10 Downtime (Conti.)

I had the next day off from school, so I went into the woods to train for the day. My parents had returned by the time I'd woken up and though I hadn't really been worried about them because, well, they were terrifyingly powerful, it was good to see them safe. Breakfast had passed without incident, ignoring my dad's storytelling and my mom's sarcastic but smiling commentary. No one asked about my involvement, so I assumed I really had gotten away clean, and I left the house with little more than a promise to be back for lunch.

With two days off—and free to spend grinding however I pleased—I decided to start by experimenting with my new Status, 'Metal Element Affinity.' I was ninety-nine percent sure it was the result of my Nature Affinity skill, which had all sorts implications I'd need to experiment with, but first I needed to see what the effects of such a status were. I was more…aware of Crocea Mors, but I wasn't sure if that was because of my Metal Element Affinity, my Nature Affinity, or both.

Frowning, I sat down, crossed my legs, put my sheathed sword in my lap, and closed my eyes. I had no idea what Metal Element Affinity did. When I checked my Status Screen, it had said 'Gives the user an affinity with the element of Metal' which was both obvious and useless, so I'd need to figure it out some other way.

So I meditated on it. I'd learned how when I obtained Soul of the World, probably because you needed to meditate to use that skill, and I'd gotten some practice in between healing the White Fang members. Because of the way Soul of the World worked, though, it was an interesting experience.

As I relaxed, I could feel—almost see, even, in a way that was hard to describe—the world around me. I could feel power in the air, the ground, the plants, in everything, and glimpse the massive shifting forces throughout the whole of Remnant. Compared to even the small fragment of that immensity I was capable of observing, I was a spark at the edge of a roaring forest fire, only barely separate from it, from being consumed by it. And then I shifted that boundary, touching that power directly and letting it flow up into me, through me, and then away; a tiny, tiny shift in a river's stream, like a child making a hole at the edge of the water with the tip of a finger, that nonetheless filled me to the bursting.

I guided that stream carefully and calmly, letting it in and out, again and again. I didn't lose myself in it and I didn't let it slip from my careful control, but I focused myself on it, on the spinning awareness of the rivers flow through my body and soul. It would have been easy to lose track of myself like this, especially without anyone else around for me to keep track of. When I'd been with the White Fang, it had been easy to keep track of time by the life draining slowly out of the wounded or by the power filling me when I was drained, but here I'd need to do it entirely on my own. I focused on the cycle of energy within me, on the beating of my own heart, counting the moments as they passed me by.

When I was sure I wouldn't lose track of time, I shifted my awareness, focusing it in around me and on my surroundings. I could feel the energy in the air as I breathed and took it into my body and the shifting earth beneath me and there was something there but…instead, I focused further yet, on what I felt most keenly. Crocea Mors sang to me, glowing with my Aura but also with the ancient power of the blade itself. Though my own Aura, I touched that musical power and altered my own tune to match. It was easier then I would have thought—perhaps because there were already traces of the tune within my soul—and after I resounded with the steely song I opened my eyes.

A skill has been created through a special action! Unification of element and soul has created the skill 'Elemental Aura' to shroud yourself with Nature's wrath!

I looked down at my hands, inhaling deeply. I didn't look any different—my skin hadn't turned to steel or anything like that—but I felt different. When I touched my chest, it—or my Aura, more likely—felt more…solid might have been a good way to describe it. When I put a hand on the ground to lift myself to the feet, my fingers left narrow gouges in the dirt. My aura was harder, now—and sharper.

Elemental Aura (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The shifting of Aura in accordance with one's Elemental Affinity, empowering the user by drawing upon the element. Power changes as the caster's INT, skill level, and Elemental Affinity grow. Only possible for those attuned to the forces of nature.

Additional 25 MP used per minute.

Known Elemental Auras: Metal Aura.

Metal Aura: 15% increase in attack damage. 10% decrease in damage taken from physical attacks.

Elemental Aura, huh? Not bad. Maybe a little expensive, but training it wasn't a problem for me and I could probably reduce the cost. Once I did that, the benefit would be more than worth it, especially since that would probably increase, too. However…

When I used one of my skills it wasn't—or, at least, wasn't usually—just me saying the name and the effect happening. I mean, it was about that easy and that quick, but I could feel my MP or Aura or whatever you wanted to call it as it took effect. Like with Soul of the World, the effect happened as written in its profile and I regained however much HP, MP, and stamina per minute, but it wasn't just sitting there as they just came to me, even if it was essentially that easy.

With my Metal Aura, it was the same. I could feel my aura resounding with the song I'd heard before—not with my ears, but with my Aura, my soul. And the source of that song was the sword I held in my hand. But then…

I put Crocea Mors on the ground and stepped away from it, the song fading quickly as I did. As I'd thought, it really did require me to draw upon the element.

I considered that as I picked my sword back up. The profile had pretty much stated that there were other Elemental Auras—the classic Earth, Water, Fire and Air sprang quickly to mind—which would be useful and which I'd have to experiment with. If it required proximity to the element, however, there were limits to it. Or would that change as I leveled the ability up?

I'd need to test if it required a significant amount of the element to be present, if it required contact to initiate, the range, and what other limits there were to the ability. The amount would affect which ones were feasible; I could carry around a few water bottles in my Inventory for Water, if that worked, and stones for Earth. Assuming it didn't, the most reliable elements would be Air, Metal, and Earth—the former was essentially everywhere I was capable of surviving, after all, and I could always carry my sword and armor. Earth could be a bit more variable, depending on how it was affected by going inside, but…

As for Water, it could vary a fair bit, depending on what counted as a source of water. Fire…fire was the most uncertain. Depending on how the skill worked, I could call upon it easily or it would be nearly impossible to use effectively. It would need testing, but for the moment I could train with the Metal Aura on.

What else…?

I'd need to find a chance to test it with Dust. If 'Nature's Wrath' counted, then it would be simple, after all. I'd needed to figure out what each element did and how leveling up changed the limits. And, of course, I needed to figure out what else I could do with Nature Affinity. For now, though, I'd focus on leveling my skills up, including Elemental Aura, and then on my stats later.

"Time to get to work then," I muttered, drawing Crocea Mors and drawing the Metal Aura back around me. A glance at the sky told me I still had four or five hours until lunch, so I started practicing.

XxXXxX​

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The next week passed quickly in a blur of constant effort. I woke up and worked out, studied during school hours, worked out for a while after school before going into the woods, ate supper, went back to the woods, and then home, day after day. Whenever my body seemed ready to give out or I ran out of MP, I closed my eyes and meditated on the titanic power of the world beneath my feet, something no one else seemed able to feel, and then got back to work.

I never stopped unless I needed to and sometimes not even then. With the Soul of the World to restore my HP, MP, and Stamina on top of the odd way my body already worked, I didn't really need sleep, so when I thought I could get away with it without my parents noticing, I worked out through the night. When I thought that would draw attention, I studied or meditated instead, but either way I kept my Aura activated nearly twenty-four hours a day, only turning it off when I ran out of MP and needed to refuel.

Sleep is for the weak, apparently. I'd thought that eventually it'd start effecting me mental or give me hallucinations or something, but that didn't happen—and though it was weird to never sleep, it got me forty-two extra hours to work with a week instead of wasting on sleep. That was valuable time I could spend training instead and I knew I was making amazing progress. Sure, my rate of advancement was already slowing down as my stats climbed higher and higher, but…even having just had this ability for a little over half a month, I was sure that I could have gotten accepted into Signal if I'd been like this before, even ignoring my skills. And if you included them and how they'd leveled up…

I was going to be a Huntsman. That wasn't a dream anymore, or a foolish, flickering hope, or anything like that. Someday, someday soon, I would become a Huntsmen. When the time came, I'd take Beacon's entry exam and by then I knew I'd pass, I'd be ready for whatever came my way, and—

"Welcome back, Jaune," My mother's voice interrupted my thoughts as I walked through, an odd expression on her face. "There's someone here to see you."

"Hi, mom," I nodded at her, frowning slightly as I jogged in place. "Here to see me?"

My mind quickly came up with a number of possibilities, none of them good. I didn't have a lot of friends, even before my power turned me into a workaholic. I mean, I was on fairly good terms with everyone in my class, but I wasn't best friends with anyone anymore. If something happened, I was usually invited, but I didn't hang out with a lot of people after school, because at school, there were three types of people: Hunter kids, Hunter fans, and everyone else.

Hunter kids were, well, kids like me, who had Hunter parents. My Mom and Dad had a lot of friends and when I was younger I'd hung out with them a lot and they'd been, I guess, my friends. But, the thing is, because they were Hunter kids, pretty much all of them went off to one combat school or another and we'd sort of fallen out of touch after I…hadn't. Hunter fans were the ones who thought Hunters were awesome, which was pretty much everyone, including me, but…there's just…there's just something uncomfortable when the hottest girl in school agrees to go out with you, but only because she wants to go to your house and see your parents.

And I got that. My parents were cool. Hell, my life goal was to become a Huntsman—I understood how they all felt. And I also got that underneath that desire to ogle my awesome, celebrity parents, there were probably a lot of nice people who could be really good friends. But…

Also, bringing people to my house was always an experience. There was a hallway covered in pictures of all the different types of monsters my parents had killed one-on-one; they'd been competing since pretty much forever, before they'd gotten together—apparently that was how they'd gotten together, actually. But the whole thing could substitute as an encyclopedia of the Grimm. Literally. Mom said that she and Dad had once gotten an actual encyclopedia and then gone on a trip around the world to make sure they'd gotten one of each, including the ones that lived underwater.

Did I mention I'm not afraid of people threatening my parents?

And as for the final category…it was my teachers, pretty much. Who I hadn't given any reason to make a house call, unless this was about my grades suddenly improving and they were suspecting me of cheating or something—which, surprisingly, was the best possibility I could think of. If they thought I was cheating, it'd be relatively easy to prove I was just smart.

But if it wasn't anyone from school…

It could be the police or someone like them, finally connecting me to my thefts or the White Fang thing, or…

I walked passed my mom and into the dining room, a dread filling my stomach as if I already knew what I would find.

"Oh," I said as I saw him, letting out an already exhausted sigh. "Hey Tukson."

"Hello Jaune," The bookkeeper replied, nodding at me from where he sat, drinking coffee with my dad.

"Tukson here was telling us about how you did some work for him?" My dad said with a smile. "Why didn't you tell us you got a part-time job?"

"It was only a one-time thing, really…" I said, dragging my eyes away from the Faunus to look at him. Now that I was here, facing him, I was kind of surprised at how calmly I was taking this. It had gotten to be something of a trend.

"There was a book he said he wanted to buy," Tukson explained. "I said I'd give it to him if he ran a delivery for me. Well, it's more like he talked me into it; you have a very convincing son, Mr. Arc."

"Jacques, please," My dad replied immediately before turning to my mother, teeth gleaming. "First time he does real work and he asks to be paid in books. His mother's son, eh?"

Mom rolled her eyes.

"What do you need, Tukson?" I asked politely.

Tukson scratched the back of his head, smiling at me apologetically. I wondered if it was fake and used Observe on him; he was actually sorry. Or, at least, sorry about something, it might not have anything to do with me.

"Blake asked me to invite you to the shop, if you wanted," He said. "She didn't know your number, so I guess now I'm running deliveries."

"Blake?" Mom wondered.

"My niece," Tukson answered, though I was pretty sure that part was a lie. "She's about Jaune's age; he helped her out while he was working for me."

"A part-time job and a girl—" Dad began before falling silent at a glance from mom.

"What's Blake need?"

"She wanted to ask if you'd be interested in helping her again."

Of course.

I was trying to think of how to reply when my dad was at my shoulder, rising from his chair and coming beside me so quickly I hadn't even been able to see him move. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Son, when a girl asks you if you want to come over and help her with something, the answer is yes," He told me seriously, before suddenly letting me go as mom placed a hand on his shoulder.

I looked at him and then back at Tukson, unsure. A part of me didn't want to get wrapped up in anything involving the White Fang, remembering what had happened last time—but the other was thinking of last time too, of how I'd gone from level two to thirteen in a few hours. I hadn't leveled up once since then, though I'd improved my stats a great deal; even though the quest to heal the White Fang had gotten me nearly seventy percent of the way to the next level, the experience I got on a day to day basis wasn't getting me anywhere fast. The difference between getting to level two and to level fourteen, I suppose. And whatever she was, I guess I…kind of trusted Blake? At the very least, I didn't think she would be here for no reason.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to stop by after school and see what she needs, right?" I wondered out loud as much as to Tukson.

The smart part of me told me to stop trying to lie to myself.

XxXXxX