723(Chapter 28)
(Semi important A/N at the bottom)
So, to take a few steps forward, sometimes it may be necessary to take a step back.
See, aura is like mankind's cheat code; the equalizer. It protects you from attacks, it lets you manipulate dust, gives you your own personal super power, and it even heals you from physical injury.
That last bit is the important part. Hunters train for years to develop their bodies for what it is they do. They spend countless hours committing rigorous combat into their muscle memory, and years working towards discovering their semblances. That's the key: years.
The thing about aura is that it is a living resource. When we're underfed, our aura takes longer to refill if at all, when we are in adverse weather, our aura protects us from it. But, aura grows with us, regardless of whether it's unlocked or not. Having access to it from an earlier age, gives people the time necessary to understand their capabilities and their limits, as well as to acclimate to being essentially superhuman.
As Maria sat there, she shut the book she'd studied through in Pietro's office before picking up Jaune's student file, having come to a conclusion.
Whether or not the boy agreed, Jaune is a prodigy.
Having gone through an initiation exam without any aura for half of it? Dumb luck that he survived. Having made it through a second initiation, much more difficult than the first, in a land he was unfamiliar with? A cause for further inspection. Discovering his semblance within the first semester of him having it? Monumental achievement in and of itself. But therein lies the problem.
Jaune, simply put, was improving much too fast. Everything he was taught, he soaked up like a sponge, and anything that did truly slow his progress was only a minor setback; a small bump in the road. His academic scores were in the top twelve of his year, while his practical scores secured him a spot in the top eight.
Leadership scores were calculated a bit differently. Rather than being a number averaged out of one hundred, it was a cumulative score that would either continue to climb or subsequently fall due to the actions you did or didn't take during your time as a student. It was also the only grade that wasn't shown to the students.
And Jaune? He was the top of his year by a decent margin, with Whitley being the closest to his position.
But that begged the question: how? Most people's growth looked like a slope on a graph; climbing steadily over time. If she had to describe what his was like from what she knew of the boy and what she was reading, it was more like a graph with multiple drastic vertical inclines.
She leaned back in her seat, thinking of the blonde student, before the most confusing thing about him came to the forefront of her mind again. Why did his aura climb AFTER his semblance injured himself the other day? There is one thing she was curious about, and after staring at the blonde's aura point count, she left the file on Pietro's desk before making her way towards the training room she'd often find Jaune and his friends at.
The slow pace she held as her cane assisted her along the way towards the training room gave her plenty of time to stew in her thoughts over the anomaly the young huntsman in training was. As she came around the corner, she looked up to see a light intruding into the hall, and looking up, it was coming from the very room she was heading to.
A yawn escaped her, and she pulled out her scroll to check the time before stowing it back. Whoever was here, and she was willing to say she had a pretty decent guess, was certainly putting in some late night training. She made her way to the door before opening it slightly to peek inside.
There he was; of course he was, standing there in his undershirt while doing practice swings. She waited for a moment after she entered the room and stood off to the side. He was so absorbed in his solo-training that it wasn't until nearly another five minutes that he finally noticed her.
He set his sword on the ground before grabbing a nearby towel and making his way over.
"Hey Ms. Calavera, I didn't see you come in."
"I noticed Boyo, you were practically in your own world."
The blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before looking down.
"Yeah…People have said that to me a lot over the last few days. I know it's probably gonna sound really stupid, but…I'm not sure how to really feel about my semblance."
The woman sat with her legs crossed before beginning to pull some things out of her bag.
"Go on."
The blonde bit his lip and clenched his hands into fists, frustrated as he allowed himself to speak his mind with the tiny woman.
"I've seen and heard of all these amazing semblances that are purely helpful-even worse, I've never heard of someone's own semblance causing them to get injured just for using it! I really want to just be grateful since it allowed me to save my friends, but…"
The blonde's rant was capped with a frustrated yell as Maria eyed him with a raised brow. Jaune took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he sighed and looked down to see Maria motioning for him to sit. Unsuredly, he soon found himself seated on the floor across from her, on the other side of two cups filled with leaves.
"You know what I think?"
Jaune shook his head silently as he watched her pour hot water into both of the cups. After she poured water into his, she set the pot down before watching as the blonde made a face as he reached for the cup. She held a hand up before she spoke.
"I'll admit, you've piqued my interest, Boy. I did some reading through your files courtesy of Pietro, and I believe I understand much more about you now."
The blonde stared at her with an expression as the woman put her hand down, and picked up his tea, taking a sip before grimacing and putting the cup down.
"You're a prodigy, whether you choose to accept that or not is irrelevant. You're cunning, and driven. Dependable and self-sacrificing. But more than anything else? You're damn impatient."
The teen seemed to recoil at the sudden criticism as the small woman continued.
"You couldn't even wait for the tea leaves to finish steeping before taking a sip, which is probably exactly why you don't like tea in the first place."
The teen looked a bit shameful at having been so easily identified, setting the cup down and waiting as the woman huffed before continuing to speak.
"...You feel like you need results instantly; not quickly. Quickly isn't good enough for you. No, you want whatever benefit you walk towards to come instantly."
The small woman picked up her cane and lightly began bonking the tall blonde sitting across from her on the head.
"That's not how the real world works, Kiddo. Training; getting better? It's literally blood, sweat, and tears. It's gonna hurt, be hard, and feel like you aren't good enough or that there is something you're missing. But the feeling that comes with finding it on your own? That feeling is the most important thing to growing as a warrior."
The young man sat silent, looking into the tea cup as he saw the liquid inside rippling.
"I…know that you're right. But…my team deserves for me to be better. I want to be able to take on whatever we're fighting with them, not through them. It just feels like where I need to be and where I am aren't getting any closer."
The woman looked him over for a moment before moving her cane back to her side.
"Well, you're being mostly honest. No. While you want to be better for your friends, you want to get stronger for yourself."
The boy looked up at her, but waited for her to continue, knowing she had more to say.
"When I said I read your file, I meant all of it. I know how you came to be here. You have more motivation to get stronger beyond just wanting to help your friends. You want the strength to prove to yourself that you could do it, and the power that comes with being able to prove your family and those Beacon kids wrong."
The woman took a sip of her tea as Jaune gave her his full attention.
"...Nothing wrong with that I suppose; to each their own and whatnot. But, if that's why you're doing this, all of this…then embrace it."
The knightly teen's eyes widened as he looked at her bewildered.
"Shocked huh? There's nothing wrong with having a selfish goal, it only becomes a problem if you let it consume you or lead you into exploiting others. What happens when you trying to be the perfect hero from bedtime stories leaves your team without a leader? Your partner with you?"
The blonde sat there digesting her words before a new, mildly familiar voice chimed in.
"She's right, you know."
The two turned to the side to see a tall dark-haired man with a red cape approaching.
"Ah, I was wondering if you were going to join us."
Maria's comment was surprisingly calm, but Jaune remembered this man, albeit barely.
"You're…Qrow, right? Qrow Branwen, Ruby and Yang's uncle."
The man laughed as he pulled out a flask to take a swig from before responding.
"Well, would you look at that? Surprised you remembered me Kid."
The blonde nodded after a moment before he responded.
"You said some things back at Beacon that stuck with me. I think if you hadn't said some of what you did, I might not have been able to get where I am now."
The man simply gave a clumsy bow before plopping down next to the two.
"So, I know the kid, who're you granny?"
The woman snorted in response to him before she answered.
"Even adults don't have any respect. The name's Maria. Maria Calavera. Retired huntress for over thirty years now."
The man hummed to himself, thinking before something caught his eye. He saw the woman's cane and his pulse began to quicken.
"Your cane. May I see it?"
The woman looked at him skeptically before she picked it up and handed it to the man. Qrow held it for a minute before finding a trigger, and upon pressing it, revealed the hidden blade that revealed the skull cane to be a hand scythe. His eyes widened as he looked back to the older woman.
"I can't believe it. You…you're the Grimm Reaper."
The blonde in the room looked towards Maria with a confused expression on his face.
"There's a name I haven't heard in a while."
The woman poured herself another cup of her tea, before retrieving another cup for Qrow and beginning to make some tea.
"That was…a long, long time ago. Almost feels like another life…"
That was the first time Jaune had ever heard the woman sound wistful. Qrow swallowed a lump in his throat before he placed the cane back at the woman's side before speaking.
"You were a legend. The best hunter Remnant had seen. But one day, you just…vanished."
Jaune couldn't remain silent anymore as a question escaped him.
"How does a legend…just up and vanish?"
"You never used your name, never showed your face. The world just thought you were just laying low, and eventually everyone came to accept that you were probably dead. But…I'd heard stories about you since I was young. You traveled the world, hunting the largest and most dangerous grimm out there and then disappearing not long after. I even based my weapon off of yours. I…I wanted to be as good as The Grimm Reaper."
The woman sucked in some air through her teeth, clearly affected by his words.
"This is why you shouldn't meet your heroes. I'm…nothing but a disappointment. So if your goal is to be just like me, then you're well on your way.
Jaune saw the dour mood and asked a question.
"How can you say that?"
The woman looked tired, so very tired.
"Child. A hunter is supposed to protect others until the bitter end. But after I lost my eyes, I only ever looked after myself. Even after my surgery, I was too afraid to fight. Too afraid that someone would find me and finish what others started."
"Wait. Are you saying that people did this to you? A group hunted you; why?"
The woman remained silent before she answered Qrow.
"I don't know. The woman that took my eyes said was that her master wanted me dead because of my eyes."
The man's heart stopped for a moment before he whispered something barely audible.
"You had silver eyes."
It was the woman's turn to look at the man, her prosthetics narrowed as she stared him down.
"How could you possibly have known that?"
There was a tense moment of silence before the man subtly glanced towards the blonde to the side. The woman caught the look and sighed before speaking again.
"...Well, another time. Anywho, you said you designed your weapon after mine. Show it to me would you?"
The man grabbed his cup and knocked back the whole cup, raising it with a nod to the smaller woman before standing up and pulling his weapon from its sling on his lower back.
He took a few demonstrative swings with its greatsword form before engaging the mechashift switch and turning the weapon into a scythe. He went through a few forms and attacks seamlessly before returning the weapon to its greatsword form and setting it down in front of him as he sat back down.
"What's its name?"
The older man looked down at his blade as he responded.
"Harbinger."
The woman looked back to Qrow before speaking again.
"It's a good weapon. Lotta love and care put into it, hmm?"
"You have no idea. Miracle that it never had problems due to my semblance."
This time, Jaune chose to speak up.
"If you don't mind me asking, what IS your semblance?"
The two adults looked at Jaune for a moment before Qrow pulled out his flask and took a swig.
"That's a pretty personal question to ask there, Kid. Ah well, guess there ain't no harm in telling ya. My semblance is Misfortune. It's not something I can turn on and off, it just passively is causing me, and those around me, to be extremely unlucky. Always."
The man absentmindedly started to rub the flask with his finger, a far off look in his eyes that Maria caught. Jaune on the other hand, jumped to his feet.
"Are you kidding me?! That semblance sounds awesome! Fighting you must be the most frustrating and pointless thing possible if you make others unlucky."
"Yea…but what about when it affects your family?"
The blonde looked ready to reply instantly, but paused as the words sunk in.
"Doesn't sound so great now huh."
The man opened his flask to take another gulp, but found Maria's cane on his wrist instead. Looking up to her with a confused expression, he saw another cup of tea being held out towards him.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. That semblance, like many others, has its ups and downs. Unfortunately, no pun intended, it affects your home life, but if being away from your loved ones bothers you that bad, then they must love you just as much as you do them. Besides, something tells me you've always been something of a traveler?"
The man looked at her for a moment before stowing his flask away and taking the tea.
"I guess that's one way of looking at it. Maybe you're right, but for all the good my semblance may have indirectly helped happen, all the bad things that come with just don't ever stop."
"Of course they don't."
The two adults looked over to Jaune after his interruption, wondering what he meant.
"I might not be on the best terms with my dad. Former dad? Who cares? Anyway, he told me one time that for good people, life isn't easy. Life is a test, always giving you a problem, and watching to see how you respond. Life is joy and love, but it's also pain and suffering. The good and the bad, ya know?"
The two looked at him before the man knocked back his tea cup once more and laughed.
"You know, Kid? You got a good head on your shoulders. Tell me, why were you two in this training room? You getting some pointers from The Grimm Reaper?"
The boy sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he answered the man.
"I wish. I was training to get my semblance under control, and Ms. Maria here dropped in to talk with me."
The blonde looked down at the tea, now a deep color with a slightly sweet smell before picking it up and taking a sip. His eyes widened before he slowly began to drink the rest. The cup obscuring his vision hid the sight of Maria stowing a hidden container of honey back into her bag, Qrow snickering all the while before choosing to comment.
"What do you mean get your semblance under control? Got some kinda oddball semblance?"
The teen looked at the man after finishing his secretly sweetened tea before he spoke.
"It's a bit hard to explain. When I use my semblance, it enhances my physical abilities by a huge amount."
"Okay? That's not anything too crazy or out there? So-"
"He enhanced his arm so far that with a single swing of his sword, he mangled his own arm and ripped a gash into a huntsman grade training room."
Maria's comment made Qrow's eyes narrow as he adopted a look of thought.
'He hurt himself using his own semblance? But…that can't be right?'
"...Show me."
"Huh?"
Jaune's intelligent response was met with Qrow picking up Harbinger and pulling himself to his feet.
"Take out your sword, use your semblance to enhance yourself, and you can either take a swing at my weapon, or you can try to block mine. Your choice."
The blonde thought for a moment before he picked up Daydreamer and got into a defensive position.
"I don't want to accidentally hurt you, and I don't think getting sent to the infirmary this late would make the doctor very happy with me. So I guess I'll try and block your swing?"
The older man nodded in response, and waited for Jaune to focus. There was a bit of a pause before Jaune's body began to glow. Opening his eyes, the blonde nodded towards Qrow as he got ready for the attack. The drunkard used his own aura to augment his strength as well as his weapon before closing the gap between him and the student and swinging for a heavy downward slash.
As the blade of Harbinger met Daydreamer, there wasn't even a large clang before Qrow was sent flying back a few dozen feet, managing to right himself in the air before landing.
The older man's eyes were wide as he stared at the student Ozpin had helped salvage the future of. He swung down with quite a bit of force, but couldn't even manage to break past the aura covering the weapon, and on top of that, was sent flying backwards.
"So what do you think?"
Qrow looked down to see Maria standing beside him before he turned towards her to speak.
"The pure potency of his aura is…insane. I used up more of my aura trying to break through the layer he had covering his sword than he did defending against me. And I mean, what the hell? The amount of aura he has is insane."
"Do you see now why I've taken an interest in him?"
The two looked over to see the blonde thinking to himself as the adults talked before looking back at each other.
"I'm willing to believe that he tore up a piece of a training room, but I'm trying to understand how someone's aura harmed them. I mean, I've heard of some semblances with strange conditions or trade-offs, but nothing like what you're telling me…"
"He's a mystery, isn't he? I'm not quite sure what all he'll be capable of once he gets his semblance under control and understands it better, but if he can do this with the little bit of training he's had, I'm sure he'll be someone important one day."
The older man stayed silent in thought as he looked over the teen. A few thoughts running through his head before he shook himself from them as the blonde started to make his way over to the two adults.
"Hey, Qrow? If you don't mind me asking: why exactly are you here in Atlas anyway?"
"Well, long story short, Ozpin needed me to change gears and act as a liaison between him and Ironwood over some…shared interests between Vale and Atlas. I just got done meeting with Jimmy, and was on my way to one of the empty rooms when I happened to see you in here. Decided I wanted to see how Atlas was treating you."
The blonde nodded in response before he took in a breath before asking something that caught both of the adults off guard.
"Qrow? If you're going to be here in Atlas often, I want to ask you for a favor. A huge one."
The man looked at the teen a bit perplexed before he nodded, signaling the blonde to ask his question.
"Would you be willing to be my team's sponsor?"
(Meanwhile at the same time, Beacon)
The sounds of grunts, metal slicing through the air, and bodies constantly either hitting the ground or getting up filled the air as Team PRVN was in the midst of a training session together. Well, to call it a training session would be a bit of an under-exaggeration.
They felt as if they were fighting for their lives.
"Is that all you weaklings have? If this is what you're capable of, you four might as well quit!"
Meanwhile, standing across from them in the far secluded clearing Vernal showed to them, their sponsor glared down at them with her blood-red eyes, her hand resting on the hilt of her weapon.
These four were supposed to be a team, but had absolutely no coordination whatsoever. The so-called "Invincible girl" was actually pretty good for her age, but she had no concept of what it meant to be a leader. Raven Branwen moved her head to adjust a stray bang that had fallen out of place before releveling her glare at the students she'd taken under her wing. She had high standards, and even higher expectations. They'd meet them.
"Get up. We aren't done until you can manage to do at least this right."
She'd make sure of it.
(A/N)
Been a while, that's my bad.
Long story short; I'm spending some time up north for the winter. Things are different to say the least, but I'll have plenty of free time to experiment with ideas. The next thing that comes out I want to either be another chapter for "It never came up" and maybe even a chapter for "Hate breeds Hate". Though that one's a lot harder to write because I want to be very careful keeping a serious tone through it.
Anyway, sorry this took so long. I want to get back to the tempo I had back when I first started this story, but it's a process. I wanna escape this burnout first, which is why I started the Casino Collection. It's a way to approach all the stories on my bio and that pop into my head so that they distract me less, and I have the freedom to write whatever comes to mind, without creating twenty plus stories that I'd touch once a year.
Hope y'all enjoyed, and I'll see you again.
BJH