Jain froze up. "Really, and how do you plan to do that?" The expression on his face suggested that if Jaune said something stupid, they wouldn't part on the best of terms.
"I assume you don't have any sensing skills?" Jaune asked, to which Jain just shook his head."Well I have one, it lets me comprehend space. I admit, the range isn't big, and at the edges it gets kind of fuzzy, since I haven't had it for long, but it still has an almost fifty meter radius. You saved my life; I at least want to try and repay that debt."
A stern look came his way. "Don't do favours for things that are completely natural. People will think you're a pushover and try to extort you."
The mage grinned. "No worries. If you had been an asshole I would have simply paid you back by giving you something out of my family's treasury." His brows furrowed."It's not guaranteed I'll be able to find it though. I imagine a lot of people have tried over the years, with better sensing skills than mine."
The swordsman looked thoughtful. "I'm ready to try one more time. The route only takes about two months to traverse. But first we're going to have to get you registered at the Adventurer's Guild."
Jaune tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"
His now-compatriot grinned. "Well, finding the Sword God's Pyramid is an A-Rank quest, and completing one of those before graduating from a combat school, or even reaching your second decade of life… Now that would be something to brag about, wouldn't it?"
-/-
As they walked through the city towards the Adventurer's Guild office (a small one, as this was a small city), Jaune took in the sights.
The weirdly dressed people, the stands selling exotic things, and the women. Due to the heat, everyone was running around in threadbare clothing, which was a feast for the eyes of Jaune, who lived in a small village where most people of the female persuasion wore thick clothing. He blushed and quickly looked away whenever one of these women smiled at him, though.
"Do I have a little pervert on my hands, or are you simply admiring their clothing?" Jain asked.
The mage would have answered with something derogatory, if he hadn't just seen something out of the corner of his eye. "Is that a post office?"
Jain looked around and caught sight of the building his companion was looking at. "Yep." Then his face twisted. "God, I didn't even think of bringing you there to send a letter to your family. Being an adult is so hard."
The younger of the pair just shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I didn't think of it either. Can you lend me some money so I can send a letter?" His reply came flying at his face, in the form of a money pouch.
Jain pointed at a run down building. "That's the Adventurer's Guild. Go there when you're done sending the letter." Jaune, not having to be told twice, ran to the post office and entered.
He immediately purchased some parchment from the old, but nice-looking clerk and borrowed the man's pen to tell his family how he was doing. He wrote about what had happened to him, and that he would be home soon. Soon, in this case, being a few years at least.
Afterwards, he went to the Adventurer's Guild to find Jain flirting with the only personnel present, a certain Mina, a scribe that was manning the desk. Was it really manning though if she was a woman? Could it be womaning? Or femaling?
Jain seemed to have been rejected and sulked his way towards one of the tables. After he plopped down and put his head in one of his hands, he saw Jaune and waved him towards the scribe, implying she was the one he had to talk to.
Ignoring some others who jeered at Jain, Jaune walked up to the counter, embarrassed at how shabby he must look. The woman ignored it though, smiling, dropping a few forms in front of him, and taking ten of hi- Jain's Lien.
Everything devolved into a blur. Jaune hadn't thought he would receive a hero identification until he joined Beacon. It was a monumental occasion, signifying a rise into adulthood almost comparable to reaching the age of twelve.
Vale used dog tags, ones with your combat ranking inscribed on them, changing automatically whenever one grew stronger, or weaker. Vacuo, however, seemed to use cards. On his was:
Jaune Arc
Mage
Rank F
Missions completed: 0
...And a drawing of his dishevelled appearance on the upper-left corner.
"Would you like to join that deadbeat swordsman's party?" Broken out of his trance, the young mage started and managed a nod.
"Ok, you are now a part of the party "BLades." You have a right to 5% of the quest rewards as you are a Rank F adventurer partying with a Rank B one. The missions you do together will be added to your mission count. Is there anything else?"
Jaune managed to croak out a no, still staring dazedly at the card in his hand. He soon wandered over to Jain's table, the swordsman looking at him.
"Let's go?"
Jaune could only respond, "Yeah, let's go."
-/-
Jaune stared at his compatriot, who had led him to what looked like a training centre. He could even see some other people clashing swords and spears in the distance. "I thought you said we were gonna go?"
The swordsman sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Well, that was in the heat of the moment. Getting your adventurer's certification is a pretty special occasion. I was just swept in."
Jaune looked around once more and then focused on the two wooden swords held in Jain's hands. So Jain wanted to test him? Understandable. "So I assume you want to spar to see how much of a burden I will be?" Before he even finished the sentence, a wooden sword almost smacked him in the face, though he managed to spin around and grab it out of the air.
He heard a short chuckle behind him. "Oi, your words are too self-deprecating. It's an evaluation, an evaluation." The crunch of loose sand alerted him to Jain taking a step forward, which could only be for one reason.
Jaune threw himself into a roll, and judging by the sound that passed by his ear, he only barely dodged a slash. He blindly fired an arcane bolt behind at where Jain should be, completed his roll, and stood up, only to see Jain standing before him, knees bent and sword in one hand pointed at Jaune's head.
A standard stance, one that Jaune assumed as well once he saw no other attack was coming, only his was slightly different. Knees bent a bit more, sacrificing speed and manoeuvrability for a steadfast grounding. His sword in a guard position in one hand, his other facing out towards Jain, ready to release an arcane bolt.
What explosive speed… Any physical class would obviously have an agility stat higher than his. With a standard stance, fighting someone with obviously higher physical stats was practically pointless.
This stance was something his mother had helped him with. It was a purely defensive one, one that needed the enemy to make a mistake to counterattack. Sure, in a party formation he would never use it; he was still a mage after all. Even if he could use a sword, staying back and providing support while occasionally one shotting weaker enemies were the strategies mages lived by. Well, about half of them.
But this was a 1v1, and Jaune refused to get his gobber smashed, so he went into übertryhard mode and played defensively.
Jain suddenly tapped his foot onto the ground lightly, before readying a stab. This was a swordsman's skill, lunge, one of the most basic ones.
Swordsmen were a class that mostly invested in agility and dexterity, relying on the cutting power of their skills and weapons to truly decimate someone, so it was very unlikely Jaune would be able to dodge any of the swordsman's skills.
So, he did the only thing he could think of. He switched from a guarding stance to one where his sword was facing forward, towards Jain. If he had tried to dodge, he definitely would not have managed it in time, but changing positions was fine.
As expected Jain halted his lunge a few feet away from Jaune, but what he did not expect was for an arcane bolt to come blazing towards his torso, his centre of his gravity. Jain sidestepped to the left, but before he even finished the motion, another arcane bolt was already streaking towards his new position.
From a right-handed swordsman's position, it only made sense to sidestep to the left if you were standing before an enemy. If you stepped to the right, your left side would be ridiculously undefended.
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It was a textbook-perfect dodge, which meant it was predictable. If one looked closely enough, one could see a Jain's eyes widen slightly. And if one could read his mind they would find the thoughts, 'A hero since a few months ago' your mother, you fight like an arena veteran! floating through his head.
Just as first blood seemed like it would go to Jaune, his opponent slid downwards, letting the arcane bolt pass over his head.
It all happened in a second. Their swords clashed, Jain's sword moving in a perfect circle around Jaune's, and with a flick upwards, disarmed him. Some beautiful footwork brought him next to the now-retreating mage, only now they were facing different directions.
The swordsman's foot slightly tapped the back of Jaune's knee, while the back of his hand tapped his chest, making him sprawl forward. Another series of fast steps and Jain was behind the mage with his sword positioned beneath Jaune's neck.
Jaune sighed. "I forfeit." Jain removed his sword and helped him to his feet, a contemplative look on his face. "Well, the good news is, you definitely won't be a burden to me while we traverse the desert. Your skills are top notch, and only your stats and skill repertoire are lacking." Jaune couldn't help but puff out his chest at the praise, but he stopped immediately. If there was good news… "And the bad news?"
Jain put his hand under his chin in a faux thinking position. "Well, your swordsmanship is absolute garbage, you only have the basics of the basics, it actually hurts to watch from a professional standpoint." Almost as an immediate reversal.
"Well, thankfully I have a swordsman right here who will surely help me become better at it."
A grin that made Jaune break out into a cold sweat spread across the other man's face.
"I'm so glad you volunteered."
-/-
A few hours later, two people walked out of the training grounds. One looking refreshed, walking with his hands behind his back and whistling a catchy tune. The other, shorter one, was not really walking, but staggering and occasionally spitting out sand. Jaune looked at the cheery swordsman out of the corner of his eye. "So is there anything else to do before we set out?"
The person who had made him eat sand for the last few hours thought for a bit. "Well, we need to get you some equipment and I need to have you take a look at the journal of the adventurer and the map that I'm basing this journey on."
Jaune looked down at himself, dressed in shabby too-big clothes, a rusty sword at his side. It was in great contrast to the greaves he was wearing despite the heat. "You're probably right, but I still feel indebted about the money and effort you spent on me up to this point. I was raised to dismiss charity."
Jain gave him a pitying look. "Do you know how much Lien an above average adventurer makes?" Jaune shook his head. "Well suffice to say, I could outfit a thousand of you, have enough money left to buy a house in the most expensive street of this town, burn it down, buy a bigger one, not live there and live in the most expensive inn here for the rest of my life."
Jaune almost vomited blood. This town wasn't really big, so it wasn't that expensive, but still… it made sense. Back home the only person really earning any money that they actually spent on the family was mum. She spent most of her time training her children, only occasionally going out to hunt some Grimm for a few days, and yet she still made enough to feed a family of eight and keep their manor in good shape.
Jaune sighed and accepted the fact that Jain was going to spend some more Lien on him. Maybe to him it wasn't a significant amount, but to Jaune, it only raised his debt. He would definitely have to find the pyramid.
"Aaand we're here." Without even knowing how they had arrived, Jaune suddenly found himself standing before an adventurer's shop.
Jain swaggered into the gigantic building and Jaune followed. When he entered he couldn't help but gape at the many items on sale. Clothing, camping supplies, weapons, armour and so much more. Afraid he would actually get lost in the store, he scurried behind the swordsman who was already walking towards the chainmails and other assortments of light armour. "Ah, Jain, I'm a mage."
"Yeah, so what?"
Jaune stared at him like one would stare at a retarded llama. "I can't wear metal."
Jain looked at the greaves the mage was wearing. "So, those?"
"Yeah, they're an artefact."
Jain shrugged and changed his course towards the leather equipment. He looked through what appeared to be hundreds of pants with slight variations stacked on top of another and picked out a few pairs of light grey ones with leather padding. "Pants." He went over to the breezy shirts made for the weather and tossed another few into Jaune's arms. "Shirts." Lastly he went over to the leather vests and handed one to him. "Vest. Do you need anything else?"
Jaune thought about it for a few seconds. The way this equipment looked, he would be going around with his arms open to the sun. Something that his vitality would deal with perfectly fine, but he did wield a sword, and having his arms bared was a bit... But he was also a mage, so if anyone actually sought close combat with him, they would definitely have the strength to cleave through any arm protection he could wear.
"Well, I need a detachable hood and a sword and scabbard I guess."
Jain nodded and pointed at a corner that seemed to have hoods and cloaks stacked onto each other. "Don't worry about the sword and scabbard, I'll just lend you some that I used to use before I found better ones. They are also artefacts even if small ones, so they are still better than anything you can find here."
Jaune sighed, but didn't argue. The swordsman seemed set on his benevolence. He entered one of the changing rooms and switched out his outfit, turning from what looked like a bandit to a respectable young hero. A hero belonging to the rogue class that is. The greaves, slightly 'thorny' at the sole to make it easier to scale trees, grey leather pants that enabled one to blend in with the surroundings when it was dark, and a sleeveless vest with an attached hood, concealing his face.
In the mirror, Jaune saw his name and class blink out of existence. The effect of hoods was weird like that. It didn't even need to be a magical hood. Any hood would hide the class and name of the individual wearing it. It did look kind of cool though. He knew that as an actual legitimate adventurer he shouldn't be concerned with such things, but he was and that's that.
He came out of the changing room and immediately received a wolf whistle that made him turn red in embarrassment. "Looking hot there Jaune, you trying to break some hearts?"
Even through his red face, he retorted, "More like steal some hearts. I look like a rogue."
Jain waved his concern away. "That's a good thing. If we encounter a PvP situation they won't expect you to smack them down with a magic bolt."
The mage sighed. "I guess you're right."
Jain turned around and walked towards the exit, then turned his head and said, "Come on now, I already paid. Time for you to look at some documents and get a sword."
"Sigh."
-/-
Back in their room at the inn, Jaune was reverently staring at the items in his hands. These artefacts were so much better when compared to his greaves. Those things only had the ability to turn matte, making them not reflect light; and the removed durability option, which meant he would never need to repair them.
But this scabbard was something else.
Scabbard of the Youngster
A blade kept within will always stay sharp, and on the first draw the cutting power will be greatly increased.
Amazing. This item would be supremely useful. He looked at the scabbard at Jain's side. He said he switched them out so that one must be even better.
The sword wasn't bad either. It had a slight increase in cutting power and also had the ability of self-repair.
Suddenly, a loud sound erupted behind him, like a giant book landing on a desk. Jaune twitched and turned around.
The sound had in fact been a giant book landing on a desk. The one who put it there, of course, was Jain. Atop it was a map and another small journal. Probably the map to the pyramid. "Well, the book is basically an adventurer's guide to this province, the journal is the one from that adventurer, and the map is the thing I made according to the journal. Since I haven't found the pyramid yet it's probably not entirely correct, but you can use it for reference." Jain looked at the book and how huge it was. "Will four days be enough?"
The words only made Jaune grin. "You underestimate my power."
To be honest, Jain probably had a higher intelligence stat than Jaune, which made his memorization better. But Jaune was a mage and Jain was a swordsman, and they couldn't escape their stereotypes. Jain practised swordsmanship a lot, probably more than he normally would, simply because that's what all other swordsmen did.
Jaune researched and read because everyone had the opinion that that was what mages did. It was a subconscious influence that changed a person without them knowing it.
Research and reading capacity didn't only have to do with intelligence or wisdom. It also had to do with experience.
And in this case, the mage had much more experience than the swordsman. It was unavoidable, unfair, yet also beautiful. Two heads were better than one. It was teamwork, the thing that had kept humanity alive against creatures several times more powerful and savage than them.
Time passed, and the map was getting more filled, with small notations in a different colour and not so small deviations to the path appearing with bright red question marks next to them. The book was read, the map upgraded, and the journal comprehended.
"Done."
The swordsman, who had been lounging on the bed, perked up and looked at the sand clock standing on the table. "Wow, you really are fast. I have an older mage friend who isn't as fast." A doubtful look appeared on his face. "Well, the question is the quality too, not just the speed. Are you confident you don't need more time?"
A hateful glare from eyes with dark rings shut him up fairly quickly. The dark rings were very prominent, a testament to the willpower to work nine hours in one sitting. "Don't doubt my genius. Shut up and get me something to eat," Jaune said with a glower that really didn't fit his youthful face.
As if backing away from a dangerous animal, Jain slowly retreated, hands raised. He then walked down the stairs, where there was still some stew hanging over the fire, just in case guests got hungry at night.
When he came back into the room, it was to find Jaune already fast asleep on one of the beds.
Jain looked down at the stew in his hands.
Then he ate it.
-/-
Jaune trudged through the sands, trying to ignore the stinging heat of the midday sun as it burned down at him like a baleful eye of heat. "Fucking desert, fucking sun, fucking armour." A constant stream of complaints poured out of his mouth as if it were a particularly foul waterfall.
Jain, for once looking annoyed, turned his head in his direction. "Will you shut the hell up? We've been walking for five minutes."
The mage stared at him blankly, for once looking away from the map in his hands. Five minutes? It seemed more like a few hours. He looked back towards Sanshu.
The distance was about 500 meters.
"Fuck."
"Honestly how did you get such a foul mouth, is everyone in Vale like this?"
At Jain's enquirement, he could only scratch his head. "You know, it actually only started when I became twelve and started encountering really shitty situations. Cursing is just so freeing."
With a sigh, Jain couldn't help but agree. An adventurer's life wasn't easy. "Well, everyone has a vice. At least you haven't turned to alcohol, whores, or drugs like some others do. Cursing is pretty safe and mild in comparison."
"Then on this we agree. Cursing only requires you to move your mouth and gives you immediate satisfaction, while the other vices that you just named all require extravagant amounts of Lien to propagate and shift the priorities of an adventurer away from improving oneself and towards less fruitful activities." Having said something truly profound Jaune looked his companion in the eye, seeking to soak up the awe that his eloquence would inspire. He only found a blank stare on the tanned man.
"Hey, can you talk like a normal person? The dichotomy is far too much for me. A twelve-year-old spouting vocabulary way above his level? Weird." A tick mark grew on Jaune's head, and he began to vehemently reply.
But what was done, was done.
The conversation, no matter how heated, had started. Two people could be seen trudging across the desert, sometimes laughing, sometimes shouting. No matter which, they forgot about the heat, the sand, or anything except for each other.