After my victory I was given some cup that said I was a champion of mystral and my name was etched into some wall of champions alongside my family crest.
Then some people with fake smiles and shady eyes tried to approach me speaking about deals and offers to companies and other countries. Rather than act polite like Steve would have I adopted my first life's approach.
Fuck that, it's too troublesome! So I ended our conversations forcibly. One prick even shouted a cliche about not forgetting this as he huffed. Asshole! He came and bothered me first. Some off the various countries nobles tried to approach me with their daughters on their arms. But I could smell gold and spoiled cabbage on them so I just ignored them.
When one went to speak of face my Atreus "accidentally" fell off my back and smacked onto the ground making a large gong noise. I'm not spending my next four years dealing with a remnant version of a young master and some ancient elder huntsmen with an op semblance.
The ones I did speak too however were the experts who were having a field day analysing me. My weapons, aura usage, possible semblances which I chose to remain silent on, my training regimens, my diet, my martial arts, some suggestions to possible improvements that I chose to remember as they seemed feasible and then possible opponents in the other kingdoms who could match me.
When they recommended facing a swordsman the name Winter Schnee was tossed out and I nearly choked. She's one of my gamer buddies Snipeaschnee, her tag wasn't meant to sound like she was going to kill her family but that she was a sniper. However the gamer tag made her much more approachable online for some people.
After finishing my talks with them and trading contacts, you never know when you need a guy. I walked into the capital with my hood up. I really didn't want to get swarmed for the next two days during my stay in the capital.
My dad forget to book a return shuttle for me so he ordered one after my victory. Shocker that most were fully booked, but once the company saw that his surname was Arc his class fo ship was bumped up a notch.
After returning to my hotel and washing off the battle grime that build up I turned on the TV and started doing some weapon maintenance. My armour was crumpled slightly in some areas showing that Pyrrha has quite the grip~ I have decided to remake it and imbue my clothing with water dust to make it more shock absorbent. It would also bring out the blue colouring on the outfit. Oh and perhaps some hard light on the crest so I could project it! That would be nice for showing off but not very good for a stealth op.
Atreus and his unused mecha shift mechanism are undamaged so I just gave him a scrub and polished him. Cayde-6 has some scratches and bumps in the barrel which could be disastrous so I took him apart and replaced the damaged parts.
Nightwing however was in much poorer conditions. The dust circuits I used were fried in the fight which I think is due to the polarity wave Pyrrha through out thinking I wouldn't notice. I've decided to rebuild them and give them a blade mode that would make them into two hand axes.
Would using a dust glass blade be cool? Hmm maybe I could make one with lightning dust glass and have my own mini storm breaker while the other using with ice dust to make a mini leviathan axe. To get the effects I could mix in some hard light dust which should improve the integrity of the blades and be more aesthetically pleasing.
After making a quick note of my ideas on my scroll I began replying to all the congratulations. My mother however just sent the word "Name" in bold and all caps meaning I'm not off the hook. So I just wrote Fraise Liquorice and sent it off. A wild goose chase is better than my goose being cooked. I got an emoji with its face blowing smoke out the nose in an arrogant manner. Fraise I'm sorry if your ever found, if your beautiful I'll take you on a date..... assuming you live.
Next morning I went out to try and get some good coffee. If I find a blend I like I'll take it back home cause of the family herb garden. The ARC FAMILY HERB GARDEN HAS BEEN TENDED TOO FOR GENERATIONS! (Guess the reference) yup the arcs and this universe Armstrong's and We're equally as proud as them.
After finding a nice cafe called "the grounds keeper" I went in and order a cafe au lait, I like half and half. One dark and one white, and that's not just in coffee~. While I was watching some weapon demonstrations on YouTube, which my family created and launched, I noticed someone coming up behind me.
I tried not to seem tense and was reaching under the table towards its main support so I could lift it and use it as a bar. As I was preparing for the case that some prick I blew off sent an assassin I snapped out when I heard "Hello~" in a very familiar tone of voice.
I turned around and saw green eyes and red hair kept beneath a hood in a similar manner to myself. "Pyrrha?" I asked out hesitantly, oh god has she gone yandere for me I thought narcissistically.
"Yes Jaune, sorry for approaching you like this I just wanted to have a conversation".
"Well feel free, have you ordered anything?" I asked back to which she nodded. The server quickly brought over her frappe and a bagel for her while I took a bite of the croissant I ordered. She looked up at me "our fight was amazing, I really wanted to thank you for that".
" well I guess your welcome, but why are you so happy about losing?" I asked back to which she sighed.
"Since I won last year everyone has been swarming me with their own agendas. I saw Lien and decided to take a few of those offers up like sparring against some noble brat or doing some modelling for a cereal brand. It isn't very good cereal."
"Ah the same thing nearly happened to me, I noticed a mile away though so just spoke with those experts for pro tips." Her eyes shined in approval of my actions.
"Any Jaune, since I won last year so easily and got saddled with all that mess I was have decided to not compete this year. My mother talked me into it as the money improved our home life drastically and I got a guarantee at a good huntsmen academy". Ah so Ozpin or Ironwood already wants her I thought as she continued.
"I realised last year I came over geared. You saw how many weapons I was packing. So if I won again this year I was going to drop a few and work on refining my base weapons which I showed to the public." So that's why! "You wanted a challenge Pyrrha?"
"Yes I did, and you certainly gave me one. I even know you were holding back a fair bit." "Hoh?" "
"You didn't display your semblance very much or even at all from what I could tell and I could sense your shield had a second mode like mine did yet you didn't use it. Not to mention I removed your gun from the equation as I could tell that hand cannon is incredibly lethal when you plan to use it for real."
I smirked at her analysis and asked "so? I could have not used it because you didn't give me an opportunity to". She gave me a small smug smile "Jaune, I know when someone is holding back. I came to ask if you would like to be my sparring partner more often." She asked it a little shyly.
" I get it Pyrrha, strength can be intimidating so only braggarts would want to challenge you. And friends may want to take advantage of you, being wary of those who suddenly approach you is another thing that probably happened".
She nodded "well I'll be your friend Pyrrha, I already have some ideas for how you can improve your game". Her eyes shone at the thought of approval. She could be the next Yujiro Hanma if no one ever gave her a challenge. She literally came looking for fights.
So for the rest of the day I began describing ways to use her semblance and ways I use to train my aura. She though the nen principals were amazing even though I only described them verbally. When I talked about using Iron sand she smacked her head at having never thought of that. I then discussed all the Gaara techniques such as his sand skin armour which she would love to try.
I spoke about how her wrist blades would be better suited for assassination which I'm actually trained in thanks to the ninjitsu. We're both loaded so we can meet up with each other whenever. I spend most of my time training and my mother complains about a lack of friends. Arslan was good in her book so Pyrrha shouldn't be any different.
I also talked about modifying her armour like I'm about to except she could weave Earth dust into it and improve her connection. Next I spoke about having strips of flexible metal and oscillating then to fly in a similar method to a bugs wings or having metal platform boots and using them to float by manipulating the metal. She redirected with an iron sand platform in a similar method to how Gaara could fly. I felt like petting her.
After finishing our hunter talk we spoke about ourselves. She talked about Argus and her hobby of clothing design. She makes her own outfits after all, I asked her about the cloth she used and we discussed it processes. When she asked about my armour and my idea to use Hard light to project things like a neon sign she had so many fashion ideas.
The conversation ended when we got onto out dating lives. She asked about my statement to Fiore and I bullshited about Fraise liquorice who was just an older girl I met at a gym one day. I noticed her jaw clench when I spoke about it so I flipped the conversation over to her. "Well I haven't dated anyone yet though there have been offers none have been my type."
"Oh so what's your type? Are you into the same sex or something?" I asked but she got flustered "no no no I'm into men. It's just rather than some mega Macho guy or a flirt I'm into someone who is more..... happy go lucky and loyal."
"Like a dog?" She nodded "yeah like a dog, I always loved golden retrievers when I was younger because of their happy appearances and their glossy gold fur".
I then reached up to a lock of my golden blonde hair and rubbed it between my fingers "should I be flattered Pyrrha?" I asked her with a smile which made her turn the same shade as her hair. She began having a small meltdown completely different to the calm composed woman I've dealt with so far. I suppose she hasn't matured as much as the canon one just yet.
As she was embarrassed she shoved her scroll number onto mine and then took off after paying for her coffee. I just sat in the chair and laughed before I heard an "ahem" I turned around and saw the face of my parents.
They must have come earlier than expected so far, my mother asked with a predatory look. "Jaune, is she going to be my daughter in law?" She looked hungry for an answer so I answered. "Maybe? Why do you want more than 1?" Her eyes gleamed and my father just looked at me with his mouth agape. His expression was like "this kid, where did he get the balls".
My mother then replied with a warm smile "preferably, your sisters have shown a lack of Romanticism thus far so I'm choosing you to give me grand children". My father turned "don't you mean us?" But she turned and said "no~" before walking away. My father took a hit to the manhood while I went to pay and head home.
When I returned my sisters tackled me demanding answers as mother had scrolled them during the ride back. Please tell me this isn't going to be the next four years if my life.