disarmed and taken care of by Taiyang's unrelate mini-me while Ruby looked at Jaune and Qrow.

"He disarmed you?" The shopkeeper asked.

"He did, I tried to sneak attack him but the next thing I know, I'm trapped,"

"He has something similar to Glynda's semblance, doesn't he?" The shopkeeper asked.

Ah, his 'semblance' called telekinesis. It was an Alteration-version of the spell he used. As a master of alteration, it was child's play to cast alteration spells for him.

"He does," As the shopkeeper and Qrow talked, the Blonde felt a pair of eyes on him. "Got to go, Blondie, take care of Ruby," Qrow said with a smirk as he turned around. "Oh, and do be careful of my evil twin. She's quite the overprotective momma bear,"

"Raven?" Shiro said with a raised brow. "I can see that, take care you dusty old crow,"

"You know me," Qrow said with a smirk only to yelp as he tripped on a skateboard that came from nowhere and took him away.

"Classic Qrow," Shiro said with a tired sigh as he finished checking everything out for the Reaper and Crusader. "Here you go, kids,"

"Thank you," Jaune said with a small nod while Ruby smiled at the shopkeeper.