Chapter 18

Cardin Winchester was staring calmly at Jaune Arc, whom he was facing in combat class...again. Seriously Goodwitch?

Couldn't she pair him with someone whose skills equals him.

Cardin doesn't have anything against the Arc, it's just he thinks that Jaune was unfit to be a hunter. Arc doesn't know how to properly use a sword and shield even though it's his own weapon.

If he was out in the field a Beowolf would already devour him faster than he can draw his sword, and he would also drag his teammates down and endanger them.

Cardin doesn't want that to happen. He wasn't a kind hearted individual, but he wasn't coldblooded as to feel nothing of the loss of a human life.

He thought that if he made Arc give up his dream of being a hunter, then he would be able to live a normal life he deserves.

Cardin doesn't know how to tell that to Jaune without hurting him — Cardin knew the pain of being deny your own dream, he experienced that before, and he doesn't want Arc to feel it.

So he resorted to the only method he knew; bullying. It's not the first time he did it. He bullied everyone he feels like doesn't have what it takes to be a hunter and made them give up their dreams.

It's messes up, he knows. No need to tell him that, and he mentioned it before, he wasn't a kind hearted individual.

He thought that if he bullied Jaune enough he'd think that Beacon and the life of a hunter wasn't for him and give up.

Of course, Cardin limited his bullying as to not make Jaune have thoughts about suicide...it'd make his effort pointless.

However, to Cardin's surprise, Jaune suddenly showed massive improvements in his fighting skills and he started to show signs of confidence from his previous low self-esteem.

Cardin observed him for a few days, before deciding that Jaune is finally qualified to stay and stopped his bullying.

On side note, he didn't stop bullying Faunus. Those animals shouldn't be here—why Ozpin accepted those creatures in Beacon is beyond him.

"Are you both ready?" Glynda asked as she turned towards Cardin and Jaune who nodded at her, "Then, begin!"

Cardin quickly bolted towards Jaune and swung his mace downwards. Contrary to what many people believe, Cardin was fast for his size, even with iron armor and mace on.

Jaune seems to see that coming, but instead of dodging like Cardin expected, he charged forward and swung his sword upward, aiming at Cardin's chest.

Startled, Cardin didn't swing his mace but retracted it while jumping backward. A mistake. He could have countered Jaune with his fist — he was much faster so his attack would've reached Jaune before he could get hit by the sword.

He cursed himself. Rookie mistake.

This time, it was Jaune who took the initiative to rush forward.

Cardin did the same. He charged straight to Jaune, and they clashed.

Unlike before where Cardin can play Jaune like a kid, this time they were exchanging moves.

Cardin can only imagine how much Jaune had worked hard to be able to match his ten years worth of training with only a few months.

However....

Cardin tilted his head to the side to dodge a thrust, he then grabbed Jaune's hands which was holding the sword before swinging his mace down.

Jaune could only raise his shield to block while struggling to break free from Cardin's hold.

Knowing it was futile and that Cardin was physical stronger than him, he gave up struggling. Instead, when Cardin raised his mace to strike down again, Jaune took the chance to bash his shield to Cardin's face.

Cardin grunted in pain and let go of Jaune while stumbling back.

Jaune bolted forward and swang his sword, which Cardin easily blocked.

Once again, they clashed.

Crocea Mors cut through the air as steel clashed against steel. They increased in rhythm and intensity without pause.

The battle between the pair became a storm of steel with winds cutting down anything in its path. The grounds cracked from their clash and unknown to them, their Aura was steadily decreasing.

Jaune took a step forward.

Cardin took a step back.

Jaune took a step back.

Cardin took a step forward.

The pair was almost equal, and their battle was very intense. The students being stunned at how the dead last was now able to keep with Cardin.

True Cardin wasn't the most skilled, but he's certainly above average, and his physical strength can rival powerhouses like Yang or Nora.

Cardin's mace went through the motion for a horizontal swipe as a cover for the underlying jab of his other hand.

Cardin stomped down his right foot forward to add torque to the attack, but Jaune's shield was already in position to block.

Aura powered fist met shield, and the force from the attack was only able to blast Jaune back to the edge of arena instead of piercing his guard.

Jaune's feet slid against the floor of the platform, leaving a trail of smoke as he dug his sword into the ground to slow his momentum and prevent him from falling down.

Silence permeated the arena as the duo stared at each other and used the moment to recollect themselves and went back to their stance.

They smiled, gripped their weapons, and was about to rush at each other to continue their clash when—

Clap.

Glynda clapped her hands to end the fight. Jaune and Cardin immediately stopped and relaxed their stance before staring at Glynda.

"A splendid battle," said Glynda as she took a step forward, "Truly...a massive improvement for Mr Arc, I'm sure you worked hard to achieve such result."

"Thank you au—Miss Goodwitch," Jaune almost blurted out the forbidden word. No one can know his relationship with Glynda.

Glynda narrowed her eyes at Jaune, who smiled wryly, before she sighed and turned to look at Cardin, "Mr Winchester, you have underestimated your opponent several times during your match and it cost you some mistakes. I hope you learned your lesson in this fight."

Cardin nodded, but didn't say anything.

Then, Glynda showed the large screen at the back, showing the image of Jaune and Cardin with their 'aura meter', Jaune being on the red, and Cardin on orange.

"Though Mr Arc has improved a lot, unfortunately he still fell short and lost the fight." Said Glynda before turning towards Jaune, "Keep working hard, young man."

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AN; I haven't finished this chapter, I'm so tired and I wanted to sleep. You know, I'm still not use to going back to school with two years worth of modular and online classes.

Damn, I feel so tired.