"Yes, we have received your luggage a few days ago and as requested, have put up another locker for your new armor." Glynda Goodwitch spoke through her scroll as she communicated with a certain student who was in an island far from Vale.

"We will be expecting you this afternoon, and hopefully you can catch up on lost time." The deputy gave a small smile after hearing the young man's reply. "Yes, I shall send your greetings to the headmaster. I wish you safe travels. Goodbye to you as well." She put her scroll onto the headmaster's table and picked up a document.

"Was that Mr. Arc?" Ozpin asked as he poured coffee onto his favored Academy mug.

The deputy nodded. "He asked about the items he sent here if it arrived safely, to which I answered that it did."

Ozpin nodded. "Are you sure about this, old friend?" the headmaster asked the person on the holographic monitor that showed the most famed general of Atlas, James Ironwood.

"I initially gave it to Erica for her to use and report any findings on it since it was on its experimental stage. And with how much aura it consumed it was only logical that Erica would be the only candidate." The general stated.

"That was until her son came into the stage." Ozpin said as he sat down on his seat to properly face his friend.

"Her son was a surprise that is true, but as I said, the kingdom gave it to Erica for good reason. It was because of the services she and her husband has given to the kingdom and that she was the only one who was plausible enough to use it."

"Therefore, by extension she has rights on what she decides to use it for?"

Ironwood didn't answer but he did smile. After all, every wall has its ears.

James Ironwood is the headmaster of Atlas academy and a general of the kingdom therefore he has a duty to protect his kingdom above all else, which includes developing people who would protect the kingdom from harm. But he was also a man who was a part of the war against Salem so he knew how much everything was at stake.

The Arc family is also a part of this said war, although Erica and Jonathan have decided to put up their weapons in favor of raising their family, Ozpin and James knew that the two would answer when called.

Ozpin sighed as he remembered Jonathan, the Arc patriarch giving him a video call a few days ago.

"It was inevitable that my son would follow in our footsteps." The intellectual man sighed.

"Do you regret it, friend?" Ozpin asked.

"I do. My eldest daughter is a soldier for Vacuo, always in the front lines for the safety of the kingdom she protects. Fighting both Grimm and humans alike. My second daughter left us and is a part of a criminal group. My third plunged into the dark abyss of politics." The exhausted voice of his friend could be felt even through the scroll. "And all three are also a part of this war. I just pray that Guinevere and Jaune does not follow. I love my children, I'm proud of what they're doing as well. But I cannot help but worry for their future."

There was a pregnant silence between the two as Ozpin held back the guilt for causing so much suffering.

It was his fault. The deaths of numerous people, the war with the Grimm, and for the gods to abandon them as well.

It was his fault.

"They took up after the two of you, you know?" Ozpin, finally spoke up.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"The stubbornness of your wife and your strong sense of duty. Two characteristics that causes headaches when mixed." The headmaster chuckled. "Much like you and Erica."

Jonathan was silent for a few seconds before laughing. "If you meant about us breaking the rules..."

And from there the two reminisced their youth throughout the night.

"Ozpin, have you already chosen who you'd be sending after Merlot?" The general asked which snapped Ozpin out of his thoughts.

The headmaster pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes. I have. And I may regret my decision but it is the only choice."

"We can send-" The headmaster cut Ironwood off by putting his hand up.

"Don't. If you interfere the people of Vale would be worried. The council has made its decision to handle this. Merlot has been a citizen of Vale, therefore Vale will be the one to solve this problem."

"The boy is unstable."

"That boy you speak of has proven his loyalty to us, Ironwood."

"Its not his loyalty I fear for, Ozpin. Its his blood."

"He never chose to be born as he is. And our huntsmen are already stretched thin with all the 'mutated' Grimm appearing all around the kingdom."

"Then I pray that the team to go with them will find success."

"I as well old friend." The headmaster said in a somber tone as he cut off the call with Ironwood.

As much as Ozpin would want to send his staff on this mission he cannot move his most powerful pieces away because of who slept underneath.

The break for the first year students of Beacon academy ended three weeks ago and at the moment Yang Xiao-Long was standing still at Beacon academy's hallway as she stared at the electronic screen showing the ranking of Beacon's candidates for the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament. After deliberation from the faculty staff , there are five teams chosen in each year to be a part of the said ranking system.

Wherein each student is ranked individually by their skills and only the top twelve students, with their respective teams can join the tournament. This ranking system would serve as Beacon Academy's preliminary rounds for choosing their representatives.

Although, if one member of your team is not a part of the top twelve candidates then the said team's spot will be replaced by a team match between the remaining two teams outside of the twelve spots. Ranking is based on the win-loss ratio a student has and they are scheduled to fight once a day and is opted to take have a rest-day from fighting to ensure fairness in all grounds.

But there are exceptions to the rule regarding the win-loss ratio. A student can challenge another student of higher rank who has yet to fight or is not on their rest-day and if the one who issued the challenge wins, will switch spots with the higher-ranked student. And regardless of the results, you will be banned from challenging anyone for three days but others can challenge you. Challenges cannot be declined at all times.

"A team who cannot stand properly together will be doomed to fail against adversities."

This was the phrase mentioned by the headmaster when the said system was implemented years ago. Compared to other schools who chose based on grades and performances, Beacon Academy opted to choose this kind of arrangement because previous headmasters believed that a person's true potential and worth can only show in dire times.

And dire it was indeed.

Twenty Students.

With only three teams of twelve students getting the rights for entering the tournament.

Yang read the list from top to bottom.

1. Pyrrha Nikos (JNPR)

2. Yang Xiao-Long (RWBY)

3. Nora Valkyrie (JNPR)

4. Weiss Schnee (RWBY)

5. Ruby Rose (RWBY)

6. Lie Ren (JNPR)

7. Blake Beladonna (RWBY)

8. Cardinal Winchester (CRDL)

9. Sinclair Leveresque (LCHT)

10. Dove Bronzewing (CRDL)

11. Sky Lark (CRDL)

12. Ventus Aether (ATHR)

13. Rupert Terrance (ATHR)

14. Russel Thrush (CRDL)

15. Jaime Rioda (ATHR)

16. Henry Hellodien (LCHT)

17. Kyle Heathers (ATHR)

18. Carl Lediode (LCHT)

19. Caffel Turner (LCHT)

20. Jaune Arc (JNPR)

The buxom blonde read the last name on the list she put a finger on her chest as she tried to feel the jewelry hanging around her neck that was hidden by her school uniform. She wanted to confirm if it was still there, as the foreign object can only be worn when she wears her school uniform since it was the only time that she can hide it.

Maybe I should wear clothes that show less skin? She contemplated as she wanted to wear the accessory more.

The familiar and endearing voice of her sister called out to her as she approached along with the rest of team RWBY who just picked up Blake from the library. Again.

"So what's the agenda today?" Yang asked her little sister.

"We're going to meet with team JNPR at the cafeteria to have lunch and meet the rest of Sun's team." Weiss answered.

"I wonder what kind of weapons his team will use?" The little reaper beamed at the thought of seeing brand new weapons.

"Is Crescent Rose not enough for you?" Weiss asked her partner.

"Shouldn't have said that Weiss-cream." The team blonde said.

"Blasphemy! Cresent Rose is enough, and more! She's the greatest weapon ever! But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate other weapons too!" She exclaimed.

"Ugh, I forgot how much of a hopeless weapon nerd you are." The heiress rolled her eyes

Yang gave a small chuckle at the exchange before noticing Blake was glued to her Scroll, reading another article about the White Fang. She lightly elbowed her partner's shoulder to snap her off of her trance.

"Hey, we'll be having lunch with your boyfriend. Stop reading smut and start walking before you hit a wall." she scolded her partner.

"Ugh, Yang. He's not my boyfriend." Blake complained before hiding her scroll in her pocket before walking with her team to the cafeteria. "And second of all, I was reading news articles."

"So, news articles have smut now?" She smiled

"I hate you."

"No you don't. Anyway, You and sun spent the whole day in Vale going on a date. So I'm bound to assume." Yang snickered.

"We didn't have a date and you know that." Her partner deadpanned. "And speaking of boyfriends." She started walking a tad bit slower and Yang matched her pace. And when Ruby and Weiss were out of earshot, the cat faunus leaned in to the blonde and started to whisper. "What's going on between you and Jaune? Hm?"

Yang raised an eyebrow and whispered back. "Whatever do you mean oh dear partner of mine?"

"You never missed a day going to the ranking boards."

"I'm concerned for my own rank."

"And yet you never challenged Pyrrha for her rank."

"I'll take her on when she least expects it." The boxer punched her palm with a determined look on her face.

"Uh-huh. Sure you will." The cat faunus said with a heavily sarcastic tone.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean I'm pretty sure you go there because of another reason."

"And tell me, what is that reason, Blake?"

"Jaune Arc. Need I say more?"

"No. You don't have to." Yang sighed not like she can deny Blake's claims.

Blake was the only person Yang confided to when the blonde knight left for his month of training with his sisters. She was the only one who knew of what she did. As much as she wanted to tell Ruby about it, she doubts Ruby can keep her mouth shut and she doubts that Weiss would care enough about it. Therefore she went to the romanticist of her team.

"I still deny being a romanticist." Blake said.

"D-did you read my mind?!" The buxom blonde cried out in surprise.

"No, but it was obvious you were thinking about it."

"Sorry, you're the first person to come to mind because you're my partner."

"You told me its because I read romance books."

"I don't remember." She winked and lightly hit her head with her tongue out. "Tehe?"

"Acting cute won't work on me."

"Not even if Sun does it?"

"You're impossible." Blake rolled her eyes. "So, what's bothering you, anyway?"

"Just worried about him since there's no time left for the Vytal festival and he hasn't had any matches yet."

"I see." Blake could not give any other reply that doesn't sound half-hearted so she just gave her reply as-is. "Then all we can do is hope his training would be enough." There was a small moment of silence as they walked in the courtyard towards the cafeteria until Blake started again. "Is that all?"

"No..." Yang sighed. "There's also the fact that he's about to come back soon."

"Shouldn't you of all people be excited?"

"Yeah but..." yang trailed off as she scratched the back of her head and looked away from Blake.

"Is my partner, THE Yang Xiao-Long getting the jitters from seeing a guy?" She teased.

"Sh-shut up! I mean, I'm not supposed to be nervous or anything but this is a first for me, you know? I'm the first to 'kinda' confess, the first one who made the move so I have no idea if this thing we have is serious or not." She put her hands up to emphasize her point. "I'm not even sure if we have a thing!"

"Who has a thing with who?" A bubbly voice suddenly sprung along with the person in question between Blake and Yang

"Gah!" The pair screamed in unison as the shock from Nora's appearance startled them.

"Nora! Stop doing that!" Ren ran after her panting. "Suddenly cutting in a conversation is rude!"

"But they were whispering! Maybe they have some secret stash of food somewhere that they never told us!"

"Nora, you're the only one with a secret food stash around campus." He took a deep breath. "I apologize for her. Greetings by the way." He gave a small smile.

"Formal as ever." Yang smiled back.

Blake nodded at him.

Nora wrapped her arms around Yang and Blake. "So, we'll be meeting Blake's boyfriend's other teammates right?"

"Sun is not my boyfriend!" Blake retorted.

"Did I say Sun?" She faked a surprise. "Yang, did I ever mention Sun?"

The buxom blonde snickered. "Pretty sure you didn't."

Blake glared at her partner in anger. I hate you. She sent a message with her gaze.

No you don't. Yang retorted with hers.

Yeah, you love Yang! Nora joined in their telepathic conversation.

Pyrrha walked towards them laughing at Nora's antics as Ren stayed visibly confused at their exchange. "Its a girl thing." The champion explained as she put a reassuring hand on Ren's shoulder.

"Of course it is." The green ninja said in an exasperated tone.

Team RWBY and _NPR sat opposite each other on a cafeteria table as Team SSSN divided themselves into two to have a symmetrical position at the table they sat at.

Team RWBY with Sun and Neptune who was chatting with Ruby about their weapons. (Sun seated beside Blake and Neptune by Weiss, who of course was obviously swooning despite trying her best not to show it.)

While the newly met members, Sage and Scarlet sat by team _NPR.

Yang decided to start on her lunch as she silently listened to _NPR's conversation.

"So, how come there's only three of you?" Sage asked.

"Our leader is off for some training. But he'll be back soon." Pyrrha answered.

"Wait, you're not the leader?"

The champion gave a polite smile as she shook her head.

"Huh, I guess that's why he needed to train."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

"I mean, if THE Pyrrha Nikos is a part of a team and not a leader, the pressure's on him to be better than you. As your team leader, he's probably expected by everyone to at least be that much." He said it as if it was a matter-of-fact.

"Jaune would never feel that way." The champion defended.

"How would you know? Did you ask?"

"No, but-"

"Then how can you say that he doesn't feel that way?" He cut her off.

"Sage. That's enough." Scarlet put a hand on his partner's shoulder to stop him. "I think you've said too much"

"What do you-" He flinched when he felt the murderous gazes from two people on the table. The ones ranked number two and number three in Beacon. "Huh, guess I have. Good time as any to excuse my self then." Sage stood up and left the cafeteria.

Sacrlet stood up to follow but apologized before leaving. "Sage has no filter between his bran and his mouth he knows of this but hasn't done anything about it. He's prideful that way, so I hope you can understand he doesn't mean anything by it." He left with an apologetic and awkward smile.

Sun and Neptune exchanged a worried expression while Yang saw Pyrrha staring at her meal while biting her lower lip as she let Sage's words sink in.

As much as Pyrrha wanted to ignore it, many times she has lost friends because of her status as a champion. She's been hearing the whispers of his fellow peers, with the exception of team RWBY, regarding Jaune's legitimacy as a teammate of Pyrrha, let a lone being her leader.

She's scared of the thought of losing her friends. Perhaps its about a good time as any to lose her status as champion?

The next day, the students of Beacon and the guests were gathered at Beacon's combat class to have an exhibition match between students as managed by the deputy, Glynda Goodwitch. These series of matches is also recorded for the ranking boards.

"And the third match would be, Lie Ren against Ventus Aether."

Ren nodded and entered the locker room to gather his weapon. His opponent, Ventus followed suit. Ventus was a part of team LCHT. He was short as Weiss while having brown curly hair that covered his left eye, while his right showed that his eyes' colors were of a hazel hue. He wore an orange dress-shirt underneath light leather armor that protected his chest, shoulders and forearms. His denim pants had no protection whatsoever but there were belts that wrapped around his legs which held his folded weapons. The two entered the Arena at the same time and donned their weapons.

Although there was something odd at the scenery, no one in the audience but Nora could understand what it was.

Ren is smiling. He has a small genuine smile on his face. Nora thought to her self.

Ren held Stormflower while Ventus had boomerangs for each gap between his fingers having a grand total of eight boomerangs ready.

"Prepare yourselves. We'll have tournament rules, the match is decided when the opponent's aura is in the red or by ring-out. There are no draws, if the timer runs out, we'll based on the amount of aura and performance one had. Am I clear?" The deputy asked.

Ren nodded in confirmation.

"Yep!" Ventus replied with a smile.

"5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Begin!"

The two fighters were both speed oriented and knew that the first to make make a successful attack will gain the advantage. Ren rushed forward with Stormflower being fired at Ventus. Ren's opponent let his aura take the damage and threw all eight boomerangs at the same time. The boomerangs went straight for Ren, while a few went off course and curved themselves to head straight into Ren's blindspots.

But of course, this wasn't the first time Ren saw this attack as he has seen other's fall prey into it. Ventus was confident that no one can dodge this sure-win attack that he had created especially against someone that has a rather low aura-pool.

But what Ventus didn't take into account was Ren's instinct and flexibility that Jaune along with Pyrrha, honed in him. The ability to react accordingly and find ways for victory, the recent fight with the House of Cards helped tremendously in seeing the flaws in his fighting style as well as improving it.

The ninja found a few gaps in the attack and hopped forwad and spun in the air dodging the oncoming attack. Once he landed, Ventus was too surprised at Ren to even react properly and was struck five times by Ren's weapons. His opponent pulled a pair of objects holstered on his legs. The object unfurled to reveal that the objects were another set of boomerangs. Ventus attempted to strike Ren but the ninja swiftly dodged and kept counterattacking with stormflower.

But that wasn't enough.

Ren was motivated. He wanted to snatch a sure victory, and so he increased his tempo. The number of his strikes increasing in each counters, his footwork moving so swiftly that Ventus never noticed how his body was being struck by them. It was a one-sided fight that none of the students have seen Ren do.

The sound of the buzzer alerted Ren to stop as his opponent's aura was already in the red. Upon inspection, there was a minute left in their match. Lie Ren was able to defeat his opponent in a minute.

The arena was silent except for the sound of Ventus on all-fours panting like crazy and Nora doing her best to hold back her joy on seeing his childhood friend fight the way he did.

That's my man right there! Nora shouted gleefully inside her mind.

"The winner is Lie Ren." The deputy announced. She nodded at Ren, signaling him to return while she speaks to Ventus on his mistakes on the match.

The silent fighter walked away but for once, he didn't leave so silent.

"I hope that was enough to impress you, partner." He didn't shout, but the fact remained that everyone was still in awe at the match causing the to hear his words but their attention came unto the person who walked towards Ren from the entrance of the locker room.

The boy had a messy mop of blonde hair, fierce blue eyes filled with a confident shine of hope. The teen wore his signature Pumpkin Pete hoodie underneath a gray blazer. While wearing a new set of pure white heavy armor with the edges trimmed in brown lining that looked a bit like bronze if the light shined properly on them. His chest plate was placed on top of the blazer and had extended its range of protection to a small upper part of his abdomen as well as his back and his sides. The plate was no longer flattened but instead curved outwards.

The armor on his shoulders were asymmetrical in a way that his right shoulder had normal pauldrons that protected his shoulder and upper arm but his left side had a bigger size compared to the other and the top of the right side was designed like that of a castle's tower, more specifically the crenelations on top. Moreover his right side was fully armored with no gaps seen whatsoever unlike his left side which has his elbows exposed for better articulation and movement.

Both arms have the same bracers that fully protects their forearms but the steel gauntlets were asymmetrical as well. With the right gauntlet resembling mittens in the way that it only has to sections that protects the thumb and the four fingers respectively, while the opposite could be said for the other as it covers every finger individually. And lastly, he exchanged the ripped denim pants for regular ones of a darker hue with his forelegs protected by shinguards tucked into his leather military boots.

"I know I asked you to put on a show not steal all of it." The blonde knight complained.

Ren chuckled before looking back in the stands at the audience, specifically team SSSN's direction. "Prove them you belong here." He offered a fist bump that Jaune gladly met and the two walked on to the opposite direction.

Jaune walked into the arena with a smile on his face as he soaked in the faces of his friends.

"Jaune!" His team, along with Team RWBY shouted his name in unison, excitement and eagerness clear on their face. There was confusion within the whole audience as well at who the newcomer was, but the remaining Beacon students merely greeted him in their own way.

"Hey everyone." He greeted them all.

Glynda Goodwitch coughed loudly and glared at the noise the student body was creating which rendered them silent.

"Mr. Arc here has come back from a month of personal training that the headmaster especially permitted due to circumstances. He is the leader of Team JNPR of which I know many of you are acquainted with." The deputy gave a short pause before continuing. "He has now returned to catch up on his studies and I hope the students of other academies would get along with him."

"Oh, I'm sure my team would want to." One of the female students in the audience said, said student had violet hair brushed to the side.

"Nebula!" Another voice screamed out, this time it was a girl whose hair had a green hue.

"What? Ms. Erina said to watch over him. Plus, he's cute."

"Idiot! It was supposed to be a secret." A red-head said.

Jaune couldn't help but give an awkward laugh to their loud conversation while scratching his cheek, doing his best to ignore another blonde.

The sound of a riding crop whipping the air caused the loud group to go quiet. "Introduce yourself Mr. Arc." The combat instructor ordered.

Jaune nodded.

"My name is Jaune Arc, and as Ms. Goodwitch said, I've been away for personal training, to my fellow students of Beacon, Its nice to see you all again, and to the guests from other schools, Its nice to meet you and I hope we get along well."

The deputy nodded in approval on the young knight's greeting. The two exchanged glances and proceeded with Jaune's request.

"The reason why Mr. arc is here on the stage is because he requested a ranked challenge." She paused as the audience started to garner noise again.

"And he has issued it against the currently ranked number one. Pyrrha Nikos."

Jaune Arc arrived at the airship docks of the academy wearing his new clothing. His armor and weapons already sent ahead of him. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket containing Erina's message for him

"Jaune, just a heads up that I asked a team from Shade Academy to watch over you. And help them feel comfortable in Beacon. Remember your training, what you did was just the basics its not enough. Its up to you to branch off from the family style and make it your own. Don't forget to keep in touch, especially with our younger sisters and parents as well. Devlin sends his regards. Take care of yourself you idiot. Love, Erina.

P.S. When will you introduce that Xiao-Long girl?"

"Dammit sis." Jaune cursed as his face flustered over the post note. Although its only been three weeks since he saw Yang after what happened, he's more nervous about coming back more than ever. Plus, there's also the fact that his previous Scroll broke and he couldn't contact them whatsoever. He sighed as he thought of how much his team might scold him for it.

He saw the headmaster approach him.

"Greetings Mr. Arc. It has been a while."

"Thank you, headmaster." Jaune looked around restlessly for his team but to his surprise there were only students of a higher year walking around.

Ozpin chuckled. "Your team is in the combat arena along with the whole first year student-body. I came here to inform you of that."

"I see, thank you headmaster!" Jaune replied as he started to head for the arena but was stopped by the headmaster's words.

"Welcome back, Mr. Arc."

"Its good to be back, headmaster."

Upon arrival in the locker room of the combat arena Jaune was surprised to see a familiar face in the locker room.

"Ren?" He called out.

The boy in question was turned to him in surprise. "Jaune!" He approached the blonde knight with a small smile on his face. "When did you return?"

"I just arrived actually."

"I see." Ren said as he walked towards his locker and inspected his weapons.

"Did I miss anything?"

The green ninja pondered for a bit before answering. "Except for lessons and much needed practice for the play? Not so much."

"Well, I can easily catch up. And besides, like I promised, I've been practicing for the play while in the midst of training."

"I'm sure Weiss would be relieved to hear that." He chuckled.

"You getting ready for a match?" Jaune asked

"Have you heard about the ranking boards for the tournament participants?"

Jaune nodded.

"I have a match regarding that. Do you know the current state of your rank?"

The blonde gave a wry smile at that. "Yeah, Miss Goodwitch informed me when the semester started and how it means our team's participation is still tentative due to my rank, and the Student Council also informed me about the student-body having doubts about my leadership of our team."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the student council isn't stupid, Ren. After the first Semester, I've yet to have a proper win against any student in a spar, having a draw as the best result I can have, The council have been hearing some rumors, out of earshot from the team, regarding my absence and position as leader." He paused and bit his lip.

"Do you refer of Pyrrha being your teammate?"

"Are you some kind of mind reader?" The blonde knight's surprise was plastered on his face. "But, yeah that. As well as how she should be on a better team."

Ren shook his head. "We just had a firsthand experience on those rumors." He then explained the events that transpired with Team SSSN's Sage and the words exchanged.

Once done, Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. He was worried and frustrated. Not for people doubting his position as leader, he himself doubts he deserves it, but by the effects that it could bring in Pyrrha. He had hoped that none of it would reach his team's ears because he planned to clear those doubts today but now that its escalated this much, he had no choice but to be swift and there was a chance in front of him that can help ease everything up.

Jaune requested of Ren to win against his opponent in a one-sided manner. Nora and Ren didn't need to prove anything but they needed to give a statement.

Team JNPR will dominate the tournament. Those were the last words the pair exchanged before Ren proceeded to his fight.

/-/

Jaune Arc arrived with his old weapon, Crocea Mors, and a new mechashift weapon on the young man's back. The spear Joan originally used.

"Deceptio Argenti." Jaune introduced his new weapon to Pyrrha.

He borrowed it from their family's armory, this time with permission, as an extra weapon to bolster his offence. He took it from his back and revealed it as he listened to the deputy explain the rules.

He saw Pyrrha calmly observing him as he played around, casually spinning the shortspear in his hand.

"Don't hold back, Pyr." Jaune said with a confident smile on his face. "I promised you I'd be coming for you. And here I am."

Pyrrha smiled, she had her doubts if Jaune were going to come through with his promise but hearing the words he said cleared all her anxieties away. "Not even going to draw your shield for me?"

"For now, nope." he said casually. Which means that he plans to show the fruits of his training to her first and foremost. Pyrrha didn't want to assume but let it be said that she was also a girl like any other, and that gesture made her heart aflutter.

The young knight went into his stance, low on the ground as if he was preparing for a run in a track.

Pyrrha put her shield up and her javelin sitting atop.

"There are no time limits to a challenge. You can only win by Aura dropping into the red or by ring out.

The match will start after my signal. are you ready?"

The deputy saw the fighters ready for combat and nodded. She signaled with a crack of her riding crop.

"Begin!"

And after the signal to start was dropped, Jaune rushed forward in a surprising burst of speed. The ground he was on was nothing but a crater as he thrust his spear forward towards her neck. But Pyrrha reacted first. She hopped back, the length of a shortspear is exactly as its name implied. It was a shorter variation of a spear. Therefore her javelin would be in an advantage.

Pyrrha thrust her javelin forward after confirming the length of Jaune's weapon unable to reach her but what surprised her was the sudden change of the air around the shortspear. The shaft extended and struck Pyrrha's circlet the impact was strong enough that she was sent flying back.

She recovered by putting her hand on the ground and flipping backward but Jaune never stopped. he kept attacking relentlessly without rhythm. When fighting, people would always unconsciously turn strike in a certain pattern that's easily calculated by anyone after a while and Pyrrha's had fights when her opponents tried toa void having the rhythm but Jaune was different. His actions, his eyes, his movements, not one thing was a pattern. With how fast his weapon shifts in length and speed, Pyrrha was having a hard time adapting to him.

While Jaune had he advantage of fighting Pyrrha multiple times to expose any gaps to her defenses.

The audience was at awe. THE Pyrrha Nikos is at the defensive but what surprised them was the focus she had. Although she had her shield up, it was visible that she's slowly approaching Jaune who was still attacking. He'd get tired sooner or later and a lapse would be enough for Pyrrha to parry and counter. The sweat forming in Jaune's face was clear enough that the boy would stop soon enough.

The people watching had their mouths opened as the boy whom they expected to stop soon did not let on.

Jaune Arc was slowly whittling away Pyrrha's aurapool into yellow zone. The undefeated champion noticed this so she had no choice but to use her trump card to gain an advantage.

She anticipated a thrust from her opponent and used her semblance to slow the attack, even if its just a few seconds it was enough for her shield to intercept it and parry the attack causing Jaune's dominant hand, which held the spear blown back.

Pyrrha thrusts her own weapon forward on Jaune's exposed abdomen but the knight defended himself by pulling Crocea Mors' sheath and used its flat surface to defend himself against the attack. Pyrrha jumped back as she saw the spear that was behind him falling down on her. She flinched as she saw the ground she stood on become nothing but a crater.

"You've gotten stronger, Jaune." She said with a fierce smile on her face, sweat dropping down on her cheek at the monstrous strength of her leader. She looked at the giant monitor to see Jaune's aurapool has decreased by twenty percent which explains his power, the reason why huntsmen can do inhuman feats is because their aura assists them in boosting their capabilities. In theory, if you've got more aura, you can be more stronger but the bigger your aura is, the harder it is to control and maintain. "You've gotten better control of your aura."

"Oh that? Might as well if I want to have an advantage over everyone." He said. The knight put Crocea Mors back onto his hip. "But doing it consumes so much of my aura." twenty percent. Its not much, statistically, but if the people in the know were to consider his unusually large aurapool then the sudden burst of power and speed was expected.

"You've finally stopped holding back." he said, the boy smiled at his teammate. "I'm glad you've finally used your trump card. Now its my turn." He took a deep breath as he remembered the basics of the first form, shifting his spear from his right to his left hand.

Breath. it was the first step. Feel the air around you, feel your blood flow in your body, feel your aura at the edges of your fingers. The tingling feeling was there, it flows like water.

Be shapeless. Formless. Like water. Put water into a cup it becomes the cup, put water in a teapot it becomes the teapot.

Now, put your self into the sword.

He pulled Crocea Mors with his right. The sword extending and becoming a part of Jaune's body. It wasn't a tool for combat. It was Jaune himself.

Feel the spear with your left. The same philosophy of the sword, you are what you fight with.

Pyrrha shifted her weapon into a rifle and fired it at Jaune.

He dodged every bullet at the last second before rushing forward at his opponent. Pyrrha defended by shifting Miló into a xyphos and defending herself along with her shield, counterattacking when she felt that she could but was parried by Crocea Mors.

She took damage from the spear despite being able to dodge it. She was confused as to how was that possible. Jaune defended with his sword while attacking with the spear. It was the style he thought of months ago and he has perfected it and more. Pyrrha was losing in a one-sided manner but she noticed a flaw to this. Jaune's aura was deteriorating faster than her aura went down and decided to grab victory by attrition. She started using her semblance more to assist her in evading but to her surprise Jaune stopped his attacks when he noticed her semblance was being frequently used therefore he jumped back and smiled at her.

"How'd I do?" He asked.

"I thought you wouldn't notice but your aura is dropping." Pyrrha smirked. She has the advantage despite both of their aura being in the yellow zone. "I think its inefficient."

"You're right. But its effective. I got hits over the invincible girl." A wild smile appeared on Jaune's face. "But I think its time for my trump card." He sheathed Crocea Mors and shortened his spear. "I mastered this just for this moment, Pyrrha. So watch closely." He crouched down again and the air around the whole building has changed. The spear's head started to glow green as wind was starting to visibly twist and turn around it and ironically the wind surrounding the weapon literally had rendered the spear invisible from the eyes of everyone who watched the match. "Everything for this one move." He held his weapon behind his back as he returned to his previous stance of crouching on the ground ready to rush towards her. A trick move that he mastered for defeating Pyrrha. He already showed how flexible the length of his weapon can have going from a shortspear to a long spear at a moment's notice. The advantage of surprising the opponent with one attack is the aim for this technique. Deceptio Argenti had a pure wind dust serving as its core within the blade which helped him in manipulating wind. Right now he used the core in order to cover his weapon with powerful wind, and with application of his own aura, causing the said wind to refract the light making the spear invisible from the naked eye.

"Come at me, Jaune!" The champion challenged and put her shield up, shifting her weapon into a Xyphos. The perfect weapon for countering against Jaune who'd use speed against her. She baited him by leaving herself open, putting her shield arm down and her sword hand reared back for a counter. There was no point to defending at this point. But she can parry and counter.

Everyone knew that the next exchange would decide the victor.

The champion or her leader. Who would stand on top?

The audience was silent as they watched.

The world slowed between the two combatants Jaune vanished from sight and appeared before the champion his hand reared back for a thrusting motion. Pyrrha saw where Jaune's eyes aimed at and moved her neck to the side putting her shield up to parry the spear.

Unfortunately for her, she never discovered how she got hurt despite dodging Jaune's attacks.

Deceptio Argenti, Deceiving Silver, is a weapon used to trick opponents. The perfect weapon when your enemy is strong. Jaune never revealed the secret of the spear.

It wasn't the wind dust core that can hide itself.

It most certainly wasn't the changeable length.

It was the fact that the weapon, wasn't just a spear/shortspear hybrid.

It was also a Cross Spear.

The perfect deception.

Pyrrha struck Jaune's shoulder at the same time that the head of Jaune's spear unfurled into three and struck Pyrrha's Neck. Additionally with the power of the wind, Jaune's strike blasted the champion out of the arena, and the spear striking a critical part of Pyrrha's body caused her aura to fall into the redzone along with Jaune who was in the red as well.

"Arc Style, Water emperor form; Sonic Thrust." The young knight whispered to himself while panting heavily.

"Winner by ring out, Jaune Arc!" The deputy announced.

Everyone was silent except for Jaune's footsteps that appraoched Pyrrha. He offered a hand towards her to which she gladly grabbed with a smile.

"I told you I was coming for you."

Pyrrha laughed. "I'll have my vengeance soon."

The audience started clapping and cheering at the exchange between the two of them. A fire was lit within the students of all academies.

Jaune Arc had proven that Pyrrha Nikos can be defeated. They felt a mixed of excitement and fear.

Excitement that Pyrrha isn't impossible to defeat and fear that team JNPR is one of the team to lookout for the most, especially Jaune Arc.

Change was coming in their generation and it caused a fire to light in everyone's heart at the battle that they saw today. The message was clear and spread among the student-body. That team JNPR is contending for victory above all else. And everyone wanted a piece of it as well.

A certain team CMSN (Crimson) watched it all as they clapped along with everyone else. With Jaune's lineage he became a part of their team's watchlist.

Cinder Fall looked to Emerald and Mercury who nodded in understanding as to what her gaze meant.

Jaune Arc needs to be observed.

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And Chapter 19 is OVEEERR ASJKDHDGHDG 7K WORDS OMFG. Don't expect more in the coming chapters because I just wanted to show that things aren't exactly the same with Jaune Arc and everyone here. Now, the show NEVER showed much of Sage and Scarlet's personality so I'm threading blind waters here, but I see Sage as the kind of guy who has zero filters with his belief and the way he voices it, not arrogant, but more of inept in empathizing with others. Jaune has a wardrobe chage, and if anyone has a few problems in understanding how I describe his armor write it down in the reviews and I'll answer it to make it clearer. Basically his armor is pure white like in Volume 4 but the edges, rather than gold is brownish-bronze (Will explain why in the future chapters) His armor has a few tricks like his weapon but I won't delve on it for now. And the design is meant to be different from his Volume 4 counterpart but the theme is kinda the same in a way that his shoulders were asymmetrical. I liked that on his armor so that was the basis. Basically the gauntlets were inspired from Saber, Arthuria, of Fate/Stay night's own gauntlets but Jaune's left sdie was for mobility and offense as his left was for defending and blocking. Its a combination of having heavy-ish armor and still being mobile for combat. Change has come for our young Jaune Arc and there shall be more!

If there are problems or comments just leave it in a review and I'll make sure to fix it next update. There's so many things I'm not satisfied about this chapter but for now I'll make do. I can't seem to be able to change the thing I'm ticked about and I've been fixing and editing for the past three days already. ARGH!

P.s. Remember how Jaune was supposed to train for a month? A month, as in four weeks? Well, lets just say something happened three weeks ago in the timeline that we will dive into the next chapter.

P.S.S. Next chapter might come late because I plan to update my other fics.

As always guys, Love and peace! This is Shaniic, signing out.