Chapter 6: Suspicions
"The fight is over. Winner by surrender from Jaune Arc is Yang Xiao Long. Miss Xiao Long, I advise you not to be so straightforwards with your attacks. Perhaps more feints would suit to confuse your enemy more, especially when they have a strong defense. You did well on recovery and stringing together combos." Goodwitch nodded with a smile.
"Keep in mind however to never fall under an opponent's pace."
"Yes Professor." Yang spat out the words, glaring heavily at Jaune.
She couldn't help but to think to herself, 'More feints?! I was using feints! This guy could see through my every move!'
Jaune however was confused
Did I do something wrong? Jaune couldn't help but to ask himself. It seemed like Yang had a personal agenda against him or something.
Before Jaune could speak a word to her however, Goodwitch rounded towards him. Her gaze was cold and slightly annoyed.
"Arc, your form was sloppy however I have to commend you on your efficiency in blocking and deflecting attacks. I would like to ask however, why did you not send out a single attack?"
"Ah... I um.... well, I was trying to... learn her movements?" Jaune gave off a weak excuse. How was he supposed to explain the odd phenomenon of suddenly gaining a superior clarity of mind when fighting against Yang?
It didn't make sense now did it?
Jaune was sure that if he were to explain the situation, Miss Goodwitch was likely to send him to a mental hospital.
After all, who would believe such a ridiculous statement.
Perhaps...
Whatever that clarity was, was a good thing. It would prove to the rest of them that he belonged in this institution.
"Studying her movements? Truly... In any case, although your ability to direct attacks is very high, you need to learn to properly attack. Defense is not always the perfect offense." Goodwitch explained.
After giving off a few more comments, she ushered them back to their seats.
"Back to the stands. Its time for the next participants to battle."
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Yang shot Jaune the evil eye and headed her way back towards her team. They greeted her and congratulated her for winning.
"Nice job Yang. You showed him who's boss." Ruby, cried out, nodding excitedly.
"Yeah... maybe." Yang replied, strewing in her thoughts.
"Your skills are indeed quite admirable. Good fight... though, I have to say I'm surprised by Arc's ability to fight. Looking at him, it seems as though he is a bumbling buffoon but I guess I was wrong." Weiss analyzed glancing at team JNPR.
Their leader, Jaune had already taken his seat among them and was chatting away about how the fight went.
"Well, it wasn't that surprising. He'd have to have at least a modicum of skill to be entered into beacon after all." Blake replied, cupping her chin.
"Sigh. Guys... the fight shouldn't have been my win." Yang started, her eyes looking slightly annoyed. "Jaune was clearly toying with me during that fight."
"Huh? What do you mean? You were clearly winning" Ruby asked, slightly confused.
"I... don't know. I mean think about it. How was he suddenly able to deflect or dodge each of my attacks so perfectly that it looked almost a if he was a prophet? It just doesn't make any sense... why would he deliberately allow me to attack him and lower his Aura before finally showing off his skills."
Yang frowned.
"And the worst part was, after practically dominating the fight, he had the gall to surrender. Jaune is looking down on me and it pisses me off."
"Uh, Yang maybe it isn't exactly like what you might think?" Ruby raised her hands placatingly.
"Not what I think?! Then what else was he doing?"
"Well... I-I don't know." Ruby admitted.
"Look Ruby, Im not trying to get in the way of you and your friendship with Jaune but if he was stronger than I was, why didn't he just fight properly instead of acting like he was a complete amateur. We're all huntsmen, trained huntsmen and doing something like this... its just really stupid. Something I actually never expected to encounter from Arc."
"You know Ruby, she's got a point." Blake shrugged.
"Sigh. Maybe. I guess I should go talk to Jaune..."
"Just... be careful. I don't want you getting hurt." Yang's eyes narrowed. "Whatever Jaune's deal is... he clearly isn't taking this seriously."
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"Nice fight fearless leader!" Nora cried out, raising her hand for a high five. Jaune naturally reciprocated and smiled awkwardly back in response.
"Uh... thanks, Nora. But I lost so I wouldn't exactly say that it was really a... nice fight." Jaune took his seat, glancing back at the stage.
Miss Goodwitch had already called down another two participants.
"Winning or losing doesn't matter much, its how you demonstrate your prowess that makes a fight more interesting. I have to say, Jaune your technique is very odd." Pyrrha commented, smiling back at Jaune
"Yeah... I er..." Jaune started but was interrupted by Nora.
"Yeah, you were all like, oh no, Im a weakling please don't hurt me! Then suddenly when
Yang let her guard down, you were all like, Bam! Wapow! Whose the weakling now huh?! You sure, showed her... though why did you surrender? You were clearly dominating her movements."
"I... thought...." Jaune struggled to find an excuse, "It would be best if we took things slowly at first but because Yang wanted to go straight in..." Jaune finally came up with a perfect excuse, even though he was sure that it was a fluke. "I panicked and just decided to use my skills...?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Well, a Hunter should always know how to manage themselves in a fight. In any case, we should spar sometime Jaune, it might be good practice to help us train both of our skills." Ren broke the awkward silence, giving Jaune a bone to latch on to.
"Yeah, sure! I'd love that." Jaune smiled. "Thanks Ren. Actually, now that i think about it, we should all be doing some team exercises to learn how each of us properly fights. I heard from my sister that out there in the wilds, when we are all doing missions, teamwork is always the key to victory." Jaune nodded.
"Hmm, seems like a grand plan. How about we start tomorrow afternoon? Classes end early and we'll have just enough time to get lunch before the session." Pyrrha nodded, flashing a smile to her leader.
'Deflection works best.' Jaune thought to himself.
After his team agreed, his attention was then brought to the people who were fighting in the arena. Miss Goodwitch had called a variety of different people already and Jaune had to admit that every one of their fighting styles were much more profound than his own.
Slowly, he started analyzing each and every one of their movements, carving them into memory. See, although beacon was a prestigious academy for training Hunters, it also had a very competitive environment.
The teams competed with each other to prove to the rest that they were the best. This in turn gave students the drive to want to better themselves as well and improve in their combat capabilities which in turn would give them renown.
Hunters with better renown would be chosen to partake in higher difficulty missions with both stronger Grimm and more danger. Of course, there would also be a chance for their name to be put down in history books if ever they accomplished a deed great enough.
Not to mention the good pay that came from high level missions.
Jane actually remembered once that a Hunter who went by the name, Ozthor defended a small rural town that went by the name, Ambiance, for an entirety of three days. It was said that the siege of Grimm was ever so dauntless and downright frightening but Ozthor pulled through all the same.
Jaune wanted to become like that.
A hero.
And the first step was beacon.
He had to get his team to the very top.
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[Empyrean App notification]
-Your will to succeed has earned you a title.
[Aspiring Hunter]
-When facing Grimm, all damage +10%
-Critical Strike chance +10%
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"Huh?" Jaune was startled. He glanced at his scroll in confusion. There it was again. A notification from the Empyrean App.
So he wasn't hallucinating earlier either.
During the fight with Yang, the notification popped up. He paid it no mind earlier but now it seemed as if he couldn't draw his eyes away from the scroll.
What really is this App?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Erinies
Erinies Enjoy the chapter.
Liking the story so far?
Oh, also could I get some suggestions for some skills Jaune could receive?
I'll incorporate it into the story later, thanks for the help.
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