Chapter One

My eyes were squinted as the sun's rays attacked my ocular organs. A boy about my age stood before me, a giant axe held in both hands. The weight on the left side of my waist seemed to make itself known as my left hand gripped the sheath of a longsword.

My right hand came over and gripped the handle of the sword, drawing it slowly and holding it up in front of my body, the left hand joining its opposite and gripping the handle right below its brother.

[Are both fighters ready?!]

Someone screamed out into a microphone and the cheers of people sounded from around me. It was distracting.

[Then let the final match of the Vale tournament between Jaune Arc and Michael Bronze Begin!]

As soon as the signal sounded, following the announcer's voice, my Aura, the energy of the soul, exploded from below my feet, barreling me forward at neck-breaking speed.

My change was met by a downward swing of the giant axe of my opponent. My gold and blue sword met it, only to deflect it to the side. The giant weapon impacted the ground, digging into it as my sword hovered above it.

My left impacted the long handle, pushing the axe head deeper into the arena floor. Without hesitation, my hands moved, swinging my weapons toward my opponent's neck, Aura bursting from the side of my hands to boost the swing's speed and power.

Michael's eyes widened as the blade came closer, his aura responding to the threat and flaring around his whole body.

The hit connected, and my opponent was thrown back, away from his weapon that my leg was still holding down. For a second, I looked down at the abandoned weapon, before looking back at the boy that was getting up from the fall, his brown aura flickering around his body.

I let out a thoughtful hum. Without his weapon, he might as well forfeit.

The boy that was about seven feet stood upright, his burly muscles flexing under the strain of his own body. Without a word, he brought his hands up, protecting his face and leaning forward, hunching slightly.

Boxing, huh?

Letting out air through my nose, I sheathed my sword and detached it from my belt. With a quick thrust, the blade that was still inside its sheath embedded itself into the ground with my strength.

My opponent's eyes narrowed but he kept his mouth in a thin line as he rushed forward. I leaned to the side, hunching myself as I avoided a punch that distorted the air that passed next to my head.

My left hand came up in an uppercut, impacting Michael's chin, and sending him staggering backward. Not giving him any room to breathe, I rushed forward, my metal-coated fist connecting with his gut, making him cough out saliva.

The sound of metal on metal reverberated as my armor shifted with the sudden movement, followed by the sound of something grinding against the ground as my opponent was pushed back, further away from his weapon.

As I got away from mine.

Recovering, the burly boy send a punch toward me, and I held up my hands, palms facing the fist. The punch impacted my left palm and I held it in place, my right like a viper slipped around inside Michael's guard, as I positioned my body by moving to the right and turning it around, placing my shoulder right past the elbow.

Gripping the clothing of the shoulder blade, I pulled the bigger boy on my back as I bent forward. The giant body slammed into the ground, and I twisted the hand around, making it painful, but not twisting it enough to break it.

Undeterred, the bigger boy flexed his arm, breaking out of my hold without much effort. His physical strength was, indeed, better than mine, however, strength wasn't everything.

I got off of him, making distance while keeping myself between him and the weapons.

As soon as he stood up, we stared at each other for a few seconds before I had to blink. As soon as my eyelids opened, my opponent was gone. I felt my eyes narrow as my aura responded to my demand.

Gathering into a single point in my body, it expanded, exiting it and covering the surroundings. Crouching, I swept my leg to the side in an arc, ironic I know, and managed to knock Michael down.

The sound of a body hitting the ground was heard as I raised my leg and stomped down, only to hit nothing.

Invisibility was annoying.

I was about to send out another pulse to locate him, but an impact on my solar plexus made me take a few steps back. Scowling, I took a breath, that punch wasn't exactly powerful, so he must have sacrificed technique for silence.

Good tactic, but-

I leaned back, and my hand lashed out, grabbing a wrist, My leg moved forward, in front of Michael's right leg and my left hand wrapped around his neck. With a kick of my leg on his, and a push, I slammed his head into the ground, using my body to provide more leverage to do so.

[Winner by Aura break: Jaune Arc! People! Welcome the, now, fifth-time Vale tournament champion!]

The crown burst into cheers and I fought back a frown. Too damn loud. Letting go of Michael, I stood up and walked over to my sword. Grabbing the sheath, I took it out of the ground, reattaching it to my waist.

Looking over at the axe, I sighed and grabbed the handle with one arm. A faint white glow passed over my arm and I tugged, taking the giant thing out of the ground. Walking over to Michael, I rose an eyebrow at him as he was still shaking the stars out of his vision. Snorting slightly, I offered him a hand which he took after a couple of seconds of focusing.

"You've gotten stronger, man."

I chuckle and let go of the handshake, handing him the giant axe. That action garnered another wave of cheers from the audience.

"So have you, I couldn't hear you that time you punched me, for a guy you're size, you can be really quiet when needed."

He chuckled and we both turned towards the exit of the arena.

Michael was cool, met him three years ago, in the finals, then we kept facing each other again and again. It was nice.

___

I was sitting in the changing rooms, preparing for the crowd outside to settle down and leave as I drank some water from a bottle.

It kept getting harder and harder to get out of the arena each year. And Micael, that asshole, already left with his invisibility.

The door opened and I send a sideways glance toward it, spotting a tall, gray-haired man holding a cane in hand walking inside the room.

My eyebrows furrowed, what the hell was he doing here?

"Ah, mister Arc, Long time no see."

I gave him a once-over... Strong, that was one word to describe this man. Annoying would be another one.

"Headmaster Ozpin, wish I could say the same, came to say something shady again? Or is it going to be cryptic this time?"

I retorted, sarcasm dripping from my voice. This annoying motherfucker just won't stop messing with me. This is the third time he appeared after my final match, and honestly? It was getting old at this point.

"Not this time, actually. I came to personally invite you to my school, someone with your poten-"

I raised a hand, cutting him off before he could finish his selling speech.

"I refuse."

He only tilted his head in response, a curious look in his eyes. I knew his type, nosy bastards, all of them. Their curiosity must be satisfied, no matter if the other party was uncomfortable.

"And why is that, mister Arc? As I understand, you want to be free from your parent's control, isn't this why you joined the tournament five years ago? To prove to them that you had what it takes to be a huntsman?"

My eyebrow rose in interest. I never told him that, so it was either my parents, in which case, this was a pathetic way of them keeping a close eye on me, or he had ways of knowing things, which was way more dangerous.

"I didn't do it to prove anything, I did it to make a point."

I retorted, tightening the top of the water bottle and placing it next to me. It wasn't enough the first time, it had to happen again. Be a doctor, learn to dance, learn to cook, learn woodworking.

It's like my opinion doesn't matter.

Well, too bad bitch, I'm not doing that again.

"And what was the point, Mister Arc?"

I scowled. He was looking for something to hold over me to make me join...

Fine, I suppose I can make a point here too.

"You want me to join your academy, Ozpin? Why should I? I want to be free of control, not under new management."

I scowled, standing up to my full height, my eyes met Ozpins as I walked closer to him.

"We have better equipment than any other school, unlike Atlas, we won't force you into the military, and unlike Vacuo, we can provide you top-notch equipment to better your skills."

I hummed, noticing how he excluded heaven academy.

"What about heaven? I'm sure they can provide me with similar conditions."

I, too, excluded that it would take me away from my parent's meddling, no matter how "good" their intentions were.

"Indeed, however, we have one of the best teachers, all of them are trained and recognizable huntsmen and huntresses, I'm sure the supplemental classes we provide will be to your liking."

I stared at him for a few moments, before walking past him and reaching for the door.

"I'll put it into consideration, Headmaster."