700A/N: If you're enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server. discord dot gg slash RD3Y5pM7u2
Mastery
The rest of the week went about the same, with both the teachers and my teammates watching me closely while I pretended not to notice. Ruby had easily accepted my apology when I returned from meeting with Ozpin… at least, after I offered to let her clean and examine Dawn Cracker as a bribe. Pyrrha had settled back to her usual polite self. Blake was still being avoidant, almost to the same extent as in canon. I didn't like it in the slightest, but I hadn't been able to confront her about it yet.
Soon enough, it was Friday again, and I waved the girls off to get changed into training clothes. Emerging into the training space I'd reserved from Goodwitch during class earlier, I leaned the Family Sword against the wall and then kicked up into a handstand. My heels tapped the padding, but my passive DEX was now as high as it had been with [Reinforcement] during my spar with Winchester last week, so I was able to keep my balance without paying much attention to it. I wasn't entirely sure of my own body weight these days, but my passive STR was enough for me to press a tonne without being overencumbered, so freestanding handstand pushups were likewise trivial, at least physically.
I lowered myself until my head brushed the floor, then slowly pushed back up, making sure no part of the movement was rushed or jerky.
But while my strength, endurance, and balance meant I could do this all day, the fact remained that I'd never tried this before. Combining the different aspects to do the exercise correctly, with proper form and without falling over, required a lot of specific mobility that I hadn't trained before, from the wrist to the shoulder to the scapula and pelvis, not to mention the abdominal and pelvic workout of keeping my body rigid enough to stay upright while not so stiff as to tip over.
I didn't keep a count of the exercise, just trying to ingrain the movement into muscle memory. There were a few [Parkour] movements that could work inversions into them, though I mostly avoided them as more style than substance. Still, it wasn't like I couldn't get used to working on my proprioception while upside-down.
"Jeez, Jaune, I don't think even Yang can do that."
Ruby's voice drew my attention and I realized my teammates were all waiting on me. Chiding myself for not paying attention to [Detect Aura], I replied, "She's probably strong enough for it, but does she have the balance?"
"I don't think I have the balance," Pyrrha mused. "The strength portion just means being able to press up your own body weight; I know I can do that much. But staying balanced that long isn't easy."
I glanced at my partner, bereft of her book in the training room. "Blake has the balance, I bet."
"But not the upper-body strength, at least not without Aura," she admitted. "Focusing that much on strength, I'd probably fall over too."
Shifting around on my hands until my front was facing the wall, I lowered myself onto my shoulders, bent at the waist until my feet almost touched the floor over my head, then kipped up, pushing off the floor with my hands at the same time I knifed my legs back down. Landing easily, I grabbed the Family Sword again as I straightened up.
Taking a deep breath, I looked over my teammates. "You all know what I was up to last weekend," I said, and all three of them nodded, frowning to various degrees. "Well, like I said, I was wrong to ditch you all without a word. And furthermore, I realize I've been taking you for granted, and for that I owe you another apology."
"Huh?"
Looks like I can count on Ruby for the protagonist-like reactions, I thought, amused. Aloud, I said, "Since I lost my memories I've mostly been training with my sisters, and while I complain about getting dragged all over the planet, I've never doubted that they would back me to the hilt. And even though we've only been a team for a week — even though I've only really known Ruby and Pyrrha for a week — I've been treating you three like you'll also have my back like that. While I certainly hope that's the case‒" I held up a hand to cut off their protests. "–it's not fair of me to expect it this soon."
Pyrrha looked thoughtful, while Ruby's expression was stubborn, no doubt thinking that she would totally back me up, duh, gosh. Blake, at least, seemed to have an idea of what I meant. But then, she would.
"So." I clapped my hands for emphasis. "I'd say it's high time we worked on that. We've sparred against each other a few times, so tonight I want to work on team formations. Considering I think Pyrrha and Ruby are both interested in the Vytal Festival Tourney…" I paused, and they both agreed. "I think it's only fair we thrash out some real teamwork, instead of just all fighting solo in a group."
"You already suggested a general team formation," Blake reminded me, and I nodded.
"That plays to each of our strengths, but we all need to be able to handle things outside our area of specialization, and we need to make sure we don't get in each other's way. No, more than that," I corrected. "It's not just about making sure we don't trip over each other, it's about fighting as a unit. That's one thing Atlas is known for, and while I don't agree with Hunters falling under the aegis of the military, I think they're right to emphasize coordination like that."
Pyrrha nodded. "Bia has mentioned that," she offered. "Specialists double down on it, committing to their partners until one of the pair is promoted, retires, or is killed in action."
"Specialists have their reputation because you're not just fighting two Hunters, you're fighting two Hunters who know each other like an extension of themselves," I agreed. "I don't expect us to get quite that good by October, but we've got about six months, and I'm a living example of how far you can get in six months if you're really dedicated." I nodded to Pyrrha, who slowly nodded back.
My show-match with her in Mistral had been the previous October, and I'd run myself 'out of Aura' by spending my MP on buffs. I was much stronger now, especially after the most recent boss fight and my newest skills.
"All right," Blake hummed, coming out of her funk for the first time all week. "What do you have in mind?"
"We take turns 2v2, but for every attack you make, your partner has to attack the same target," I suggested. "Gain a point if you both hit the same person consecutively; lose a point if you miss, get in each other's way, or get blocked by the target's partner. Sound good?"
Pyrrha nodded slowly. "It puts the emphasis on the currently non-involved partner to look for an opening, instead of both splitting off to individual targets," she reasoned. Seeing Ruby wasn't quite following, she clarified, "If Jaune and I engage each other, and strike each other, you have to hit Jaune before I can do anything else, but you also have to make sure Blake doesn't hit me first."
"Oh!" Ruby nodded suddenly. "Because then they would both be free to hit me, but that leaves you able to hit them both. Okay, I get it! That sounds fun, actually."
"Probably better if we had a referee, but let's see how we do," I said, strapping the Family Sword to my arm and drawing it. Activating my [Aura], the faint, pale golden glow enveloped me and my weapon. I twirled the 130 cm blade as easily as my old wooden training sword, and my teammates all did the same, deploying their weapons and limbering up for a fight.
Pulling my Scroll from my pocket, I flipped to the music app and directed it to play aloud instead of just over my Semblance. "We'll start after the first chorus."
A mellow guitar was soon joined by upbeat percussion, and I could see the girls nodding slightly along with the rhythm, so I tucked it away and raised my shield again. Blake, to my left, was holding her gambol Shroud like a daishou as usual, the ribbon wrapped loosely around her right forearm. Her soft purple Aura shone for a moment before subsiding.
Here we go, here we go,
It's about time that we set it off!
Here we go, here we go,
Red lights, I could never stop!
Ruby was mouthing along with the lyrics, smiling cheerfully as she choked up on Crescent Rose, preparing to use the polearm in closer quarters. Her bright red Aura glowed against her pale skin.
A dreamer with the fever to be great was all I ever want- was all I ever wanted;
A fighter with the fever for the fame was all I ever want- was all I ever wanted!
Pyrrha rolled her neck, tilting it to the side until it popped, and flexing her fingers. Dark red Aura shimmered the air around her, and the beginnings of a competitive grin twitched her lips.
Got me singin' like,
Bang, bang… Bang, bang… Bang, bang— This fires the weapon!
Bang, bang… Bang, bang… Bang, bang— Won't stop till we're legend!
On the final word, all four of us charged.
[BGM Unlocked! Team ABRN Training theme – "Legend" by The Score]
The practice I'd come up with off the top of my head turned out pretty well, and we planned to spend the rest of the weekend's practice sessions swapping out partners. The most interesting thing, though, was the message I got at the end of the session:
[You have maxed out [Shield Mastery]!]
The hell? I wasn't anywhere near 100 in any of my skills.
Though incredibly curious, I managed to hold off on pulling up my [Skills] pageuntil we hit the showers afterward. Standing under the spray, I scanned through the page until I found [Shield Mastery], which was highlighted.
I guess it must have maxed out at LV 50? Is that universal, or does every skill have a different cap?
That wasn't all, though. The skill was highlighted, and when I tapped it I got a new popup.
[Please select a Mastery Bonus for [Shield Mastery].]
Defender
You focus on the use of your shield as a piece of armor.
Guaranteed damage reduction also applies to non-physical attacks.
Basher
You focus on the use of your shield as a weapon.
Bonus to shield throwing and ricochet accuracy; doubles stun chance.
Oho~ So hitting the skill cap has a benefit besides not having to train it anymore! I considered the two options before me, but the correct choice for me was pretty obvious. If I used a buckler like Pyrrha, [Basher] might be the way to go, so I could do the Captain America thing like she does. Doubling the stun chance would also be nice. But I already have a kite shield, and if I ever swap that out, I'm likely to go bigger, not smaller. Defender is the way to go; it'll reduce damage I can take from Dust and maybe even magic.
As the window closed, the Skill's description changed to include my selected Mastery Bonus.
[Shield Mastery (Passive) LV MAX]
[A skill that allows the user to freely handle shields and bucklers to both defend and attack.]
[50% minimum damage reduction applied to attacks blocked with the shield.]
[20% chance to Stun an enemy when shield-bashing.]
[Mastery Bonus – Defender: Guaranteed damage reduction also applies to non-physical attacks.]
One in five chance to stun isn't too shabby, and I bet that stacks with [Giant Killer], so that's almost one in three. Shame the reduction is only 50%, although I guess it does say 'minimum'. I can still fully block attacks with the shield, but anything strong enough to hurt me through the shield is going to do, at most, half damage. Combined with [Steadfast], I should be in good shape for most trash mobs. Just can't let it go to my head. I refuse to fall into the 'No, this cannot be! I am invincible!' trap.
We held our Saturday training session in the morning, planning to head into Vale after lunch. This time it was me and Pyrrha against Ruby and Blake, which was a very different matchup. Team Ladybug stuck to evasion tactics, while Pyrrha and I — I'm gonna have to figure out a combo name that doesn't scan like a ship — used our shields to defend ourselves and each other. I was fast enough to chase either of them down (not counting Ruby's Semblance), but that meant leaving Pyrrha open to the other, and since she couldn't keep up with me to follow up on my attacks, we ended up having to use a bait-and-punish tactic.
Which doesn't work as well against a thinking opponent as it does against a video game enemy, but whatever.
Beacon's cafeteria was more like a college than a high school, both in terms of food quality and the general atmosphere; not exactly gourmet, given the quantities necessary to feed a school full of Hunters, but well above underfunded public schools on Earth. Saturday was always special, as the week's leftovers were combined in a new permutation of Chef Stone's famous 'Stone Soup'. Far from what I'd expected the first time I heard it, this 'kitchen sink' approach was mitigated by each week's menu being meticulously planned, and while not always greater than the sum of its parts, the Saturday Soup was always filling and warming beyond merely its temperature.
Maybe I'd feel differently about it once summer set in, but with Vale's spring temperature averaging just over 20C it was something I looked forward to. Turning with my bowl to find a table for my team, I saw something I probably should have expected at some point. Cardin Winchester and his team were staking out a table before getting food, crowding around a shocked-looking rabbit faunus and shoving her tray out of their way. Fortunately the tray was empty, Velvet having already finished eating, but I knew how this scene went and I wasn't interested in seeing it play out.
Making my way over, I stomped on the corner of the tray, flipping it up into my free hand like a skateboard, and when Cardin reached for Velvet's ear I shoved the tray into his hand instead. "Here, Winchester, you dropped this."
[Decreased closeness with Cardin Winchester.]
Cardin glared at me, and Velvet took several hasty steps back. Blake, shadowing me a by a few steps as usual, took her gently by the elbow, so I kept my focus on the bigot in front of me.
I jerked my head toward the window beside the service counter. "Trays are returned up there," I said patronizingly. "Not on the floor."
Cardin jumped to his feet, furious, and tried to punch me in the jaw. I flexed my [Aura] instinctively, and he utterly failed to break through [Steadfast], meaning I didn't stagger and didn't even take damage to my MP.
"Is that all?" I asked coldly.
Growling, he wound up for a heavy punch at my stomach this time. I triggered [Reinforcement] and [Bear's Endurance] in preparation, and once again withstood it without a flinch.
"I don't know or care what your problem with me is," I told him. "But leave the faunus students alone, man. The way you act, I don't know how can stand to look at yourself in the mirror."
I turned away, stepping smoothly over Cardin's attempt to trip me, causing a few of the watching students to laugh. I sat down with my back to him, across from the rest of my team who had left this entire side of the table open. Velvet was nowhere in sight, so presumably she had caught up with her team. Picking up my spoon, I was finally about to start eating when I heard footsteps behind me and Blake's eyes widened.
My buffs were still active so I just activated [Aura] again, but no impact came.
"That will do, Mister Winchester." Goodwitch's voice had a snap like a mousetrap, and I succumbed to the urge to glance over my shoulder, finding Cardin's fist a few inches from my ear.
"What made you think that would work this time?" I wondered. "Stay in your fucking lane, Winchester."
[Decreased closeness with Cardin Winchester.]
[Relationship with Cardin Winchester is now Hated.]
However will I cope?
"Language, Mister Arc," Glynda chided me as she floated Cardin back over to his friends. "Team CRDL, with me."
Chatter broke out as Goodwitch marched CRDL out, but I ignored it in favor of something actually important: lunch.
"Jaune, what the HFIL?" Ruby said, pronouncing it like 'hiffle'.
I glanced up. "You're doing that on purpose because I keep trying to get you to cuss," I accused, and she blew a raspberry in reply.
"I could say a lot of things about Cardin–" Pyrrha began.
"Few of them polite," Blake cut in softly, causing Ruby to let out a snort of giggles.
"But he's quite strong," Pyrrha finished determinedly. "I'm surprised you were able to absorb his swings that easily."
I shrugged. "He hits like a baby compared to my sisters," I said, which was true. Frankly, my frequent spars with Olivia and Indigo, not to mention Vi during my brief vacation in Mistral, probably had a lot to do with why I was offered [Steadfast] when I raised my CON over 100. "His first swing was only from the elbow anyway, I barely felt it."
"And the second one?" Blake prodded.
"Still wasn't enough to break through my Aura," I said dismissively, tilting my bowl away from me and carefully scooping up the last of the soup. "Ready to hit the town?"
We had a few items on the agenda for our trip to Vale, so after stopping by our dorm to pick up my Handy Haversack, we caught a ride down on Beacon's tram. Blake wanted to visit a bookshop. Ruby needed to pick up more Dust, since she liked making custom rounds for Crescent Rose. I was following up on Ruby's recommendation of an armorer, hoping to pick up some new pieces to add to my Combat armor set — or maybe a new Heavy Combat set. Pyrrha was mostly tagging along, but it was nice to hang out as a team.
Of the three shops, From Dust Till Dawn was closest to Beacon, so we headed there first. Ruby waved a cheerful hello to the proprietor, a crinkle-faced, balding old man of South Animan descent. Pyrrha smiled and followed her partner toward the pre-packaged bullets, snagging a handbasket to carry a case of her 5.56mm and several of Ruby's .50 caliber standard rounds before moving over to the storage tubs on the wall. As Ruby pondered her purchase, I noticed Blake eyeing the crystals in the case.
"You can augment your Semblance with Dust, right?" I asked.
She glanced up. "Yes," she said shortly, still being curt with me even after a week.
"Not suggesting you do it in every fight, but do you have any for a worst-case scenario?" I prodded, not letting her brush me off.
Blake raised an eyebrow. "You spend a lot of time thinking about worst-case scenarios," she observed.
I raised mine right back. "How many times has the shit hit the fan around me?"
"Touché," she allowed. "Maybe you should buy some."
"I might," I agreed, moving up beside her and using [Observe] on the Dust in the case. There weren't any particularly rare variants, but most of it was still a higher Grade than I was able to craft at the moment. "I haven't had a lot of time to devote to practicing with Dust; too many other things I wanted to work on." I gave her a sideways look. "I'll get some if you will."
Blake rolled her eyes, but obligingly picked out a few Grade II crystals in Pyro, Geo, and Freeze.
The proprietor looked to me next, and I mentally totalled up what I wanted. "I'll take ten a pop of Burn, Freeze, Shock, Gale, and Geo, in Grades 1, 2, and 3. Plus a tube of powdered in every color you have, if you'll round off the total to… let's say 140,000L."
The shopkeeper smiled. "While that is quite a purchase, you're asking me to eat a tremendous loss of Lien, young man, even if you're nearly cleaning me out," he replied. "Grade aside, I assure you all my Dust is of the highest quality. 170,000L is a fairer price."
"When a quarter of it is Grade 1? I'm not sure how you stay in business treating people like that," I shot back, grinning. "I suppose Hard-Light isn't the easiest to lay hands on. Given the variety you have in powdered, I could go to 150,000L."
"Oho!" His squinting eyes sparkled. "You have a good eye; that is genuine Hard-Light Dust I have back there. Very difficult to come by outside of Atlas. Shall we say 160,000L?"
"155,000L?" I offered, extending a hand over the counter.
"Done," he shook it, beginning to package up my order as I dug out my wallet.
[Haggling success! Bargain has increased by 1!]
Tucking my purchase along with Ruby's and Pyrrha's ammo away in my Handy Haversack, I shoved the volatile substance into my [Inventory] before slinging it back over my shoulders.
"What was the haggling about?" Ruby asked curiously as we left the shop.
"Did you see how much I bought?" I asked. "That was easily worth 180,000L and we both knew it, but only if he managed to sell it all in the next few hours. This way, he gets both a guaranteed sale and knows I'm likely to come back here when I need more."
"Ohhh," she nodded. "I kinda get it… but it seems like a big pain in the butt compared to just paying the price they tell you." She grimaced, probably at the thought of trying to make herself act the same way.
"Then you're gonna pay markups," I shrugged. "I haven't kept a very close eye on the market since I don't use that much Dust, but I'm pretty sure the wholesale price he paid to order it all would be less than 100,000L — Schnee could probably tell you for sure. I doubt I would've have been able to get away with it for higher Grades, but hopefully he'll like me enough to skip gouging me when I'm ready to try those out."
A few blocks later, we all paused as a different Dust shop came into view… with its windows broken and covered by police tape. There were a couple of cops standing around while a detective picked through the scene. Ruby immediately darted over, stopping short of the police line. "What the heck happened here?"
"Another robbery," the officer sighed. "This is turning into a pattern."
"And they left all the money again," his partner added. "Who robs that much Dust and doesn't touch the register?"
I clicked my tongue. I know who.
"That sounds like that Torchwick guy I fought," Ruby mumbled as I led the team away again. "Ms Goodwitch said they stole a bunch of Dust, but left the Lien."
"What could a thief want with that much Dust, though?" Pyrrha wondered.
"He must think he can sell it on for more than the Lien in the register is worth. Or maybe he's been hired to steal Dust in particular," I 'guessed'.
"Why, though?" Ruby pressed.
I grimaced. "The only things that spring to mind are outfitting an army… or rigging a bunch of IEDs." I shot Blake a glance. "I can think of a few people who might come up with a plan like that."
Blake grimaced. "We don't even know if he's still in this Kingdom," she muttered.
I shot her a sardonic look. "Are we thinking of the same person? Because the dickhead I met tried to execute a civilian and blame you for it. And then tried to kill both of us."
"What in the world are you two talking about?" Pyrrha gasped.
Blake's pupils dilated, and she cringed as I reached for her, but tellingly she didn't pull away from me as I laid a hand on her shoulder.
"We're almost to Tukson's," I said softly. "We can talk there."
[Persuasion successful!]
Blake nodded jerkily, and I squeezed her shoulder before turning to our teammates. "The bookshop Blake wanted to visit is run by a friend of hers; we'll explain in private."
Ruby looked like she wanted to pester us for answers immediately, but Pyrrha nudged her and she nodded instead.
Tukson's was on the next block, so it didn't take us long to get there. Blake split off for the Adult section as soon as we entered, but Ruby and Pyrrha followed me to the desk.
"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun," the faunus' deep voice called from the back room. A moment later, he emerged. "How can I– Ah, Jaune, Blake!" He greeted us warmly. "How have you been?"
"I could complain, but why bother?" I joked. "How's tricks, Tukson?"
[Name: Tukson Mayes]
[LV 12]
[Title: Thus Conscience Makes A Coward]
[Race: Puma Faunus]
[Age: 37]
[Job: Bookshop Owner]
[Class: White Fang Informant]
[Stats: 15 STR, 13 CON, 11 DEX, 11 INT, 12 WIS, 13 CHA]
[Background: Born to a mixed couple in Vacuo, Tukson was too young to fight in the Faunus Rights Revolution, but his childhood was shaped by it. He joined the White Fang under its original leadership, having personally met Ghira Belladonna as a teenager. He has been mostly successful in keeping away from the more radicalized White Fang, but feels an obligation to the friends and companions he once had. He continues to pass information from time to time, but suspects that if the White Fang's presence in Vale grows any stronger, he may be forced to flee the Kingdom to avoid being forced into a fight he no longer wants any part of.]
[Relationship: Ally]
Lot more detail in his background these days, but then, I suppose [Observe] is much higher level than the last time I saw him.
"Business is booming with the Vytal Festival coming up," Tukson boasted. "As I'm sure Blake's found, I've gotten some good shipments in."
"Hopefully I can drag her away from them," I groaned. "Could we borrow your backroom, Tukson? Blake and I need to explain some things to our team that we can't really discuss on the street." I patted my side, over the scar that Adam had left on me.
Tukson's eyes widened. "Of course. I'll keep an eye on the shop."
"You don't have to hide away," Blake said softly, setting a few books on the counter. Ruby, not realizing Blake had come up behind her, jumped.
"You're part of the story, too," I agreed. "Do you have a kettle? I think I have some tea in the ol' Handy Haversack."
"Speaking of the day we met, I haven't seen that kid around town lately," Tukson said, ushering the girls into his living room and then leading me to the kitchen. "Have you?"
I grinned. "Leo actually applied to Beacon; he's doing a lot better with a few square meals in him."
"That's great news," Tukson smiled.
Catching my teammates' questioning looks over the breakfast bar, I quickly explained to Ruby and Pyrrha how I'd met Leo and Tukson the previous August.
Picking up the whistling kettle, I poured tea for everyone but myself, and Tukson rummaged in his pantry until he came up with some soft cookies that tasted faintly of nutmeg.
"Tukson offered me a job for that afternoon," I summarized as everyone took a drink, Blake cradling her cup as if drawing strength from the warmth. "On my last delivery, I met Blake." I glanced at my partner. "…Do you want to tell them, or shall I?"
Blake cringed again. "You didn't tell your sister that night," she pointed out.
"She didn't need to know right then," I replied. "But I can virtually assure you my whole family knows who you are." Her mouth twisted, and I sighed. "Blake, you're still using your real name. Anyone who thinks about it for more than a few minutes is going to at least wonder if there's a relation. I think our teammates deserve to know who they might have to fight and why."
[Persuasion successful! Charm has increased by 1!]
"If you're in danger, we will help any way we can," Pyrrha promised, even before hearing any more. Ruby nodded fervently.
Blake's shoulders hunched, and for a moment I thought she was going to go completely mute, but then she reached for her bow and tugged it loose. "My name is Blake Belladonna," she whispered. "Daughter of Ghira, Chieftain of Menagerie and former High Leader of the White Fang."
Our teammates' eyes widened, but Dr Oobleck's lectures had made it clear that the White Fang's descent toward terrorism only began with the election of the new High Leader, Sienna Khan, five years previously.
"When I met Blake," I picked up the story gently. "I was about to knock on her door to deliver her book order when I heard a gunshot. Inside were three goons from the White Fang, and one of their captains, Adam Taurus."
"The Mad Bull," Tukson said gravely.
Blake scowled at him, and I squeezed her shoulder again. "You already know I don't blanketly condemn violence as a form of resistance," I said. "But he's not leading protests against discrimination or even rioting against police brutality anymore. He's lashing out and killing innocent people, and no matter what happened to him in the past the actions he's taking in the present are not Good or Just. He needs to be stopped."
Her cat ears flattened against her skull. "I know," she whispered miserably.
"You knew him, Blake?" Pyrrha asked carefully.
"Knew him?" Blake let out a strangled laugh. "I loved him. Or I thought I did. I just– I just wish things turned out differently…"
I passed her a tissue from the box Tukson offered me, and rubbed Blake's back as she broke down. Ruby jumped up from her seat and crammed herself into the space next to Blake, wrapping her teammate in a hug. Pyrrha moved to sit on the coffee table, brushing her knees against Blake's and leaning forward to press their foreheads together. Tukson patted her shoulder, then quickly retreated to mind the store.
My Scroll started to ring, and the interface revealed it was someone I didn't particularly want to speak to. I was about to ignore it, but Ruby shooed me away, grabbing the tissue box from Tukson as she started rocking Blake consolingly. So I stepped into the kitchen to pick it up.
"Talk to me," I said reluctantly.
"Come on, what's with that attitude?" Jacques said jocularly. "Don't wanna talk to your old man?"
I considered just hanging up, but Ruby was clearly hoping Blake would recover faster if I wasn't there, so I sighed and answered as calmly as I could. "What do you want?"
"Do I need an ulterior reason to call my only son?"
"If you were in the habit of doing so, I would have heard from you eight months ago," I said coolly. "If this isn't important, I was in the middle of something."
"Don't call your girlfriend 'something', boyo–" he chortled, and I hung up.
"Asshole," I muttered, thumbs flying over the Scroll.
I had just finished editing his contact when he called back, triggering the custom ringtone I'd selected.
"Counting all the assholes in the room–"
I sent it to voicemail without a second thought, then set about brewing another pot of tea. Blake's shoulders were no longer shaking when I came back into the living room, sitting back down beside her and rubbing her back again.
"I'm sorry to have put you in this position," I said, my voice carrying in the quiet room. "I thought it was important for our teammates to understand your position. But I hate that you're hurting this much because of it."
"It's not your fault," Blake said thickly. "It's just… old regrets. I can't help wondering if I couldn't have changed his mind. Helped him, somehow."
"You are not responsible for his choices," Pyrrha spoke up before I could. "I understand it's easy to look back and feel like you should have done better with the benefit of hindsight, but that's not fair to the person you were at the time. You made the best choices you could with the knowledge and wisdom you had."
"Couldn't have said it better myself." I refilled her mug of tea, and Blake blew her nose before drawing a shuddering breath.
"So when you said someone might be stealing Dust for a reason…" Ruby prompted us, thinking back to what had kicked off this argument.
Blake's shoulders hunched even further, so I spoke up. "I don't know that it's him," I admitted. Since it's actually Cinder's plan. "He's definitely not the only poison pill out there. But more than likely it's the same group conducting these robberies, and there aren't a lot of innocent reasons for anyone to be stealing that much Dust. Either they're planning to make a lot of bullets, or a moderate number of explosives. It's… honestly not that hard to rig Dust into an IED."
Afterall, I could do it, and my [Dust Mastery] was only LV 14. Anyone with even a moderate understanding of the substance would recognize its energy density was ridiculous, and that made weaponizing it almost trivial.
"But… why?" Ruby wondered, still seeming lost.
Looking at her honest confusion, I was suddenly struck by how young she was. "Ruby…"
She frowned at me. "That's the tone Yang uses when she thinks I'm being naїve. What am I missing?"
I sighed. I hate to trample on her innocence, but she's a Trainee Huntress. Better to hear it now than realize it in the field. "When I met Taurus — and I use the word 'met' loosely — he had tracked Blake down with three other armed men, trying to force her to return to the White Fang," I said. "When she refused, he ordered them to shoot the friend Blake was staying with. She would have died if I hadn't been able to heal her, and I only got that chance because we got lucky and shoved him out a fifth-story window. If he thought it would get him what he wanted, I'm not sure there's anything he wouldn't do… including blowing a hole in the Wall to let Grimm into Vale." Or the sewers, but I'm not supposed to know about that yet. How do we head off the climaxes of Volumes 1 and 2 without me having to reveal that I know things I shouldn't…?
Ruby's eyes widened. "Then we have to stop him!"
"How?" I asked, and she slumped.
Pyrrha patted her partner's knee, and turned to face me. "I'm sorry, but we don't even know for certain who's responsible. I agree it could be Torchwick conducting the robbery campaign, and based on what you've said, I'm not sure who other than the White Fang could be buying that much Dust. But why would they be working together? Would Adam Taurus be likely to recruit a human thief for a plan like this?"
"No," Blake said immediately. "He's said on multiple occasions that the only good human is a corpse."
"We don't have enough information," I spoke up again. "But fortunately… We do know someone who deals in information." I looked over my shoulder. "Right, Tukson?"
Name: Jaune Arc
Level: 57 (Next: 84.59%)
Title: Academy Student
Race: Human
Age: 18
Job: Beacon Student
Class: Paladin
Semblance: The Gamer
HP: 7470/7470
MP: 4080/4080
STR: 212 (100)
CON: 261 (101)
DEX: 150 (53)
INT: 128 (50)
WIS: 105 (52)
CHA: 142 (52)
Points: 92
Money: 1,0751,938L
Status: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]
A/N: I've been workshopping the Mastery system since I had the idea, but I think I'm roughly happy with where it landed. When a skill reaches MAX (that didn't start out at MAX), Jaune gets to select a specialization related to the skill to permanently improve it.
Miló's rifle form resembles the Japanese Type 4 rifle from 1945, which was chambered in 7.758mm. For the sake of standardization in the war against Grimm, let's just assume that Miló is actually chambered in a modern caliber like 5.5645mm, which is used in the modern M16 and M4.
Reminder that I mentally estimate 10 Lien to the dollar. Jaune's Dust purchase came to roughly $15,500 on an order that probably should have been a minimum of $18,000.
Haggling is kind of a lost art, and I don't recommend trying it in places where it's not appropriate or you'll look like an asshole, but if you do any kind of tabletop roleplaying this is more or less how it's done: offer a price that you know is a bit too low, and act like you're doing them a favor buying it. If they play along, they'll ask a price that's a bit too high, and you meet in the middle. This works especially well for larger orders, because while they might get more total by shutting you down and risking you going somewhere else (or buying less), they only end up with more if they still sell it all to other people… whereas the bulk sale is guaranteed to move all of it.
And Blake's race and history are revealed to ABRN, though between her better familiarity with Jaune and the lack of Weiss around to make things worse, she manages to speak up without panicking so hard she runs away.