Winter Break 28

They drove for a few hours and ended up in a forested area covered in snow. 

Ruby clenched her back against Jaune as they noticed the path was getting a bit bumpier. 

"I guess we're getting close," The silver-eyed reaper called out.

"Yeah, should only be an hour or so…HOLD ON!"

Jaune suddenly swerved as a Griffin Grimm came flying through the trees. It swooped down with it wings kicking up gust of wind while its claws narrowly missed the two hunters-in-training.

The moment they slid underneath it, Jaune started to pull the bike back up straight while Ruby drew Crescent Rose and fired into its wings.

The monster slammed into the ground seconds before Ren drove the bike up its face mask and hopped off of it.

Before the monster could get up, Yang followed after Ren and jumped up with her bike before slamming down on its back.

The monster was about to roar, but it was cut short by Blake ramming her car into its head. A splat noise was heard seconds before the Griffon turned into a puff of ash and the car drove through it.

[Adolescent Griffon Killed.]

[350XP Awarded!]

Jaune stopped before the rest when Pyrrha called out from behind them, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just spotted a Grimm nest ahead. I don't like how close they are to the city, so let's clear them out and earn some EXP," The blond knight announced as he looked over towards a nearby mountainside.

"Sound sort like a plan," Yang chuckled.

"We don't know the situation, but we're about to. Blake, can you shadow leap to scout out the area?" Ruby shouted.

"You got it, captain," Blake got of her car and turned into a shadow before jumping into another shadow made by a tree.

"So, how much did we get?" Nora asked.

"350. If I was going solo, it would've been 2,800," Jaune informed.

"Neat, I hope there are hundreds of them," Nora laughed as she pulled out her hammer.

"I'm not sensing just a bit more than a few dozen. Use your perception skill, Nora. I'm sure you'll understand," Ren informed as he opened his eyes.

"Yeah, I got the same feeling. If I had to guess, I'd say there are about forty of them," The blond knight followed up.

"That sucks, I wanted to put Magnhild's upgrades to the test," Nora pouted.

"Blake is back," Weiss informed before the Faunus in question appeared from the shadow next to her car.

"So, how's it look?" Ruby asked.

"A group of Griffins are nesting in a small cove about three miles ahead. There's about 42 of them."

"Okay then, all in favor of burning a Griffin nest to the ground?" Jaune asked.

"I'm in," Yang punched her fists together.

"It's a slight detour, but I think Jaune is right. Taking out a nest that's so close to a village should keep any attacks from happening in the near future," Pyrrha commented.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go break some legs!" Nora said with a manic and expressive grin.

"You heard the lady," Ruby hopped off the bike and started walking towards the forest.

Everyone stored their vehicles and ran through the forest towards their targets. 

"Ren, give us cover," Jaune called out.

"Got it," Ren held his hands up and used his Semblance combined with Gwen's Aura String Art to mask everyone's presence.

A glowing green thread wrapped around everyone's wrist seconds before they all leapt through a clearing in the forest.

In front of them was a large cliff face that had a 20-ish foot cave opening. It wasn't a very deep one, but it was still enough to hold a pack of decent sized bears.

"Okay everyone, here's the plan. Four of us will act as bait and draw them out while the rest prepares to ambush them. I figure, Ruby, Pyrrha, Blake, and myself can kill a few of them to draw their attention. We'll run the moment they start moving to attack. That's where the rest of you come in. Ren, I need you to put of a net of Aura Wire over the entrance once we leave the cave entrance. The rest of you use your projectiles to wipe them out." 

"Sounds like a solid plan, Jaune," Yang commented.

"I can keep my Semblance on you, but I'll need a boost if you want my Aura to be able to handle the strain of holding back so many Grimm," Ren followed up.

Jaune nodded his head and enhanced everyone's Aura before heading in with the others.

They headed in to see a decently spacious area with several Grimm lazing about on the ground and slabs. Despite there being 14 of them, Ren's Semblance allowed them to make the first strike. Without even noticing their enemies were right in front of them, the Grimm could only react in violence as team of four made quick work of the Griffins. 

Jaune shot off powerful Lightning infused Crescent Arc Blast that exploded out into a wide-ranged attack. The lightning shot through two of them and alerted the whole nest. 

At the same time, Ruby slashed one's head clear off, Blake stabbed one in the face, and Pyrrha decapitated two that were laying next to each other.

The roars of the angry Griffins made the cave rumble before Ruby turned into rose petals and dragged everyone out.

As the monsters chased after her, she bolted to the exit while Jaune activated his aggravate ability.

The moment they flew out of the cave entrance, Ren created several wires and attached them to the surface of the mountain. 

The group aimed their weapons when Ruby returned everyone to their physical forms and they all unloaded on the Grimm that crashed into the net. A few of them even chopped themselves apart since they were flying so fast.

As the team of Hunters rained down death with gunfire, the group killed the adolescent 

Nora finished the destructive plan by lobbing three grenades that collapsed the cave in a large explosion.

"Now that's a big boom!" Nora laughed with a bit of mania in her voice.

[20 Adolescent Griffins Slain]

[7000EXP Gained!]

[22 Mature Griffins Slain]

[28,600EXP Gained!]

[Level Up!]

Name: Jaune Arc

Age: 17

Title: Reincarnated Hero: +50% to Aura Growth.

Class: Hunter Knight In Training - Level: 11

Overall Level: 011

Experience: 145,600

Experience needed until the next level: 202,500 

Condition: 99%

Constitution: 67->->->75 (+3 from Level Up)(+5 from Level Token)

Defense: 87->->->91 (+18 Armor Bonus) (+4 from Level Up)

Intelligence: 33->->->35 (+2 from Level Up)

Focus: 38->->->40 (+2 from Level Up)

Mana: 0

Battle Power: 273->->->290(+17 from Level Up) 

Aura: 7,945->->->7,991(+46 from Level Up) (x2 Aura Growth from MD Pendant.)

Previous Soul's Semblance: Mutated Aura Amplification

Current Soul's Semblance:???

Wargod's Blessing: Training and Combat have a long term growth effect on Aura and Battle Power. Increases the effects of any and all training by 1,000% (X10)

"I guess those jobs with the family did us some good," Jaune commented as he closed his stat window. 

They all made it back to the road and drove off until they saw that the pathways were getting so narrow to the point where the vehicles weren't able to make any more progress. 

However, Jaune was prepared for this. He led everyone to the closest village in the area. 

"Come on, we'll rent some horses from the stables," Jaune said as they approached a large wooden gate made with pointed tree logs.

They showed their ID and were allowed entrée without any trouble. Since Jaune had been here before, he knew where to go and led everyone to a horse stable.

While they were paying for their rides, Yang scratched her head as she admitted to not knowing how to ride a horse.

"I'm pretty sure it riding horses was covered in Signal's training," Ruby said as she hopped on her horse. 

"Yeah…I never learned that one…"

"You skipped," Jaune rolled his eyes.

"I had Bumblebee! Horses felt too slow!"

Weiss grinned and patted on the back of the saddle and said, "Come on, you can ride bitch."

Yang scoffed, "Did...did you just make a joke?"

"I can be funny," Weiss crossed her arms and looked away with red cheeks.

Everyone gave a chuckle before they set off. Jaune rode next Ruby, Ren next to Nora, and Pyrrha next to Blake. Yang and Weiss were guarding their rear.

From this point on, they were no roads only dirt paths and shady forest trails.

Normally, it would be easy to get lost on the way Mount. Kurokesseki-(Blackstone). However, Jaune and Ren spent years on this mountainous region, both in the future and the past, and thanks to the memories Ren inherited, he knew the place even better now. 

It took them less than a full day to reach the base of Mount Kurokesseki.

Seeing as the sun was setting, everyone decided to make camp.

The next morning, they woke up with the campfire still giving off embers. 

After their workout routines, they all headed off to Ren and Nora's old village.

Nora felt him shaking when she placed her arms around his waist and said, "It's okay, we're not alone."

Ren looked around to see everyone giving him encouraging looks. 

Jaune patted him on the back and said, "It's just a Nuckleave. We're way stronger than we were when we last beat it. We got this."

Ren smiled and nodded his head before giving the reigns a little pull. The horse responded and sped up.

After an hour of traveling upslope and an hour on a winding mountainside, the group ended up at the decimated ruins of Kuroyuri.

"We're back," Ren smiled. 

"We are," Jaune followed up.

"So this is where we lived for four years. Kind of bleak," Yang commented.

"There is a spring of snow that melts into river up top of the mountain. Lotus and cherry blossoms bloom in the spring. It may not look like much now, but once we got done with the place. It was quite the sight," Ren mentioned with a smile on his face.

"I know, I saw the place in Jaune and Sun's memories…but I mean, seeing what it looks like now…" Yang crossed her arms as they walked through the broken gates.

"It was a group effort. During that time, we had to unlock the Aura's of every citizen that we saved or those that migrated here. It was cool to see all sorts of production type Semblances appearing. There was a guy who could rearrange the terrain, a woman that could build entire buildings with a single thought, someone that could reinforce the strength of objects that contain carbon, and so much more," Jaune informed.

Pyrrha clapped her hands together with a smile as she said, "Wow, I guess this place must have been pretty fortified." 

"The mountainous terrain acts as a natural barrier against the Grimm, without heavy foliage and the rocky terrain they are easily spotted. The many pathways allow us to maintain the higher ground and allow us to funnel any land based Grimm. The flatland between the hills is large enough to hold all of Vale's population. So, yeah, fortified and heavily guarded," The blond knight replied as he stopped in the middle of the village square.

"This is where it happened, right? Where you guys took down the Nuckleave?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, it was a tough fight, but we pulled it off," Nora steeled herself for what was about to happen.

"You guys ready?" Jaune asked.

Ren gripped his fists, "Not really…"

"We got this," Nora put her hand on his shoulder.

"We're all with you this time," Ruby followed up.

"Team RNJR returns to kick a Grimm's ass for a second time…I guess that makes us, WYBN aka Wyvern," Yang joined them.

"Wyburn more like it…we need a V to pull that off," Weiss rolled her eyes.

"You made a funny," Yang laughed, lightening the mood at the same time.

"I like it," Pyrrha nodded her head.

"Well, it's better than brown," Weiss huffed.

"We're ready, Jaune," Ren pulled out his weapons.