Winter Break 25

Their swords collided and sent them both flying backwards, but before Jaune could swing again, Lance shot his foot straight and attempted to kick Jaune in the gut.

Jaune raised his knee and blocked the kick while lifting his sword above his head. He then swung downward while Lance raised his hands and met Jaune's sword with a powerful one-handed swing.

A loud clang sent a shockwave of wind blowing and bending an almost perfect ring in the shin-high grass surrounding the two.

 Jaune quickly stabbed at his father's neck, Lance stepped back and was surprised as Jaune released the Great Sword mode. However, instead of turning back to his regular shield and sword stance, the weapon turned the shield into a flaming projectile that launched off the sword with the force generated by Jaune's stab.

Lance shield bashed Jaune's shield away and saw his son charging at his side with Crocea Mors enshrouded in a Flaming Aura Sword.

Lance tapped a button on the hilt and caused his sword sections to appear on the Greatsword.

With a flick of Lance's wrist, the sectioned sword-whip bent around his blindside and forced Jaune to block the attack by jumping and using the flat end of his blade to intercept Crocea Secace's tip.

Jaune was smart to leap up, the force put into Lance's attack would have shattered his blade or shield if he tried to block it. Jaune did, however, managed to choose the direction he was sent flying to.

Before he hit the ground, Jaune threw his sword into his sheath and picked up his shield while rolling back onto his knee. Once again, Jaune was crouched down with his heater shield facing his father. 

With a snap of his arm, Crocea Mors was quickly drawn, only this time, the sword was covered in shroud of Gravity Dust Enhanced with Aura.

Lance twisted the crossguard around and turned his weapon into a giant mallet of a hammer before jets blasted out the end of the Hammer alongside Lance's downward swing.

Before the hammer hit, Jaune's Aura Shell completely connected to the Gravity Dust Symbol emanating from his sword.

Lance's hammer slammed against Jaune's shield, causing a huge dust cloud to puff out around them. However, when it cleared only to reveal that the hammer didn't so much as make his son budge, Lance showed a surprised expression.

Jaune grinned and said, "Bit different than my old style, before all I could do is make my sword lighter, with these Symbols, I can add the effects to my entire Aura shell, that includes anything that it comes into contact with my shield and my body."

"Mom's work?" Lance asked.

"Granny is the best," Jaune replied as he felt his entire body grow lighter.

"Okay, kid, show me what you got," Lance tapped his sword in the center of his crossguard.

Corcea Secace reverted to its base form only it had several diagonal grooves running down its spine, it almost looked like a circuit board.

Pulling out a Golden Dust Capsule, Lance loaded it into the end of his pommel, the sword hummed to life as it began vibrating rapidly.

He loaded another two Dust Capsules which made of Air and Fire Dust, a bright golden flame shot out of the grooves and turned Lance's sword into a burning laser sword.

Jaune's mouth dropped, he knew his father's weapon had many forms, but to have a freaking laser sword, needless to say, the inner geek was dorking out.

"That's cool," Jaune stared at the weapon, he was glad he was recording this whole bout. It wasn't every day that one could see the Knights of Arc's equipment.

Besides, Ruby would never forgive him if he didn't show her them later.

Jaune could see things were getting serious as he stood up and took a deep breath, he placed Crocea Mors to his head as if he were praying, "Hold together old friend,"

Lance frowned as he saw Jaune activate his Semblance, Jaune's Aura surged to nine times its original value, the gravity effects switched to help shape his Aura into a massive thirteen-foot Aura Sword in the shape of Grimm's Bane.

Ben let out a whistle, "Whoa, Lance told me Jaune had more Aura than he did when he was his age, but, wow."

Joan's eyes sparkled as she said, "My grandbaby is so amazing! I wonder what blessing he'll add to the Arc Bloodline!"

Jaune grinned as he got ready to strike, but Lance didn't falter. He simply spun his pommel like a dial and extended the length of his Plasma Sword to match his son's attack.

The men of the Arc Household swung out and clashed blades, causing a wave of destruction to send them both flying backwards. 

Jaune rolled out of the dust and landed on his back, while his father landed on his feet and turned his weapon back into its base form.

"Not bad, I'm sure you can do even more if you had your Grimm's Bane," Lance said as he held his hand out.

A large gash opened up on the surface of Crocea Mors, Jaune's full Aura was just too much for it to take. Not to mention, his Semblance couldn't fully enhance Diamondnite yet, and he wasn't willing to risk destroying his old partner.

Jaune took his hand and sighed, "Thanks, dad."

"Alright, you're up next dad. This time, try not to knock Jaune out in a single blow," Lance growled.

"Hahaha! Relax, yesterday was just a special grandpa lesson for Jaune. Today I'll go easy on him like you just did. You didn't even use Gibbous Moon."

Jaune looked to his father who was now blushing. 

"I...I didn't go easy on him!" Lance shouted making son snicker before stifling his laugh.

This was his father, the goal and ideal Hunter in his mind. The man he looked up to for years. He had never seen his father showing such an immature side to himself before.

Jaune couldn't help but giggle as he saw his grandpa teasing Lance like he was a child.

"You think this is funny!" Lance barked at Jaune, "Just wait until you have kids, I'll make sure to put a much more embarrassing situation, Bun-Bun!"

Jaune gulped with a pale expression, "Please don't."

"Too late. Kick his butt, dad," Lance said as he took a seat next to Joan.

Jaune sighed and stood back up, he faced off against his grandfather and his personal weapon, Crocea Lamenter. It was actually a pair of swords connected by their pommel. The pair of swords had no guard on them. However, the entire blade was covered in various Dust Symbols.

Luna Grail was a large and thick Tower Shield was on his other hand. Because of his grandpa's massive size, it looked more like a Kite Shield in the shape of a chalice, only he held it with the pointed end facing upward.

Just like the swords, the shield was covered in Dust Symbols that seemed to react to Ben's Aura.

Jaune gulped as he saw his father equip his Dreadknight Semblance Armor, he looked at Crocea Mors and sighed. It was now or never, he knew he wouldn't be able to take a single hit from his grandfather.

Taking a deep breath, he sent a powerful burst of movement out from his feet and kicked up the dirt trail behind him as he appeared at his grandfather's waist.

Swinging out with an Aura Sword, Ben grinned as he said, "Right choice, kiddo. Stick close to me."

Jaune felt his body come under a deathly wave of pressure. Ben's sword was already aiming for the top of his skull and coming down at him like comet. 

The blond knight quickly spun around with another quick-step to avoid the blow. With a spinning motion, he pivoted around the attack and swung his blade towards Ben's back.

A loud clank as if Jaune hit steel echoed out as he saw a tiny gap in the armor.

Jaune pointed his gun at the hole and fired off a few dummy rounds.

However, he suddenly noticed that the bullets bounced off of Ben's swords.

Ben jumped and spun while turning his twin blades into a hurricane of death. Luckily, his grandson was still able to avoid the blow.

Jaune continued to stay close and land potshots from close range when the Grandpa said, "Very good Jaune, face that storm head-on, the key to survival where it's most dangerous."

The teenage Arc continued to narrowly avoid death by staying within Ben's blind spots. Jaune didn't just dodge his grandfather's attack, he danced around him while stabbing and slashing; looking for any opening he could spot.

When his focus entered his hyper-state; as the blond knight liked to call it, Ben took full advantage of his grandkid's state of mind, almost as if he were waiting for it.

With a loud stab into the ground with his sword, he connected the two swords into one, and sent a shockwave throughout the ground, causing a mini-quake.

Jaune was thrown off balance and suddenly felt the dull stinging motion of the flat of Ben's weapon smacking him in the ribs.

Ben jumped up after Jaune's flying body and grabbed his ankle, "I'm not that slow either. Remember, feigning weakness can gain you advantages too. Grimm might not understand the beauty of a feint, but it's needed for the smarter prey you'll be facing."

"I know that!" Jaune shouted before Ben flung his arm, slamming his grandchild's face into the ground, causing the pour teenage Arc to yelp in pain as he flowed up by swinging the young Arc onto his back. 

Before his grandpa could stomp his face, he quickly activated his lighting Aura Dust Sword setting and sheathed his sword.

While he rolled out of the way, Ben's foot slammed into the ground and sank a good foot or so next to his head.

Drawing out Crocea Mors, Jaune slashed at Ben's wrists with an Aura Sword made of lightning.

Ben laughed as he let go and swung his sword through the ground, kicking up dust and debris towards Jaune before crashing into the Corcea Mors.

Jaune slashed at a distance, throwing out dozens of yellow lightning, crescent-shaped blade-beams towards his grandfather.

Ben grinned as he pulled his sword into his waist and spun. An image of a full moon made of Golden-Aura glowed around him before he pointed his sword towards Jaune. Suddenly, a disc of Aura shot off towards Jaune warping into the shape of a crescent before slamming through all of Jaune's lightning blade beams.

Jaune dodged the crescent moon beam and charged towards the old man. Despite the wave of destruction Ben's attack caused to the nearby forest, the teenage Arc stayed focused. 

He continued to push his perception to greater heights every second he fought against his grandfather. Jaune was using his sword and shield to deflect most of the damage from powerful blows while landing small shots against Ben's Semblance formed armor.

Jaune continued to attack, nicking the pale yellow armor when he felt Ben's foot slamming into his gut. 

Jaune winced in pain as he slammed against the arena's walls.

However, instead of letting the pain slow him down, he quickly refueled his Aura and jumped back into battle. Over the course of the next several minutes, little by little, Jaune got faster and more skilled with his swordplay.

[Arc Style Swordplay Proficiency reached level 3. Crescent Moon Blast Unlocked: Blast off a percentage of Aura to form a Crescent Sword Blast that can break the sound barrier.]

Jaune grinned as he threw out his new attack, empowered by his lightning Aura sword, a 10 foot yellow bolt of lightning in the shape of a crescent moon shot out slamming into Ben and knocking him off his feet for a few seconds.

A large gash opened in his armor and was quickly healing. Jaune pointed his gun and fired off a full clip of Fire and Wind Dust.

A loud explosion rocked the area to show that Ben had disappeared, for the first time, he used his Quick-Step to avoid Jaune's attack.

Jaune grinned and jumped out of the way and shot another Crescent Sword Blast at where he was standing.

Ben laughed as reappeared and tanked the attack with his tower shield, the lightning rushed over his body and focused into his blade, Ben swung out, causing a massive gust of wind.

Jaune jumped up narrowly avoiding the giant 20 foot Aura Beam of lightning and quickly reloaded his gun, via inventory.

Another six shots echoed out. Ben began blocking them with his sword and shield, and it didn't affect him one bit. However, it bought Jaune enough time to land safely without being assaulted.

Jaune dashed back in with a powerful shield bash, Ben laughed as he felt his grandson slowly force his feet to drag across the dirt by a single foot.

Ben lowered his shield down in an attempt to crush Jaune into the ground. 

The blond teenager responded by slamming his sword against the corner of his grandfather's shield, lifting his grandpa's arm up before shooting another Aura Bullet at the gaps in the armor.

Ben grinned as he swung at Jaune and forced Jaune to once again go on the defense.

Jaune continued to move around and fight for almost an hour when Ben laughed and said, "I see you've figured out there is a time limit to my Semblance. But let me warn you, the last ten minutes of my Dreadknight Armor burns brightest."

Jaune felt a bit scared as he watched the armor glow more intense. With every second that passed, Ben's Aura grew stronger, and the concentrated pressure of Aura around his body magnified.

Jaune grunted as he saw his grandpa move even faster, a gust of wind threatening to knock him over as Ben passed by him.

Jaune didn't think; he just reacted. Rolling forward, he narrowly dodged Ben's swing but couldn't shake the feeling like he had almost just lost his head.

The blond knight sensed danger as quickly jumped away with all his strength to put some distance between him and his grandfather. However, the moment his feet left the ground, Jaune lost track of his opponent and suddenly felt his face slam into Ben's tower shield.

Grunting in pain, he rolled back from the recoil of the shield bash. While his body tumbled across the ground, he slammed his hand to his side and spun out of the way moments before the sound of wind being cut zipped past his ears.

A loud thud suddenly echoed out as Ben's sword slash created a large sword scar in the ground next to Jaune.

Eyes widened, at the ten-foot scar smoking on the ground. Jaune freaked out because it wasn't made with Aura but pure physical strength.

The blond knight didn't have time to process what had fully transpired before he suddenly found himself hiding behind his shield. 

Ben, who Jaune could've sworn he was at the least 11feet away, suddenly appeared next to him and swung sword into his side.

The blow sent Jaune slamming against the wall, making the teenage Arc grunt in pain. He fought through the crippling feeling of his lungs being crushed and quickly kicked off of the wall, narrowly avoiding a crescent blade beam that tore up the wall behind him.

Jaune activated his greatsword and switched to the gravity dust mode.

Magnifying the weight of his sword, Jaune spun in the air with his sword fully extended, turning his body into a spinning saw of doom as he charged towards his grandfather.

Ben swung out and collided with Jaune's attack when a loud boom echoed out. The concussive force from their attack sent the two Arcs flying backwards about five feet before they landed and looked at each other.

For a moment, Ben's vision looked up, "Oh, that's impressive. I felt that one in my bones."

Jaune grunted as he struggled to stand up. He refueled with his Semblance again and laughed as he created a blade out of pure Aura and sent it up into the air where hundreds of other Aura Blades were floating in place.

"Were you doing this throughout the whole fight?" Ben asked.

Jaune grinned, "Sorry Grandpa. I don't think I can take you down without being a bit tricky."

"Don't be, it was a brilliant strategy," Ben said before slamming his shield down in front of his body. 

"Okay then, show me what you got!"

Jaune threw his hand down and caused massive explosions of Aura to reign down on Ben's armor.

After the barrage was over, Jaune grinned only to suddenly gasp in disbelief, Ben's shield turned into a dome of metal that surrounded his entire crouching body.

As the shield retracted into the standard form, he walked up to Jaune and said, "This is why I call my Semblance Dreadknight, because of that silly little expression on your face right now."

Jaune shook off his fear and laughed. It took him everything he had to laugh away the fear as he stared down his grandfather and said, "Bring it on old man!"

He then took his all or nothing stance and used the gravity dust setting to change his greatsword into a featherweight object.

Jaune closed his eyes and focused all his senses to the edge of his blade while Ben separated his swords and placed them outward and he stretched his arms open.

"Cross Crescent Slash!" Ben yelled in his head as he swung with full force.

"Crescent Explosion!" Jaune shouted as he swung out. 

The young knight used his Aura to shift the gravity on his sword from light to heavy the moment he reached the arc of his swing.

Jaune then blasted out with a powerful Aura Crescent Blast that used gravity dust to condense it into a single inch-wide sliver.

Ben's X-Crescent Blast collided with Jaune's attack, another massive shockwave rattled the room and sent the teenage Arc flying back. 

His body slid across the ground seconds before he looked up and saw Ben standing over him about to swing both blades down.

Jaune winced because he knew this was going to hurt, when all of a sudden, the armor around Ben shattered like glass and showed that there were dozens of cuts across entire his body.

Thankfully, Arc Aura levels quickly healed the damage.

Jaune was surprised to learn that attacks landed weren't completely mitigated but only drastically reduced.

"I see…so you take some of the damage I inflicted on the Armor," Jaune hummed with a tone of understanding.

He quickly got the gist of how his grandfather's Semblance worked. The Dreadknight Armor continued to empower the host and increase the wearers Aura and but it came with some downsides. 

One was the time limit, the other was the fact his body would take a percentage of the damage inflicted. However, if someone else was wearing the Semblance Armor, then Ben would take the damage instead of them.

Ben rubbed Jaune's head and laughed, "Well, I'll be, you lasted a whole hour. Just give me ten minutes and I can use my Semblance again."

Jaune laughed as he jumped onto his grandfather's back and put him in a chokehold before saying, "No way, old man. I win!"

Ben just laughed as if he couldn't feel Jaune's grip at all. He ignored the weight of the young teenager and walked over to the rest of the family with him on his back. 

"Well, he certainly has talent. You could barely last ten minutes when you were his age." Ben patted Lance's shoulders.

"I wasn't using life-hacks, and you didn't even use Final Stand," Lance replied with a grin on his face. 

"Well, it wouldn't be fair to detonate that much Aura. I would of destroyed the training room."