Ephemeral Dream

Summary: Jaune Arc isn't strong, smart, or skilled. Even so, he dreams of a future in which he is a Huntsman. He dreams of friendship, combat, and love. But every dreamer must wake. "Not yet…" He whispered, tears of blood streaking down his cheeks. "I can't let this dream end… Until I've turned it to reality." Gamer Jaune!

Warnings: Crossovers, strong and smart Jaune, later quite OP. Possible harem.

II: Shock

I was completely and totally focused upon my cooking. It was nice and early, meaning none of my siblings nor my parents were awake yet. It meant I had the whole kitchen to myself.

It was glorious.

The kitchen was my sanctuary. During the two years of closing myself off from the world, the kitchen was the only place I ever truly felt alive. Cooking, to me, was more than just a profession or a hobby. It was an artform, a craft unto itself that deserved respect!

… Huh, maybe that's why my cooking skill was maxed out. I was still calling bullshit on it being so high, but maybe it was an explanation at the very least.

Evidentially the smell of my cooking began to waft through the house and rouse my family from their slumber, since I could hear movement from upstairs.

I took that as my cue and began to set the table with the meal I'd made, unable to help but chuckling quietly at the names of each food I placed on the table.

[Heavenly Pork Sausages – Rank EX]

[Heavenly Scrambled Eggs – Rank EX]

[Heavenly Toast – Rank EX]

[Heavenly Baked Beans – Rank EX]

[Heavenly Fried Mushrooms – Rank EX]

[Heavenly Hash Browns – Rank EX]

[Heavenly Bacon Strips – Rank EX]

[Heavenly Fried Tomatoes – Rank EX]

Okay, seriously? It was just a standard Vale-style breakfast, nothing 'heavenly' about it. And how in the heck did toast get to an EX ranking!? It's just toast! I literally just put it in the toaster for a couple of minutes, how did that alone make it EX rank!?

I just shook my head as I took a seat at the table, waiting for the rest of my family to come down.

Saphron was the first, yawning. "Morning," she said… Before she looked at me and did a double take. "J- Jaune?"

"Good Morning, Saph," I responded. "Come on, take a seat, don't want the food to get cold, right?"

"You're… Erm… Up early," she said, and I felt a pang of bitterness within myself.

The last two years, ever since my family and friends alike told me to give up being a Huntsman, I had completely shut myself off from the world. It wasn't a case of ignoring them, I did still speak to them, but I was so torn up by their words that I ended up completely locking up my emotions and withdrawing from reality.

Which was why I'd dreamt up that world. A world where I was a Huntsman. Even though it was just a dream, I was still determined to one day turn it into a reality.

… Err, minus all the people dying.

"I had a nice dream and woke up refreshed," I told her, before lightly smacking her hands as I saw her reach for a bacon strip.

"Ow!" She moved her hand away, shaking it lightly. "Why'd you do that?"

"I'm the one who cooked this meal, so you can damn well wait for everyone else to come down," I told her firmly.

"… You cooked this?" She asked, surprise on her face.

"No need to sound so shocked," I gave her a small smile, hiding the flinch that came when she recoiled in surprise from the sight of my smile.

Damn it, had I really become so emotionless and closed off that my smile was now considered rare?

"A- Anyway, take a seat," I told her. "I can hear the others coming down now."

Saphron hesitated, but slowly took a seat on my left side, staring at me as if she couldn't believe this was real.

Slowly, but surely, the rest of the family joined. I greeted every single one of them and was given shocked looks every single time I gave them a greeting and a smile.

Seriously, I know I may have been closed off, but I still had feelings. Maybe I'd have been less emotionless if you guys hadn't taken a shit on my dream to be a Huntsman! Eh, I digress…

My father was the last one to come down the stairs, whistling. "Woah," he grinned as he took a seat. "A full Vale Breakfast eh?" He looked to my mother, Marigold Arc (though everyone called her Mary). "What's the occasion?"

"Dear, I didn't cook this," she shook her head in denial and pointed at me. "Jaune did."

My father's gaze instantly locked onto me with wide eyes. "… You did?" He sounded shocked, but at this point I'd seen that look and heard that question eight times, so it only made me groan.

"Yes," I grumbled. "Honestly, I can cook. Not like it's all that hard. Well, now that everyone's here, feel free to dig in."

They all hesitated, but slowly filled their plates with food. I didn't appreciate the looks of doubt on their faces and grumbled about getting no respect.

Saphron, every the most adventurous of the family, took a bite of one of the sausages. Her eyes widened and she gasped, making everyone look at her. She chewed slowly, and then swallowed.

With a serious expression, she turned to me right as I was taking a sip of water. "Jaune, please marry me."

I did a spit take. It was a good thing nobody was sitting opposite me, or they'd have gotten sprayed. I banged my chest and coughed hard in shock, quickly taking a swig of water to wash down what tried to come back up.

"Saphron!" My mother exclaimed, sounding scandalised. "What are you saying!?"

"Just take a bite of the food, and you will find that I am perfectly justified!" Saphron snapped at them, still looking at me with an expectant look.

Did she honestly expect me to say yes!?

"I- Incest is illegal," was the only thing I could say, making Saphron go 'tsk' as she turned back to her meal, though her frown went away as soon as she began eating again.

The rest of my family all exchanged looks before they began eating the breakfast, that I'd lovingly made for them all.

I received six more marriage proposals. All of them from my sisters.

In total, I had to point out incest was illegal seven times before I'd even changed into my school uniform. Though I think my sisters were joking about it, despite how serious they looked. I'm like… Ninety percent sure.

Shaking it off, I headed upstairs after finishing my meal, knowing my mother would insist upon doing the dishes, and changed into my school uniform. It was a simple suit and tie with the School Logo on it, 'Signal Academy' and its emblem stitched into the breast pocket.

'But wait,' some of you reading this are asking, 'Wasn't Signal Academy a prep school for huntsmen?'

And to that I say, it was… In my dream. In reality, signal is just a normal school I attend. Huntsman Academies have no prep schools as precursors to get in. You train, you take the entrance exam, and you either pass or fail.

'Friends…' I thought to myself, shaking my head sadly. 'Can I really call them that anymore?'

It had been two years ago when I had been training to be a Huntsman. But I had shown no aptitude for it, not enough to warrant my aura being unlocked. My family decided to put a stop to it and convinced my friends to join the intervention.

I hadn't spoken so much as a word to any of my friends or their parents since that day, hurt as I was by the betrayal. Two years of self-inflicted isolation… Brothers, I'm such an asshole.

I sighed and looked in the mirror on my wall. God, my hair was such a mess. By chance, I saw the case for Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition laying around, with Vergil's slicked back hair on the cover.

"… I'm pretty sure I have some hair gel," I murmured to myself, unable to believe I was about to slick my hair back like that…

To my pleasant surprise, I ended up receiving something once I was done slicking my hair back with hair gel.

[You have received 'Slicked Back Hairstyle (Cosmetic).']

Long story short, I could now change my hair back and forth from this without hair gel. But the changes were, as stated in the name of the item (yes, it was classified as an item), purely cosmetic.

After some internal debate, I decided to stick with the slicked back hair for the day. I went through the trouble of slicking it back in the first place, might as well keep it this way.

I stuffed my books in my bag, after double checking I'd remembered to do my homework for my history class and headed downstairs. "I'm going to school!" I called into the house.

"Take care!" I heard one of my sisters, Auburn, call out. She was always quick to adapt to new situations, so she'd quickly adapted to the fact I wasn't closed off and emotionless any longer. The rest were still adjusting, and I couldn't blame them for that.

It was going to take quite a long time to be able to fully reconnect with my family, I was certain of that much.

The walk to school was calm, and I took the time to look around as I walked. The world, which had once been dulled by my lack of emotion, now looked and felt like it was full of colour again. The trees seemed greener; the sky seemed bluer. The spring breeze felt wonderful against my skin.

Then, I spotted a familiar head of black hair with red tips.

My heart froze in my chest.

Ruby, unlike in my dreams, wasn't actually some kind of super prodigy. I mean, she was smart and skilled, but skipping two years? No, not that kind. She was, in actuality, my age, only about a month or two younger than Yang was. Her mother was in a polygamous relationship with Yang's mother and their respective father.

How long had it been since I'd last spoken to her? How many times had she begged and pleaded for forgiveness, only to be coldly ignored at every turn?

How many times did I spot those silver eyes look at me, filled with tears that would later be shed when she thought nobody was around to see or hear?

I took a deep breath as quickened my pace, my heart set on my next course of action. Every journey starts with a single step.

With that in mind, I walked beside her, and spoke. "Morning, Ruby."

I watched her entire body stiffen, her head whipping to the side to look at me. I saw the hints of bags under her eyes, carefully concealed with make-up.

My fault, I thought. Those are my fault.

"J- Jaune?" Ruby asked in shock, no doubt surprised I was talking to her.

"That is my name, unless you know another Jaune," I joked lightly, but quickly grew sombre. "Ruby, I'm sorry," I told her, watching her eyes widen further. "I shouldn't have ignored you these past two years, you were only doing what you thought was best for me, talked into it by my family. I'm sorry for ignoring you… And I forgive you."

There was silence… And the next thing I knew, those dainty arms of hers were wrapped around my chest, and she cried into me. "I- I'm showwy…" She babbled, stumbling over her words like a child. "I- I'm sho showwy…!"

I hesitated, before gently wrapping my around her and stroking her hair. "There, there…" I said softly. "I'm sorry too, Ruby… Do you think we could be friends again…?"

I felt her nodding rapidly against my chest. "Mn!"

Relief flooded me, and a single tear fell down my own cheek as we stood on the sidewalk, just hugging and basking in the moment.

A friendship closed off two years ago, finally rekindled.

~~Ephemeral Dream~~

It took some time for Ruby to stop crying, though her make-up was still immaculate. It wasn't a stretch to assume the one she'd applied was waterproof, god knows how many times she'd cried because of me.

"You good?" I asked.

"Y- yeah," she hiccupped lightly, wiping her eyes carefully. "I- I'm good…"

"Good," I gently pat her on the back, and the two of us began our trek to school. "Where's Yang?"

"She went on ahead," Ruby said, slowly regaining her childish excitement. "She saw some of her friends and promised to hang out with me during lunch."

"So, she ditched you?"

"… Yeah."

I let out a soft sigh. It was a poor habit of Yang's to ditch Ruby to hang out with her friends. It wasn't as big of an issue two years ago, because Ruby would just come over to my house and play video games with me.

"How lonely have you been these past 2 years?" I asked softly.

Ruby didn't answer, but the sad look in her eyes panged at my heart, and I realised something. "Nobody knows, do they?" I asked her. "Nobody knows how alone you've been; you've been hiding it all this time?"

"… I didn't want them to worry," she told me. "I'd already hurt you and pushed our friendship to a bad point, I didn't want them to find out how badly it had affected me and to blame you for it."

I grimaced and gave Ruby a serious look. "This Saturday, we're going out," I said. "We're going hang out like we used to, and we're going to do anything you want at all."

"Anything?" Ruby looked up at me, eyes sparkling. "Even go to a Weapon's exhibit?"

"Even that."

"Even go to my favourite bakery?"

"Even that."

"Even hang out afterwards and play games while eating strawberries and cookie dough ice cream?"

I snorted lightly and nodded. "Yes Ruby, even that."

"Awesome!" She cheered, and I couldn't help but feel some relief as I saw her smile. It was a real smile, a true smile. I knew, someday, the girl would become a great huntress.

[Quest: A day with Ruby!]

For two years, you've been a husk a human. Now you have finally regained yourself, and it's time to reconnect with your friends!

Objective: Spend a fun day out with Ruby!

Reward: 1000 EXP, 5 Random Dust Shards, +3 Dexterity, unlock 'Bonds' Questline

Failure: 100 EXP, 'Bonds' Questline is forever locked.

Do you want to accept this quest?
Yes

I stared at the screen in front of me, frowning lightly. There was no option to reject the quest, but at least the consequences of the quest weren't the worst thing in the world.

Thankfully, I didn't need to interact with the screen in the real world. Just thinking the word 'Yes' caused the quest to be accepted, and the screen to vanish.

"How about we go out for lunch on Saturday?" I asked. "That can be the start of our day."

"Oo, oo, can we go for all you can eat Mistralian?" She asked, sounding very excited. I nodded and she let out another excited cheer. Well, I was just glad that she was looking forward to her Saturday now. Hopefully, re-forging my friendships with the others would be this easy.

Haa… If only I could believe it really would be that easy.

Considering the walk to school wasn't very far, we made it there with plenty of time to spare.

"Refresh my memory, what's our first class today?" I asked her, just wanting to be sure my memories from the dream weren't conflicting with my real-life memories. I had basically lived in that dream world for 2 years, I just wanted to be sure things weren't conflicting.

"History," she chirped as she took her history books out of her locker. "And then it's a double gym session with my dad!"

I grimaced lightly… Gym, huh? Well, at least I'd upped all my physical stats at least one point. I was sure I could handle it… Hopefully.

"Should be easy enough," I said. "Did you remember to do your history homework?"

She paused. "Uh…"

I let out a soft sigh. "We have time," I pulled my own homework out of my bag. "Here, you can copy off me. But make sure to change words up and write it how you would instead of just totally copying off me. Don't want the teacher to get suspicious."

"You're a life saver," she said in relief, gingerly taking my homework as the two of us headed towards History class, using the back of one of her books to quickly copy and change it as we walked together.

As we approached the classroom, I heard a familiar voice… And a very familiar bad joke, "And I said 'Well, it seems we've kicked this off with a Yang!'"

"I want to go back to being a social recluse already," I told Ruby. "Anything to avoid your sister's awful puns."

"I'll get the rations," she agreed, shaking her head in exasperation.

I gave a soft chuckle at that and let out a sigh before I pushed open the door, walking in with Ruby and heading to my seat. It was right between Yang's and Ruby's.

"Oh great, you're here," Yang grumbled at me, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Yang had been of the opinion I was childish these last two years, to lock myself off and ignore her and the rest of my friends.

Admittedly, it was kind of a dick move on my part. A month or two, maybe. Two years? That was far beyond pushing the boundaries.

"Good morning, Yang," I responded promptly. I won't lie; I took great pleasure in seeing her freeze in shock and whip her head around to look at me.

"D- Did you just talk to me?" She asked in shock, as if unable to believe it.

"Is there another Yang?" I asked, before looking at Ruby. "Ruby, do you have another sister called Yang?"

She snorted lightly and shook her head with an amused smile. "Not as far as I'm aware."

I turned to look at Yang. "Then yes, I was definitely talking to you."

Her mouth opened and closed several times… She really couldn't believe I was talking to her again, especially after all this time. She might have said something, except the teacher walked in at that moment and asked us to sit down.

Ruby quickly handed me back my homework when the teacher wasn't looking, of course. Didn't want her catching onto the fact I'd technically helped Ruby cheat.

The class felt boring, honestly. Kind of… Slow. So, I decided to use the opportunity to read about the Black Dragon Skills more thoroughly.

[Black Dragon's Seismic Steps: Advance (Active) – Rank E – Lv. 1]

Draws the user closer to his opponent. The move is so fast that it appears the practitioner moved toward the opponent instantaneously within the blink of an eye. Cost: 10MP for 10 Meters.

[Black Dragon's Seismic Steps: Retreat (Active) – Rank E – Lv. 1]

Allows the user to retreat or create distance between user and opponent. This move is also instantaneously with in the blink of eye. Cost: 10MP for 10 Meters.

[Black Dragon's Seismic Steps: Evade (Active) – Rank D – Lv. 1]

Allows the user to avoid the opponents attack and gaze. This move allows the practitioner to instantaneously disappear from the opponent's sights. Cost: 15MP

[Black Dragon's Seismic Steps: Attack (Active) – Rank D – Lv. 1]

Attacks the opponent. One cannot just simply use 'Attack' however they want. It's a skill that allows the practitioner to read an enemy's foot technique and change its movement to neutralize the opponent. The user reads the opponent's movement and by giving a slight change to that movement he can neutralize it. Cost: 15MP

[Black Dragon's Seismic Steps: Clone (Active) – Rank C – Lv. 1]

A secret technique that affects the enemy's mind and willpower. This technique creates the effect of the practitioner being in multiple places at once to distract the opponent. Cost: 25MP

[Black Dragon's Round Kick (Active) – Rank E– Lv. 1]

A kick that has gathered force through rapidly spinning on a central point. 120% Damage. Cost: 10MP

[Black Dragon's Sickle Kick (Active) – Rank E– Lv. 1]

A kick used to grab an opponent in a lock position. The fighter faints a reverse kick with one leg and uses that leg to hold the arm of the opponent. It is mainly used to break an enemy's guard. 110% Damage, Guard Breaker. Cost: 10MP

[Black Dragon's Fangs (Active) – Rank E – Lv. 1]

A technique performed by attacking with the elbows. 110% Damage. Cost: 10MP

[Black Dragon's Pulse Breath (Active) – Rank E – Lv. 1]

A technique that sends pulse of energy/mana to damage the opponent. First the user positions their hand(s) to their target and unleashes the energy/mana. When used a print of the user's hand briefly forms on the point of contact, sending them flying away. 90% Damage and sends the enemy flying. Cost: 10MP

[Black Dragon's Upper Thrust Kick (Active) – Rank E – Lv. 1]

A type of push kick, an upward kick which use bottom of the foot as the striking surface. Unlike typical push kick however, this technique bringing the legs up high and straight, pushing the target into the air. 120% Damage. Cost: 10MP

[Black Dragon's Shockwave Fist (Active) – Rank D – Lv. 1]

A technique that uses a powerful punch to interrupt the opponent's attack. Outside of disrupting an opponent's attack, it also causes a shockwave to emanate through the area to catch the opponent off guard. 130% Damage, 80% Damage AOE (5M all directions in front of user.) Cost: 20MP

[Black Dragon's Rising Back Kick (Active) – Rank E – Lv. 1]

A technique that is performed when the user turns their back on their opponent. The user, while their back is facing the opponent, turns while kicking the opponent in the head. 120% Damage. Cost: 10MP

[Black Dragon's Enlightenment (Active) – Rank B – Lv. 1] (LOCKED)

I resisted the urge to whistle at the description of the skills before me. They were all insane! Though the MP costs had me quickly realising I'd need to invest a lot in my intelligence. I'd planned to do so anyway, but the MP costs for the skills were pushing me to make sure I invested plenty into my intelligence stat. And each skill was incredibly useful in their own situations.

It was also making me feel much more obligated to fighting bare-handed, rather than with a sword. Which I was fine with. As much as I'd loved Crocea Mors in my dream, I knew it wasn't the sword I'd want to use in the real world. If I had a sword, I would make one myself.

Out of curiosity, I also opened my Perks Menu.

[Perks]

Perk Points: 0

[Owned Perks]

[Magic Circuits]

Pathways lain upon the soul that allow the owner to access and channel their Magecraft.

[Available Perks]

And then I began to read through them, before I noticed a small star on the left side of the perks. It didn't take long to realise that it was a 'bookmark' feature, to put perks at the top of the list for later when I had perk points to spend.

I absentmindedly took notes in class and read through the history book. Class was boring in comparison and, while I'd love to be fiddling with the game, there wasn't really anything I could do. The store wasn't accessible, I'd already bookmarked the perks that initially seemed interesting to me, and I had no stat points to use.

I couldn't help but stretch and yawn lightly once History class was over. I tried to pay attention, but I hadn't really felt like I'd taken anything on board during it, at all.

"I hate history class," I murmured, holding the side of my head as a light headache hit. I quickly pulled out my water bottle and took a quick swig from it. It helped stem the headache, I was sure I'd feel better once gym class started and I got the blood circulating a bit more.

"Come on, Jaune," Ruby said cheerfully. "It's time for gym class with my dad!"

"Better your dad than Qrow," I grumbled, recalling a time last year when Qrow had filled in for Tai. Bloody slave driver, pushing us all like we were Huntsman in training rather than students.

"Tell me about it," she nodded. "Come on, let's go-!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Yang said, standing in front of us and staring. "Where is all this coming from!? Why is Jaune talking to us again, and why are you not making this out like it's a big deal!?"

"Yang, we're going to be late," I told her as I stood up. "Look, we can walk and talk on the way to the changing rooms, how's that sound?"

Yang just stared at me before grumbling and nodding, slinging her bag over her shoulder. I did the same, as did Ruby, and the three of us began to make our way towards the changing rooms.

"Talk, now," Yang all but ordered.

"It's a long story," I sighed. "The short of it is I came out of the slump I was in and 'regained' myself, for lack of a better term. I also unlocked my aura and-."

"Wait, wait, you unlocked your aura?" Yang blinked in surprise. "Who did it?"

"Nobody, I unlocked it on my own."

Her jaw dropped, and I saw Ruby looking at me with surprise out the corner of my eye. "That's impossible," Yang said. "There's no way-!"

"How do you think aura was discovered?" I raised an eye at her. "Someone out there unlocked their aura by themselves, and then unlocked someone else's. And so on, and so forth."

Yang paused, frowning as she considered that. "But I thought we all agreed-!"

"Yang," I cut her off as I gave her a serious look. "If you are about to say that my dream of being a Huntsman is silly, and spout the same words that my family told you to say while saying 'it's for his own good,' then walk away now."

She stopped what she was saying right then. "But I-!"

"Did you not see what our actions did?" Ruby cut in, glaring at Yang. "I lost my best friend for two. Years. All because his family talked us into that intervention. We were his friends, we never should have done that to him, damn what his family said! How would you feel, Yang, if me, our moms, dad, and Uncle Qrow all sat you down and told you to quit being a huntress, that you showed no aptitude, and then got all your friends to say the same thing?"

The blonde fell silent… And suddenly looked horrified. I didn't blame her for not realising. She had probably told herself over and over again that it was for my own good, using that to console herself that she'd done nothing wrong.

By stepping into my shoes, she was realising just how badly their words had affected me.

"Oh my god," she said. "Jaune, I-!"

"It's okay," I smiled. "I already forgive you. I won't quit being a Huntsman, but I forgive you for what you said. I know your intentions were good. How about we just move past it, okay?" I offered her a hand. "Blonde Buddies?" I asked her, using the childish name we'd given to describe our friendship while we were children.

She looked at my hand once before snorting and giggling, covering her mouth with one hand while grasping mine with the other. "Blonde buddies," she agreed.

I smiled, and saw we were at the changing rooms. "See you out there," I told them, slipping into the male changing rooms and hurrying to change into my uniform and get out quickly.

In my dreams, and in the real world, Cardin existed. And, much like in my dreams, he was real. In my dreams, he was the manifestation of mildly darker parts of my psyche. Parts that enjoyed mocking others and seeing them suffer.

The Cardin in my dreams wasn't racist, he just respected power, and hated those who didn't flaunt it. That was why he'd picked on Velvet. Because she had power but refused to show it off.

Regardless, I was able to quickly change into my gym uniform and head into the gym for class. It was a double session today, which meant we'd likely have four twenty-five-minute training sessions, with a five-minute break between each one to help us regain our breath or energy.

I started doing a couple light stretched, just to warm up, spotting others starting to come out of the changing rooms. Yang and Ruby were among the first, with Yang's hair tied back in a ponytail, with various other boys and girls coming out soon after and doing some light stretching.

I know what some of you reading this are thinking right now. 'Were the girls wearing bloomers?'

No, they weren't. They were wearing exactly what I was: black shorts, black tee shirt, and sneakers with white socks. The school had a designed 'Gym uniform' that we all had to wear, and bloomers were most certainly not on the list of alternative clothing we could wear.

"Is dad around yet?" Yang asked as she joined me in doing stretches.

"No," I yawned lightly as I continued stretching, shaking my head as I began running in place once I was done to try and get the blood circulating a bit faster. "Any ideas what your dad is doing with us today?"

"No," she shook her head. "He doesn't talk about lesson preparations at home. He doesn't want to give us an unfair advantage, and we don't peek at his stuff. Somehow, he always knows, and then changes up the lesson so we're not prepared for it."

I nodded mutely at her words, finding the sense in them, before I grimaced as I heard a whistle as Taiyang entered.

"Good morning class!" He spoke up. "Nothing like some good exercise early in the way to get the blood pumping," he grinned at us all. "Now, we're going to be doing something a little different today. As many of you know, some of the people here are training to be Huntsman. While there is no such 'prep school' for Huntsman Academies, it's now that we are going to begin training those with aspirations to be Huntsman in basic hand-to-hand combat, just to help them get a grasp on the basics for when they start at their chosen Academy. Now, would everyone with their Aura unlocked please raise their hand?"

Several students began to raise their hands, and my own was amongst them.

One by one, Tai went down the line of students and asked them to flare their aura to prove they really did have it unlocked and didn't just want to fight. He caught out two students that didn't have their aura unlocked that way.

When he came to me, he gave me a look. "You had your aura unlocked?" He asked. "Who unlocked it?" He was no doubt curious since my family made their stance very clear on me not wanting to be a Huntsman.

"Nobody," I told him. "I unlocked it on my own."

Tai sighed, as if he'd heard such bragging before. "Well, I'm going to need to see some proof."

I just nodded and inhaled deeply… And then exhaled as I let my aura flow, covering my body in a white light.

[Through a special action, you have created the skill 'Aura Channelling.']

[Aura has levelled up by 1.]

I was surprised by the creation of a new skill, but not as surprised by the fact one of my skills levelled up so easily. They were all low levelled, so levelling them up early one would be very easy. It would be later that I would struggle.

Tai honestly looked surprised that I'd flared my aura like that, before telling me to go stand with the rest of the aura group. As I did, I opened my skills to look at my newly created one.

[Aura Channelling (Active) – Rank E – Lv. 1]

Usually, Aura is a shield. But, with proper usage, it can be channelled to be a sword too. Increases Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality by 5%. Cost: 10 MP every 10 seconds.

I gave a slight nod as I read it. A good skill, for sure. The skill kind of seemed a bit like reinforcement, in a way, but less dangerous.

… What would happen if I combined the two?

Questions for later.

"Your aura is pure white, huh?" Yang questioned. "I would have thought yellow, like mine, or maybe even more of a gold. You really trying to go for the whole 'White Knight' thing?"

"I don't control the colour of my aura, Yang," I told her, smirking in mild amusement.

She didn't look convinced.

Tai made his way over to us. "Now, while the non-aura students do a lap or five around the gym, you are going to be fighting one another in one-on-one fights. This is so I can get a basic feel for what kind of fighting style works best for you and give you recommendations of books to pursue later. I've already written the fight pairings."

And he began to list them off slowly and concisely so we could hear. Ruby would be fighting a girl called Violet. Yang would be fighting Dove. And I… Suppressed an annoyed sigh as Tai said I would be fighting against Cardin.

'Of course,' I thought to myself. 'Of fucking course.'

"Don't worry, Arc," Cardin said arrogantly. "I won't hurt you… Too much."

… Just for those words, I decided I wasn't even going to entertain holding back when it was my turn to fight against him. Prick didn't deserve it.

Ruby didn't win her fight against Violet, but that was to be expected. Ruby didn't like fighting bare-handed, she'd always expressed as such when we were younger. She always said she'd fight like a super cool hero with a sword, or a scythe, or a hammer.

… Or any kind of weapon, really.

Yang's fight against Dove, on the other hand, didn't take too long at all. Yang was always a brawler kind of girl and had a solid foundation in hand-to-hand combat. Her berserker fighting style was still a bit wild, she left a few too many openings from what I saw, but it was still enough to overwhelm Dove.

And then… Came my fight against Cardin. The two of us stood on either side of the large circle Tai had made, mats on the ground beneath and around us to make sure we didn't hit the ground too hard. The circle was twenty meters in diameter.

"Now, once again, I'll go over the rules of the fight," he told them. "Both of your aura levels are synchronised to my scroll, and I'll be monitoring them carefully. If you are knocked out of the circle, you lose. If your aura drops into the red, you lose. If you are knocked unconscious, you lose. Are you both ready?"

"Yeah I am!" Cardin smirked, cracking his knuckles as he looked at me.

"Yes, sir," I responded, body tense as I already had a game plan in mind.

"Begin!"

Cardin immediately began to charge forwards, like a reckless fool. I, on the other hand, didn't move. Instead I watched him charge forwards carefully… Waiting…

'Seismic Steps: Advance!'

I vanished in a blur, re-appearing only a meter away from Cardin, exactly at the 10-meter mark of the circle.

"What-!" Cardin exclaimed as he tried to slow down and failed.

'Upper Thrust Kick!'

My leg moved into motion, shooting straight up and hitting Cardin right in the jaw as it sent him up a couple feet into the air. I heard exclamations of shock from those watching, but I wasn't done yet, lowering my leg and shifting my stance back slightly as I prepared to deal the next blow.

'Round Kick!'

As Cardin fell back to the ground, his descent was stopped as my foot hit against his side, sending him crashing to the ground and rolling out of the circle.

I took a deep breath and exhaled, a satisfied look no doubt plastered on my face as I relished in the shocked silence from my very brief fight against Cardin.

[Black Dragon's Seismic Steps: Advance has levelled up by 1.]

[Black Dragon's Upper Thrust Kick has levelled up by 1.]

[Black Dragon's Round Kick has levelled up by 1.]

[You have levelled up.]
+210 HP
+180 MP
+6 Stat Points

I blinked in surprise as I found myself going up a level but decided to focus on it later as I mentally dispelled the screen and turned my head towards Tai. He also seemed to have been shocked into silence, but he quickly recovered and declared me the winner.

I made my way back over to the group, taking a seat between Yang and Ruby.

"That… Was… Awesome!" Ruby whisper shouted at me. "That was so cool! You were like 'fwoosh!' And then 'wham!' And then 'hiyah!'"

I snorted in mild amusement. "Thank you, Ruby."

"And you have a speed semblance," she squealed. "We can be speed buddies!"

"Sorry to disappoint you," I shook my head. "I don't have a Speed Semblance."

"What?" Yang voiced, finally snapping out of her shock. "But how did you-?"

"You thought I sat around for the last two years, doing nothing?" I asked her, omitting that was exactly what I'd done. "There's a lot more to me than meets the eye, you know."

She just stared at me, as she fell back into shock while Ruby kept exaggerating about my fight with Cardin.

I just laughed.

Publish Date: May 10th 2020

Word Count: 6,335

A/N: And here is the second chapter. I probably could have written this a bit faster, but I wanted to take my time and double check things were going in the right direction and that I hadn't paced it too poorly. Overall, I think it's going well too far. Didn't feel like I was rushing anything too much, except maybe history class.

I also want to address a review left by Darth Davha in the comments, one I think is a very good point. About already seeing comments about the pairings, but to ignore them and to focus on both the story and character development. To let the pairings form naturally and not feel forced. I think this is an excellent example of what should be done.

As of right now, I have no set pairing in mind. The reason it is listed as 'Possible Harem' is because I want the characters to develop naturally, and perhaps a harem might form over the course of the story. But, on the other hand, maybe it won't form. That's one reason I'm excited to write this, because I don't know something that's going to happen. And that's always a delight in stories

Anyway, this is Ezras Hargrave signing off!