Chapter 3: Cruelty

2 weeks later

Jaune let out a sigh as he walked down the street heading towards his family home, feeling melancholic despite having finished school early today because some dumbass bully/thug started beating up all the other delinquents and bullies in school and that had caused quite a stir, with 15 students reportedly sent to the ICU, that the school principal immediately issued for a half and three days off.

It should be quite concerning but honestly, he couldn't completely shake off the resigned and disappointed feeling he'd been feeling for the entire two weeks.

It all started back when he was hospitalized and Sapphire returned with the rest of the entire family in the room, hurriedly huddled together around him, giving him scolding and comforting words all together, relieved and happy that he recovered.

Everything was going well. That is, until most of his siblings, the younger ones, left to go back home with the third eldest sister to accompany them.

It was then that all hell broke loose.

His mother started screaming, harshly reprimanding him for his dangerous behavior of training himself to become a great huntsman, with Saphron supporting her and adding her own angry comments.

Sapphire quickly came to support him and unexpectedly his father, who had openly showed his disapproval of becoming a huntsman, was speaking up for him for once because, in his words, his son has finally done something provocative in his life.

'Our boy was becoming a man!', he said, with his wife quickly refuting him and their argument escalated.

Jaune didn't want them to tear each other and tried to defend himself, telling them his dreams and ambitions, but his voice was drowned out by their furious shouting, and he was left feeling utterly silenced and defeated.

He couldn't believe it. His own mother and sister were against him, against his own passion and dreams of becoming a great hero like his grandfather and his forefathers before him.

He was pathetic.

For the next two weeks, there were tense and awkward moments between him and his family, with them barely talking to him and him keeping to himself most of the time.

Moreover, as a pact of truce, he was forbidden by both his parents to train and had his wooden sword stashed away until further notice.

That means, until his mother's mind changes.

Jaune knew that he couldn't keep living like this. He had to do something to reconcile with them, to make them see his side of things and understand the importance of his goals.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself and hurriedly opened up...the arcade doors.

He was going to talk to both his mother and sister, but not right now.

Jaune had a bit of pent up aggression inside of him for some time now, he did not want exploding at their faces when they talk so he wanted to at least shimmer it down with a few good rounds of games.

And the first game he played? An old zombie FPS game called Haunted Horrors.

As he placed his bag on the ground by the machine, he rolled down an arcade coin that he exchanged when he entered and grabbed the toy gun.

Jaune took aim and...cleared the entire game in under an hour; no deaths, all confirmed zombie kills, got all the secret items, etc.

Although he was forbidden by training his swordsmanship, they didn't say anything about his Total Concentration Technique, which they didn't know about.

Day by day, slowly but surely, he was growing stronger.

His strength was enough to overpower some of the strong jocks in his school, he found out when one of them tried to bully him but got a broken hand in return, and he could outrun the fastest runner in school if they raced.

Jaune was confident that he was in the same level of combat capabilities as a student in combat school at his age, possibly even one who studies in one of the four renowned academies in the world!

"Haaah." He let out a frustrated sigh and put down the toy gun, muttering, "I'm still not calm enough to talk to mom, dad and Saph."

He turned to look around at the other arcade games and smirked,

"Looks like I'll be here for a while."

....

For the next three hours, Jaune went from game to game, showcasing his skills as he took down the high scores in each one.

His mind was focused solely on the games, forgetting about his problems with his family, the frustration and disappointment melting away as he found himself getting lost in the joy of the arcade.

He even struck up a friendly rivalry with a regular at the arcade, a boy around his age named Saito, who was just as skilled in the games as he was.

And for the first time in two weeks, Jaune found himself laughing and having fun again.

As he was about to head home, he checked his scroll and saw that he had several missed calls and messages from his family.

Feeling a mix of nervousness and curiosity, he quickly called back, only for his mother to answer the scroll.

"Jaune, where the hell are you?" She scolded, her voice laced with anger and worry.

"I'm at the arcade, Mom," Jaune answered tentatively, unsure of how she was going to react. "I needed to clear my head a bit."

There was silence on the other end for a moment, before she let out a sigh. "Come home, Jaune. Your father and I want to talk to you about something."

Feeling a hint of dread, Jaune reluctantly said his goodbyes to Saito and exited the arcade.

As he walked back home, he couldn't help but wonder what his parents were going to say to him. Would they be more understanding of his dreams and goals, or would they continue to oppose them?

Unfortunately however, he wouldn't have the chance to see them again.

For when he was just a block away from his house, as police cars and an ambulance drove past him, Jaune smelled a familiar scent.

"Mom's blood? But it's so....thick. And it's not just hers..." Jaune had a worried face, taking a sharp deep breath, water suddenly spewing out of the corner of his lips, and he immediately bolted towards his house,

He ran so fast that the people around the streets only saw a blur going past them and a trail of water.

As he arrived at his house, Jaune's eyes widened in horror and disbelief.

'No.'

His house had become a wreck, with blood and flesh scattered around the porch of their house.

But the most unsettling of all, was the eight body bags neatly placed together in his family's front yard.

'No.' He opened his mouth, trying to say something.

But all that came out was choking sobs as he fell to his knees, the reality of what happened hitting him hard.

His family, his parents, his siblings, they were all gone.

"N-No..."

It was later reported that a Grimm, a Beowolf, had entered the Arc family home and had brutally murdered all family members except for two.

Jaune Arc and Amber Arc.