Arcane Craftsman Jaune Arc

Chapter 1 - The Labour Class Porter

Hey guys. Striker777 here with a new story for my fans. This story is loosely based on the story by one of my favourite authors on this site, Coeur Al'Aran, and his story Forged Destiny, at least a little for the backstory, and follows along with some elements from Solo Leveling by Chu-Gong. Both I highly recommend reading, and before anyone asks, no Jaune is not going to be the next shadow monarch. The main thing to take away from Solo Leveling for this story is the rank system, dungeons and skills, especially skill stones.

But enough of that, RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, and yeah, enjoy.

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'Beacon Academy… yeah, in my wildest dreams.'

Jaune Arc looked up at the illustrious castle like school for the hero class and sighed. Never would he be able to attend that school and live out his dream of being a hero. All because of a word that floated over his blonde hair.

[Jaune Arc (E Rank)]
[Level 12 - Blacksmith]

A blacksmith. That was who he was, who he was destined to be, but even so, Jaune refused to simply be a blacksmith.

He had lost his father, a blacksmith, to the dungeons when he was a small child, as he acted as a porter for one of his knight friends for a low level dungeon, but didn't make it out alive. No one from that party made it out alive. The dungeon was sealed, meaning they defeated the boss, but didn't make it out in time, and Jaune's father was pronounced dead. His mother was grief stricken, and he and his sisters supported their family financially.

Jaune wasn't a high enough level to be a blacksmith with work yet, so he went into the dungeon as a porter, much like his late father. His mother and sisters refused at first, but Jaune was determined to help their family and went out and did it anyway. He gained several levels when he used his only skill, [Sharpen] on the blades of the heroes he works with, and since their blades are of such high quality compared to the rest of the things he can do in his town, this was the fastest way to level up and get out of the dungeons sooner.

But, he always wanted to be a hero, to go into the dungeons to conquer them, and prevent the dungeon break from occurring, but that dream had died a long time ago. When his father died, he had to face reality and grow up. He was a blacksmith, and a labour class could never become a hero.

"Ah! You must be the porter!" said a voice. Jaune turned up to see a group of several heroes at the location of the dungeon. A man with a giant shield and sword and full armour stepped forward, his helmet off, meaning Jaune could see his face. He was an elder gentleman, probably in his early thirties and bald. He did however have a nicely kept beard with blue eyes that shone with kindness, which juxtaposed the scars on his face, specifically the one that went from the bottom lip almost to his right eye, but stopping just before it could hit the eye, blinding his eye. "Nice to meet you. My name is Edward Schimart. I'm the raid leader today, so you'll be in my care."
"Please take care of me."

Jaune hates saying that, but it was customary, like a tradition, but he hated it nonetheless. It made him feel weak, in need of protection, and a coward. But, this hero seemed like a nice person. Jaune had his fair share of crappy people to work with, but he seemed like a good person. He looked up at the man, specifically the tag above his head.

[Edward Schimart (B Rank)]
[Level 58 - Warrior]

"Fucking hell, talk about a pain. Why do we need to take a stupid NPC into a dungeon?" asked another member, a man in dark robes with a staff. He had long, black hair and bright red eyes, as well as a young face, maybe in his late 20's, probably 28 or 29. Jaune looked up at the man's tag as well.

[Levi Harrison (B Rank)]
[Level 51 - Pyromancer]

There it was. Most Heroes were not okay with members of the labour class going into the dungeon with them, or as they called them, the Need Protection Class, but the mage classes were worse. Sometimes, they outright refused for them to go in with them. For them, they took on apprentice heroes and taught them how to fight as well as having them pick up the magic stones that were so valuable.
"Levi, seriously? This man has come out of his way on such short notice to help us with the raid today because Yang called in sick this morning. Have a little appreciation for his efforts." scolded Edward.
"Come on Levi, just put up with it for today." said someone else. She was a younger woman, probably only a few years older than himself, so maybe 22 at the oldest. She had long orange hair tied up in a bun and wore the uniform of a nun. Jaune looked up at her as well.

[Charlotte Smith (B Rank)]
[Level 55 - Cleric]

"Nice to meet you, I'm the party healer, as you can see. Charlotte Smith at your service."
"Jaune Arc, blacksmith. I don't have a lot of skills, but I can ensure that your weapons stay sharp and efficient in there."
"Thanks Jaune. Alright people, we have a C rank dungeon ahead of us. We have 7 C ranks and 3 B ranks in this party, so this shouldn't be a problem. Let's do this quickly and get this over with. As soon as we're done, dinner at the Golden Dragon is on me!"

The party erupted in cheers as they did the final check on their gear. Jaune looked down at his waist, Crocea Mors dangling off the side of it. He had no skills with a blade, not even getting the sword proficiency skill that any sword wielder has when they first pick up a sword. His mother demanded he take the old sword, saying it was better protection than nothing. As the group entered the dungeon, Jaune braced himself for another day of near death experiences and being the slave to a bunch of heroes.

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"NPC! My sword!" screamed one of the C ranks.
"Coming!" said Jaune, using his skill.

[Used Skill - Sharpen]
[Weapon Maintenance - 10EXP]
[Level Up]
[New Skill - Repair]
[New Skill- Inventory]

"Holy shit…" muttered Jaune.
"Hey kid, level 13, congratulations. Any new skills?" commented Edward.
"Yeah, [Repair] and [Inventory]. I can hold 3 things in my [Inventory] and [Repair] can repair a weapon and increase it's durability."
"Damn kid, you're a useful asset in dungeons. We'll have to bring you in more often. Maybe I can introduce you to Yang and split the workload of the porter." said Edward. "She'd probably love to meet you too. Nice girl, that one. Going to Beacon soon too."
"Must be nice…" muttered Jaune.

"Hey kid, don't sweat the small stuff. You can still get accepted into Beacon as a supporter student, or even as the Beacon blacksmith. I hear the position is very demanding and that no one is filling the role as the last blacksmith retired last year."
"Yeah… I hear the money's not something to scoff at either. I could make the workload a little lighter on my sisters. They're merchants, and all level 1, since merchants really don't use their skills, as they work retail for some of the shops in Vale, and it doesn't pay a lot, but it's the best they can do, so I head into dungeons to do what I need to do to bring in money."
"Kid, you have the heart of a hero. Just know, no matter what class is above your head, your heart determines if you're a hero or not."
Jaune nodded in appreciation at the man, thanking him for his kindness, and returned to the duty at hand. He missed one of the swords, so he decided to try out his new skill on it. Funnily enough, it was the sword that belonged to Edward.

"Do you mind if I try [Repair] on your sword?"
"Go ahead kid, nothing wrong can come of that."

Jaune observed the sword before using his stats.

[Steel Greatsword - Rank C]
[Standard greatsword found in C Rank dungeons]
[Durability - 1452/2500]
[Attack - 283/300]

Jaune nodded and concentrated and used his new skill as well as his old one.

[Used Skill - Sharpen]
[Weapon Maintenance - 10EXP]
[Used Skill -Repair]
[Weapon Maintenance - 10EXP]

Jaune checked the sword once more.

[Steel Greatsword - Rank C]
[Standard greatsword found in C Rank dungeons]
[Durability - 1952/2500]
[Attack - 300/300]

"Here you are, 500 more durability and full attack." said the young blacksmith.
"Thanks. I appreciate it kid." said Edward. "I'm sorry about them, they rather have someone more adept in combat act as a supporter."
"It's fine. I understand. Not the first time or the last this will happen." said Jaune.
"Okay, we'll get moving again. Stick close to me and Charlotte out there, we'll keep you safe."
"Thank you.

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"ON YOUR LEFT!" shouted Jaune as another Beowolf appeared out of nowhere. Edward blocked it with his shield and swung down his huge sword, slaying the beast.
"THANKS KID! LEVI! DO YOUR THING!"
"ALRIGHT!" screamed Levi as he shot his palm out towards the enemy, a red magic circle appearing in front of his palm. "[FIREBALL]" announced the pyromancer as a ball of fire made its way towards the Beowolves. They were burnt to a cinder in a matter of moments.

"Alright then, if you need your weapons sharpened or repaired, go see Jaune. We'll rest for a few minutes to let Jaune repair all our weapons and grab the magic crystals."
Instantly, almost everyone was lining up for Jaune to do maintenance on their gear. Jaune smiled as he took the daggers of an assassin class and used [Sharpen] on them. But then, out of nowhere-
"JAUNE! BEHIND YOU!"
Jaune quickly spun around. A single Beowolf appeared out of nowhere and lunged for him. Jaune panicked and did the only thing he could think off.
He held the dagger out in front of him.
The monster impaled itself on the dagger, dropping it to the ground.

[Beowolf (C Rank) Killed - 3500EXP]
[Level Up]
[Collected - Magic Stone (C Rank)]
[Collected - Skill Stone (?)]

"You okay Jaune?" asked Edward.
"Y-yeah. That's my first kill." said Jaune.
"Good job kid, I'm glad you're okay." said Edward. "And you're level 14 now. That's great."
"Thanks. Is this how [Inventory] is? It just takes things from things you kill?"
"Wouldn't know." said Edward, shrugging. "[Inventory] is very rare among hero classes, even most A ranked heroes don't have it." I hear it's more common amongst the labour classes, but they don't get to a high enough level to unlock it."
"Makes sense. I'm around the same level as Mum, but she doesn't have it. She's level 17." said Jaune.
"She also has at least 25 years more experience in this world than you do, and probably never killed a Grimm."

Jaune nodded, concentrating on his [Inventory] skill, seeing the 3 boxes appearing before him, one being left empty. Jaune concentrated on one of the boxes, drawing out a magic crystal and putting it in the bag, and then the second, drawing out a black stone with a blue rune on it.
"Is that a skill stone?" asked Charlotte.
"Yeah. I can't see what it is though." said Jaune.
"You need to be a member of the appropriate class to do so. Show me."
Jaune nodded and held out the stone in front of him, and the healer looked at it hard.
"Nope. Can't see it either. HEY GUYS! JAUNE GOT A SKILL STONE! CAN ANYONE SEE WHAT IT IS?!"

That got everyone's attention. Skill stones were rare. Extraordinarily rare in fact, with them mainly appearing in B rank or above dungeons, and occasionally C rank dungeons every now and then, but the odds were a million to one. Everyone looked at the stone and shook their heads, having no clue.

"After this, I'll take you to Beacon and we can have one of my old teachers, Doctor Oobleck take a look at it. He's an Alchemist, so he has the skill to see what a skill stone does." said Edward.
"What do you mean?" asked Levi. "He's no hero, he can't have it. I'll take it."
"His kill, his stone. I like you Levi, but don't push your luck." ordered Edward. The pyromancer scoffed and walked away.

"Second time holding one of these." muttered Jaune.
"You held one before?" asked the assassin from before.
"Briefly. I found it when mining mana crystals in an A rank and found one in the crystals, but an archer in the party found it to be a skill for his class, so he snatched it out of my hands and broke it. He got [Fire Arrow] or something. He didn't even pay for it, simply said it was his right as a hero, and that a stupid NPC wouldn't get it." reminisced Jaune.
"Did you tell the association?" asked Charlotte.
"Yeah, but he refused to pay, saying he found it, and his team backed him up, and since they couldn't prove it, they couldn't do anything. So I refused to go in with them again, told them that they could pay for their gear maintenance, and joined the association freelancers again." said Jaune.
"Labour classes have it rough." said Edward. "Don't worry about it. That stone's yours and with your inventory skill, you can keep it safe."
"Yeah… I guess so." said Jaune, placing the stone back into the space he pulled it from.
"Keep up the good work with the weapons, we'll keep the area clear." said Edward, moving over to Levi with a sour look, telling him to stand guard. Jaune simply sighed and looked down at the dagger.

[Used Skill - Sharpen]

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More creatures of Grimm fell to the might of the party of heroes. Jaune had stayed behind with Charlotte, picking up the stones from the dead Grimm and placing them in his bag. Unfortunately, Jaune was not able to stack all the stones into one space, but maybe with time, he would have enough practice to level up the skill and not have that problem.

His father was able to level up his skill [Sharpen] after 3 months in the dungeons, and Jaune had just started his second month being a porter, and was already at 63% complete. Another month of this and he'd be able to level up his skill.

Just as Jaune had collected the last of the magic stones, the party had discovered the boss room, a huge door that appeared to be made out of obsidian and amethysts. The black and purple door was imposing on the party of heroes. Jaune looked at the door with worry, feeling that something was off.

"Okay people, this is the boss room. Stay sharp in there." said Edward.
"Jaune… are you okay?" asked Charlotte.
"Something's not right." said Jaune.
"What?" asked Charlotte.
"That room. It… gives off a different aura than what a normal C rank should. I haven't even felt anything like this is a B or A rank dungeon. This isn't like anything I've ever seen before." said Jaune.
"Don't worry about it. The guild already told us that this was a C rank, and their magicians aren't wrong." said the cleric. "Have faith Jaune, as the God of Light will guide us."

"Maybe…" said Jaune, looking the cleric right in the eyes. "Either that, or the God of Darkness has sentenced us to death."

Edward, completely oblivious to the conversation, opened the door and walked in. The room was barely lit, not enough for someone to see though. He looked back at his party, sending a signal to Levi. Levi used his skill [Ball of Fire] to open up the area to more light, a small bundle of flames flying high in the centre of the room. The light shone, showing a great amount of the room, but not all of it. The party moved into the area that the light shone, looking around into the emptiness, expecting the boss to pop out at any moment.

"Where is this damn thing. I wanna go home already." complained one of the members.
"Shut up dumbass, be on guard!" replied another in a harsh whisper.
"What are we facing here? Deathstalker? Nevermore? Or is it a pack with an Alpha?" asked another one of the members.
"I-I don't know. The boss should have appeared by now." replied Edward. "This isn't normal."

Jaune could feel a sense of dread in his heart, looking around the room until he saw something. It was the outline of a humanoid, albeit much larger than any other, maybe even a giant.

"There! What's that?"

The room suddenly erupted into a sea of light, torches on the walls of the room lighting up with a purple flame. He looked around again, making his eyes widen at what he had seen before. It was a statue of a woman, with cracks that looked like they were from the age of the state over her arms and her face, specifically from the edge of her face to her eyes. She had a gem cut into the middle of her forehead, and her hair was tied into a massive bun on the backside of her head with 6 smaller pieces of hair appearing at the side of her head. She wore a dress with a cape, flowing down to the ground as she sat on a throne made of stone. The look on her face was dull, bored, and in need of entertainment. Jaune recognised her instantly, from the words of the church.

It was a statue of Salem herself.

"SALEM!" screamed one of the members, jolting back as she too saw the statue. The rest of the party turned around in a hurry to look at the beast herself.
"Oh great God of Light."
"WHY?! WHY IS SHE HERE?!"
"THE DOOR! GET TO THE DOOR!"

All the members of the party rushed to the door, only for it to be blocked by a pair of Grimm. They were tall, standing at around 3 meters tall, with dark skin and bone armour in the shape of a knight's suit, with a longsword for one and a battle axe for another.

"What the hell are those?!"
"It doesn't matter! Kill them!" screamed Levi, raising his staff towards the monsters. "[Fireball]"
As the fireball flew towards the human-like Grimm, more appeared out of the shadows of the room, Jaune ran towards Edward as one appeared behind him.
"You okay kid?"
"Y-yeah. Just scared out of my mind. What's going on?"
"I dunno. This isn't normal." replied the giant. "You know the story of Salem, right?"
"The mistress of the void? Yeah, I know her. She's the devil incarnate. She appears before desperate souls and offers them a wish, and then kills them with the wish by twisting their words." said Jaune."
"Yeah, and if her statue is here… then nothing good can come of it." said Edward. "Get behind me kid! I'll protect you!"

Edward blocked the incoming swing of a battleaxe with his shield before swinging his greatsword at the grimm, which got caught in it's armour. The Grimm and Edward stared at each other with intimidation present before rushing continuing to attack.

As Jaune tried to retreat away from the combat area and out of the way of the party of heroes, he ended up in the centre. There, he found himself standing on a circle with strange markings, which elevated once he stood on it. The monstrous Grimm all stopped at once, becoming still like statues. Everyone looked up at Jaune, who quickly noticed that 4 pillars had shot up out of the ground, and one had a bright ball of purple fire floating above it.

But the scariest of it all is when the statue of Salem moved, looking down at the altar with a devious smirk on her stoney face. Jaune felt the fear flow all around him, looking at the statue of a person who was literally a devil.

"What's going on?" asked one of the members of the party.
"They just stopped." said another.
"LOOK! THE DOOR!" screamed a third, and to everyone's surprise, the door had indeed opened. Everyone let out a gasp of relief, and they ran towards the door, freedom inbound.

However, as Jaune stepped off the weird circle, the flame went out, and the humanoid Grimm began to move again, taking off the arm of one of the party members. Jaune hurried back to the circle, the flame appearing once more, and the Grimm stopping once again. Charlotte rushed over to the hero, and began healing his arm with magic, making it grow back. As everyone debated on what to do next, Jaune looked down at the markings.

"Hey, you might want to take a look at this."
Edward moved onto the circle, a second flame igniting on another pillar, and looked down. "Magic runes. Levi, you can read magic runes, right? Get your ass up here!"
Levi muttered under his breath and made his way up to the circle, a third flame igniting, and looked down at the runes. "Let's see. This big one in the centre means power, and the others are runic text. I can read that too. It says 'The four bravest must stand', whatever the hell that means."
"Maybe four of us need to stand on this platform." said Jaune.
"Worth a shot." replied Edward. "Anyone wanna volunteer or should I call someone out?"

Charlotte made her way to the circle and stood up, the final flame igniting. The flames from the torches on the walls began to glow brighter, before they began to flicker out, one by one. Everyone stayed still for a while, before a voice sent a chill down their spine.

"Prove your faith."

Everyone looked to where the voice had originated, to the giant statue of Salem that sat at the far end of the room.

"Prove your faith in me." she said.

The party screamed, rushing for the door, Edward having to restrain Levi from leaving the circle. "WHAT DOES SHE MEAN?! HOW DO WE PROVE OUR FAITH?!"
"JUST STAY HERE!" replied Jaune. "PROVE YOUR FAITH! THE WALL TORCHES ARE ACTING LIKE TIMERS! WE NEED TO STAY HERE UNTIL THEY REACH ZERO!"
"WHAT IS THEY MEAN THAT THE DOOR WILL CLOSE AFTER THEY ALL GO OUT?!" asked the crazed pyromancer. "I'M LEAVING!"
"DON'T!" screamed Jaune, but the man was already gone. He zipped out of the room without turning back, his flame extinguished.

"One of us needs to stay behind and keep the door open whilst the others escape." said Edward. "You two go, I'll stay."
"NO! I WON'T LEAVE YOU HERE EDWARD!" said Charlotte, crying.
"WE HAVE NO CHOICE!" replied the giant man in a harsh yell, scaring the cleric. "You both have long lives left to live, and I am reaching the end of my days a hell of a lot faster than you two. So go, live for me."
"No…" replied Jaune. "Leave me behind. You're both heroes, you're a lot more powerful than me, and besides… I can't move my legs. They're paralised in fear."
"I-I can't move either." said Charlotte, crying. "It's either me or Jaune, but take him. Leave me beh-"

Jaune knocked her out with the flat end of Crocea Mors. Her flame went out as well.

"No choice now. I can't move and she's unconscious. Take her and go."
"Kid…"
"Actually, do me a favour." said Jaune, reaching into his inventory and drawing his new skill stone. "Take this to your friend at Beacon and get him to sell it, and the money will go to the Arc family in Ansel." Jaune also put his sword in the hands of the hero. "Also, return this to them if you can. Kinda a family heirloom."
"I will. Jaune… no matter what, you will always be my hero." said Edward, picking up Charlotte and running, the purple flames numbering only one.

Jaune sighed, sitting down and looking at the face of the woman in front of him. Salem. She was a monster.

"Damn her. I just wanted my family to be alright. I didn't want us to be rich or famous but I wanted to be able to not have to worry all through the winter. Hopefully that stone fetches a hefty sum. But now I have to die looking into the eyes of the devil."

5 flames remained on the torches on the walls.

"At least I get to die looking at a pretty devil." muttered Jaune as he embraced death with open arms.

"Congratulations, you have proven your faith in me."

Jaune's mind had no time to process what was just said before he was pulled into the darkness.

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Hey there guys. That concludes the first chapter of the story. Tell me how you liked it in a review, and I promise you that I am not one of those people who believes they cannot improve because they're perfect and their style is the best, but as long as there are no insults directed at anything other than writing or anything especially mean, I wouldn't complain to having some feedback. Just… don't be too mean about it.

Anyway, this is just a little side project from my majors on my wattpad account and to help me get a good feel for as a website to post my stories, so be sure to check out my wattpad if you have some free time, same username. But anyway, Striker777, over and out.

[Stats]
[Jaune Arc (E Rank)]
[Level 14 - Blacksmith]
[EXP - 520/3450]
[HP - 1250/2350]
[MP - 320/500]
[Strength - 19 (B)]
[Intelligence - 10 (E)]
[Agility - 12 (D)]
[Vitality - 15 (C]
[Charisma - 15(C)]
[Resilience - 23 (A)]

[Equipment]

[Skills]
[Blacksmithing (0MP) - Level 5 (90%) - Ability to produce E Rank weapons and metal armour with a 5% efficiency bonus]
[Sharpen (20 MP) - Level 1 (63%) - Sharpen a sword to repair it's attack power (50 attack repair)]
[Repair (20 MP) -Level 1 (8%) - Repairs a sword to restore durability (500 durability)]
[Inventory (0MP) - Level 1 (1%) - Store things in a dimensional space completely sealed off, only being opened by the person who has the skill (3 spaces)]

[Passive]
[? - Reach level 20 to unlock]
[? - Reach level 60 to unlock]