Word Count: 12773 words

Chapter 5 - Step One.

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Lautrev POV

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The coming morning approached fast, and the otherwise silent room of room 302 was just one of many that were waking up and starting their day. Inside, a quiet yawn broke the silence, and a boy sat up in his bed.

Lautrec Griscern, the boy in bed, woke up with a slow start. Rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. Last night, he had spent several hours trying to figure out how Mana even worked. But, much to his annoyance, he hadn't made much headway.

[Mana Manifestation]

[Level: 2/100

Skill Level: Absolute Beginner

+2% more effective in using and controlling Mana]

Only one level in over three hours of trying to use it. Not exactly a speedy growth rate. And what was worse, he couldn't really tell if he even was using Mana when he was practicing last night. It felt like he was trying to control the way his blood moved, it just wasn't in his grasp. There obviously was something there, he could feel a slight tension within himself whenever he tried to locate his Mana.

So, what did he have to do today? Probably more [Mana Manifestation], if Lautrec was being honest. It was something that didn't sit right with him, to not practice the skill that was giving him trouble. Aura was easy enough, it followed his orders, to an extent, because it was him. Mana was a little prick and decided it wanted to do its own thing!

Lautrec had enough of that train of thought, tossing his legs over his bed and standing up. The boy stretched out his arms, groaning a little bit as he popped a few things in his back and arms. Looking into his inventory, he grabbed some clean clothes, a simple black tee and pants, along with some silk boxers. He walked over to the closet, grabbing one of the few remaining towels and slipping into the shower, enjoying the nice, cool water.

The cold shower gave him time to think, and it was time to figure out the HOW. How does Mana work, How did he implement it, how does one go about learning the intricacies of Mana in a Manaless world?

There was only two options, really. Both of them had pros and cons. A soapy hand scrubbed the top of his head, a tired sigh leaving his mouth.

'Go to Ozpin for advice or figure it out by myself. Choices choices.' Neither was a decision to be made lightly, obviously. And he didn't want to wait anymore than a week to figure out what he wanted to do. The two ideas bounced around in his mind, neither really sticking out as preferred to him.

On one side, going to Ozpin got him a tutor. Potentially two or three, given Ambers' and Qrows' allegiance to Ozpin. It could put him in the sights of Salem or Cinder, which wouldn't be great. Lautrec wouldn't survive those two, not at the point he was at.

Hell, even though he was higher level than both Yang and Ruby, he wasn't sure if he could beat either of them in a straight up fight. Yeah, he had two McGuffins, in the form of [Time Slow] and True Night's Edge, but that wouldn't matter in a fight against Yang who could probably one hit him with her semblance now that she had it unlocked. Or Ruby who had a much more viable long range option in Crescent Rose and a speed semblance that made it all but impossible to keep his eyes focused on her.

And they were both only level thirty two and thirty respectively. Mercury and Emerald were bound to be equal to or, much more likely, stronger than that by the time Lautrec got around to fighting them. And two on one? Lautrec would need all the help he could get.

So, that was one positive for Ozpin, if he trained under Ozpin he'd likely be more adept with it than if he went at it himself. But he already noted a negative, perhaps two. Ozpin would absolutely train him, and make him stronger. But, if Salem's Circle found out about that, it'd put an absolutely massive target on his back. And likely not even to kill him, now that he thought about it. A boy with magic? In this world? Isn't that curious, Salem would probably say before ordering Tyrian or Hazel or whoever the hell might be in her inner circle now to capture him.

He stepped out of the shower, beginning to dry off his bleached hair and face. 'Pros of doing it myself?' Well, none of what he had said earlier would happen, guaranteed. Ozpin wouldn't know about him, Salem wouldn't know about him, and he'd be a total surprise whenever he makes his move against Cinder.

The con was pretty clear, that being that he'd be trying to learn something completely based on his own studies. It'd be like trying to figure out how chemistry worked with only a microscope!

'Do you even do chemistry with a microscope?' Lautrec stared at his face in the mirror, his hands coming up to mess with his hair. 'Gods, I really need to do something with this. White does NOT fit me.'

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[Quest Recieved: Mage Adept!]

Objective: Reach [Mana Manifestation] level 20/100 before you leave for Vale

Bonus Objective: Reach [Aura Manifestation] Level 25/100

Rewards: [Mana Manifestation] Level 20, Ring of Mana

Bonus Rewards: [Aura Manifestation] Level 25/100, 100 Lien.

Failure for Quest: You don't get [Mana Manifestation] and/or [Aura Manifestation] before leaving Vale.

Time Limit: Whenever you leave for Vale

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'Wow. What amazing quest rewards, Game.' He couldn't help but look blanky at the quest, more specifically at the very lack luster rewards. With a wave of the hand, Lautrec dismissed the blue screen that held the quest, and checked his scroll.

With the time only being seven-twenty, he had another forty minutes until he had to be at the Weapon Rosary. The walk over was only around fifteen if he took a stroll, but with nothing else to do, he started his walk. There was a small hunger in his heart for a donut and a kolache combo. As he exited his hotel, Lautrec walked along side the street, his eyes narrowing slightly at the brisk morning temperature, the chilled wind cutting across his body. Nevertheless, he kept his eyes open to search for his desired breakfast spot.

And while he did spot a few, none were exactly the take-to-go place he was hoping for. That didn't stop him from continuing his search, and again and again did he not find a proper take-out breakfast place. Place after place, he continued until he stumbled across a little bakery.

A small bakery, Tomas' Bakery. And, to his luck, they had not only sugary treats, but also breakfast tacos. Which weren't kolache's, but they were honestly better than that. Less calories, similar macro content, and just better tasting.

Eight breakfast tacos set him back a solid sixteen lien, and the three cookies he bought for Ruby set him back another fourteen lien. He dug in the bag, fishing out a taco, unwrapping it from its aluminum foil covering, and taking a bite. The soft tortilla ripped easily, and the queso fresco inside held the hot fajita in place as a chunk of the taco was removed.

The cool autumn air blew over his face, and a content smile took its place. Today was shaping up to be a good day, Lautrec could feel it.

Another few minutes to go, Lautrec got to the Weapon Rosary with a spare ten minutes and a handful of seconds early. Entering the Smith's Quarters, he found Brigid sat in her chair, looking at him with tired eyes.

"Aye, mornin', Griscern." The tall woman stretched, pulling her arms over her head and closing her eyes. Lautrec took a few more steps forward, took out three of the tacos, and offered it to her.

"Good morning, Bossman. Got some breakfast for the crew. Three for you, three for me, two for Ruby. Whenever she gets here." Brigid looked at him, a look of confusion on her face as she reached out hesitantly and grabbed the food.

"Thank ya kindly, Griscern." She nodded her head, freely smiling once she felt the warmness of the tacos in her hands "Say, are these old Tomas'? Oh, yeah, these are, aren't they?" The tall woman ripped away the foil, merrily eating away at the food.

Lautrec, seeing no reason no to, unwrapped his second taco and began eating as well. "Yep. I found the bakery on my way here. Hell of a find, huh?"

"That it is." She swallowed a bit of fajita meat before speaking again. "Thank ya, again, Griscern. I ain't get to eat, earlier. Paper work has been a pain to get done."

"That so? What's it all about?" He asked in-between bites.

The older woman looked all too done with it all to not indulge him, and began explaining. "Well, merchandise like what I make and sell. Blades, Guns, Explosives, Dust, things similar to that. They all require their own permits, documentation, and approval of the Council of Vale. Not to mention the forge itself, having a burning pyre next to wood in a commercial district of a town needs to be regulated and maintained and pass inspections. It's a 'hole 'assle. And I'm exhausted! I came to Patch for an easier life after my retirement, not all this paper work!" The more she ranted, the further she fell into a more Austrialian-like or Texan-like accent. He wasn't really sure what to say but Lautrec tried anyway.

"Is there anything I can do to help? I am working for you, right? You can put me to work." He rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face as he finished his second taco. "That's kinda why I'm here."

Brigid looked at him, a grateful smile gracing her features before she nodded. "Aye, there is something I need done. You mind running these here papers to the Mayor's office? I'm gonna finish up the food you brought me, if you don't mind, Griscern."

He nodded, tossing his third taco back into the brown bag from wince the food had come from. Lautrec set the bag down on her desk, grabbing the stack of papers she had set aside for him to take. "If Ruby beats me back here, you mind giving her the cookies and two tacos for me?"

The woman before him was already halfway down her second taco, but Brigid managed to nod as she swallowed a large bite of her food. "Got it, Griscern."

Just as soon as he had walked in, he walked back out of the Weapon Rosary, a large stack of papers under his arm. The boy, began his trek towards the city hall, despite not knowing where it lay. It gave him another moment to breath, and to think. His schedule, that should be the next topic on his mind.

Should he dedicate certain days to Mana and Aura, only training them every other day. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday for Mana while Aura got Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday? Or perhaps he should train both week round, lessons with Yang on Aura for some days and solo Aura training along side Mana training?

Week round did sound nice, if only in theory. True, he could go longer than most, even without endurance training. But his body had a limit, the [Exhaustion] debuff was proof enough of this. He had been awake for around fifteen hours that day, where in which he slew Grimm for two and half, trained at the gym for little over three hours, and ran around the small town of Patch a few times.

So, yes, he had great endurance, even if it was pretty much guaranteed to be limited to whatever metric [The Game] had set.

So maybe he should take one day off? Train six days a week rather than seven, that sounded smart enough. Give his body and mind a day to rest and relax would probably be beneficial, right? Man, he was just not at all decisive was he? Then again, he'd always known that.

'I, Lautrec Griscern, much prefer to be a follower. This whole figuring out things on my own stuff is gonna get old fast, I just know it.' The boy didn't sigh, nor frown, he only accepted that this was just his reality now. He had no allies, none that knew of his true nature at least. Yang, Ruby, and Taiyang's faces flashed through his mind. He could have allies, he could tell them.

'Choices, fucking choices.' His hand came up to massage his brow, the sound of people walking next to him becoming louder to him as he started to zone back in.

"Enough thinking ahead, just take things a step at a time." Lautrec whispered to himself. He knew what he needed to do, train his control over Mana, that was infinitely more important than Aura right now. But first...

'Knock Knock!' The boy entered the small city hall, it wasn't much. A small reception area, maybe a dozen seats lined to either wall with a handful of people waiting to be called in or heard. Lautrec, on the other hand, approached the front desk without hesitation and waved to the elderly lady on the other side.

"Hello, Ma'am, I'm here to deliver some documents on behalf of the 'Weapon Rosary'." The kind woman looked at him, adjusted his glasses, and smiled.

"Oh! Yes, set those over there, right by that tray. The dark blue tray." The woman pointed to the side of her large desk, and Lautrec's eyes followed. Once he spotted the tray, he walked towards it, and placed the documents to the side of the tray as instructed.

"Will you handle it from here, ma'am?" He asked.

"I will, don't you worry. Thank you for asking, son, but I'll manage." The older woman smiled at him, and he nodded before walking out of the place.

That was the thing about Patch, he supposed. It was so down-to-earth, such and incredible sense of community. As far as he was certain, he hadn't been treated badly by anyone, other than Horris. But Horris was probably some unlucky guy who was influenced by [The Game]. Now that he thought of it, a lot of things were probably influenced by [The Game].

Those Grimm during the tutorial and The Cow Killer being examples. A juvenile beowulf fit the ideal first boss, especially one as strong as Rudy. The item description from [The Cow Killer's Claw], Rudy was smart enough to avoid detection from Hunters for months. Why would it throw its life away trying to fight him, if not to be a stepping stone for his growth?

It was a weird thought, but one he had to start to consider. He knew he had gave it some thought after he killed Rudy, but he had to think more on it. What were the effects of [LCK], how did it influence the world, or the things in it?

And speaking of things he didn't understand, a new icon had made itself known on his status screen. [Perk Points].

Lautrec brought up his stat sheet mentally, and thought of clicking on the line of text.

[Perk Points: 1]

[Description: A Perk Point is used to purchase perks (duh). Perks can only be unlocked when you hit a certain stat threshold. Every fifty stat points unlocks another Perk available for purchase for varying amounts of Perk Points. Once bought, all Perks are permanent.]

[Perks Available for Purchase: [Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers], [Baggart's Roar], [Monks' Clarity], [Gambit], [Gambling Man], [Coin Toss], [Black Cat], [Winners' Lotto]]

'Oh... Interesting.' Eight Perks presented themselves for him, he clicked on the first one.

[Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers]

[Description: A reward for reaching 50 AGI. Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers are something that some lucky people are born with. They allow you to move more explosively, to run faster or to hit quicker. Unfortunately, it does cause you to be more susceptible to [Exhaustion]]

[Costs: 1 Perk Point]

Reading through it, Lautrec found himself smirking. Of course he knew about these. Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers were a genetic gift in fighting. They were pretty much essential to be a power puncher. Look at Sean O'Malley or Conor McGregor. Two very light strikers who have immense power in their hands due to Quick Muscle Fibers. Or even Figueredo. He fought at Flyweight and has some of the hardest hitting hands in the bantamweight division because of it as well. Mike Tyson, Anthony Joshua. The list goes on. Admittedly, It wasn't the only part to play in natural power, but it was a major component.

And as far as he knew, the [Exhaustion] debuff wasn't even that bad, just being a little sleepy. So, it was a cheap cost with a decent gain and a not so bad drawback. That was definitely a Perk he'd be thinking about.

[Baggart's Roar] was next, but he honestly didn't care to check it. He'd already played Elden Ring, he got the gist of it. So, it was onto [Monks' Clarity.]

[Monks' Clarity]

[Description: Reward for reaching 50 WIS. Monks' clarity grants a flat boost of 10% increase to Mana regeneration. When paired with [Meditation], Monks' Clarity will grant a 25% boost on top of the 100% boost of [Meditation]]

[Cost: 2 Perk Points]

He shrugged his shoulders, for two Perk Points he kind of expected better. Of course, maybe it is good and he just doesn't know it just yet, but still. Two Perk Points? When he hardly gotten his first one from a hidden Objective for breaking Tai's aura? Yeah, that's probably not gonna be something he buys.

Now, he kind of already knew what stat the next five were for. [Gambit], [Gambling Man], [Coin Toss], [Black Cat], [Winners' Lotto]? I mean, it's obvious. Luck. Even if he didn't know he had maxed out luck, he'd be able to guess what Perks these were for.

Unfortunately for him, he was getting pretty close to getting back to the Weapon Rosary. So, feeling a little bit humored by the other two, he clicked on [Winners' Lotto].

[Winners' Lotto]

[Description: Reward for having [MAX LCK]. You will have no control over this Perk, it activates randomly during times of struggle. Extremely small chance to grant exactly what you need to succeed in any situation. Having a hard time opening a pickle jar? Boosted strength. Fighting a pesky Titan whilst underleveled? Massively increased MP and HP Regeneration. (for a time). On death's door? All ailments and injuries are healed.]

[Cost: 10 Perk Points]

"Oh shit." Lautrec couldn't help but speak, feeling utterly dumbfounded by how good this Perk was. The damn thing had one drawback, and it was that it was random chance. But, did he not have five-hundred luck!? He was literally THE lucky guy.

"Lautrec!" A high pitched voice practically yelled out, and his eyes shot away from the screen. He looked toward the familiar voice and met eyes with the girl of the hour, Ruby.

Ruby was smiling toward him, waving as she approached him. "Hey, Ruby." Naturally, he waved and smiled back. "You just getting here?"

She nodded "Yep! I can't wait! It feels so, I don't know... Adult! I have a job, and money, and and! Guh! I don't know, it's just so cool!" Lautrec found her excitement contagious, his smile growing slightly as she continued to rave.

"Ah, and taxes, don't forget, Rubes." He raised his pointed finger, wagging back and fourth as he spoke.

"Ugh, yeah, and taxes. But still! All the other cool stuff still applies, Lautrec. Money! Lien! Not to mention all the cool design work with weapons!" She countered his small jab easily, rolling with it. "And we're both working there, how awesome is that! We're gonna be best friends within, like, a week!"

Once the two reached the door to the Weapon Rosary, Lautrec walked in, opening the door and holding it for Ruby. "Oh, speaking of, maybe one day you can bring some comics so we can read them when we are on break, or something. I'm not actually sure where the library is on Patch."

Ruby seemed delighted by the idea, clapping her hands together while stars formed in her eyes. "That's so smart! Tomorrow I'll bring some, do you have any you want to read first?"

He shook his head. "Nah, nothing in particular, Rubes. What about Arachnid-Boy? You talked highly of them in the gym." She nodded.

"Yeah, he's my favorite. Don't tell Yang, but I actually don't care for Iron Fist like she does." Lautrec's face must've shown he knew the name, because Ruby caught whatever look appeared and groaned.

"Ugh, not you too! Seriously, how do you know Iron Fist" She said in a mock disgusted tone, shaking her head and scrunching her face "but not Arachnid-Boy? He's one of the most popular there is!"

His hands rose in surrender, meeting Ruby's disapproving gaze and sighing. "I just like martial arts, I don't know what to tell you, Ruby. But Arachnid-Boy is pretty awesome too, I love the concept of a person who exemplifies heroism and indomitable will as much as the next comic nerd."

"You better! This settles it, I am bringing Arachnid-boy comics tomorrow and we are gonna binge read them." Her piece said, the two of them stepped into Ms. Brigid's office. The woman in question was sitting behind the desk, idly spinning her pen in between her fingers while blankly staring at her clipboard.

"Miss, we're both present." Lautrec was the one to speak, reaching over to the bag and grabbing three tinfoil wrapped tacos and handing two to Ruby. "Is there anything we need to do?"

The woman broke from her stupor, looking at the two of them and nodding. Brigid cleared her throat, and stood. "Yes. Given we can't legally use the forge until we get approved by the mayor, today can just be an upkeep day. Restock the shelves and clean up the floors. Just some basic things for today. Tomorrow as well, maybe just manning the lien register so that I don't have to do it."

Lautrec nodded, swallowing his food and began to walk out of the room. "Rubes, I'll be sweeping and mopping, you can restock once you're done eating." His words rung true, and to them Ruby nodded curtly as she ate.

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Time skip -- 11 hours

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For the next eight hours, he simply walked around, cleaning up dust and mopping up the dull looking wooden floor. Talk with Ruby was limited at best, sadly, as she was quite a bit too shy to man the cash register. So while they did have some interaction whenever they had bumped into each other in the store, they never expressly moved from their station to socialize.

In truth, that didn't bother him too much. It gave him even more time to try and figure out what his next step forward was and what Perk he wanted to buy. Speaking of Perk's, he had looked through the rest, even Baggarts Roar just to make sure it was what he thought it was.

[Gambit]

[Description: Reward for having 50LCK. [Gambit] is a one use per month ability that grants the user a 50% success rate of doing any one action, after which users luck will immediately fall to -50%. (The action must be feasible, you cannot use this to one-shot an enemy nor use an ability you haven't unlocked. If you have over a fifty percent chance of completing the action you use this perk for, your chances of success will drop to fifty percent.)]

Cost: 1 Perk Point

[Gambling Man]

[Description: Reward for having 100LCK. [Gambling Man] is a once per day skill that allows for risky and negative incounters to have a 100% increase to the best outcome.]

Cost: 1 Perk Point

[Coin Toss]

[Description: Reward for having 200LCK. [Coin Toss] is a one use per month ability that grants the user to make any one sitiuation a 50% chance of success, no matter how skewered the odds may be. (Success must be possible, you cannot use this ability to make yourself have a fifty percent chance of fighting Gods, Killing Immortals, or any other form of impossible feat. Cannot be stacked with [Gambit])]

Cost: 5 Perk Points

[Black Cat]

[Description: Reward for having 350LCK, the ability [Black Cat] has been unlocked. [Black Cat] is one use per day ability that makes all the users enemies to have -150% LCK for 180 seconds even if the encounter ends before the time limit.]

Cost: 5 Perk Points

In truth... None of these really seemed too amazing. They, believe it or not, were entirely based on good luck. Other than [Black Cat] at least, but even that one wasn't too great. Most people he observed didn't have too high LCK to begin with, so it wouldn't do a whole bunch. Or maybe it would? With maxed out negative LCK he got hit by a falling light and it landed on him and was a critical hit. What if it was a sword that was swung down on him instead? How much damage would that do?

Not to mention... it's area of effect and specifically targets enemies. And I just so happened to be fighting a group of four in a few months, wasn't I?

Maybe... just maybe. If I can get to five then I absolutely will get [Black Cat].

Afterwards, he had gone to the gym, though Yang and Ruby hadn't accompanied him. Ruby had said it was their rest day, so it wasn't a surprise. Given it was a Thursday, he could understand. And he put two hours on the treadmill, running max speed for as long as he could with the occasional minute-or-so long break.

His efforts had awarded him surprisingly sparse rewards, only around one point to vitality and one for agility. But that was okay, he supposed. That's still one more point in both.

But now? It was time for something more.

Inside his apartment, Lautrec was sitting criss-cross and his hands open in front of him. The boys' eyes were closed and his breathing coming out in small amounts. From an outside perspective, it would look like a simple (if amateurish) attempt at meditation. But inwards, Lautrec worked to find his mana, just as he had done the night before.

It wasn't as simple as flexing a muscle or focusing his mind to activate his mana like it was with Aura. Despite his first thoughts of both being technically the same thing, life force and what not, it was an incorrect thought process.

If he had to make an analogy for it, it was more akin to different fuels. Think of Aura as coal, it could only be burned to be used as fuel, making it really easy to use. But mana would be water, something that could power many things, but only in very specific ways. It wouldn't just produce energy in a self contained circuit like a burning coal would. It needed something to hold it, to push it in a certain way. Like a watermill or a dam.

How did he figure this out? It's pretty simple, actually. Using True Night's Edge against Tai proved to be an even greater boon than he had initially thought. It was the only time HE had to control his mana to push it outwards. Like [Flash Step], which worked like button and simply siphoned off some of his Mana. But that did make him think, if he could unlock more spells, he wouldn't have to go through this hassle again.

Another light breath escaped his lips, a faint purple hue began to glow from the tips of his fingers. Small pulses in power pushed out from his fingers, like a glass ball of plasma.

'I have it... I have it..'

There was another buzz, this one more like excitement as a small smile began to creep onto his face. Mana, true Mana! And it only took eight minutes of meditating to get it to manifest on his hand.

Before he could get too excited, Lautrec made sure to get a hold of his emotions tightly. He didn't dare mess this up now. Gods know that there were times he got too caught in a moment that he lost track of everything else.

The light in his hand dimmed, but did not dissappear, even as his breath hitched.

'Focus. Find that feeling.'

Lautrec knew he was close, the humming of his Mana was there, buried under the sand that was his unclear mind. He just had to comb through his mind to let his Mana actually begin to saturate his body.

With one final deep intake of air, he felt his Mana take form in his hand, forming the disc. He looked at it, admiring the translucent disc, and he couldn't properly prevent himself from feeling a swelling of pride at his first application of [Mana Manifestation]

[Mana Manifestation has leveled up!]

[Level: 3/100]

[+3% more effective in using and controlling Mana!]

"Good. That took a lot out of me though, whew~!" No kidding! His mana took a pretty big hit from just creating this small disc. It was about the diameter of his finger, and it took over a thousand mana to make.

"No, that doesn't make sense." Lautrec shook his head and stood up. Something so small shouldn't cost that much mana. Especially since it isn't even a solid disc. He could see it costing maybe a hundred points of his mana, but even then that's a big amount. So what was the drain?

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Lautrec stood up from the floor, and walked over to his bed, grabbing a pen and some paper he had taken from The Weapon Rosary. With the small disc still in hand, he held it up, analyzing the thing while also bringing up his [Meters]. Keeping it up had a tiny drain of two mana points per second, but the initial cost was around a thousand? So, in theory, after five hundred seconds the entire disc should be made up of new mana.

With narrow eyes, he scrutinized the disc even more. He hadn't been blind enough to miss how the disc had a pulsing wave that was moving outward from the center of it. And the wave took around thirty seconds to move fully through to the edge. Using this and the two mana point drain, that must mean that the actual cost of maintaining and replacing the mana within the disc was only about sixty points of mana.

And if that was true, then how in the world did he lose an excess nine-hundred forty points of mana? Where was the sense in that? Lautrec shook his head, and stopped pumping mana into the disc right as the wave of light hit the edge, counting down the seconds it took to dissolve.

Sure enough, it took thirty seconds for the edge of the disc to dissolve into nothing, the inner part going first. Lautrec wrote that down, mana would be broken down after thirty seconds unless continuously renewed.

Fun.

That means that his hypothesis is correct, maybe? The disc costs only sixty MP to make, but he used an excess nine-hundred forty that was just poured out? No, he was thinking of this wrong. Lautrec got off of his bed, and began to pace in his apartment while thinking.

'It's like physical training to an extent...' just like a beginner in kickboxing would waste energy by putting power into every hit and miss because they didn't measure distance, or would hop on their back foot to get a higher high kick, he was doing the same with Mana.

Just like how a sprinter has specific techniques to run faster, a wrestler has specific techniques to grapple better, and a striker has specific techniques to hit more efficiently, he needed to figure out the technique to better use his Mana.

His process was very rudimentary, now that he thought of it, simply trying to expell Mana outwards, and once he had it he tried to push it towards his hand.

But that was also while solidifying his mana and making it able to be held. Which was nothing like [Flash Step], which carried his body towards his desired location instantaneously upon activation. 'Hm. Another thing I'll have to look into, then.'

"God, this is so much more complicated then all those stories made it seem! I thought I'd just be able to wave my hand and magic would come out. Why do I have to be the one to actually have to figure this out?" Lautrec bemoaned, feeling slightly cheated from his overpowered fantasy of magic. "Ugh, it's fine, though. Only two days in and I'm level fifty-one. That's probably good for something, right?"

The boy laid back on his bed, subconsciously fiddling with his Mana still, boredom and mental fatigue beginning to catch up to him for today. He hadn't talked to Yang today, which he probably should. Don't want to ghost her so soon and all.

With a flick of his wrist, he produced his scroll, sending a message to Yang. A simple "I'm bored, wyd?" should suffice. Lautrec sighed once more before pushing his scroll onto his bed, and restarting the process of guiding his mana. And where he was allowing his mana to go where ever it wanted last time, Lautrec was attempting to push and concentrate it completely in his hand and nowhere else.

Which was infinitely harder than he made it sound. The more he tried to force Mana through his arm and into the palm of his hand, the more it felt that the mana went against his will. Raging against his control like a turbulent ocean. Though, with his eyes shut and his breath steady, Lautrec felt like he was managing to exert some control over the unruly force within him.

At least, he was, until his scroll pinged and he lost his concentration for but a moment. His mana easily slipped from his grasp right after, no longer even felt in his body any more.

Lautrec sighed, shaking his head and grabbing his scroll. He smiled once he saw that the notification was from Yang, a response.

"Nothing much tbh, just got done watching a movie with Ruby. She wanted to re-watch the Arachnid-Boy movies for some reason, lmao. They're pretty good."

He moved to type, but paused as he saw Yangs' side of the screen had three dots in a text bubble.

"How about you?"

Ah... well, time to ramble, he supposed.

"Well, first, I woke up and went to walk around town. I actually found this really sick breakfast spot, Tomas's Bakery. It had these amazing fajita breakfast tacos, seriously recommend them. I got like, eight I think. Three for me, two for Rubes, and three for our boss. After our shift, I went to the gym and hit some cardio, I've really started to like running recently, I'm not sure why. Took a nice shower, and now I'm in my hotel room and messing around with my semblance. Solid eight out of ten day, if I don't say so myself."

Sent! Better give Yang a second to read it all. He set his scroll down, using whatever short amount of time he had to mess with his Mana. But, to Lautrecs' suprise, she responded nearly instantly.

"Dude. I asked what you did, not the emancipation proclamation."

He blanked as the words ran through his mind, frowning slightly. The boy quickly writing a response back. "Okay, dude. [Eyeroll] just say you hate me [sad][praying]"

"Lmfao real. I'm reading it, dw."

A few more moments passed before she responded again.

"Sounds like a busy day, tbh. I don't actually have a job, and Ruby doesn't really care to talk about it other than how she's gonna be able to make weapons and upgrade her scythe. Wanna tell me about it?"

He nodded to himself, deciding to lay on his stomach holding his scroll just in front of his face.

"It wasn't so busy at work, if I'm being honest with you. Maybe it's because it was basically still being opened, but there was only maybe a dozen or so people who bought stuff. Basic munitions, ammo and the like. I got to man the register for awhile, saw a few cool hunters-in-training. But other than that, I was mainly just on restocking with Ruby."

"Sounds lame. So not getting a job other than hunting."

"Fr, I shoulda just dedicated to being a hunter completely. But alas, it's not what fate would have for me [sad]. Though, maybe you can help me with Aura so I can be a fully-fledged hunter with you?"

"lol, if you want help with aura, you can just say that, Lautrec. You want to come over tomorrow after work?"

"[Eyeroll], duhhhh. I'll be there around five pm, is that okay?"

_____________________________________________

"[Eyeroll], duhhhh. I'll be there around five pm, is that okay?"

Yang stared at her scroll. Lautrec was coming over, that's pretty cool. Honestly, it's just a relief he was chill about it and didn't out right ask to come over. It did make her think, though, about how she would go about teaching someone aura. Sure, she had notes from Signal about it, and her dad absolutely had some books laying around that could help her, but this was still new. And new meant fun sometimes, and Lautrec was usually fun anyway.

As for where she'd teach him, well, probably her room or something. Yang looked around her room, seeing the dirty clothes that littered her floor. Suddenly, she felt a lot less excited and a lot more nervous. Her fingers sped across her keyboard, typing quickly.

"That's totally fine! Works out well, perfectly tbh! Have to brb, tho, one sec"

Yang sent the text, then tossing her scroll onto her bed, landing on a bra that was left there. For some reason, she couldn't help but feel acutely aware how untidy the room was. The young girl opened her door and rushed down her houses' steps. Turning to the left and then to the left again, she found the laundry room and snagged a hamper. With the hamper, she ran back to her room, stomping up the stairs on her way, and began to collect all of her clothes.

"What's got you all in a rush?" The words came from her doorway, her smiling father being the one to say them as he leaned against the frame.

Yang paused, her arm freezing in place as she had just reached for another piece of clothing.

"Ahem! Nothing! Just couldn't handle the clothes on my floor anymore! Speaking of, can I use the vacuum? Need to really clean up this room." She sputtered out.

Taiyang took a second to process her words, and after a moment he sighed and shook his head, though he didn't seem too displeased. "Huff... so it's like that. And I haven't even met the boy?"

"No no no! It's totally NOT like that!" Her face paled further, the world around her also seeming to drain of color as her father looked up with a teasing smile.

"My baby is finally growing up!" He moved faster than she could, his arms wrapping around her shoulders. "Though, it seems I'll have to scare off some boy, now."

Yang squirmed in his arms, an indignant look on her face as her lips turned down. "You won't have to scare anyone off, because there isn't anyone to scare off, dad!"

Taiyang let her go, watching as she stumbled back. "Sweetie, you know I'm okay with you having a boy over, just make sure to keep the door open, kay?" With his piece said, Taiyang began to walk out. "Also, the vacuum is in the living room closet. Though you might want to wash your carpet, there's a stain where you leave your clothes."

Yangs face flushed even harder, feeling wave after wave of embarrassment. Watching her father leave, she let out a huff. Her mind felt tangled at how her dad teased her so. It was as if she was being made to manually pluck each individual romantic thought out of her treacherous mind. Yang took a deep breath, hoping to forget what she was thinking for the moment. And when that didn't work, she shook her head.

"As if. Not Lautrec." She hooked her hamper on an arm, and walked it downstairs. Though she keenly avoided speaking to her dad, lest she be teased again.

_____________________________________________

"That's totally fine! Works out well, perfectly tbh! Have to brb, tho, one sec"

Lautrec put his scroll down, and sat back up in his bed. Pulling his arms way over his head, Lautrec stretched his body up and spoke through a yawn.

"Mana Manifestation is only level three. And I have to get to level twenty before Vale."

Reaching the apex of his stretch, he groaned lightly. "Hah..... best to get it done soon, then."

The boy closed his eyes, and repeated the process he had only just begun to refine. Breath by breath, minute by minute, his proficiency grew. By a miniscule margin of gaining experience maybe, but growth nonetheless.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Time skip -- 18 hours

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Thank you for shopping with Weapon Rosary, sir. We look forward to seeing you again." His voice was calm and unshaken as the retired huntsman nodded his thanks and walked away with a bag of ammo. To be honest, the old man said he was sixty, but Lautrec didn't buy that for a second, the guy looked barely in his forties, if that. No senior discount without proof, or so said Brigid, at least.

Lautrec eyed the clock, it was nearly the end of his shift. Which meant he'd be off with Ruby to her house and go train with Yang. Nothing special had happened thus far, Lautrec manned the cash register while Ruby went around restocking merchandise. Speaking of Ruby..

"So, now that he's gone, let's continue our read, Lautrec." She spoke, holding out a standard issue of Arachnid-Boy.

"'MJ!' Arachnid-Boy cries! He dives off of the bridge, hoping to catch his love before she plummets into Madison Lake below. Green Goblin cackles as he flies off into the distance, aiming for the heart of Vale to ignite his maddening toxin through the streets. Arachnid-Boy grimaced through his mask, his body colliding with MJ's, quickly covering her with himself before the two of them slammed into the lake, a crack of sound ringing out from their landing!" The young Ruby read and narrated the comic dramatically, putting emphasis on every word as she spoke. "And as the two of them resurfaced, Arachnid-Boy quickly swam them away to land, focusing on the concussed woman in his arms. As he pulled her onto shore, he tore off his mask and began to do CPR on her, hoping to save her life. Desperate to save his love, he did everything he could, and her. Her eyes slowly opened, and Arachnid-Boy held his breath as she rose."

"You know, Rubes, if you weren't a huntress, you could make a hell of a good preschool teacher. I feel enraptured in the story right now."

She nodded, smiling pleasantly at his compliment. "Eh, Yang could do it better. I'm kinda copying her right now." her smile shifted, her eyes looking up toward the ceiling for a moment. "She used to read me to bed every night, it was super cool. Yang loved reading me comics, I guess because she could show me the pictures and I'd be captivated. I'm just doing the same for you. Here, look at Arachnid-Boy swimming with MJ over his shoulder."

Ruby pushed the comic toward him, and sure enough there was a pretty detailed piece of art of Arachnid-Boy covered in water, swimming with a red head on his shoulder. The clock struck five pm, which ended the shift for the two of them. Lautrec took initiative, standing up right and stretching his arms upward.

"Mm! Alright, Ruby, off we are to grandmother's house." He looked down to her, meeting her confused gaze. "Oh, come on, you don't know that? Little red riding hood? The big bad wolf?"

Ruby shook her head 'no' each time, her eyebrows scrunching as she tried to think. "No? I've never heard of any story like that, Lautrec. Is it an obscure comic or something?"

The two of them stepped out onto the street together, Lautrec's eyes closing and letting out a breath as he bathed in the warm sun. "Nah, it was a children's story. I guess it makes sense you wouldn't know it. You could say it was a local tale."

"Why'd you say it like that?"

He leaned down, cracking an eye open. "Say it like what?"

"You said it like it was supposed to be another reference. Look." Ruby then mimicked what he had done, leaning her head back and putting her hands behind her head. She shut her eyes and spoke. "Ah~... It was, I guess you could say... a Local Tale." Ruby opened one eye, looking at him with a smile as she did her exaggerated impression of him.

The older boy barked out a laugh, punching her shoulder lightly as he did. "I did not sound like that, Ruby! No way!"

"Dude, yes way! You sounded sooo much like you were the main character." Her smaller hand grabbed his wrist, her eyes glowing as she looked up at him. "Quick, look into the fourth wall and say something inappropriate!"

"Snrk." He pried his wrist from his hand, trying not to laugh at her. "Whatever! You are too much, Ruby."

"Hey, I'm not wrong! If Yang was here, she'd totally agree with me." She crossed her arms over her chest, smiling widely as she spoke.

"Well, too bad she isn't, because it's now a tie with no tiebreaker."

A sudden noise from Ruby sounded out, like she had remembered something. "Yang told me to distract you, actually. So! Let's take a detour, to the ice cream shop!"

"What? Why?"

"Cause she said to distract you, duh? Weren't you listening?" She grabbed his wrist once more and began leading him down a road perpendicular to the one that led her home.

Lautrec groaned, but nevertheless allowed her to pull him in the direction. "I meant why she needs you to distract me? I'd like to know!"

Ruby didn't turn her head, but she did respond. "Cause her rooms' a super bad mess and she needs to clean it before you come over, that's why."

"What? That's it? She knows that we can hang out literally anywhere, right? We don't have to be in her room like I'm a secret."

Ruby turned this time, walking backwards as she spoke once more. "That's what I was telling her, but eh, she said to anyway. Plus, this ice cream is really really good. They have the best Marble ever, believe it!"

Lautrec chuckled at that, shaking his head. "'Marble'? I'd have assumed you'd be a cookie dough or cookies and cream fan."

"I wish! They don't have either of them, so I have to go with the second best option, or third best I guess." She shook her head, sighing. "Only Vale has the really nice flavors."

"Exposure breeds contempt, Ruby." The older boy spoke, quoting a book he had read long ago His amused look was not mirrored by Ruby, who rolled her eyes.

"No one even knows what any of those words mean, Shakespeare."

Lautrec's brow scrunched, confused. "One of them was your name..." She scoffed at that, turning and leading them down to a cul-de-sac, one that held two stores on the left and right and a dead-end further in.

"Nuh uh. And it doesn't matter, cause we!" Ruby tugged him towards the glass door of the closest building. "Are here! Behold and be amazed!" She extended both of her arms in front of the door, presenting the shops' name with jazz hands.

He gave her a look, raising his eyebrow before looking past her arms and looking toward the shop door. "the 'Ice Creamdom', seriously?" Lautrec chuckled at the name, grabbing the handle and opening it for Ruby. "Sounds like a good time, Rubes. Great pick."

"Heh..." The younger girl smiled at the praise, walking through the door happily. "It's ice cream, it was gonna be a great idea no matter what."

The pair walked inside, the cool air within covered their forms as they made their way to the cash register. The worker looked to them, and walked behind the register. "Welcome, what can I get you?"

Lautrec bumped Ruby's shoulder with his fist, offering her to go first as he thought about what to get.

Ruby looked to the worker, then looked to the marble ice cream container and pointed. "Can I get Marble ice cream, two scoops in a waffle cone?"

The worker nodded politely, moving to grab the scooper and a cone to put the sweet treat within. "Of course, and for you, sir?"

The boy hummed, his hand coming up to stroke his chin as he thought to himself for several moments more. "Can I get Neopolitan?"

"I'm afraid we don't carry that, sir."

"You carry the three flavors necessary, a scoop of each surely won't be a problem, will it?"

The worker cringed, glancing away for a moment. "Sorry, sir, but it's store policy. I'd have to charge you for each individual flavor if it isn't already pre-made."

Lautrec sighed at that, but nodded. "Then do that, I'm craving Neopolitan, and I'm sure I'll survive a little extra fee. Make it a chocolate-dipped waffle cone with sprinkles."

The worker nodded, and quickly served them both and the two of them sat outside the establishment to eat their ice cream.

"What a scam! They charged you double the normal price of three scoops! How stupid is that. I'm never coming back if that guy is there!" Ruby said, upset at the worker for no good reason, the she didn't hesitate to eat her own ice cream.

"I think you're exaggerating, it wasn't that much anyway. It was only eighteen lien for mine and six lien for yours." Lautrec took a lick of his ice cream and a bite of his cone. "Hardly breaking the bank."

"Still! It's the principle of the matter!"

"Ruby can you even spell principle?"

"That's irrelevant to what I'm saying."

"Shush and eat your ice cream, Rubes. I'm enjoying mine, enjoy yours, 'kay?"

She grumbled, a pout on her face as she licked at her ice cream and ate her cone, and Lautrec did much the same, content to bask in the autumn sun as he ate his sweet treat.

"Can I try some of the strawberry?"

"Hm, what?"

Ruby pointed at his ice cream, specifically the strawberry. "Can I have some? I've never tried the strawberry here."

"Be so entirely for real right now, Ruby. I just got scammed and you want me to give up what I got scammed for?" Lautrec looked at her with a raised eyebrow and amused smile as she shuffled under his gaze.

"I-I mean... Please? Just a little bit?"

The older boy laughed, and held out his cone of ice cream, to which Ruby quickly scooped some out with her finger and popped it in her mouth.

"Hey! That's pretty good!" Her silver eyes seemed to shimmer as her smile reappeared after eating the bit of strawberry ice cream she had claimed from Lautrec.

"Yeah, well, you ain't stealing no more from me, Rubes." The boy pulled away his cone, smiling slightly as Ruby groaned.

"Come on! Just one more piece? I- ah?" Ruby had began to speak again, but was interrupted by the buzzing of her scroll. She swiftly answered the call, Yangs' face appearing as it opened.

"Ruby! Where are you at!? Where's Lautrec?" Her slightly static-y voice came from the scrolls speaker.

Ruby herself chuckled sheepishly, and pulled the camera away from her face to show off her ice cream. "I'm distracting Lautrec, like you asked!"

"Ice cream? Did you seriously extort Lautrec for ice cream, Ruby?" Yang said, drawing an exaggerated gasp from Ruby. "As if! It was an idea I threw out into the wind that he happened to like, and so we went."

"Uh huh... Right. Just.." She paused, considering her words. "Start making your way over? The ice cream will probably be finished before you two make it to the forest."

"'Kay, Yang! Roger copy." Ruby looked to him, taking a bite from her ice cream and cone at once. She motioned with her head for him to stand. "We're on our way, come on, Lautrec!"

Lautrec nodded, standing on his tippy toes and into a stretch. "Aye, give us a minute or two, we can probably jog there, make it a race." He smiled playfully, looking at Ruby who matched his grin with a competitive look of her own.

"If that's the case, you better be here in ten minutes, or else you aren't learning anything from me, mister!" Yang spoke to them, and Lautrec took one glance at Ruby, smiling, before absolutely bolting off into the distance.

"See you there, Ruby!" He could faintly hear Ruby call out to him, though he didn't care to look back, knowing full well that if Ruby wanted she could easily catch up.

He ran as fast as he could, channeling his aura into his legs to try and run faster with limited success. He could kind of feel the beat of step was much more forceful, like an explosion outward from the bottom of his foot rather than a springboard through his calf. Something to work on with Yang, he supposed.

Just as he believed to find a sort of rhythm, he heard the whirlwind of roses behind him, swiftly catching up. And with a turn of his head, he confirmed that Ruby was right on his tail. The roses continued to gain, until Ruby was in front of him and burst out of the cloud of roses.

"Sup!" She nodded her head at him, matching his pace on foot without having to use her semblance, a signature smile on her lips as she ran along side him.

Lautrec rolled his eyes, smiling back easily. "Hi, Rubes. I see you really are as fast as you looked back at the gym!" He really couldn't exaggerate it either. Even using his aura best he could, using his much longer legs and larger strides, Ruby was still capable of matching him without much of a sweat.

"Psh, duh! I've been running since I was three, and I've had Aura since I was five! This is nothing for me now!" Ruby spoke nonchalantly, closing her eyes and running perfectly straight.

He groaned in response, rolling his neck, and trying to put more bounce into his steps, bumping his speed by a small amount.

The two of them continued to run, making into and past the Patch Woodlands, and managing to make good time to the Taiyang residence.

"Gods, that was terrible! Ugh, I don't get how you do that, Ruby." Lautrec spoke through pants, leaning against a tree as he caught his breath. In contrast, Ruby had only light sheen of sweat beading her forehead. "I am so much better at long distance, promise!"

She laughed, leaning on the same tree as he. "It's just practice, Lautrec. If you want, you can run with me in the mornings before Signal starts up again. It'll be good for you. Dad always says if you can run, you can live to fight another day."

He pushed himself up, no longer holding his knees for support. His gaze shifted, looking at Ruby. "That's pretty dark, no?"

"Eh... it's the truth. Grimm don't get tired, you have to train yourself the same way!" Ruby spoke with a determined glare, her fist held out in front of her.

"Yeah... I guess so." It was small moments like this that reminded him that he was still a stranger to Remnant, that he still saw this as a dream or a falsehood. He saw Ruby, not as a kid in that moment, but as the hero that the show tried to portray her as. "I guess so."

Ruby turned to look at him, smiling slightly. "That's why you're here, isn't it? To train?"

He nodded, moving off the tree now. "It is, you're right." There was a more resolute feeling in his chest. Him seeing Ruby so resolved, and determined, it strengthened his own. "Seriously... you have a way with words, Ruby." Lautrec rolled his eyes, trying to play off the effect her words had on him.

"Ah.. it's nothing, really. I'm just very passionate about this, you know? Great power and Great responsibility and all that." Her hand moved, scratching the back of her head with a sheepish grin.

"And you killed it. Okay, let's go, Rubes." He moved, walking toward the lone log cabin.

"I did not kill it! I was explaining, there's a difference!" Ruby called out, jumping from the tree and taking place by his side quickly.

Entering the house, Ruby ushered him forward. "You can go, I'm gonna relax for a bit. Yang's probably in her room, you can figure out where that is, right?"

"No need!" A door upstairs slammed open and out came Yang herself. She was dressed not as Lautrec expected. She wore more athletic clothes, a fitted pair of joggers and slim T-shirt. "Because we have business yet unfinished, Lautrec."

She hopped down the steps easily, approaching the two of them. Lautrec noticed that her gauntlets were on and her eyes held that common competitive stare that he had gotten used to lately.

"Oh, is this about the spar you asked for?" He pieced it together rather fast, and at that he could feel his heart rate pick up. "I'm game!"

'Meters' he thought to himself, checking his aura.

Aura: 831/900

Mana: 4000/4000

"Well, it's not gonna be anything like how you and Dad fought. Keep it technical, no wildness, 'kay?" Yang walked by him, waving for him to follow her out. Lautrec quickly said bye to Ruby, before catching up to Yang in the yard.

"Got it, got it. No things crazy with me, for sure." Unsheathing the True Night's Edge he stood across from Yang. "Are will still hitting each other, or is it just taps?"

Yang threw her hands downward, extending her shotgun gauntlets. Her eyes bore into his from the other side of the open field. And with a raised eyebrow, she spoke. "What do you think?"

"That we are seriously going to fight? Just no wildness?" Lautrec said, both looking for confirmation and as a genuine guess."

[Quest Created: Sparring the Dragon!

[Objective: Defeat Yang Xiao-Long]

[Bonus Objective: Defeat Yang Xiao-Long without use of Mana]

[Rewards: +10 REP with Yang, +10 REP with Ruby, +2.5k XP]

[Bonus Rewards: +15 REP with Yang, +15 REP with Ruby, +10k XP.]

[Failure: +750 XP.]

[OST: "RWBY VS FNKI" by Jeff Williams, Casey Lee Williams - Start!]

"Correct on both!" She waited no longer, the explosion of dust from Ember Celica launched her forward at a blistering speed. Had Lautrec not been expecting such, he'd have been undoubtedly taken by surprise.

Her fist missed by a mile as he circled to the left. Her arm overextended, and Lautrec took note of it with a critical eye. "Nice try."

She laughed, nodding her head. "It was worth a shot!"

Yang shifted her feet, pushing off the ground and moving in quickly. She kept her gaurd high, both fists pressed just under her cheek bones as she approached him. Lautrec, seeing her high gaurd, made a judgement call.

Sheathing the Sword in hand, he knew in his heart he could do better with his own striking than with a sword he had only just began using. He moved in, meeting her in the middle and kicked low, his shin meeting her calf.

Her balance didn't shift, her aura coming up to keep her leg from being kicked from under her. Yang smiled, believing him to have made a mistake, and threw an overhand right. Using his superior height, Lautrec leaned back for the overhand and stepped back to avoid her follow up left hook.

Yang continued to push forward, never taking a back step and making Lautrec give more ground as she charged head first. Lautrec, acknowledging the danger of engaging, maintained distance, kicking her body with teep kicks and jabbing when he could.

It was an emulation of Sean Strickland's form of fighting. Distance, point fighting, constant strikes to build an aura of danger. Each jab thumped against her gaurd, his aura flaring with each punch in an attempt to buckle her arms or to find a shot to her face.

Lautrec wasn't fully sure how he was going to beat Yang, he wasn't sure he COULD beat Yang. But if she allowed him to do this, it was absolutely possible. He was slowly whittling away her aura, his longer reach giving him all the time in the world to hit her from a distance while she struggled to close distance.

Yang still had a smirk on her face, which kept him wary, but it was clear as day that he was falling into a rhythm.

Yang stepped in again, shooting out a jab to which Lautrec moved to the side, having to duck a cross right after. Turning his head and leaning back slightly, a reckless left hook whizzed by his face.

He set his feet, stepping in with a stiff jab that punched through her gaurd and landed with a hard thud against her forehead. Continuing his forward momentum, he pulled back his right hand and shot a hook into her body.

Though before he could get another hit off, he was made to raise his gaurd and move back as Yang stepped forward through his punch and aimed one back at him.

her fist, aura, and Ember Celica crashed against his forearm. Even though he was moving backwards, he could feel his body shake under the force. A morbid curiosity of what would've happened had she fired her shotgun gauntlets then entered his mind before he quickly dispelled it and retreated back again to evade a secondary punch.

Another low kick landed against her calf, his shin landing perfectly on delicate muscle as he circled away to the center of the field again.

On their next engagement, it flowed much the same, Yang moved in, and Lautrec moved easily out of the way of her jab and cross. He dodged backward to avoid her left hook before setting his feet to counter with a jab of his own.

Lautrec's hand struck true, the jab landing over her eye, a small amount of his aura covering his knuckles dragged across her eyebrow.

Yangs smirk grew and her yellow locks blew up into flames. Lautrec could only watch in horror as her body sped up rapidly, her foot planted and diving in instantly.

The boy did the only thing he could think of, and used [Flash Step] to escape the initial barrage of strikes. Yang's explosive hooks missed, Lautrec having reappeared several feet away from where he was only moments ago.

She laughed, a toothy and dangerous looking smile on her face as she closed the distance again, running at him with the same aggression she showed the Beowulves only just the other night. Lautrec grit his teeth, noting he had already failed the bonus objective, and unsheathed Night's Edge, charging a [Corrupted Hurricane] within the blade. Yang gave him no time to pump mana into his sword, having already cleared the distance between them in the moment he had used to unsheathe the Night's Edge.

Her first blow came as a body hook, landing with enough power to punch through a car door. His aura tanked just behind the first punch, Lautrec folded under the speed and power behind her punch. Luckily, he had enough sense to lean back and turn his head away from her next shot, the warm metal of Ember Celica only just grazing his cheek.

Her hair stopped burning, having used up whatever amount of his damage he had caused to fuel her semblance. Lautrec's eyes narrowed and slashed his sword out wildly. But, as he had come to expect, she leaned into the strike with reckless abandoned, using her gauntlet to protect herself from the sharp edge of the blade.

Lautrec released the mana that had built within the sword, the [Shadow Bite] wrapped around her gaurd and cut into her off side. Her eyes widened in surprise as the umbrakinesis of the Nights Edge hit her. Lautrec didn't dare waste the opportunity, spinning on his heel and thrusting his back foot into her abdomen.

The spinning push kick found its mark, his heel dug into her core, and with aura enhancing the strike she was sent tumbling backward.

[Aura: 427/900

Mana: 2301/4000]

He looked to his Meters for a second, noting that a single, direct and charged hit from Yang was enough to drop his aura by over four hundred or-so points. While taking a look at Yang's aura...

[Yang Xiao-Long

The Young Dragon

Level 32

Aura: 3102/3800]

She was sitting pretty, basically. Her much larger aura reserves basically full, despite him landing much more volume.

[OST: "RWBY VS FNKI" by Jeff Williams, Casey Lee Williams - End!]

"Ugh! That was good, Lautrec!" Her smile was still present, if a little strained as she patted her stomach. "Hell of a kick!"

"Thanks." He accepted her words easily, nodding. "Are we still going or was that it?" Lautrec tilted his head, smiling faintly as Yang pressed some hidden button on Ember Celica to transform them back into their bracelet form.

"Don't sound so disappointed, Lautrec! We can go again some other time, I just wanted to see what you could do, you know?" Her face adopted a much more calm smile, moving toward him with a much more serene feel to her. "And you're pretty good. Though, I won't pretend to understand what the hell that semblance is, is it teleportation? Talk about lucky."

Lautrec took a second to sheathe his sword, idly buying time for him to think about his next words. "Yeah, it's something like that. Honestly, I'm not totally sure of it myself. It doesn't feel like teleportation or like how you'd think teleportation would feel. It's more like instantaneous displacement. It leaves me super disoriented usually. Like I feel car sick out the wazoo."

"Hah! So it's a last resort kind of thing? I can't imagine it's fun to use in fights, huh?" She sat on the grass, looking up at Lautrec until he did the same.

"Yeah, it's really not that great. But it has saved me from a few nasty scars in the past, so no real complaints here." He shrugged, smiling as he spoke. "Like just now when you exploded and started swinging like a madman."

"Blegh, you shoulda just taken it, help build your ab conditioning." She leaned forward, punching his core. To which Lautrec responded by falling backwards and laying in the grass fully.

"Ugh... I'm dead. You killed me." He groaned, raising one fist and shaking it. "But seriously, no way I was taking those. The one you did hit me with nearly halfed my aura! I could feel it just crush so much of my aura is was ridiculous, it felt like getting hit by your dad."

Yang laughed and stood up, having decided to not sit any longer. "You're just saying that, I know he hits way harder." She reached down, offering him a hand, which he grabbed, allowing her to pull him to his feet. She peered up at him as he stood. "Thanks for the compliment, though."

"I promise you I am not. You got hands of stone, poatan, I say." Dusting off his back off of any dirt. Yang let go of his hand, and waved him forward.

"'Poatan?' What's that?" She asked, looking at him with a curious expression, walking back to the door of her home.

Lautrec sighed, realizing he had slipped up just shook his head. "It means 'Stone Hands' or 'Hands of Stone'. It's a fictional language so I'm not sure."

She accepted the lie easily, nodding along. "Oh... Okay, got you." The two of them reached the front door, but before Lautrec could hope to open it for her, Yang moved in front of him and opened it. "Ladies first."

"My most gracious thanks, Sir Yang." Lautrec put a hand over his heart and bowed slightly, closing his eyes and holding his head high as he walked through the door.

The two of them made their way up the stairs, entering Yangs room quickly. "So, how do we start?" Lautrec had to ask, taking a seat on Yangs floor.

Yang slipped off her boots and took a seat on her bed, criss-cross. She looked down to him, her hands to her side. "Well, Aura is a weird thing. Even my notes don't really go too indepth on it because it's not a one-size fits all, you know? But, there is a method to trying to understand aura." She paused, tapping her chin with a finger as she thought. "At least, in theory there is. But first, tell me what you know about aura, just so I can get a grasp on where you're at."

Lautrec nodded, accepting her words easily as she spoke. "I heard it's a reflection of the soul and that it can be trained to manifest in multiple different ways. Like Touki, or Battle Aura, and can be used to create small barriers as well. But that's all, really."

"Right and wrong, L." Yang clasped her hands together, taking in a deep breath before talking again. "Aura is the manifestation of the soul, but it can only be manifested in three ways. Which is Aura Manifestation, which is the spontaneous beckoning of Aura to shield you. And in uh... hold up, I forgot what it's called!" She dove to the side of her bed, where she picked up a composition note book and flipped through it quickly. "And in 'Subconscious Aura' which is the process of your body using Aura to help regulate your body when you're sleeping, which will saturate your muscle, bone, and other biological fibers. This process helps in bolstering the natural capabilities of the body without use of Aura Manifestation. The third way is the more instinctual way, as it is what you called 'Battle Aura'. Using your aura much in the same way as Subconscious Aura, you need to allow your body to use Aura to boost your physical capabilities further."

"So how do I train it?"

"Practice, honestly." Yang replied simply, shrugging her shoulders with a sheepish look. "Aura is you. Aura is your intentions, your hopes, your drive. It's why you were able to block my punches with it despite not really knowing how to call it forward. You wanted to protect yourself from my strikes, so your aura came up and blocked it. It's instinctual mostly."

Lautrec looked at her for a moment, confused as she explained. "Practice? Man, I expected there to be like some Shao Lin monk type stuff where I have to meditate for hours daily or something like that. Just practicing seems like I'm not doing enough." His eyes went back up to meet her gaze, still not fully understanding.

"Less is more here. If you try and increase the amount of stressors and moving parts to this, you'll only confuse yourself. A river with a dam will move forward, but a river with no dam will move much smoother." Yang moved to the floor, sitting next to him now. "But, if you want something to practice, I'll show you what dad told me to do."

She balled her hands into fists and pressed them together. "Your body is a natural conductor for Aura, so moving it around is always really easy. But what dad wanted me to do is something a little more complicated. Maintaining a constant stream of Aura from one arm and moving it onto the other without letting it go." As Yang spoke, a small golden ring of Aura formed on her forearm. The ring moved slowly down her arm, flickering in the barest amounts. It trailed further and further down her arm, eventually reaching her wrist, and then her hand, and then her knuckles, before stopping. "This is the part where most people fail, moving it from one hand to the next. And I can't really get it either. But dad can, so I keep trying." The golden ring glowed brighter, but instead of moving to the next hand, it stayed put, unable to cross the distance.

Yang let it go after a few moments, sighing in disappointment at her apparent failure. "Now you give it a try. It's pretty tough, so don't expect to get it on the first go." She cautioned him wisely, and Lautrec accepted that as well.

He closed his eyes, taking in a slow and steady breath as he tried to summon his aura to his arm. And to his credit, he was able to. Lautrec's purple aura came up to his skin and stayed. But just like in the Patch Woodlands before, it was crackling like glass and shifting in unnatural ways. Yang watched his struggle, admiring his determination as the flailing aura cracked and crinkled and yet slowly moved across Lautrec's forearm. Though it didn't get very far, only about a fifth the distance he was needing to cross to even make it to his wrist, it was an admirable first attempt.

Yang whistled, and gave Lautrec a pat on the back. "That was really good, Lautrec, seriously! For a first attempt, I don't think there are many people in Signal that did better. Aside from me of course."

He nodded, looking at her with a sort of understanding he didn't have before. In front of him was another person who superceded him in a way he couldn't imagine until now. Lautrec couldn't help but acknowledge how far ahead she was. Instead of killing his motivation, he felt the flames of ambition burning within him a lot hotter than they were just a second ago.

"Do you have any pointers, Yang? Your dad said that the whole crackle and glass effect of my aura burns it."

"Again, just practice. Just like how you were evading my hits, practice this and it will feel more natural and it'll come to you. Maybe you're a slow starter when it comes to Aura and it'll take a bit, but it will come naturally if you just keep practicing." Yang repeated it over and over again, reciting her words to burn them into his mind. And eventually, Lautrec allowed himself to take them to heart. Trust in the much more experienced and vetted user in aura.

"Okay, got it." He nodded. "And that's it for today, no more aura lessons from, Miss Xiao-Long?"

She laughed lightly, rolling her eyes. "No, none. But Ruby's still downstairs and would probably like to watch the next Amazing Arachnid-Boy movie, if you'd like to join." With a stretch, she stood up and began to move towards her door again.

[Quest Completed: Sparring the Dragon!]

[Rewards: +2.5k XP, +10 REP with Yang and Ruby]

Lautrec sat on the floor of Yang's room for a little longer, sighing quietly to himself as he acknowledged what he needed to do.

"Mana first, aura can come second. Mana is what I need to learn." He whispered to himself, a plan slowly forming. Pushing up from the ground, he stood up once more and walked out to follow Yang. Looking over the rail of the upstairs, he saw Ruby and Yang on the couch in the living room, looking up at him.

"Alright, so it's a movie night?"