Hey guys. I hope you're having a good day and staying safe. This is Striker777 here with the next chapter of my story. I hope you enjoy, and another thank you for all the kind reviews. However, due to the beginning of my senior trials this Monday, I won't be writing for the next two weeks, so I'll give you this chapter to make up for that. But for now, onto the story.

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"So, if you're alright with it Ren, we'll share a bed, and the other six and decide between themselves." said Jaune, as the six girls sat in a circle on his floor, trying to figure out who will sleep in his house tonight, and how they will swap it over the next day.
"I have no problem with doing so, I know your bed has space for three." said Ren. He was right, and his bed was needlessly large. His other two, however, were quite small in comparison, possibly fitting two to a bed if they were crammed under the blankets, but the six of them all refused, and when Jaune offered to take a smaller bed if two or three of them shared his, they still refused (much to Weiss' protest) that it was his house and he should keep his bed. So he came up with a compromise. Ren would sleep with him in his bed, and that was one less person to rotate around, and the rotation was even.

With that sorted, Jaune had made himself and Ren a cup of herbal tea, which he found himself enjoying more as he drank, as the six bitterly battled against each other for who got to sleep in what bed and when. Jaune sighed, and Ren followed suit.

"So, while they do that, wanna talk?"
"About what?"
"I don't know. Pasts, hobbies, embarrassing stories?"
"I imagine you have quite a few of those if it is one of your suggestions."
"Mainly just misunderstandings with my sisters that ended in embarrassing situations. One time, when I was 7, my oldest sister had broken up with her boyfriend, I had no clue, but I liked the dude, so when I asked where he was at the dinner table and she started crying, I thought it was a joke and started laughing. Mum… found it a little less humorous than I did though, and I couldn't sit down for a week." said the craftsman. That story forced a small smile on Ren's face, and that caused one on Jaune's. "So yeah, got anything that can top that?"
"Nothing comes to mind." responded the swordsman. "How about a different topic? Ruby and Blake said you defeated that elf and armour. How?"
Jaune tensed up. "T-that's a story for another time Ren. I'm not really ready to talk about it."
"I see. That's fine." said Ren.

"We decided!" yelled Nora. "Blake and Weiss tonight, Yang and Ruby tomorrow, and then me and Pyrrha!"
"Alright then. How about we all go to the cafeteria and get some food? I'm starving." said Jaune.
"Well, I, for one, am going to get my stuff and move it in here for tonight. I know for a fact that one of the girls in my room has been eyeing my dust." said Weiss.

Yep, Weiss used magic crystals to cast her magic. She had, for some reason, taken to using a sword instead of a wand or staff, for some unknown reason. Whatever it was, it sure wasn't Jaune's business, so he left it alone. He didn't need to pry into her life, and at the end of the day, it was her choice what she used, not his. Either way, magic crystals were expensive and not easy to afford. They only appeared in B Rank and above dungeons, and in a few high level C Ranks that may as well have been B Ranks.

"Yeah, and I have a few things to grab as well." said Blake. Jaune knew she was at lower risk than Weiss, since not many people touched an assassin's things and lived to tell the tale.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I am so hungry." said Nora, expressing the so as soooooooooooooo. Jaune smiled at them, getting up, and beaconing for them to follow him, and ran off. Everyone other than Weiss and Blake ran after him, to the cafeteria.

[Loading…]

"Ahhh…" sighed Jaune, as he sat in one of his chairs, Weiss and Blake on the couch and Ren on the other chair. The fireplace was lit and they were all enjoying some time in front of it. The rest of the guild returned to their dorms after dinner, which Weiss and Blake did eventually join, and they had returned to Jaune's home. "That was some amazing food."
"It wasn't the best I've ever had, but it wasn't the worst either," said Weiss.
"So in other words, the best food Jaune probably ever had." remarked Blake.
"Hey! You have not lived till you've had mum's cooking. At least, when she had all the right ingredients." said Jaune, going kinda dull after that last part. Blake felt bad, and decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, I have something for you Jaune." said the assassin, quickly getting up and walking off to her room. Jaune looked at the two other occupants, but they were just as confused as he was. Blake emerged a minute later with a cloth. She sat it down on Jaune's lap, and motioned for him to open it. Jaune, in his curiosity, did, and when he opened it up, he gasped, and sent the gift clattering to the floor. It rolled out of the cloth and onto the floor, in plain sight of the other occupants.

Well, one of them did.

It was a dagger, with a very light blue blade that made it seem slightly silver, with a black handle with a piece of it stretching past where it should end and onto the dull end of the blade, like tree roots, with a purple gem on the end of it. The other was exactly the same, and they were both familiar.

These were the daggers used by the boss in the First Quest.

"You killed it, so they're yours." said Blake, picking them up and handing them to him. Jaune looked down at the daggers in shock.

[Arzyk Dagger - A Rank]
[This dagger was used by a follower of the God of Darkness, imbued with Elven Magic into the Dwarven creation of this dagger and it's brother.]
[Durability - 6234/7000]
[Attack - 648/725]
[Special Effect - Agility Booster (Increase the Attack power of this dagger by your agility stat, but only when using both daggers.)]
[Special Effect - Dark Tree Poison (Poison created by the Dark Tree of the Elven land and several other herbs, deals 100 HP points every second for 100 seconds.)]

T-This was amazing! A Rank weapon! This was so rare and expensive, only S Ranks could even dream of affording them! If he had these, he would be unstoppable. And he didn't need [Arc] or [Dark Dagger] at all. He could just give those to Blake, since she only had D Rank weapons.

…

Okay, even he knew that was insensitive. She just gave him A Rank weapons and he'd shove her with some lousy C Ranks? No, that just wasn't right. Besides, he had a sneaking suspicion someone could make better use of them than he could.
"Take them." he said, holding them out to Blake. "You'll make better use of them than I will, so it only makes sense to give them to you."
"Jaune… these are A Rank weapons, not some gift basket you can give away!" screamed Blake. "You could sell them for so much money."
"Beacon pays me enough."
"We could go and buy a guild house right now if we sold them!" yelled Blake.
"Or we can give them to you, do the quests, and lower the risk factor of you going on quests or into dungeons."
"So you want to give them to me to protect me?" asked Blake, slightly annoyed.
"If you had these, you would have easily destroyed that armour, not because you're weak, but because this is such a good weapon. Blake, you don't need protection, but a weapon like this can only serve you in the future, and besides, when is anyone ever going to give you this offer again? Suck it up, and take, the fucking, daggers." ordered Jaune. It made sense. If you gave an E Rank an A Rank weapon, they could slaughter a bunch of C Rank monsters easily. It's just how the world worked.

Blake looked down at him, looking for any signs of hesitation, rethinking, regret, anything really, but came up empty. Hesitantly herself, she took the blades, looking down at them in awe. "Go see Velvet tomorrow for a pair of sheaths. She's apparently the one who does this sort of thing." said Jaune.
"I-I don't know what to say." said Blake, seeing the blades in her hands.
"A thank you would be fine." said Jaune. "Maybe something to pick Weiss' jaw off the floor. She's gonna catch flies if that keeps her mouth open like that."

True to his word, Weiss had her mouth agape, not believing the situation. As the previous interaction played in her head over and over and over again, only one thing went through her brain.

'My guildmaster is an idiot!'

There was no other way to explain it! He had just given away an A Rank weapon! A RANK FOR GODS SAKE! This was the weapon owned by some S Ranks, and Blake would certainly be one of the first A Ranks to own a weapon like this! And Jaune had just given it to her, like it was a breakfast muffin! WHY? It made no logical sense, since he could sell it and get better equipment or they could take care of the guild house as it was right here and now!

But simply because she used daggers, she gets them? That was one of the most stupid moves Jaune could have made, on par with throwing them into the fire!

"After all, if I end up being able to make A Rank weapons myself, it would have a huge impact on the society of Vale. But either way, if I do… that could either bring Vale to new heights, or completely destroy our economy…"

Wait… what was he-

Oh.

That's not good.

"What do you mean?" asked Ren, slightly confused.
"Well, I grew up with 8 merchants, so I basically know the ins and outs of economic theory. The most basic part of that is-"
"Supply and demand." finished Weiss, who had caught on almost immediately.
"Exactly. There's a high demand for high ranking weapons, and a low supply for them as well, since it's rare for a blacksmith to make C Rank weapons, and the chances of getting a humanoid dungeon with weapons is basically 1 in 100, with the chances of the weapons being C Rank or higher being even lower. It's rare to find B or A Rank weapons, especially since not even all the weapons the humanoids use can be used by us." said Jaune. "After all, it's really only the boss that drops weapons that we can use, and they certainly are powerful, but how often do you hear about people going into a dungeon and coming out with an A Rank weapon?"
"Almost never." replied Blake. "If they do, they keep it secret."
"Exactly. Those kinds of weapons are hard to come by, and are a huge deal, that only S Ranks and wealthy A Ranks can afford, such as bastard sons of nobles and such." said Jaune. "As such, their value is high, since the supply is so low. Now imagine if I started making A Ranks like there was no tomorrow and sold them in bulk, what's happened?"
"Demand has gone down and the supply increases." said Ren, drawing on what he was saying.
"Exactly. Now, say I sell them to Vale alone. That would instantly bankrupt the country and we'd be forced to invade other lands for more money, leading to hard times, desperation and a likely large amount of looting and crime to make sure your family is alright. Big no no. Now, if I sell them to the whole world, they could then use those weapons to attack Beacon or Vale and take me for themselves, using me to make more and more, letting them dominate the battlefields of war with my high ranking weapons. Either way, it's a lose or lose situation." said Jaune. "That's why my abilities would need to remain a secret. If I somehow get found out for being able to craft B and A Rank gear, there could be a full on war."

"How did we get to this topic?" asked Weiss. "One minute you're giving away what could possibly be the most powerful weapon in Beacon, and now you're going on about what could happen if you had the ability to make A Rank weapons. How did we get here?"
"Well, I was kinda just thinking out loud, and now here we are." said Jaune. "And like I said to Blake, she'll put them to more use than I could. After all, I can't sell it to the outside world or questions will be raised, and I'd rather have those weapons fighting with me rather than against me. Besides, Blake is an A Rank, so are the weapons, eirgo, legally, she can have them."

Yes, it was an international law that forbade a person for wielding a weapon above their rank, so an E Rank couldn't use a D Rank weapon, since it would most likely cause the wielder more harm than the person they were using the weapon against. You could bypass this law if you had the correct license, but those cases were extremely rare and the likeliness of passing was increasingly small the higher level weapon you used. Then, there was the matter of actually acquiring a weapon like that, which was all but impossible as you get to the higher ranks.

"It doesn't have anything to do with legality, why would you give them to her just like that? You've known her for 3 days! Less actually, since you were unconscious for those 3 days! Why would you just give her the best weapons in Beacon?" exclaimed Weiss.
"Because, since it was my weapon, I was free to do with it as I pleased. If you found an A Rank bow, and one of your party members was an archer, wouldn't you give it to them?"
"No. I would sell it and use the profits to benefit myself, for better armour and equipment." replied Weiss, and she did make some good points.
"But what if you have enough money, access to an unlimited source of resources that you could use to make equipment of a high calibre? Cause I have that, and besides, only a few people would be able to afford a weapon like that, and if the offer doesn't reach someone interested or able to use a weapon like that, it will do nothing but collect dust." refuted Jaune. "I know how hard it can be in a dungeon, and that having bad equipment can lead to death. I'd rather go about my day knowing that someone has the best equipment available to them rather than some flimsy, second rate weapons. No offense Blake."
"They were pretty bad." said Blake. "I probably would have replaced them when I had the money."
"Not only that, I need to think about the future. You're all gonna go on to join guilds and participate in dungeon raids after Beacon. I'm gonna be here making weapons for the vast majority of my life. I won't be going into nearly as many dungeons as you guys will, or on as many quests. You guys take priority, not me. Besides, we can go to the guild centre and get a few quests for the weekend tomorrow, since it's Friday tomorrow." said Jaune. "We'll use that time to go through some dungeons or a few quests close to home, making sure you don't fall behind on your studies and I can still work."

With a plan in mind, and their minds slightly at ease, the students made their way to their rooms, and let the darkness take them. Except for 2.

"Jaune…"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"Pushups."

[Loading…]

"What?" asked Jaune.
"Sorry, no quests, no dungeons, no nothing. Merchants Guild took them all this morning just before you got here." said the man behind the desk. He was a scribe, so he handled paperwork well, and was placed in charge of the quests.

"No way… they're trying to stop us from getting the money to get a guild house!" said Yang to the group, like the Captain Obvious she was.
"I don't think the Mercenary Guild will take this lying down." said Weiss. "Their main source of income is quests, so they would probably take it up with their guildmaster."
"Probably." said Jaune. "Now though, we need to establish a guildhouse, so the next best option is-"
"They took all the dungeons too." said the scribe. "Never in all my years have I seen them take that many quests, let alone in a single day."
A laugh emulated from the back of the guild centre. The Hunters Guild turned their heads to find the knight from before waving a group of papers around in his hand. "Oh my, so many quests, and so few people. We'll have to give a few of these to the other guilds. What a shame." said Platina. He laughed like the cocky bastard he was, and the guild had just about had it with him.
"How about you give us a few? We'll be glad to take them off your hands." said Weiss, not in the mood for stupidity today.
"Oh, I'd be more than happy to. But, you must understand, we are the Merchant Guild, so money is our number one priority, so we can make a trade." said Platina, a smug smile on his face. "As many quests as you want, for the Arcane Craftsman."
"No deal." said Weiss. "We'll find a way to make money, just you watch."
"Good luck with that. No quests means no money, which means no guild house, no guild, and the Arcane Craftsman is available either way." pointed out Platina.
"Even if I was, I wouldn't join your guild." said Jaune. "No way in hell."
"Oh, you won't have a choice in the matter." said Platina, laughing and walking away. Jaune watched him, his fist clenched, and his eyes rigid. He wanted to kill him so bad.

[Loading…]

"I-I'm sure it's all going to be fine." said Velvet. Jaune looked downcast at her.
"I'm not so sure Velvet. I just… I don't know what to do."

Here he was, relaying his troubles to one of the kindest girls he knew, who had taken his shoulder in the staffroom. Peter and Bart were there as well, just as engrossed in the story as Velvet.

"Whilst it isn't against the rules of Beacon, to think that the guild could do such a thing! I don't believe it!" said Bart. "Have these people learnt nothing in my class?!"
"Why, this reminds me of the time that I went against an entire guild in Mistral all by myself and won! So there I wa-"
"Not now Sir." said Velvet, still rubbing Jaune's shoulder. "I think I can handle this."
"Thanks Velvet, and no offense, but what can you do? You know how some people treat our classes, so why should an entire guild listen to you?" said Jaune.
"Just wait and see." said Velvet. "You owe me for this."

Peter and Bart seemed to know what she was going to do, and quickly retreated behind the couch they were sitting on. Jaune was confused, even more so when Velvet got up, and walked over to the window, taking in a deep breath, and cupping her hands to her mouth.

"I NEED TO GO SHOPPING!" she screamed. Jaune was stumped. How was shopping going to help him?

Jaune then felt the rattling of the ground beneath his feet.

The doors slammed open, and there was a girl, with a brown shirt and black corset, black pants, a brown belt, a beret, and a pair of sunglasses, as well as several other accessories and jewellery. She also has a giant bow across her back and a quiver of arrows on her waist. She had dark brown hair with a caramel highlight on one bunch of it, and fair skin. He looked above her head at her tag.

[Coco Adel (A Rank)]
[Level 49 - Archer]

"BUNBUN!" screamed Coco, rushing at a monotone Velvet, who held her arm out and stopped the archer from glomping her. "I HEARD YOUR CRY FOR HELP, AND HERE I AM! YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON ME BUNBUN!"
"*Sigh*. Jaune, this is Coco, a friend of mine, and the current guildmaster of the Merchants Guild." said Velvet. "Coco, this is Jaune, a guy one of your recruiters is screwing over."
"Huh? Another one? Damn it all to hell…" muttered Coco. "Well, whatever. Like Bunbun here said, I'm Coco Adel, current guildmaster of the Merchants Guild and fashion extraordinaire."
"Jaune Arc, guildmaster of the Hunters Guild and blacksmith of Beacon." said Jaune, taking her hand.
"Yatsu said something about one of the recruiters having this… morally questionable money scheme with the blacksmith, and now he's trying to screw you over, huh?" said Coco. "What's he done?"
"Took all the quests, tried to trade some of them for me. It's like I'm a freaking poker chip." said Jaune.
"Shit… that ain't good. I'm sorry about him. How about I sneak some of them to you and your guild under his nose?"
"You're the guildmaster. Can't you just order him to do so?" asked Jaune.
"Oh no, I don't have that kind of power. I can allocate positions, and I'm mainly an administrator more than anything else. Not to mention, he probably has the support of a few of the other branches if this scheme makes a lot of money, so he would try and start a guild revolution if I tried, since, as much as it sucks, most of our guild have no morals when profit is on the table. I can chew him out about the quests, confiscate the ones we don't need and sell them to other guilds. Then, I can slip some to you somehow. Problem is how are we gonna do it?"

"Well… what if you give them to me when you come to my forge for 'weapon maintenance'?" asked Jaune.
"No. He'll probably have people watching your forge to make sure nothing happens. We need to think of something else." replied Coco.
"What if I deliver them? You give them to me when I visit you, and I bring them to Jaune?" asked Velvet.
"No. Too dangerous. These people can seriously hurt you if they find out Bunbun." said Coco. "What can we do?"

"If I may…" said Oobleck. The group turned to him. "I have an idea."

[Loading…]

During the history class, Yang couldn't help but feel off. She had a warning from an older student on the teaching styles of Oobleck and Port, how they were on different ends of the 'Discussion is the best form of enlightenment' wagon. So when Oobleck handed out worksheets, Yang was very surprised. Classes had been on for less than a week, and they were already being assessed on what they learnt? It made no sense. What's more…

Her guildmaster was there.

Technically, he was a student at Beacon, so him being in class wasn't anything weird, but he had said before that history was not on his list of priority classes, so he probably would not be taking it, much, but here he was anyway, instead of the forge.

Weiss found it odd too, as did Blake and Ren, but none of them said anything. It wasn't their place. She sighed, knowing that this was going to be a long morning, and looked at her worksheet.

She found another bit of paper peeking out of the edges of the worksheet.

She looked at the teacher, who had stressed that they needed to complete the ONE page worksheet before the end of class, but here, she had two. Oobleck caught her glance, and placed a finger on his lips.

This was juicy.

Quietly slipping the paper out until she could read the heading, she nearly gasped in shock at what she was holding. It was a QNS, a Quest Notification Sheet. This is what they needed to take a quest. She turned to her guildmaster, who smiled at her and made the same signal Oobleck did, to which she replied with a zipped lips motion. She turned to Weiss, who was having a similar reaction to her, and Blake seemed a little tense as well, probably caught off guard by the sheet. Yang smiled as she looked down at the sheet.

Now this is more like it.

[Loading…]

Hey there guys. Jaune has found a way to dance around the issues he's having with the Merchants Guild, and will begin taking quests with his guildmates. Also, to my friend from July 31st (Aussie time), it is a stupid decision to give them to Blake, I will freely admit, but having OP weapons right out of the gate is even worse. Where's the struggle? The climb to the top against all the odds. Besides, as an assassin class, Blake has a better job with the bonus effect with agility, since even now, her agility would be twice what Jaunes is. No excuse for stupidity, I know, but he will mature.

…

Eventually.

Besides… who's to say that everything about this weapon has been revealed? But, if that's true, it's for a later chapter. I promise there is plot behind this choice, just as there will be plot behind any other things you find Jaune doing stupid, but put your faith in me, and please don't murder me for making my character an idiot.

Please...

Anyway, for now, Striker777, over and out.

[Stats]
[Jaune Arc (S Rank)]
[Level 25 - Arcane Craftsman]
[EXP - 2510/7500]
[HP - 5800/5800]
[MP - 1975/1975]
[Strength - 53 (A)]
[Intelligence - 45 (A)]
[Agility - 40 (B)]
[Vitality - 43 (B]
[Speed - 33 (C)]
[Charisma - 45 (B)]
[Resilience - 59 (A)]

[Equipment]
[Crocea Mors - Rank C]
[This sword is the family heirloom of the Arc Clan, wielded by an Arc who was a knight in the war. Reforged by Jaune Arc into a higher rank weapon.]
[Durability - 3000/3000]
[Attack - 275/275]

[Arc - Rank C]
[This dagger was forged by Jaune Arc, and it was reforged into a higher rank weapon.]
[Durability - 2250/2250]
[Attack - 200/200]

[Iron Chestplate - D Rank]
[This chestplate was forged by Jaune Arc.]
[Durability - 2500/2500]
[Defense - 126/130]

[Iron Gauntlets - D Rank]
[These gauntlets were forged by Jaune Arc.]
[Durability - 1800/1800]
[Defense - 78/80]

[Leather Boots - E Rank]
[These boots were tailored by Jaune Arc]
[Durability - 774/800]
[Defense - 30/30]

[Dark Dagger - C Rank]
[This dagger was used by a legendary bandit before it was cast aside for a better sword.]
[Durability - 2000/2000]
[Attack - 215/215]
[Special Effect - Armour Pierce (Pierces medium and heavy armour to decrease defense by 30%)]

[Skills]
[Blacksmithing (0MP) - Level 47 (0%) - Ability to produce C Rank weapons and metal armour with a 47% efficiency bonus]
[Sharpen (20 MP) - Level 1 (50%) - Sharpen a bladed weapon to repair it's attack power (+50 attack repair)]
[Repair (20 MP) - Level 1 (19%) - Repairs a weapon or armour to restore durability (+500 durability)]
[Inventory (0MP) - Level 1 (15%) - Store things in a dimensional space completely sealed off, only being opened by the person who has the skill (3 spaces)]
[Rune Smithing - Level 1 (0%) - Craft runes into items for added effects.
{Known runes: Teleportation (Teleport the wielder to the rune - 150MP)}]
[Tailoring (0MP) - Level 2 (15%) - Ability to tailor E Rank clothes and light armour with a 2% efficiency bonus]
[Stitch (20MP) - Level 1 (3%) - Stitch together two pieces of clothes automatically (basic quality)]
[Curse Mark (500MP) - Level 1 (4%) - The mark of Salem that allows the user to access power to help them at the cost of 100 HP per second.
{Underdog - Level 1 (4%) - Increases speed, strength and agility by twice the difference between the levels of the user and the opponent.}
{?}]
[Mana Threads (100MP/Thread) - Level 1 (0%) - Create threads from the tips of the caster's fingers, which can be used in a variety of ways.]

[Passive]
[Scholar - Any skill from any skill stone can be learnt]
[? - Reach level 60 to unlock]