Chapter 35

I put my hammer away and take the shield of Crocea Mors, Jaune's sword, and look at it for a second before nodding.

I press the button behind the shield, and suddenly a solid blue hologram appears around the shield. This is the upgrade I installed to Jaune's shield. After knowing that I built Ren and Nora's weapon, Jaune wants me to upgrade his weapon and even pay me for it.

With my current resource, I can make a Reinhardt package for Jaune. An extendable shield using a solid hologram and a plasma around the edge of the sword to extend his sword's length. The shield can take a good beating before it breaks and needs ten seconds to recharge. His sword also can release a crescent moon plasma from his sword.

What made it even better, all of that did not use dust as a fuel. It uses the solar energy that is stored inside the device I put on the sword and shield.

The shield can extend two meters horizontally and vertically at its maximum power. It was a simple upgrade, but it sharpened Jaune's fighting ability. The shield now covers more area, and he can become a real tank this time.

Sadly, doing so will eat a large amount of energy. It is good if he is fighting under the sun, but there will be a problem when he fights at night. I have already made an emergency energy device that uses dust to recharge the solid hologram.

"Is Jaune-Jaune's weapon ready, brother?"

I look at Nora walk toward me with the rest of her team following behind her.

"Yup. Here."

I give the sword and the sheath toward Jaune, who looks at it for a minute.

"Press the button on the grip."

Jaune looks for the button for a few seconds before pressing it. A second later, a plasma appears around the sword edge. The plasma increases the reach of the sword two times the original.

I decided to take the idea of a lightsaber from Star Wars.

"Holy moly! I have a lightsaber!"

"Yes and no. I decided to use the same concept. The light around your sword is plasma that can cut through almost anything. The device on the sword is the one that emits that plasma around your sword. I will give you a book that you need to read so you can fix that device in case it malfunctions."

"I-I can't pay for this. I don't think the money I give to you will be enough to pay for this upgrade."

"Your money is enough to make this upgrade. Don't worry."

And I'm not lying either. That upgrade is surprisingly cheap if you have the power of Tinker. I can even add more, but I decide not to as I don't think Jaune is ready for it as he just began to get used to his fighting style.

Ten thousand Lien. That is how much money I use to upgrade Crocea Mors, and Jaune gives me fifteen thousand Lien.

"Are you sure? I can give you more if you want."

"No. Your money is enough."

I look at Jaune with a serious expression.

"If you still think it was not enough, just think of the sword as my gift for your graduation from my training program."

That's right. I only have three more days (Hyperbolic Time Chamber time) before he graduates from my training program and will be tested by Beacon's professor. Gone is his lanky body, replaced by a slim body yet packed with muscle. I can already see Pyrrha approved of his improvement.

Not only that, but his aura also increased by quite a lot. Not yet double the original but near it. Before you said something about it was not much, Jaune's Aura is huge. He has an aura that is double the amount of professional huntsmen. That is before the training started. Now he almost has double the amount of the original.

"Now, let's make sure you get used to your new equipment, shall we?"

I give him a wide smile. A smile full of teeth. When I see him shudder a little, my smile gets bigger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|3rd POV|

Glynda did not want to admit it out loud, but she could already see a massive improvement in Jaune. His physic and his posture now scream fighter instead of a farm boy like before. She did not know how Angelo was able to do that, but she is grateful he can fulfill his promise.

However, she needs to test it first.

"The first match will be Jaune Arc against Cardin Winchester. You guys have two minutes of preparation."

Jaune nods his head and gets to his locker, where he stores his weapon. After taking his armor on and putting his weapon on his waist, Jaune walks toward the arena, where he sees Cardin have an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Before the fight begins, any question?"

"I have a question, professor."

"And what is it, mister Arc?"

"Any tactic is acceptable. You will be fighting for your survival in the future, so we will not stop you if you feel that you can perform better by using… Underhanded methods. I will monitor your aura level during the fights, and you will be stopped the moment either participant's aura falls into the red zone or is incapacitated. You are permitted to use any weapons of your own choosing during your matches, and you may call for a forfeit if you are unable to continue. Anything else?"

"No, ma'am."

"Good. Are you two ready?! Start!"

Cardin charged at Jaune without wasting any second with his mace in his hand. When he arrives in front of Jaune, he swings down his weapon and is ready to end the fight in a single attack. However, before the mace could hit its target, a shield appeared in front of it to block the incoming attack.

After blocking the incoming attack, Jaune swung his sword from the right with all his might and hit Cardin right in his neck. If not for Cardin's aura, he would lose his precious head. However, before his aura, the sword hit the barrier and threw Cardin instead.

"Holy shit! Vomit boy attack reduces Cardin's aura by seven percent!"

Yang exclaimed in surprise. She knows how hard that swing is if it reduces Cardin's aura to ninety-three percent. She thought that Jaune was a weakling, but after seeing his strength, she decided to change the image of Jaune inside her mind.

"Tch. Lucky shot"

Cardin shouted and charged at Jaune once again. This time, Jaune did not stay still and ran toward Cardin as well. With his shield blocking the incoming attack, Jaune swings his sword upward and tries to hit Cardin from underneath him.

"Not this time!"

Cardin's mace extended downward and blocked the sword. He then tries to push Jaune away from him by kicking the blonde. However, Jaune's shield releases blue energy and blocks the kick instead of hitting his stomach.

Jaune thrust his sword forward, but Cardin decided to jump away from him. However, as Cardin landed not too far away from him, Jaune swung down his sword and released sword energy that hit Cardin right in his chest.

"WHAT?! Jaune, you liar! You said your sword did not have anything!"

Ruby, who is watching the fight, looks at Jaune's sword in amazement. She is a little bit upset at Jaune because he told her that his sword is a classic sword without any other features. She did not know that Angelo was upgrading his weapon for him.

When he sees Cardin losing his balance, Jaune charges at him and does a shield bash, the impact of Jaune's shield against his head makes Cardin blank for a second. Jaune did not waste any more time and activated his sword 'lightsaber' mode and thrust his sword forward with all of his strength to throw Cardin away.

As Cardin is thrown away, Jaune releases another wave of the energy beam and hits Cardin with it. He then jumps toward his opponent and lands above Cardin with his sword pointed at the young man's throat.

"Give up"

Cardin's brain finally catches what is happening and releases a frustrated sigh before saying.

"I give up."

Angelo smirks a little at the fight and looks at Ozpin, who is sipping his coffee. They are currently inside Ozpin's office and watching the fight from the monitor in front of them.

"What do you think?"

"Not bad. A little bit of experience, and he will become a proper huntsman."

"Yup. His movement is still too… tense. However, it can be taken care off by training and maybe taking some missions here and there. When is the first year able to take a mission?"

"Sadly, they can only take a mission when the second semester starts."

"Hmmm, can I take them to a mission? Search and destroy should do."

"Hmmm, perhaps. Speaking of missions, I have some missions for you."

"Oh?"

"There is a suspicious movement in the northern side of Forever Fall. I already sent Qrow to snoop around the forest, and he said that it was the White Fang."

"White Fang? Why are they in the Forever Fall?"

"Because they have a base there, and they need that base to store the dust they stole."

"White Fang becomes a robber?"

"No. They become a terrorist. In the last year, the White Fang in Vale already killed fifty innocent civilians to prove that Faunus is a superior race compared to humans. They did not think that killing an innocent and defenseless human just makes them look weak."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Search, Destroy and Rescue. Qrow believes that the White Fang in Forever Fall has a side business as a kidnapper and slave trading. I want you and him to infiltrate the base and destroy them from the inside. I also want you to rescue all the prisoners and secure all the dust inside the base. Beacon needs that dust."

"You want to take the dust for yourself?"

"Yes. I will give them back to the smaller dust shop, but the one White Fang stole from the council will be taken. This is a payback for them to cut the dust budget by half when they know the Vytal Festival is almost here."

"I see. When do we go?"

"Tomorrow morning. Get here at two in the morning. You guys will strike them before they wake up. I will give you some dust if you need it."

The passive king finally moves, and the game starts to change.