Today was like before, Jaune had woken up and was immediately sent to the construction site. There he went and fought Henry once again. He attacked, got countered, and fell. The process was almost natural and Jaune couldn't help but start to think this would be the status quo. After getting pushed down the fifty-ish time, Henry walked towards Neo. Having no idea of what was happening, Neo texted Jaune. Listen here, Henry thinks you should try fighting Jack. Jaune didn't really know who Jack was, but figured it out once the small masked man stepped forward.

Jack's weapon of choice was a small dagger, it looked like it was made out of the same material as Henry's training sword so Jaune guessed it wasn't sharp. Getting up, he readied himself in a defensive stance. Jack dashed forward with high speed. Seeing him come, Jaune slashed his sword to the left. Jack leaped over it and threw his dagger at Jaune's head. Throwing his shield up, he blocked the attack but saw Jack land behind him. With a quick kick, Jaune stumbled forward. Jack grabbed his dagger that was on the ground and brought it to his neck. It was over in a flash.

Jaune let his arms dangle, showing that he gave up. While he could at least put up some sort of fight against Henry, he couldn't even manage to do a thing against Jack. Even when he went strictly on offense, he couldn't land a hit on Jack. For some reason, Jack knew exactly how to dodge any attack Jaune threw at him, when his legs were open, Jack would literally crawl through the gap between his legs while slashing at his thighs. It wasn't like a real blade, but it still hurt like shit.

"This is truly pathetic. You really have no talent at adapting to different fighting styles. It seems the only reason you can even stand against Henry is because he's pummeled his fighting style into your idiotic brain." The contrast between the two masked men were clear, while Henry tried to teach Jaune, it seemed like Jack would prefer to beat whatever lesson he wanted into him. Very few times did he ever say anything other than "adapt". Jaune just couldn't keep up with the man, he was just too fast. His movements were wild, and he relied solely on his acrobatics and speed to attack Jaune's openings. The fighting kept on going for another few hours before Jaune was out of breath, his body bruised and his knees buckling over. For some odd reason, Jack kept focusing on his legs, each hit slowly but surely made Jaune's movement crawl to an almost stop. Of course he was trying to protect his legs, but every time he tried to dodge, Jack would simply push his attack. Compared to Henry's all around beating, Jack's focus beating was much worse.

Jaune was out of it, he couldn't stand up at this point. Even when he tried to get up, his body would just fall over. No matter how hard he tried to get up, his legs just wouldn't let him. After 20 minutes of him struggling, Neo finally stepped in. She pushed Jack aside and bent down towards his legs, slowly healing him. With his legs somewhat restored, he got ready for another fight, but Jack stand downed.

"You fought hard, I'll acknowledge that." And like that, Jack threw his dagger at Jaune's foot, it's blade stuck in the ground. Was this a sign of respect? Before Jaune could say anything else, Neo grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the small gate. Crawling back through, Jaune could feel his stomach growl. Hearing this, Neo pointed in the direction of the usual diner.

LeTasha greeted them as they sat down. Jaune ordered another sandwich, this time it was chicken and coleslaw while Neo ordered her usual sundae. They sat once again in silence, Jaune still trying to soothe his sore legs and Neo was doing whatever on her scroll. The bubble was popped when LeTasha brought two plates of apple pie.

Before Jaune could say anything, LeTasha spoke, "Don't worry bout it sweetie. The two slices are on the house." And like that, she placed them and vanished in the back of the kitchen within 5 seconds. For an old lady like her, she sure could book it.

Jaune went ahead and started eating his apple pie, it was still warm which helped him feel at peace. Neo didn't seem to pay any attention to the pie, still looking at her scroll. Jaune nudged the plate towards her, finally breaking her attention, she was taken back a bit when she saw the apple pie. Looking up at Jaune with a questionable look, he just shrugged in response. While still a bit confused, she took a scoop of ice cream and placed it on the apple pie. Like that, the two went back to eating the apple pies without a single note towards each other.

With stomachs full, they both headed back to the safe house, with no idea what to do for the rest of the day. Jaune was nowhere near able to do training thanks to Jack but Neo didn't want to stay in that stupid apartment all day. Then a thought came to Neo as she started typing into her scroll. She pushed it into his face and Jaune looked shocked as to her idea. I want to have you fight real Grimm. The message told him clearly what she meant but he was still surprised by the random request. While his body was still sore, he could still fight to an extended degree. Maybe if Neo was watching over, they could figure something out. Seeing the little girl look up at him, he couldn't help but nod yes.

They had taken a bus towards the commercial district; the odd thing about it though was that the commercial district was the exact opposite of where any grimm would be. Getting off the bus, Jaune followed Neo as they kept passing warehouses.

Eventually they reached their destination, said destination was just another warehouse like the others. When they entered though, that was when everything clicked into place.

It was a fight club, and not just any fight club. It was a grimm fight club. They seemed to have caged low level grimm and used them to fight random other fighters. Most of the people there were masked men like Jack and Henry, but there were a few random faces here and there. There were mostly Beowolves and one Ursa, all of which were locked in heavy duty metal cages. In the center of the warehouse was an arena like cage. Inside was a random masked man and a Ursa.

The masked man charged at the Ursa with striking speed, smashing into it and sending it flying to the cage wall. It hit the ground but before it could get up, the man leaped at it and shoved his sword into its grimm had disappeared and the man had left the cage as people yelled. It was truly an amazing feat and Jaune couldn't stop but give the masked man respect. Neo's scroll went up to his face, You're going to be fighting one of those. And don't lose because I'm betting on you winning.

Without warning Neo pushed Jaune closer to the cage. Men were looking at him with weird gazes but when they saw he was carrying a sword, they cheered, happy to see another person stand and fight the grimm. A man in a suit started calling up bets as Jaune was standing awkwardly in the cage.

"200 turquoise Lien on the Beowolf!"

"150 turquoise Lien on that kid getting killed within the first 30 seconds!"

"50 blue Lien on the kid surviving!"

With all their bets placed, Jaune looked as the cage holding the grimm slowly rise.

Shit.

It was all that could go through Jaune's head. So far he has been fighting people, not grimm. Even when he was training at home, he never once encountered a grimm ever in his life. Sure he had read a book about them but that was the most, and now he had to fight one for his life. He couldn't move as the gates slowly opened. His sword was shaking as he raised it towards the beast.

"Look at that brat! He can't even face a Beowolf!"

"Damn, maybe he really will die!"

"Looks like imma getting beer money today!"

While the comments were hard to hear, Jaune could still get a few bits here and there as the crowd started losing whatever hope they had for him to win.

Then he saw Neo, just staring at him with determined eyes. As he saw her brown and pink eyes stare at him something weird filled his chest. It was odd but it made him feel calm. He slowled his breath and eyed down the monster. Getting his shield ready and into a defensive stance, he waited for its next move.

The Beowolf jumped at Jaune, it's claws going straight towards his head. Raising his shield he blocked the attack but the impact still vibrated through his arm. Before he could counter attack though, another swipe came from his left. Recognizing that attack from Henry, Jaune instinctively jumped back and countered with a quick slash, mirroring the Beowolf's attack. With a clean strike, he had cut off the monster's arm. It jumped back as it held onto its stump, with a loud cry it started to shake.

Slowly backing away the Beowolf seemed to try and figure out its next move, the same for Jaune as well. Before the grimm could figure out Jaune decided to go on the offensive, charging shield first towards the Beowolf.

With all his strength into the charge, he had knocked the Beowolf into the cage wall. Remembering what the previous fighter did, he leaped and shoved his sword into its head. The Beowolf went limp as it slowly dissolved into nothing. Once he had properly gotten up an uproar came about. Some men were holding their heads in defeat while others were surprised by the quick comeback.

Neo smiled as she saw Jaune look around with stars in his eyes. He had killed his first grimm, by himself, all him. He was filled with different emotions as he thought about what he did. He could finally see himself as a real hunter. So what if he originally failed, he killed a grimm. That alone gave him the confidence as he walked out of the cage.

He met up with Neo soon, she seemed to have a proud face on her. His scroll vibrated and read, I knew you could do it ya idiot. I have to thank you for making me some nice Lien. Maybe i'll treat you to some ice cream. The message gave Jaune even more confidence as he blushed and scratched his head with a full smile.

"I only killed one, but just you wait! I'm gonna become a real hunter!" He couldn't stop smiling as they walked out the warehouse. Leaving the noisy fight club and into the calm and silent district.

Their walk back was as silent as the river that they were walking beside. Neo seemed to be in a happy state with her looking at her scroll again. Jaune felt like he might as well thank Neo for giving him courage. He extended his hand onto her shoulder, with her stopping dead in her tracks. She turned her head to see Jaune eye to eye.

"Uh… Neo… I just wanted to say thanks." She raised her eyebrow as she wondered what he meant. "When I was about to fight the Beowolf. I sort've frozed. I didn't know what to do. I can't really explain but… When I looked at your eyes… You kinda gave me courage or something." This was embarrassing for both Jaune and Neo. He went with his usual pose as he scratched the back of his head, "I just wanted to say thanks and all."

Neo had nodded and turned her head back towards her scroll. After saying all of that, he couldn't help but feel some blood reach his cheek. Did he really just say all that in front of a girl? Especially Neo? He was hitting himself in his brain as he regret his words. Neo on the other hand seemed to blankly look at her scroll, her mind in another world.

A/N: So this one is a lot shorter than the previous. I guess I'm already getting writers withdrawal since my pacing has dropped to nothing. I feel like this chapter was missing something, or it just feels unprofessional. Oh, I might try out a Gravity Falls series later on, and if I do then chapters will come out even less… Which is kinda sad. Anyway, see you next time.