Winter Break 26

Apparently, before the armor's time ran out, Ben could have put it around his opponent and force it to explode.

Regardless of how Jaune accomplished it, his father was proud of him. Of course, the talent his son showed in the first timeline was unnatural to begin with, and the bloodline blessing Lance acquired had little to do with that. It only made magnified their talents by a factor of two or three times.

He didn't know if Jaune was aware, but going from bottom of the barrel in combat class to mid-class in half a year wasn't normal. Not to mention the seven months they spent traveling across Anima or the time spent training in Atlas that elevated him to higher-tier Hunter.

"If all he getting is a times 10x modifier to his experiences, then it shows just how much of a freakish growth rate my son has," Lance thought with a smile on his face.

"This little turd kept getting stronger the longer we fought. He's a real chip off the old block," The grandpa Arc laughed.

"To learn amidst battle is a much sought after trait amongst the Arc Clan," Joan smiled.

"Of course, he's my son. It's to be expected," Gwen bragged with shining eyes.

Jaune was given ten minutes to recharge and face his grandmother. This time she was decked out in a combination of half-plate and leather armor. At her hip was a single blade, and on her back was a sub-machine gun.

Jaune gulped as his granny equipped Ben's Semblance.

He stood ready to fight and properly got his ass stomped. The upside was that at least he was being taught and gaining proficiency levels throughout the whole fight.

An hour later and 2 more levels in the Arc Style Swordplay, Jaune unlocked a new move, Crescent Arc Barrage. It was a single blast of Aura that shot out into dozens of mini Arc Blade Beams.

Lastly was his mother, the one Jaune was fearing the most.

After facing her son with her weapon pulled out, the Arc Matriarch smiled and said, "Dear, now, you know I love you...but..."

"You can't hold back when it comes to this spar," Jaune said as if he were speaking through chattering teeth.

Ben grinned and equipped Gwen with his Semblance, Jaune's legs started to shake as he received a rather fitting notice.

[Perception Skill has gained a new subcategory; Danger Sense.]

[Danger Sense Leveled Up!]

"Aw...crap!" Jaune whimpered.

Only Jaune's screams of pain and torment were heard that night. Somewhere, miles away in Anima, a girl with bunny ears was getting a tan at a beach when she tilted her ears and said, "Is that the sound of Jaune screaming...yep, sounds like him."

They trained until nightfall, and completely exhausted the teenage knight.

Jaune managed to crawl away from a fight with his mother alive and intact, and he did manage to land a single blow against her. However, she promptly knocked him out afterward.

Eventually, the blond knight met up with Ruby, who took pity on him when she saw how beat up he was.

She helped him out by bandaging up the bruises with ice packs and disinfecting the cuts.

"I can't believe you don't even have enough Aura to heal. How much were you using in those fights?"

"Ugh…all of it?" Jaune replied weakly.

"Here, lay down," Ruby patted her lap.

Jaune smiled and enjoyed the lap pillow while Ruby ran her hand through his hair.

"Just take a nap until you're Aura recovers," The silver-eyed girlfriend commented.

"Yeah…" Jaune let out a yawn before saying, "I'll take you up on that."

After shaking off his weariness, the two got to work with everyone's weapons and used the materials they found on the battlefield to reforge them.

He didn't use the Virgin-Diamondnite just yet as he wanted to save it for when he got ahold of the Arc-Reactive Ore and use them together to make Grimm's Bane. He just couldn't bring himself to melt down his family sword again.

After repairing the damage to it, he sheathed Crocea Mors and headed inside for dinner.

After eating, Jaune took the time to give everyone their new refurbished weapons and felt great as he saw the smiles of approval and appreciation.

"Thanks you guys!" Yang said as she and the rest took their equipment.

When Jaune handed Ruby the Scythe Blade he crafted, she glomped her boyfriend and said, "I love you Jaune, you made my baby's blade so sharp. I'm going to go swap it out, right now!"

Ruby mostly did her own upgrades for Crescent Rose. She added the ability to turn her scythe-head in any direction to support her new mobility, but she left the making of the blade to Jaune. She couldn't praise his work enough when it came to his sharpening blade crafting skills.

"THIS IS GREAT!" Nora squealed happily.

She ecstatic to see a new grappling function installed on her hammerhead. It would open up and a three-pronged grapple hook would large enough to capture human enemies and the limbs of bigger Grimm. With a single press of a button, it could deploy, retract, and release. She could even pull her enemies to the hammerhead while she smashed.

Weiss and Yang received some armor stitched into their jackets, all of which had the same Aura Regen Dust Symbols on them Jaune's armor had.

Ember Ciela turned into full arm length gauntlets that could switch back and forth from her old style along with a pair of boots that did the same. Something he took from Mercury Black's designs. Of course that would have been impossible if Yang hadn't taken his leg as a trophy after beating him in the future timeline.

Myrtenaster was given interchangeable dust tips on the end of the rapier, along with several Dust Carvings suited towards her semblance.

In addition to her twin pistols that had their blades changed and the ribbon reinforced with Symbology, Blake requested Jaune and Ruby to make a sword much like Adam's. However, the blade she received was black and was given a sheath that was that turned into a sniper rifle instead of a shotgun.

The Cat-Faunus wanted the sword as a sign that she would no longer run from what she needed to do. She may hate what Adam became, but she thought it was necessary for her to carry a reminder so that she never goes down the same path.

Jaune then saw Sun holding his hands out before the Monkey Faunus asked, "Well, what you do to mine?"

The blond knight shrugged his shoulders as he handed over his staff, "We engraved the barrels so you get more oomph with your shots."

"That's it?" Sun asked.

"Hey, you have your family's treasure to inherit. Besides, we still have to collect Ore at Kuroyuri, it be a shame to remake Ruyi Jingu Bang Mk.3 without the proper materials," Jaune said with a grin on his face.

Sun pouted as he said, "Fine…"

Jaune chuckled before handed over Pyrrha's sword and shield. He layered them with a polymer coating made of ferrous metals. As they were now, she could now easily manipulate her weapons as if they were an extension of her own body.

Also, the lightning Dust Symbols in the rifle barrel combined with her semblance allowed her to turn a bullet into a focused rail gun.

Ren's guns were given the same dust enhancing barrel, better blades were installed on them, and they now had a taser attached to the bottom of the weapon's blade's cable launching mechanism. He could either shoot the blade towards a target or launch a pair of electrified cables capable of producing 20,000 Volts of electricity.

"I'll put them to good use," Ren nodded his head as he checked over the gear.

Everyone enjoyed the time they had left together and stayed up late that night.

Jaune spent as much time talking with his father and even went to say that he was sorry for running away and faking his way into Beacon.

His father apologized for dismissing his son's dreams and not training him sooner.

Jaune teared up a bit, but it made him feel much better about himself, especially when Lance said that he was proud of him.

Jaune felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders, and for the first time in a while, he felt like he could do anything, save anyone, be what he always wanted to be...a hero.

Something in Jaune's soul synchronized with this feeling, and unbeknownst to Jaune, he had knocked on the door to his second semblance.

Mistaking for his elated feelings of reconciling with his family, Jaune missed out on discovering the key to using his new Semblance.

After going to bed in his room instead of the forge, Jaune was surprised to hear Ruby sneaking into his bedroom late at night.

She crawled up next to him and tucked herself under his arms. As she laid her head on his chest, she moved closer wrapped her arm around his stomach.

"I can't sleep right..." Ruby whispered, "Damn you, it's going to be hard going to bed without you now."

Jaune lifted an eyelid and said, "You did a pretty good job sneaking out, I don't think it will be that hard when we get back to Beacon."

Ruby let out a quite eep, "You're awake?"

Jaune giggled and pulled her in closer, "I know how you feel, Ruby. It's going to be hard for me too."

Ruby smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll sneak out when you get up."

Jaune pulled back her hair from her face and kissed her forehead, "No worries, I'm pretty sure the whole family knows you're in here. They know I won't do anything inappropriate."

Ruby giggled and snuggled in closer. With her head over his heart, she listened to it beat steadily as she closed her eyes, "Good night."

"Good night,"

The two drifted off to sleep and enjoyed the time they had together.

The next morning, Jaune did a quick workout and before they knew it, the time for them to leave had come.

They all stood at the airport with the whole family seeing them off. Gwen had become very attached to them, even going as far as to say that she saw them as her own kids.

Maybe it was because of her Semblance, or more likely, Gwen being this kind of person was the reason her Semblance was the way it was, a true reflection of her personality.

Whatever the reason, everyone seemed fine with it and treated her with friendship and respect as she was hugging them and crying, "I just want them to stay a bit longer. Just one more day."

"Come on dear, they doing important work, and you know we have a lot to do on our end too." Lance patted his wife on the back as she cried into his chest.

"I'm going to miss them, damn it!" Gwen said making everyone tear up a little.

"Yeah, me too, but we'll see them again," Lance looked over the group with a very gentle smile.

"Damn it, I'm not gonna cry!" Yang thought as she felt a little choked up.

Ruby was bawling as she ran to and hugged Gwen before she started murmuring, "I'll keep in touch, I'll send you Scroll texts every day!"

Nora was crying too, "I'll miss your food, and yes, even you too! You guys are almost as cool as Jaune-Jaune and Ren-Ren!"

"I must say, I was surprised to see that Jaune's family was so, well, not Jaune. I had a good time, and thank you for your hospitality. You have a lovely home town," Weiss said with a smile on her face.

"Hey! That's not very sweet, Weisscream!" Jaune shouted in complaint.

"Ugh…" Weiss frowned.

"Why, Jaune?" Ruby sighed.

"Cause it pissed her off," Jaune snickered, "You know, Yang, I'm starting to understand why you make all these messed up nicknames."

"I had a pleasant time with you, and Rouge, thanks for signing my book," Blake said as she hid her signed limited edition copy of Ninjas of Love behind her back.

"Always glad to meet a true fan. I'll make sure to send you an early release edition on the next book!" Rouge grinned.

Blake's ears swayed back and forth happily as she nodded her head.

"It was cool hanging with your awsome fam, Jaune. All of them are way cooler than you, I mean, used to be anyway," Sun said with a huge grin on his face.

Jaune wanted to protest but his shoulders slumped over as he sighed and said, "Yeah, I know, but I wasn't that bad!"

Sun just gave him the 'Dude...Really?' look, "Do I even have to say it, onesie?"

"Just you wait, I'm going to show you all the pros of the almighty onesie someday soon," Jaune thought as he clenched his fists.

"It was an honor to have met you all." Ren gave a polite bow, "We'll do our best to keep our leader safe."

"It was great meeting you all. I hope we can do something like this again," Pyrrha said as she enjoyed the moment.

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