34 Chapter 34

"Huaa!" I shot forward with a lunge, stabbing at Ren. Ren maintained his stance, twirling one of his bladed pistols and parrying the thrust to the side. Without missing a beat, he hooked one of the blades on the spear's pole, to make it harder for me to keep attacking. Sprinting towards me, he closed the spear length gap, slashing at me with his free pistol.

Taking a step back, I avoided the blade by a small margin, throwing out a knee. With no other choice, Ren unhooked his pistol's lock on my weapon, using it to block my knee, before kicking my stomach.

"Ugh." Being kicked while one of my legs was off the ground caused me to lose my balance. Ren didn't waste this opportunity, his blades flashing past me, striking my chest. "Guh!" Regaining myself, I aimed the bottom of the spear at him, firing the grappling claw. His eyes went wide and he rolled to the side evading the attack, but I wasn't done.

Gritting my teeth, I viciously swung the spear to the side. The chain following suit, curving and wrapping around his leg much to Ren's surprise. Pressing the button once more, the chain retracted back into the spear, pulling him along with it. Using the momentum, I hauled the weapon over my head, throwing Ren and slamming him into a tree, as the claw returned to my weapon.

Firing the claw towards him again, Ren yanked his head to the side dodging it by a hair's breadth, the weapon sinking into the tree. Pressing the button I was yanked forward as the chain retracted, shooting in for a zipline kick and catching him square in the chest, sending flying him back. However Ren quickly recovered, using his bladed pistols, he dug them into the ground while flying back, creating two long lines in the dirt, and coming to a stop before firing his pistols at me. His shots pelted me all over, leaving stinging sensations, forcing me to be more defensive and try to avoid them. Despite taking some shots, I managed to avoid the worst of it, immediately clashing weapons with Ren. Sparks flew left and right under our blows as I was slowly being pushed back. Despite having more power, his speed proved troublesome.

Deflecting my weapon to the side, a kick landed on my ribs. Ducking under another swing, a slash caught my chest. Ren was simply too fast for me to fight against. For every attack I made, he could make three, and it was difficult to pin him down. The two of us traded moves back and forth, but I couldn't switch between defense and attack fast enough. After I blocked a move, I went to attack, only for Ren's next move to be moments away from hitting me. Constantly being on the defensive while occasionally being slashed or struck by him.

"Screw this." I dropped my guard, allowing Ren's pistol to slash my shoulder, and grabbing his hand soon after. Ren looked at me with surprise as I leered at him. "Gotcha." Using my free hand, I held the spear close to the blade, using it as a knife to slash his chest. As I quickly went for another strike. Ren jumped, twisting his body and attempting to use his momentum to throw me. However, I firmly planted my feet, gripping his wrist with an iron grip, and yanked him back into my weapon's path not allowing him to escape. Once more the spear struck Ren, breaking his posture.

If I can't beat you with skill, I'll fight you on MY terms. So what if you're faster than me? I'm stronger than you. All that speed doesn't mean much if you can hardly move. Ren frowned, pointing his pistol at my head. I quickly ducked to avoid its trajectory, but that was only a feint on his part. After I ducked, Ren brought his leg up in the air and cracking it down onto my hand tightly gripping him in an ax kick.

I grunted, involuntarily letting go of his wrist as it landed, my opponent finally escaping. Ren narrowed his eyes, elegantly moving his hands in a circle, a magenta light shinning from them as he slammed both of his palms into my chest creating a shockwave.

"KAAAAAAAAAGH!"

I could feel the air knocked out of me, the dark purple aura crackling around my body, before shattering. I lay there on the grass panting for breath, suddenly feeling exhausted after having lost my aura. Ren didn't seem to be in any sort of hurry, sitting down on the grass and patiently waiting. After catching my breath, I sat up, checking my scroll.

LIE REN: 46% Aura

AERO CAIRN: Aura Depleted

"Heh not bad, I did a little better this time." Ren bent down, offering me a hand and pulling me up. "Progress is progress after all."

"Are you two done yet?!" Nora yelled from a distance away, sitting on the grass. "I'm boooooored!"

Ren shook his head in amusement, glancing at me. "Come on, Nora isn't some you should keep waiting she gets impatient easily."

"Alright alright, we're coming YOUR MAJESTY!"

"Finally!" Nora shot to her feet running over to us. "So I was thinking we should celebrate the anniversary of the time we've been together."

Jaune tilted his head, "But it's only been a month."

"ONLY been a month?! Jaune! Our time together is precious I'll have you know!"

"Uh-huh...and this isn't AT ALL about the tower of pancakes special you kept 'reminding' us about right?"

"Weeeeeell..."

I smiled as the two of them bickered back and forth. Looking down at the spear in my hands, I gently rubbed my thumb over the weapon. Ever since I first held this thing, it almost felt like it BELONGED in my hands. Almost like it was a part of me. Some of the battles I went through felt oddly familiar, comfortable even. Training was going surprisingly well for me. Honestly...too well. Is this really the kind of progress I should have after only a month? It's enough to make me worried there's some kind of a catch. I lifted a hand, opening and closing it as a test. I'm in Aero's body right now, so it'd make sense that he wouldn't also be in this body right? 'You're not inside me...right Aero?'

"I'm just saying if we DID go to the Better Breakfast it would be the most fantastic and stomach filling thing we could do...just saying."

"I think I'm gonna start sparring with Ren from now on..."

"Huh?" The two of them looked up from their conversation. "What was that Aero?"

"Ren. I'm going to start sparring with him three times a day instead."

"Oh, okay." Nora shrugged it off. "Looks like you and I are going to be spending more time together Jaune.

"Wait, hold on." Jaune stopped, his voice taking a serious tone. "What about me?"

"You? I mean...you'll be fine. Just because I'm not the one training with you every day doesn't mean you can't improve."

"I know but," Jaune stopped, rubbing the back of his head. "I've kinda been enjoying my battles with you, and you're the only-"

"Awwwwwww!" Nora cooed interrupting him, "Looks like you two have been bonding.

"Yeah yeah Nora...look Jaune, just think of this as shaking things up. There aren't many new things you can learn by doing the same thing over and over again. It's good to have a bit of variety. Try learning from Nora."

"Yeah!" Nora's arm reached around Jaune's waist pulling him closer. "Just leave it to big sister Nora."

"Okay..." Jaune reluctantly agreed, seeming a little unhappy. I do feel a little bad for Jaune, but I have to switch to someone else. Fighting him isn't helping me anymore after I've improved. If I were to liken Jaune to a video game, he would be 'Easy Mode' while Ren would be intermediate. You can improve your skill playing on easy mode a few times, but that eventually runs out. If I don't move on, I won't improve. Speaking of improving, it's time for the next stage of my plan in preventing the fall of Vale.