– Thursday –
Jaune walks into the clearing with his friends to see Ozpin waiting there sipping on a thermos filled with his favorite coffee and a small camping set out for them to use for snacks and drinks between gate training.
Jaune waved at the old Wizard while everyone else was confused to see their Headmaster there waiting for them.
They had been training in the gym and headed off to their usual spot without a worry in their minds. But they were now worried that something had come up for Ozpin to come find them. Ozpin saw their confused expressions and asked his own question, "Ah. Mr. Arc, did you forget to tell your friends that you invited me to your get together with them? After all it did seem rather sudden and not pre planned when you called me last night."
Soon all his guild mates were staring at Jaune for answers with their looks feeling like drills digging into his head. Jaune sweats under the attention and decides to be honest. "I invited Professor Ozpin for his aid in battle techniques, knowledge, and his abilities as a fellow Monarch to push us further in our training. After all if we just get used to fighting Grimm how will we even learn new things besides through our own innovation? I read in some martial arts books that it is difficult to improve on your own without a teacher to help guide you. So I figured not only would Ozpin teach us and guide us more efficiently but he would be able to grow a bit too and dust off some cobwebs on his own skills as well."
Nods are slowly spreading among their group as Ozpin had his eyes widen slightly in shock and intrigue that Jaune thought of his own growth as well given how he was used to simply training his slowly recovering powers every reincarnation. It never occurred to him to train alongside his fellow Monarch as he thought that the Monarch of Light was busy training and improving his own vessel to the point where he thought he would just get in the way or slow them down. But this new thought and angle of their possible training methods intrigued Ozpin to no end.
Ozpin speaks up, "Interesting notion Mr. Arc. I would gladly train alongside you all, as even if I don't gain anything substantial from training alongside you all. It would be beneficial to myself to make sure I have reviewed the basics of my training and even some intermediate and advanced movements. After all being a Headmaster leaves very little time for me to train myself outside of my 1 hour lunch break."
Everyone nods or shrugs in agreement until Weiss perks up at that last tidbit of information, "Wait! If you have very little time to train yourself as is. How did you get the time in your schedule to come here and train with us in the first place?!"
The group, including Jaune, all widen their eyes and stare hard at their Headmaster as they all wonder the same thing.
Ozpin simply sips his coffee first before he smirks and says, "Well… Let's just say I am glad I hired such a capable woman like Glynda. I shudder to think about what she is putting the council through right now."
Coco decides to ask the question on all of their minds based on that little tidbit, "Hold on… You had a council meeting today… you pawned it off on Ms. Goodwitch, with almost no notice… And you sicked her on them instead of yourself?"
Ozpin nods and says, "In that sense… Yes, yes I did Ms. Adel."
Ragora laughs as she says, "Oh those poor old fools!"
– Council Meeting chambers –
The council were meeting up and were excited to see what they could get away with next in their meeting to make sure Vale was safe and their pockets were a little fuller.
"Hehe. I know with all of us together we will out vote Ozpin with these new renovation plans we have to enrich our districts and make them safer! And we can make sure that our districts alone get the attention while those lesser income people can continue to fend for themselves! After all as the leaders of Vale we need to protect ourselves and our families first!" Says one councilman.
"Not if we pass these subtle discrimination laws first! Those animals who are causing trouble should know better than to make trouble for us humans! Damn White Fang!" Yells out another councilwoman.
"Now now, let us do this calmly, after all while we can get a lot past Ozpin in the first place, we need to think our words through carefully to sneak them by his sharp mind. Remember he isn't the Headmaster of Beacon academy for nothing. He has stonewalled us on many things that we were trying to pass as new rules and laws because of our eagerness to use them to our advantage. So remember even emotions and calm heads will allow us to get these through and allow us to make sure we can reap the benefits of them for our use." Says the head councilman Winchester.
Suddenly the door flies off its hinges and leaves a huge spiderweb crack in the opposite wall just past all the council members heads. They all slowly turn to see the large 50ft wide crater in their council halls wall, before slowly turning their heads back to the now wide open entry way to see an absolutely furious Glynda Goodwitch with a copy of their proposals under her arm and her eyes burning with glowing wisps of her aura coming off them. She glares at them all making all the members of the council shudder in fear, and one lesser council member leave a new stain on his pants as she asks, "SO! Who can explain to me how I got stuck with you idiots!? And your idiotic proposals!? I went through them with a fine tooth comb and found so much wrong with them that they better be the results of you fools being drunk off your asses! Or else you will be hearing from the press about all of these so called, 'Improvements' in Vale!"
She sits down with a pulse of aura coming out from her forcing all the council members to sit down out of fear of her. They soon all realize one collective thought going through their heads, Oh SHIT! Please bring back Ozpin! Him we can deal with much better!
Then the council members all go pale as they see none other than Bartholomew Oobleck come through the door next and stand beside Goodwitch while pushing his glasses further up his nose giving the effect of light glaring off of them and making him more menacing than ever. They all realize that they were indeed very much fucked by this turn in events and switch of members of Beacon they had to negotiate with.
– Back with Ozpin and The Hunters Guild –
Ozpin chuckles to himself knowing what is happening while the teens were all left wondering why he was chuckling so much. Shrugging it off as Ozpin being himself they all got out their gear and did full checks under the watchful eye of Ozpin and his plethora of experience. The found places in their weapons they had long forgotten to maintain that he spotted for them. They cleaned up some small rust and dust that were gathering in those long forgotten places and made sure to make mental notes to always clean those in the future. Ozpin nods at their eagerness to improve themselves and goes over to Jaune to see what they are going to do today.
Jaune explains to Ozpin about the gates they have been clearing and how any training done in them seems to be boosted by the unofficial experience share he has over the group, improving any growth by a solid 20%. Ozpin whistles at this information and agrees to do his part in helping them grow by aiding them with his magic.
Jaune nods to his offer and says, "We will see if we need support, defense, or attack help from your magic depending on what we face in the gates. Thanks for the support professor."
Ozpin nods and tells Jaune, "No problem at all Mr. Arc. After all what kind of teacher would I be if I left my students to do all the work on their own?"
Jaune nods and heads over to everyone while taking stock of the keys they have left. Thanks to his gift box today he had managed to restock some keys and now had, 3 C ranks, 4 B ranks, and 2 A ranks. It only restocked the keys by a bit since it was a normal gift and not a doubled up gift box but the extra training would go a long way for them all.
First Jaune opened up a C ranked gate to show Ozpin how they were and he had SLVR join them as the first training team to be up. Ozpin entered with them and showed no side effects of swimming through literal negative emotions shocking all the others.
Jaune got the enemy counter being around 75 enemies to defeat in their gate. He explained to Ozpin how the counter and strength of the enemy is determined by the gate. Ozpin nodded and turned to see the incoming Gargoyles. He smirked as Jaune readied his blades and even summoned his Archer squad but Ozpin had everyone stand down as he readied his own spell. Soon a large 40ft wide magic circle appeared around him and after a good 30 second charge the Gargoyles were just about to reach Ozpin before he shot off his spell.
Suddenly 60 magic arrows shot off from his magic circle and hit 60 Gargoyles at once ending their existence. Jaune, Simin, Ragora, Lycan, and Vivian were all stunned at this while Baruka and his archer squad cheered for the Wizards prowess. Ozpin finished up his little display with a flourish of his staff and fired off more magic arrows at a rapid pace using his staffs gem as the casting point. Every swing of his staff shot off another arrow and thus in another 15 seconds the last 15 Gargoyles were eradicated.
Everyone was wide eyed and then went from looking at the dissipating wisps of Grimm smoke to the powerful magic user as he walked toward them. He dusted off his shirt a bit and went, "Hehe I see why you all enjoy this kind of training, I do feel the difference in growth from wiping out basic Grimm to these higher ranked Grimm in huge groups. Come let us see the next gates then."
Everyone followed him back in a daze as Jaune recalled his troops. On the other side everyone had just opened up their textbooks to read while waiting for Jaune and team SLVR before they came out after only being inside for less than 2 minutes. Ruby went to ask how they were done so quickly but closed her mouth back up after seeing Ozpin coming out first looking pleased with himself while Jaune followed him out next and then came team SLVR. She wasn't sure if she should ask given Ozpins smile, Jaune looks of feeling like he was lacking and team SLVR doing a team meeting about trying to learn new techniques to be more effective in combat.
Jaune gave his friends a summary of what Ozpin was able to do in the gates and they all realized how lacking they were. Soon Weiss was asking something that had been on her mind since they had been told about Ozpin being a Monarch of Magic, "Professor Ozpin… I have to ask you one thing."
Ozpin looked at Weiss and motioned her to go on.
Weiss swallowed some spit that had gathered in her mouth from nervousness and she asked, "Well, you told us you are a powerful mage, and you had daughters you were teaching at one point in time. So does that mean… some of us might have the aptitude to become mages ourselves and help our friends with the magic we learn in combat?"
That got everyone's attention as Ozpin looked at her and chuckled, "I have had pupils before in the past. But I haven't had any pupils since my daughters due to the lack of people who are magically attuned."
Weiss deflates at that news, Ragora snaps her fingers in disappointment, and Nora was whining since she can't learn how to shoot out lightning bolts now. At that last piece of news everyone sighs in relief while Ren all but almost collapses in relief at knowing his girlfriend wouldn't be zapping anyone anytime soon.
Ozpin sips his coffee again before continuing, "But, If I sense each of you and I am being honest, and accurate, with my sensory abilities. I believe that some of you are able to channel your Aura as a form of mana to replace actual mana. Your spells won't be as powerful as mine but it will enhance your repertoire of attacks and allow you more options in combat."
Ozpin comes up to each student and they all stand at attention to be ready for their turn of being scanned for magic potential. One by one the students are scanned, except for Jaune as he has his Monarch soul that would throw off the scan. Ozpin smiles as he finds quite a few of the teens have strong magic potential.
The ones with the most potential for being spell casters were Weiss, Ragora, and Simin. After them were those with average potential such as Blake, Ren, Velvet, and Fox. Then after them were those with only enough potential for a single type of magic use such as Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, Yatsu, Lycan, Vivian, Coco, and Ruby.
He puts the trio with strong potential to the side while addressing the average and low potential students, "Now I am sorry to say that while those three," Ozpin gestures to Weiss, Ragora, and Simin, "Have amazing potential for the magical arts, the rest of you are average to low tiered potential mages."
He sees everyone else deflate at that wording and coughs to grab their attention again, "But this simply means that your potential is lower than your friends. You all have the potential to learn a spell or three. And for you low tiered ones, you have a magic you can specialize in, or even just the ability to learn all the basic spells you can."
They all get smiles again at that piece of news and he looks at them all and nostalgia hits him from when he originally held a magic class.
He wipes a tear as he remembers his four daughters and their eagerness to learn his magic before their lives were snuffed out prematurely. Shaking himself a bit he begins to break down magic formulas and how they can be applied to their aura reserves as that is the energy they know best and can be used as a substitute mana pool.
Weiss, Ragora, and Simin all take diligent notes, while the rest all take basic notes as they realize that they were only understanding parts of this concept. Meanwhile Jaune was going through his skills and seeing how he technically had spells in his repertoire not just skills with his aura booster, and ally boosting abilities.
After an hour long session it was soon time to put into practice the application of using their aura as a fuel source for spells. They all began to meditate and try to channel their auras in a different way. They had… mixed results.
Weiss was suddenly able to summon pure ice crystals in front of her in a small flurry with wind helping her control their movement. Ragora was channeling some dark purple mist around her giving her an eerie aura as she practiced controlling them. Simin was making a small pillar of stone with a flame at the top that he was keeping lit himself without any physical fuel.
Ozpin nodded to himself as these three were indeed natural users of artificial mana. And the others were having… mixed results.
Blake was beginning to use her shadow as a new limb, but was having trouble getting it to lift off the ground more than 2 inches before it went splat and returned to its natural state. For Ren he was enhancing himself and showing his magic was more internal similar to monks that Ozpin had learned from in the past, essentially making his mana behave like their ki. Not an ideal magic lesson but if it worked for the quiet monk then it will aid him in growing further. Velvet was beginning to use her magic flow to channel a supportive magic that was unknowingly powering her up. Fox was actually learning his magic affinity was going towards sensory magic, a rare type that was hard to master, but his echolocation ability was growing into sensing the life signs, aura levels, and overall health of his friends all around him.
The low potential members were having the most trouble in getting decent results. Yang was having such a slow and frustrating time that she would growl and accidentally activate her fire aura from her semblance. She forced herself to calm down and tried again, though Ozpin noted that she would hopefully realize that her Semblance was the key to unlocking her natural fire affinity.
He sees Yatsu with his Semblance of earth hardening has been boosted to near iron level hardening as his Semblance resonates with his innate talent strengthening him further than ever and becoming a literal walking tank. He is so still Ozpin was afraid at first that he literally became a stone statue until he saw the young adult still breathing evenly.
He checked on the rest and found an amusing sight, Nora was asleep somehow having her body still ram rod straight but also having her head bent back with her mouth wide open not even denying that she was out. Lycan was in a similar position but this one was from him sprawled out unconscious from trying to force his magic through and burning up all his Aura in the first 30 minutes of constant usage. Ruby was trying her best but she was trying with her muscles instead of her aura straining like anime characters on a show he saw once where they suddenly yelled and gained golden hair. Vivian was making progress thanks to her Semblance and its characteristics, but no magic had manifested yet, she was still just manipulating her aura like he showed her and taking it nice and slow to build a proper foundation. Always a good practice to have and a nice sight for a teacher to enjoy. Pyrrha shocked Ozpin honestly though.
She had managed to lift a rock out of the ground and have it float around her, normally he though she was manipulating her Semblance but there were no iron deposits in the stone she found. It was basic granite with some impurities of other minerals but nothing like iron deposits or silver or gold were inside it. It was a basic rock. It seems that she had unlocked the next level of her Semblance through magic practice, she was no longer a polarity user, she was also a Geomancer, or earth mage. Given her low potential her growth potential was limited but it would show its full limit in a few days of testing and training spells.
Coco was supposedly working hard as her focus seemed hyper concentrated at a rock about 10 feet in front of her, but a quick peek under her sunglasses revealed she had dozed off much like Ms. Valkyrie. With a small sigh Ozpin replaced her glasses back on her face and made his way back to Jaune while keeping in mind to assign Coco and Nora extra work for falling asleep to make up for their lacking performances in the magic training.
After knowing what they could do Ozpin gave them homework while he ventured into the last 2 C ranked gates to try and gain any more boosts to his training needs. Their homework was to keep channeling their aura as man as instructed and try to maintain any spells they have naturally found until he thinks they are ready for the next step.
They all nod as Jaune opens up the next C Rank gate for the professor as they both walk inside.
Jaune sees the counter show up and then find Ozpin in deep thought. He goes to ask the wizard what is on his mind before he is shown the insightful awareness of the Monarch of Magic, "I am worried Jaune."
"About what Ozpin?"
Ozpin brings out his staff as some Ursa Majors come running towards the two monarchs ready to try and erase them from existence for their queen. "Even with my tutelage, the only ones who might be able to grow to be competent mages within the next few months would be your trio of friends who have the high potential. The rest of your friends would be at most, support mages, or combat mages, not fully fledged wizards."
Jaune nods as Ozpin suddenly swings his staff almost nonchalantly at a large ice blue magic circle he made mid air and shoots out a small iceberg right at the charging Grimm. Jaune nods his head as he is getting used to the displays of power from Ozpin, especially since he remembered that he is a Monarch similar to himself. "Well yeah but I though the point was that your magic lessons would help us strengthen ourselves in any way we can learn in the time we have."
Ozpin launches a bolt of lightning to fry some more bears that come around the iceberg. He looks to Jaune as he finishes firing off a barrage of magic tracking arrows at the remaining Grimm making them all poof into smoke and leaving the leader. "That was my plan, but I fear that even with my tutelage that they will have trouble understanding that for their potentials that their magic is best suited to their Semblances."
Jaune then perks up as he turns to Ozpin fully and takes his attention off of the Terrortula creeping toward them from the shadow of a nearby building, "Then why don't you tell them that? I'm pretty sure if they realize that their magic relates to their Semblance then they will grasp it faster and with more efficiency."
Ozpin sighs as he waits for the Grimm to fully commit to a charge before icing the ground in front of it and making it slide past both of them with a screech of panic and leaving it to crash into a building behind them both. "I would Jaune but then comes another type of problem when it comes to learning magic."
Jaune perks up interested in that part, "What's that?"
Ozpin smiles sadly, "Any cheats, or short cuts taken can lead to a mistake from not knowing your foundations or how to fix any mistakes. I found that out when I had a previous form. He was excited that he had suddenly learned that I was a wizard and he had the potential to become as powerful as I was in my prime before the fight with Salem that took my powers. So I taught him what I could as fast as I could. He was great, he had amazing potential, and he even had spells learned that I had long forgotten about due to not having the time to train my new vessel to withstand the usage of them. Within a year of having him as my new vessel I was close to 50% of my old power limit. He was happy to be known as the living legend from the wandering wizard legend. And we were relishing it."
Ozpin took a moment to catch his breath and send an Ice chain spell on the Grimm that was recovering from the slip and slide trap he used on it. Chaining it up and refocusing on his story, "But Salem saw this chance as I gained too much attention too fast. The Monarch of Light had just passed from his last vessel into a new one and was in the middle of training him up. I had no backup to fight off a powerful Grimm Salem sent towards me to kill my vessel and break all the momentum I had gained in that body. It worked TOO well. My vessel panicked and tried using 4 spells at once, something I told him he had the power to do, but we had never practiced it. Mostly because I skimmed over that lesson in favor of him learning more spells faster. It blew up in our face horribly. We killed the Grimm she sent… but we lost out lives. I went on to find a new body but my last shared soul was lost to the void, along with 10% of the power I had gained from my time with him. I went back down to 40% power and swore to myself that I wouldn't rush the magic learning process in such a way ever again."
Jaune was stunned that such a thing happened to Ozpin but also understood the problems. It was similar to running before you learned balance and proper walking, if you lose balance while running, then you don't know how to regain it and you lose all focus and trip and fall. Losing all your progress you were making in the run in the first place. With a heavy sigh Jaune yielded to the Wizards warning, "Alright, we'll have to do it the slow and careful way then. Besides my friends are smart, if they figure out something they will share it in a way that will help the others, not hurt them."
Ozpin nods with a small smile and skewers the last Grimm of the gate with a large earth pillar and looks to the young knight, "I hope so Jaune, I sincerely hope so."
With a small pulse of energy Ozpin gasps gently as he grips his chest where his mana pool is kept. He smiles at Jaune while the young Monarch was watching and having concern fill his eyes. "Worry not young Arc. I simply felt something I haven't felt in many years."
Jaune glances at his face from his chest then back to his chest watching for any other concerning signs, "What's that?"
Ozpin gives him a smile full of excitement, "I felt my mana pool refill properly, I now feel like I am at 47% power!"
Jaune smiles widely at the news and then looks to his remaining C gate key and a B rank gate key, he smiles then looks to Ozpin, "You feel up to a raid from two Monarchs working together old man?"
Ozpin seems to shed 20 years as he re-summons his mage robes and restores his staff to its full form before looking to Jaune with eyes full of excitement and joy, "Lead on young knight! This mage shall support you with all I have!"
– In the clearing –
The guild members were continuing their training together before noticing an odd sight.
Jaune and Ozpin come running out of the Gate they just cleared and ran head first into another one Jaune summons suddenly. Everyone shrugged and figured Jaune was just trying to quick clear them with a powerful Wizard like Ozpin at his side, then 2 minutes later the pair exit the C Rank gate and instead of resting a bit they run head first into a B ranked gate Jaune opens next.
All the while Ozpin is seen smiling happily alongside Jaune as the pair seem to be having fun like a pair of old friends. This makes the group look at each other in pure confusion and concern for what the pair of Monarchs were getting up to in each gate but shrugged and went back to their training. 10 minutes later Jaune and Ozpin both slightly out of breath exit that B ranked gate and chuckle at each other before coming over to the camping table they set up and begin to discuss what they went through in each gate.
As they do Jaunes friends feel a little out of place as Jaune talks with Ozpin about his grandfather and what they did together for training and antics they had together during his time.
The day ends with everyone tired from magic training and feeling like they were suddenly second fiddle to their own headmaster in the eyes of Jaune.
– Friday –
This day went much like Thursday, Jaune did pay them some attention by guiding them through a team exercise in a B ranked gate he opened full of powerful Nevermores and Deathstalkers, but soon after he was discussing more past exploits with Ozpin after gifting Yatsu a ring to boost his abilities called the Knight ring. Yatsu thanks him but with a bit of awkwardness from it being a ring of all things that Jaune gifts him. Jaune notices and apologizes but told him its effects which helps Yatsu understand how this would be perfect for his combat style and why Jaune gave it to him. However after that interaction Jaune was right back with Ozpin at story corner ceasing his interactions with his friends again.
Everyone was feeling like a third wheel at this point. Especially Jaunes girlfriends who have put their desire for dates aside so they can focus on powering up for taking down the White Fang.
Weiss, Pyrrha, Yang, and Velvet were doing their best to master their magic lessons but it seemed like Jaune had become more focused on Ozpin and his stories than them. They understood it as it was a way for Jaune to know his grandfather, the previous vessel holder, better. But it still hurt for them as they felt like they hadn't been able to spend any time with Jaune since the pool.
They began to feel lonely and started to make plans to address this with Jaune that night after all their training.
– Friday night –
After everyone was tired from the training and the magic lessons they all went to their dorms, except for a certain quartet of girls who were waiting for Jaune to return from his usual nightly spar against Iron to review shield and sword arts.
As he headed for his dorm his is suddenly grabbed from behind so quickly that his sense stat didn't react in time.
He is blindfolded and dragged/carried somewhere else. In an abandoned dorm room which was under renovations, he is found tied to a chair and the blindfold is removed.
He looks at all four of his girlfriends and realizes that this seems like an intervention on their part for him. He nervously asks, "Ummm… How did I mess up?"
They all blink honest question and Yang asks, "How did you know you messed up before we even asked you anything?"
Jaune smiles gently as he remembers his childhood, "I grew up with 7 sisters remember? When you have that many girls going through so many different relationships and the drama each one goes through, you learn to read when you are in trouble as a guy. So I need to ask again, how did I mess up?"
The girls look to each other and nod/shrug at the logic before Pyrrha decides to speak first, "Well Jaune we know we have been busy preparing for the White Fang raid and we know that this is important to us all so we can make Vale safer and remove a potential weapon from Salem… But we have a complaint."
Jaune raises his eyebrows and looks between them before asking, "And what complaint is that?"
Velvet bursts out surprising them all, "We want some more attention from you! We have been so busy training together this week that we didn't realize it at first, but seeing you spend more time with Ozpin training with him one on one and learning stories about your grandfather from him have made us realize something."
Weiss pipes up next, "You seem to have taken us for granted! We want honest to goodness time together with you! Yes we are preparing for a war but we want to build actual memories with you before things get tense. We want to go on dates, we want to cuddle up to movies with you!"
Yang then adds her two cents in but in her… own way, "We also want the chance to kiss you again when possible since we do enjoy your soft and powerful lips stealing our breath away! Also some cuddles and… other activities would be nice when possible..."
She ends with a finger on her chin in thought while her fellow girlfriends all blush hard at her… less than tactful way of asking but none of them rebuke her for it. Jaune is blushing as well and nods his head slowly at how it looks like he has taken them for granted and put them on the back burner. He slumps his head in shame as he thinks, I made them feel like they were not as important to me as this upcoming fight, or as the memories of my grandfather. Man I may have learned to fight but I have a lot more to learn from being a boyfriend. I will make them see that they are important to me and that they are a big part of my life. They were my friends who supported me and cared for me before they were my girlfriends. I need to help them see that and know how much I need them in my life.
He looks at them all with a caring smile on his face showing his honest feelings towards them, the look makes their hearts soften at him as he says, "I know I made you all feel less important than the memories of my grandfather. And I am glad you understand how important it was to me. But I never meant to make you feel ignored or under appreciated in my life. Before we were dating you were all important friends to me. Now I can't imagine my life with out you all. I will make this up to you with your requests and even more than that moving forward. Okay? Trust me."
They all look at each other before they nod and agree to his promise and untie him from the chair. He gets up and looks at them all before opening his arms up for them to come in for a group hug. He kisses them each on the lips twice to show his apologies to them making the girls melt a little in his arms.
As they all hugged together Yang gets a mischievous idea and pinches Velvets buns making the girl yelp in shock at that. Everyone looks to her in shock at that moment then Yang pinches Pyrrhas next. Pyrrha gives out a shocked mini moan and goes atomic red while everyone gives her wide eyes.
Yang is having too much fun as she goes for Weiss next, making the princess give out a blushing squeak and partial moan herself. She goes crimson at that and everyone looks to Yang as she has a smile full of laughter on her face seeing her fellow girls reactions. Jaune is getting suspicious but then Yang puts the nail in the coffin of her intended target.
Yang moans out with a light gasp as she looks at her butt then glares playfully at Jaune. Pyrrha, Weiss, and Velvet all turn to him as one with glares of their own and Jaune looks at Yang in shock at her plan. While everyone else is looking at him she leans her head back a bit and gives him a winking tongue out face to show her prank has come to fruition. Jaune gulps and looks at the girls who are all showing mock hurt and then all pinch his butt in return. He yelps in partial pain and laughter as they all make sure to linger their hands on his butt after the pinching revenge.
Jaune then tries to run from them but they dog pile him to keep him from running before he gets too far away. Jaune laughs with them as they all play wrestle a bit before calming down and getting ready to head back to their dorms with their relationship repaired of the cracks that were appearing. He makes sure to kiss them goodbye as Velvet heads off immediately to her dorm. Then Weiss and Yang at their dorm room door. Then finally Pyrrha before falling asleep.
He goes to bed thinking to himself, This is a true test of my growth as a man, and as a friend. I hope to not let them down in the future.
– Saturday –
In the morning Jaune decided to surprise his girlfriends and made some breakfast reservations at a good breakfast restaurant in Vale. He sends the address to their group chat and goes to Vale to wait for them and find a gift for each of them.
As he goes towards the restaurant he notices Tuksons book trade and the sign saying closed despite it being only an hour past its weekend opening time.
He peeks in and sees Tukson himself inside with what appeared to be a pair of teens or young adults speaking with him, and making the man very nervous based on what Jaune could sense from his high sense stat.
He gets a quest alert.
~Silencing a deserter!
Tukson is a former White Fang member who helps those who need him leave the fang for family or because they were tired of the lifestyle. He is now about to be silenced by two of the Fangs elite agents! Help him and gain something worth your while!
Rewards: +20k shop points, +8 stat points, and insider information to the White Fang operations and locations.~
Jaunes eyes widen and looks back inside to notice the gray haired teen is browsing the books and looking at Tukson for any sudden movements while the girls back is shown under a short jacket/vest she wears showing she has her weapons ready to be drawn.
Jaune ducks around the corner and looks through the shop for a disguise. He finds an Atlas soldier uniform with the helmet and everything and buys and equips it. It is only a C ranked armor but his stats should make up for it.
He makes sure to equip a scarf to cover his mouth, and to ensure none of his facial features are visible. Then equips a C ranked pair of combat gauntlets he found for cheap and heads to the store after storing his armor and usual weapons. He is slightly weaker now but for White Fang elites he should be fine. After all how many elites were on Adam's level?
(Hubris will show him soon. Pride cometh before the fall… or in this case the hard fight.)
Jaune comes to a back door and carefully breaks the lock to enter through, he hears part of the conversation and hears a portion that shows the conversation is breaking down.
"So Tukson, about your information network. Any reason while it is an open sale on the black market? I thought you were on our side?"
"Look I was looking to make a quick buck from those trying to join us I wasn't-"
"Wasn't what? Hoping to leave town? We found the carrier ticket for getting out of Vale on your credit report. So be ready with a good explanation or things will get."
* Click *
"Ugly. You can thank Adam for ratting you out in hell by the way."
Tukson sounds like disbelief, "Adam!? Damn that brat! I can't believe he would do this to me!"
Jaune decides to walk out of the back with a clipboard he found there and pretends to do a ruse he saw work in a cop movie before, "Alright everything checks out Mr.Tukson I believe you're good to go for the shipment you requested."
He looks up from the clipboard and sees a mint haired girl with dark skin and a pale gray haired boy both looking at him in shock. Both have bits of armor on their bodies but his senses remind him of the dust cartridges they have in their weapons. The girls are loaded and ready and the boy is fully armed with his… Legs? Jaune notices the firing pins around the ankles of his boots and wonders how dust is loaded in his footwear but has not time to wonder as the girl asks, "Excuse me! Who are you?"
Jaune looks to her then his uniform then back to her, "Inspector?"
The boy and girl look at each other then back to him with murderous intent on their faces he looks at Tukson who is going pale at this and Jaune then goes, "Should I come back later?"
The boy leaps up and fires a kick at Jaunes face hoping to take his head off but is thrown off when Jaune suddenly cross guards above his head having the boy grind off his armor and fall back from losing his balance. The girl brings both her weapons out and goes full blade mode as her sickles come to bear. Jaune prepares for her attack only to suddenly see three more of her coming at him. He punches each one, including the real one making her gasp in shock as the other three fakes all disappear.
Jaune hyper thinks and analyzes her Semblance, Okay either illusion based or clone based like Blake. Honestly hard to figure out but I will wing it.
He sees the boy come back around and starts launching kick after kick at him, Jaune blocks them all only to suddenly see a hundred kicks rushing at him at once, Jaune hunkers down to endure them only for one real kick to come out and slam into his chin making him see stars for a brief moment.
As he does he suddenly sees the shop flip on its head and he is suddenly seeing the upside down storage room he saw earlier.
As he tries to make heads or tails of this new development he gets shot a few times, then slashed a few times then a flurry of kicks leave him reeling as he smashes through 3 bookcases behind him.
The two attackers laugh at him and discuss what to do with him as Jaune slowly processes what their strategy is and breaks it down.
The boy speaks first, "Well Emerald looks like he was just an inspector, only average combat skills."
The now named Emerald speaks next, "Yep pretty smooth moves there Mercury, let's take care of the snitch then we can dump both bodies in the bay for the fishes."
He hears Tukson growl and his claws unsheathe as he sees both teens turning to face the store owner. Jaune boosts himself and sends out a soldier in the form of Baruka to the back. The glow from the soldier passing by them makes both teens look at their feet in shock at the sudden light before Jaune erupts from the bookshelf and rushes both would be assassins.
Mercury and Emerald go to defensive stances as Emerald uses her Semblance again to make Jaune see hundreds of them. But unknown to both of them thanks to the Atlas security helmet, Jaune had closed his eyes and was using the sense stat to its fullest to find their auric signatures. He charges head on and forces Mercury to attempt a leap at him with a kick aimed right for Jaunes head. Attempt is the key word here due to how Mercury goes for a leap, only to suddenly find his feet stuck by ice to the ground. He looks down in shock and goes to yell as Emerald but sees her arms trapped to a bookcase from some ice cuffs that were shot at her from behind as well. Mercury refocuses on Jaune as he reached him with his arm cocked back in a punching motion as Mercury says, "Oh shi-!"
Before his back is bent back from the force of the blow. He would have been bent so far back that his spine would snap if it wasn't for his false legs. The punch makes him snap back so fast and hard that they break the thigh area and he goes flying with barely half his legs left.
Jaune and Baruka both go for a finisher to Mercury but they forgot about Emerald in their rush to reduce the amount of enemies. Suddenly a flash bomb goes off in front of their eyes and blinds them for a few moments. When Jaune, Baruka, and Tukson can all see again they find Mercury and Emerald both missing.
Only Mercuries broken legs that they left behind confirm that they were there in the first place. Jaune does a quick sweep and even checks with Barukas keen senses to make sure they were gone. Based on the lack of other auras in the building and the broken sky light in the storage area that Baruks sees, it is a safe bet to say they fled fast.
Jaune walks over to Tukson to ask him how he is doing when Tukson brandishes his claws and says, "Alright cop! Listen up! I am an informant, or rather former informant for the White Fang! So give me witness protection or I will claw your throat out."
Jaune looks at Tukson then at the sharp claws then back to the book seller before saying, "Okay. 1? I am not a cop. It's called a disguise. I'm actually a special shadow ops agent from Ozpin the headmaster of Beacon Academy."
Tukson has his jaw drop and his claws retract at that piece of news.
Jaune continues, "2? I realized you were an informant from overhearing the conversation just now after I saw you guys from a break in the blinds you have in the windows. 3? You would have barely handled those two, and you believe you can threaten us?"
Tukson pauses at that piece of news going, "Us? Us who?" Before he feels an ice cold arrow tip aimed at the back of his neck.
Jaune smirks and says, "My friend Baruka, anyway I'll do you a solid if you do my friends and I a solid. Deal?"
Tukson gulps but nods and he sees Jaune call up someone, "Hi! Yes it's me!... On my way to an important date actually… Yep! Got a favor... Mind sending the crow to pick up a package?… Thanks! He's a former informant for the White Fang that I believe can help us turn things around in the lack of information on our enemies in this on going battle… Oh yeah he is legit, I saw him almost get axed by a pair of assassins… Mercury and Emerald… I'll send their descriptions to you as I head to the date… got it! Thanks Oz!"
He turns to Tukson once more after he hangs up and goes, "Good news Mr. Tukson! You are getting your witness protection from the best source you can imagine! Professor Ozpin himself!"
Tukson goes slack jawed as Baruka disappears into Jaunes chest from canceling his summoning. Suddenly a crow comes though the sky light and turns into Qrow. He surveys the half ruined bookstore, Jaune in a security armor suit, and a slack jawed faunus book owner. Qrow absorbs this all in before opening a flask of the good stuff and saying, "Yep! I'm too sober for this!" And takes a deep draw from his best supply.
After making sure Qrow and Tukson were safe with a knight in each of their aura pools. He heads off to his date spot after unequipping the soldier uniform. He thinks to himself, That should come in handy later… I think that was a great purchase actually.
He gets to the cafe with his reservation ready and he sees the 4 roses in each other seat that he requested be painted to each girlfriends color.
He waits for them after getting their texts that they were on their way. He waits by checking for any news about Tukson or his bookstore. But thankfully Ozpin kept investigators to a minimum and there was no news about it so far.
Jaune put away his scroll as he sees his girlfriends enter the cafe diner. Jaunes eyes widen in shock and happiness at what they are wearing and he gulps loudly while many other men in the restaurant all gape at them in awe.
Yang walks in strutting her stuff in a basic yellow tank top but with a brown biker jacket and black jeans, she is wearing her reflective sunglasses while also having her hair tied in a ponytail to show she means to flaunt. He brown casual boots are hugging her calves while showing that they are flexing around the muscles on her legs. She lowers he glasses to eye Jaune and wink at him while he is in his armor and he gulps in both awe and embarrassment from that kind of blatant flirting. She is still wearing her bangle on her wrist for all to see.
Next to come in was Pyrrha who was in a braided ponytail that was draped forward over his right shoulder, while she had ditched her circlet and instead wore a nice flowing white lace blouse with some mid calf blue jeans and some nice brown sandals giving her a village maiden look that causes many people to blush at the innocence she was showing. However Jaune couldn't help but note that her finger and toe nails were all painted a vibrant green drawing attention to herself as she blushes from Jaunes unblinking gaze of affection he threw her way. Pyrrha was blushing as she had her choker gift on her neck and enjoying the warmth it brought her form being something that can protect her even when her boyfriend is busy with other threats.
Weiss walks in after Pyrrha in a basic sun dress that was a solid sky blue in color that ended just before her ankles. She has a small purse that is a nice cool snow white and she is wearing some flat basic shoes for ease of travel. Her silver sapphire ring is on full display on her index finger to avoid any rumors of her being engaged for the media to blow up or make into a juicy tabloid story. Jaune admires Weiss as she walks in and gives her a wink to show he enjoys the outfit she chose and makes her blush, which thanks to her pale complexion, is very noticeable.
Velvet is in the back of the group hiding behind Yang and Pyrrha. Both girls notice the hiding and shy rabbit and pull her up in front of them. Everyone noticed the exchange couldn't help but look. Jaunes jaw unhinges, the men in the restaurant all stare and can't pull their gazes away, while the women are all gazing in envy. Velvet has styled her hair to be hanging loose like normal but had some of it braided to make a hair braid circlet to encompass her head adding an air of nobleness to her. Her blouse is also very nice being a rich yellow with sleeves that end at her elbows giving her the look of a sunflower thanks to her brown hair. Her skirt is a dull green that matches with the bright yellow she is wearing enhancing it in just the right way, also paying homage to her sunflower motif. And to end it all are short heel sandals that give her an extra inch while also wrapping her feet comfortably in them. This outfit allows her to show off her anklet that Jaune gave her and go with the look in a tasteful way.
With everyone's gazes admiring Velvet she quickly became flushed with shyness and embarrassment and soon was hiding between Pyrrha and Yang again. They both laugh while Jaunne chuckles and comes over to her to help guide them to the table. He pulls back each of their seats showing the roses in each of their colors he found for them. The girls all blush and smile at him for the gentlemanly gesture and the gift he got them before they are all soon seated and looking at their menus while reminiscing about training so far.
Soon they are all sharing stories from their pasts about how they were trained or prepared themselves for the hunter lifestyle.
Yang shares the stories about how awesome she was during the boxing and kick boxing training she under went with her father. And the amazing pun practice she was able to enjoy at his tutelage. Every one groans at now knowing where she got her puns from. Jaune laughs at it and makes Yang grin knowing there is yet another reason why she likes him, he actually enjoys her puns.
Pyrrha shares her story about how her father was replaced by a Grimm. Jaune chimes in about that and shares about the roof event where Pyrrha thought he was one as well. The other girls all look to Pyrrha with shock on their faces and seemed to be asking the same question, 'What the fuck Pyrrha?!' Pyrrha can only look sheepish at this point and shrugs before talking about how she began to win tournaments with the loss of her father driving her training on, and how she learned the subtle uses of her Semblance on the opponents armor and weapons to aid her in surprising them or making them lose focus. Yang giggles at one opponent Pyrrha fought in her third tournament when she was freshly 16 who pissed her off by trying to flirt with her. Who knew a metal cod piece could be crushed that tightly over a mans pride and joy?
Velvet shares how she misses her dad after he died from sickness, and how she wanted to provide for her mother, who took on all kinds of odd jobs to raise her, and pay for her to go to a hunting school. Velvet learned about her talent and her abilities in understanding herself for what she can do and who she could be. Everyone smiles gently at her and Jaune hugs her from the side and kisses one of her ears in a sweet gesture. Right after he does so a human man with disgust written all over his face sneers at them and says just loud enough as he passes them, "Animal lover… Long eared freak."
This makes Velvet wilt a little and her ears bend down in sadness, but Weiss glares harder than even Jaune was so she used her newly learned magic and generated some frost. Right as the man was about to exit the door she mad a patch of ice form under his heel making the man slip and slide down the steps with a stumble and a yelp. He finishes his fall with a blush as people laugh then a friend of his checks on him.
The date group all turn to Weiss with grins and congratulate her on the light revenge she got for Velvet. With a chuckle she explains how she used to pull those pranks with her sister Winter and her brother Whitely on the servants in their mansion when they were all kids. But as they grew, and their father wanted to groom them for his business, they became distant and failed to keep their bonds. Winter became an Atlas specialist, who she looks up to and wants to become as strong as her. Whitely got roped into being trained as a business man and he barely spoke to her after age 13, he was 15 now so it has been nearly 2 years since they greeted each other with more than a formal hello and how are you doing. And Weiss herself is pursuing this lifestyle to show her father that she can become a powerful bringer of change that the SDC needs.
Everyone supports her and gives her hugs and pats and such then all 4 girls turn to focus on Jaune and his upcoming stories.
Jaune sweats nervously as he goes on to explain that his childhood was normal. He went to a normal school, wanted to become a huntsman. Was forbade to by his parents and sisters since he was the only boy in the family of 10 members, besides his father that is. And to keep him from trying to become a huntsman they enrolled him in all kinds of extra curricular activities that would challenge him mentally, physically, and spiritually. Everything from dance, to massage lessons, cooking, swimming, camping lessons, survival training should he ever get lost in the wild, and even a few child care classes fro his future family. He even convinced his parents to let him enroll in one lesson plan of his choice. They agreed as long as it was not for huntsman lifestyle. He chose karate using the excuse that he wanted to defend himself should the need ever arise.
His parents agreed and he got all the way to a Red belt level, not quite an expert but enough to get him a basic build foundation, and some skills to use in self defense. Only problem was that martial arts without weapons training wouldn't help him in the hunter lifestyle so his parents found a karate teacher who promised to teach Jaune only the body techniques and no weapon forms. Jaune should have seen that coming in hindsight but he made due.
Pyrrha perks up and realizes, "So that's how you had a decent build already and could learn faster! You already had a some martial arts experience that allowed you to have the mindset to analyze and breakdown what you were learning… Impressive Jaune! And your other skills are nice to have! Never know when you might need them!"
Weiss and Velvet both nod and picture what they could do for getting Jaune to show them his cooking skills while Yang gasps as she remembers something, 'Wait a minute! You have massage skills! You still owe me one from before when we made that sparring bet!"
Jaune glances to the side thinking then remembering the sparring bet they never got around to. He chuckles awkwardly before saying, "Yes Pyrrha that is how, I had learned image training from my teacher to envision what the moves would do and it helped me apply them to myself as you taught me hence why I was able to reach an average level of skill in combat class so soon. And yeah Yang I'll make sure to create a time slot for me to massage you tomorrow since it will be a break day from training. Sound good?"
Yang nods with a wide grin before saying something that causes them all to blush, "Okay Jaune, but you better be ready babe! I want full body service with every nook and cranny of my body massaged and loosened up from all that training we have been doing. Agreed?"
Jaune blushes while imagining Yang in only her bra and panties and quickly switching it to a bikini like at the pool, then to her covering herself with only her arms across her now bare breasts and he hand over her downstairs area. Needless to say Jaune was excited for the massage tomorrow in more ways than one.
Weiss was also blushing while feeling insecure about how sexy she was in Jaunes eyes. She knew she had a petite and slender form but if Jaune massaged her would he get excited? Or would he be just calm about it since she lacked charm like the other girls? She glances at Jaune as he looks to her and he asks her, "Would you like one as well Weiss? I would love to help you unwind from all the training."
Weiss blushes at the sincerity in his voice and eyes and sees him looking at her figure up and down before he blushes as he admires her. She blushes as well before she looks bashfully away from him and goes, "Yes please, I would enjoy that very much."
She goes beet red while Pyrrha and Velvet each ask for a massage tomorrow as well, both girls also sporting light blushes as they imagine Jaunes strong hands kneading their muscles and being on their bodies in a more intimate way similar to when they had their brief make outs in the past.
Jaune is nearly atomic red while he agrees to each girls request.
They all enjoy the rest of their breakfast/brunch together before heading back to Beacon for meeting up with their friends and enjoying the rest of the day.
Jaune felt much closer to the girls than ever since they exchanged so many stories and got to know each other better as well. Then he looked at the blue sky while sensing for any Grimm gates around them. He senses about 5 E and 3 Ds with only 1 C but he walks the girls back to their dorms while unleashing his soldiers into each gate to clear them on their own so he can get the stats while they practice their combinations and skills in hunting.
He nods to himself as he realizes how much he is being tested as a person each day and how far he has come. He now knows that a true test of growth isn't only how strong or fast you have become, but how good of a person you are to those around you. He looks at his 4 girlfriends as they are giggling and sharing some photos on dustagram, smiling he thinks to himself, I will grow stronger alongside them, and as we get stronger we will make sure to bring down the White Fangs corrupt ideals, and those who use this hatred to fuel the Grimm and Salems shadow faction. I promise this to everyone important in my life.