5 The Puzzle of Jack Begins part 1.

I had a team and funny enough I was the leader, it had been years since I had teammates since I had people to watch my back, people to help me last time didn't end well, but this time I am determined to stop that same fate, not everyone that crosses his path with me is destined to the same cruel fate.

"If only I was stronger back then,"

[FLASHBACK]

Jack Stark remembered very clearly the moment he became aware of exactly what he was, and why exactly others hated him.

It was raining that day, Jack had only just turned seven years old, and the rain of that day— was so heavy he would never forget the feeling.

He had trouble opening his eyes under the weight of the rain and tears that were beating his spirit mercilessly — laying beside him, his dead family, offering nothing but pain and sorrow.

The image of his village being burned to the ground was traumatizing, as were the mountains of dead bodies as far as the eye could see, and not a single one at peace, the corpses had stiffened, with faces twisted in agony.

Jack never forgot that day; he couldn't the Sharingan wouldn't let him.

The end of his village and the emotions he was emanating brought the Grimm to the place he once called home minutes after the incident, minutes after Jack became aware of the meaning of his own

existence, death, and sorrow.

Jack tried to defend his village, trying to hold tight what once was his, but his fragile tiny body couldn't do anything to stop the waves of Grimm on his hometown, the gamer mind helped Jack to cope with the loss, but the images of his death family haunted him, at every turn like they were imprinted on the back of his eyelids.

Knowing very well, he couldn't stay and hold the place he once called home; he decided to avoid the conflict and run from the Grimm.

Eight years old.

Since that day, Jack could not have cared less about birthdays and all that. The annual event that once was a rush of happiness and excitement was now, at best, nothing more than a milestone for him.

Whether it was spent largely adrift or packed with a variety of experiences, a year was still a year. Just because the number indicating his age had increased by one didn't mean that anything changed.

What was important for him was daily training. That steadily moving forward one step at a time was important, pushing his body beyond the limits to achieve one goal that he had he for himself a long time ago.

Killing Grimm was not enough, anyone could do that, heck even Jaune did with close to zero experience; what he wanted was the power to destroy anything and anyone.

Jack had forgotten what was feeling emotions a long time ago; pain and sorrow had scarred him too deep for him to have friends, or at least that's what he thought.

Nine years old.

Jack had found another village under attack; this time, humans weren't responsible for the sight he found, but Grimms.

Jack didn't really care about the village or what was happening there, but he wanted to get some supplies for his journey as he approached the village killing the Grimms the stood on his way, he saw a Nevermore on top of a house and a Nuckelavee.

Jack knew full too well that those two were out of his league, for now, so he decided to hide, inside a house, entering the first house he found, inside of the house three Beowolves were expecting him, Jack dealt with the monsters with ease, once he finished the Job he found a baby crying lying on the floor with her dead parents holding the baby tight, the father was torn apart in half, and the mother was unconscious bleeding out too fast for him to do anything.

'The baby will die if I don't do anything, but I don't have time for this,' Jack thought as he inspected the baby for wounds.

The tiny baby seemed to be intently focused on understanding her situation, grabbing Jack's finger tight as if her life depended on his benevolence.

Jack gently touched the baby's cheek; something pulled him to do it.

At the sudden stimulus, the infant started to laugh with happiness even though she had lost everything the baby was smiling.

Shocked by this reaction, Jack pulled his hand away as the baby desperately extended her arms, trying to get Jack to carry her.

Hesitantly Jack gently touched the baby's cheek one more time, cleaning with his other hand with a tissue the blood she had on her, the remanents of her parents, Jack by this point had noticed the girl had a necklace with a name on it, Hope.

"Hope," Jack said softly, getting the baby to look at him in curiosity and smile.

What Jack didn't expect was that the moment he gave voice to this little baby name for the first time, something warm exploded in his heart, something he was certain it was lost. Different from the love he felt for his mother and father, a special, indefinable emotion, Jack couldn't really put into words just what it was, why did this baby grow into him so fast.

But confronted with this fragile life at his hand, a being who seemed like it would shatter with nothing but air touched her, something like a masculine sense of responsibility came to life inside Jack, the feeling that he had to protect this tiny life no matter what.

"Take care of her, please," The baby's mother said as if her spirit wanted to ask something before ceasing to exist, and Jack nodded fiercely, holding the baby tight.

[FLASHBACK ENDS]

"Hey buddy, you have been standing there for twenty minutes, is everything okay?" Nora asked with a smile on her face, the ever cheerful Nora she was a good person to have as a teammate.

Being brought back to reality, I said, "Yeah, just remembering we still haven't decorated our dorms,"

"OMG, you're right! That's why you are the leader! let's go and find Ren and Pyrrha; we need to start on that ASAP!" Nora said, dragging me across the hallway.

'Hope...'

[FLASHBACK]

Jack had trained nonstop since the day his family died had his sole objective back then was to hone his skills so that he could be the strongest person in the world, now he had another reason to do hone his power and skills, his new little sister Hope.

Why did he wanted to be the strongest? At first, it was to destroy anyone who stood on his way, he just wanted to feel safe, but since he took hope his goal changed entirely, his goal now was to rid the world of the Grimm and the criminals, Jack wanted to create a world so fair that the concept of injustice would be forgotten with time.

And that is why he needed strength. If you had the greater strength, you could step in between people fighting to stop them, to avoid bloodshed, to make the world a better place.

Jack wanted to be that kind of man; he believed that if he was more powerful, more capable than anyone else, he would be able to accomplish what others couldn't like killing Salem.

But now Jack was facing other problems, early parenthood.

"Come on, Hope, I know you don't like this but is the only food we have," Jack said, trying to feed his baby sister.

The little baby, however, was not going to eat that, no matter what.

"Here comes the train! Chu-chu," Jack remembered that babies liked to play when eating, and after half an hour trying to feed her, he managed to get the first spoon of spinach on the baby.

Food, medicine, diapers, those were the things Jack carried on his inventory, stealing a bunch in every town to ensure his sister's survival; eventually, he had to steal clothes for her.

Hope was one year old, Jack was barely nine, and still, he was doing a better job than most, that's what he repeated on his head over and over again, he was doing what was best for her.

[FLASHBACK ENDS]

"Is this normal with you?" Nora asked me.

"Huh?" I didn't know what to say.

"Like you phase out of reality for another thirty minutes, heck Pyrrha was stacking soda cans on your head," Nora said, I turned to look at Ren who nods confirming she was lying.

"Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind," I answered.

"We are your team if you wanna talk, we are here," Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Count on us," Ren added while cooking some pancakes for the pancake monster, aka Nora.