Small Talk

(Update! I tweaked everyone's stats a bit, due to my incompetent skill in power scaling and time skips.)

The whispers among the crowd grew even more apparent, as the headmaster exited the stage. Glynda Goodwitch then came to the microphone and announced.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

I furrowed my eyes again in thought. The clusters of colorful themed students were in an array of emotions after Oz's speech, confusion obviously being one of them.

I had no doubts that only a handful of teams were going to be formed in the emerald forest tomorrow, if everything was going along like canon.

Many of these people, except the main cast of course(with the exclusion of Jaune), were within the low to mid B's. Putting the 'stats aren't everything' argument into play, they'd only need to track down the chess pieces in the Emerald Forest without running into any high tier Grimm and it would then be fair game after they get their partners.

"Gray."

"Yes, Pyrrha?"

"I'll… see you around. Maybe we can talk later?"

"Sure. I'm up for a spar anytime."

We nod to each other before she leaves.

Just then, Jaune came to me looking a bit happier than when I saw him leave.

I raise a brow at the slight rise in mood he was displaying.

"What's got you up in the clouds, buddy?"

"Huh? Oh! You won't believe it. I saw this nice girl just a while ago. Icy blue eyes. Snow white hair. She was practically the embodiment of a beautiful snow princess."

I fancied a smirk at that point.

Hey. I have to witness this scene of pointless swooning while I can, right?

"Why are you smiling smugly?" He innocently asks.

"Oh nothing. Welp, now that the ceremony's over, let's get to the ballroom, shall we?"

…

Once we retrieved our belongings in the baggage area where the staff put them in, Jaune and I took our time just walking across the school after putting them in the ballroom.

Plenty of small talk went by as we toured around while I memorized the directions we needed thanks to map in the amphitheatre.

A few hours went by and the sun was almost setting. I finally used this time to mention one little problem with my fellow blonde.

"Hey Jaune?"

He turned. The ballroom entrance was just a ways away. The distinct chattering and movement inside was easily caught with my ears.

"What is it?"

"Do you know what Aura is?"

He paused for a moment and tilted his head at me.

"…Yes?"

That very unsure answer was my inner tipping point.

Why in Remnant does he not know what a goddamn Aura is? Heck. This guy could only raise a brow and wonder what a 'high impact sniper rifle' is too.

Aura was easily the most fundamental defense a combat trained personnel should have in this world, and he didn't even know what that is?

"Alright Jaune, be honest with me." My voice turned to a whisper halfway. "How did you get into Beacon?"

He reflexively flinched at the question. With the way the sides of his face were beginning to sweat, this could definitely mean he cheated his way into getting here.

Not that I don't know that already.

"I-I got h-here just like everyone else."

I leaned forward and squinted my eyes at him, further insinuating that I was marking him suspicious.

"Oh? And how DID we get in?"

He paused and a few sweat drops down onto the cold tiles we stood on.

"All w-we had to do was graduated from combat s-school."

I leaned away from him and settled back to my neutral expression. He too was calmer now, but I could sense the sigh of relief he was still holding in.

Well, he was right. Combat school was basically like high school for- yup, you guessed it. Combat.

Starting at the age of 13, they taught their students the basic topics on what to expect in that respective line of work.

Included, but not limited to: Weapon building, basic hand to hand, science, history, values, *sigh* math, and team building exercises.

The huntsman profession was definitely one of the first professions one thinks to inquire for when they attend a combat school, though this is not always the case. Graduating a combat school only means that you have the choice of having a job of the more militant line. You could choose to be a policeman, for example.

But alas, he forgot to mention that people had to take an entrance exam to enroll.

"*Sigh*. Are you kidding me?" I really wanted to let Pyrrha handle this, but I also didn't want the probability of a 17 year old boy dying from a fall in my head.

"Um, w-why?" He asked.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.

"I'll unlock your aura for you." I simply said.

His continued blinking reminded me that he was still uneducated about it.

I decided to give a basic rundown/abridged version of it to the terribly inexperienced knight.

"Oh right. Aura is basically the forcefield that huntsmen use that makes them look like lamps."

"*Gasp* Really? I mean- of course I knew that."

I sighed again and placed my hand onto the middle of his plated chest. Seriously, his "armor" had so many weak points that I couldn't help but to slightly cringe.

There were two ways to unlock someone's Aura. The first, and most common way, was to have it unlocked by one who already has theirs unlocked. This was considered orthodox as people at their third year in combat school will be required to have Aura.

The second, and historically the first, way to do it was simple. Meditate. It was really only a matter of time before I did it anyway. What else was I supposed to do, as a bored 3 year old? A few months of deep breaths and mystical humming led to me having better control over the small ocean of power, which was the soul.

My hand glowed as I directed my aura into Jaune. Awakening someone's Aura took much mastery and concentration. Something that I even had in spares.

The flow of one's Aura was like a warm river. The core of it's energy lied within the entire body itself, like the pores of one's skin.

Unlocking Jaune's Aura took some effort. Once I reached the threshold of what I liked to describe as the 'dormant spirit', I unleashed the flow of my own soul towards it.

Upon coming into contact with the dormant spirit, the metaphorical cracks of the egg was a prelude to the birth of a dragon.

The flow of my own Aura was cut, when the vibrant wave of yellow pushed it out.

Jaune was then suddenly covered in a transparent yellow glow that signified the awakening of his aura.

"Woah."

"Yeah, that was my first reaction too."

[Name: Jaune Arc]

[Status]

Level:7

HP:306/306

Aura Level:C3

Aura Capacity:2658/2658

STR:B3(B10)

DEX:C1

AGL:C9(B6)

END:C10(B7)

PER:C7

That's definitely a lot more than your average Aura capacity. Though not as much as mine, he has around 3-4 times as much as the normal Beacon first year.

Thanks to the passive boost one gets when they unlock their soul's power, my worries about the soon to be huntsman were somewhat alleviated.

"H-how long does this glowing last?"

"Either give it a couple minutes or imagine turning of your microwave. You pick."

…

(AN: Yeah sorry not sorry about the shorter chapter and the lack of updates.

BUT!

I'll be stocking up around 3-5 chapters for next week's mass release. So once that happens, I'll be finally working on a rather decent plot for later on. This rather bull s h i t fanfic is kinda an excuse to improve my writing skills before I actually make something the slightest bit noteworthy.

So until next time, be sure to like and subsc- wait no wrong one.

So until next chapter, be sure to favourite and (probably)gimme your power stones.

Later y'all!)