Ahh... My second to least favorite class of them all. Fucking Combat Training/Semblance Training/Magical Combat. Or just melee combat training for me.
Honestly, I wasn't wired for straight-on brutal melee combat. It just wasn't me, I much more enjoyed controlling an anti-air gun and filling the air with more lead than air to make an enemy into a parking lot.
But I was well aware that knowing how to stab a bitch was extremely important if I wanted to become somewhat powerful in this world.
So once again I was in the mega classroom with dozens of sand pits but this time instead I was paired off directly with Mr. Kharisma who had chosen me to be the second chosen student for him to try to sus out their semblance and personal training.
Mr Kharisma obviously was intimidating with how large he was along with being encassed in armor. Not to mention the casual aura of impervious strength that clung to his form.
"Jake." Mr Kharisma drawled slowly as he unfolded his arms from around his chest.
I nodded and said respectfully. "Mr. Kharisma."
He grunted and then he nudged his helmet-covered head to the private dueling pit he was in charge of.
After getting into the dueling pit with Mr Kharisma he took a deep breath and spoke bluntly. "As you are well aware from Ozpin's speech, my semblance is foresight into the next ten minutes. But what you don't know is that each time I use my semblance I experience the entire ten minutes mentally in the course of a quarter of a second."
"So by the time you have entered classroom, I have already simulated the next ten minutes by more than five hundred times." He spoke with a slight frown.
I nodded and then said. "So... What did you kill me or something?" I asked flatly.
And I froze as he nodded and said calmly. "Yes, I did. I did it in order to find your semblance... And you would be surprised how many people have semblances that require them to die or be on deaths door. Basically, all of those people are sent directly to the necromancy branch or taken into the royal family to be trained by the Lich Sage Lord."
For a moment of silence, I wanted to do something... Like ask what rhe fuck he was even thinking but I pulled back in those thoughts as I said dryly. "I am going to pretend I didn't hear that for my own sanity."
To which Mr Kharisma in that said monotone emotionless tone said bluntly. "Each time I did it, I myself would die in short order as your ship New Jersey has a semblance that allows her to teleport to you when you take damage... Though Fiora would in turn kill New Jersey within a couple of moments of my own death.
I drew a hand across my face before I said flatly. "Well? I assume you found my semblance or something?"
There was another slight pause before he nodded and his voice had a bit more interest in it as he spoke. "Correct, yes I have... It fits you entirely too well in fact."
He waved a hand at me and he said more in his monotone and I realized his monotone was coming from mental exhaustion... As he had likely simulated this conversation and teaching me hundreds if not thousands of times in the minutes I had been here to say nothing of since I came into the classroom.
"Your Semblance is the creation of specifically 'Back Doors'."
I blinked hearing him. "Creating, back doors?" I asked for confirmation and he nodded silently.
'What the hell kind of semblance is opening a back door?' I thought in confusion before I caught the word 'creation' not just opening back doors.
"How do I create the backdoor, and how do I even use them?" I asked curiously.
With Mr. Kharisma audibly taking a breath before held his head and then spoke quietly so I had to lean in towards him.
"You image the door in your mind... And then you draw the door in your mind while connecting the door in your mind to another door. That is all we have found so far."
I took it in... And after a moment I nodded and said. "Alright... Thanks for the help Mr. Kharisma, uhhh how long did it take us to find this out?"
And Mr. Kharisma sighed and said. "A bit more than two thousand simulations in total, so in terms of simulated time about a month and a week... Now please excuse me, I am going to go drink as myself dying more than two hundred times has its own mental weight."
I watched in bafflement as my teacher staggered off from the dueling pit... And as he went I considered offering a shoulder to help him.
Before I recalled how he killed me in those simulations with no fucking shame, and I bet he did a fuck load worse to me in order to push me to find my semblance.
So I just took a deep breath and my body glowed with my soft blue aura and I mentally created the outline of a door, hinges, handle and all. And I could feel my aura draining as a standing normal cheap painted apartment wooden door opened in front of me.
I slowly grabbed the handle of the door that matched my bedroom door from my previous life and I took a deep breath before pushing it open and as it opened my breath caught as the inside was filled with darkness before the bright light of the arena filled the room.
And I exhaled weakly in a wry smile as I saw my bedroom within Lux's tower filled that was now filled with the light of the arena. Not my apartment bedroom from my old life.
"Wait... How the fuck did I open a door portal into my room? Lux's tower is stupidly heavily warded to all hell?" I muttered in confusion.
But then a voice distracted me as Fiora called out in her thickly accented voice. "Jake, Mr Kharisma has already left to his quarters... I see you have found your semblance though."
The door that was standing in the middle of the dueling sands seemingly crumbled into a blue aura of mine as I wasn't focused on it and as I refocused on it, it solidified and I spoke frankly. "Yeah... Seems like I lucked out and basically got a teleportation semblance of sort? But instead of portals I just open doors."
Fiora gave a slight hum before she said calmly. "Doesn't seem so combat inclined at first glance... But that doesn't diminish the value of your semblance in the slightest if my thoughts of it are correct. The value of people being able to carry boxes for example through your semblance will basically set you up for life in any case."
I nodded as that was a pretty easy thought to imagine and if my semblance couldn't even do that... I wanted a fucking refund honestly.
Either way, I willed the door to disappear and then watched as the door broke down into blue motes of light that quickly faded away.
"Come with me Jake, you will still have combat training even if you have managed to put Mr Kharisma to rest in exhaustion."
Remembering Fiora's warning to only use her first name lest I wish to be running laps around the entire sparring yard of dozens of minature arena's I made sure to use said first name as I responded firmly.
"Yes Fiora, I do need more training with swordplay, to say the least."
"Hmph, this is good that you know that least." Fiora scoffed lightly making me smile wryly.
Once we left the private dueling arena and entered the main room filled with the many dueling pits we took to one of the dueling pits and we began the lovely process of myself trying to hit Fiora with my saber.
Which went about nearly as well as it could be expected with how Fiora was a grandmaster with the potential to become a sage... To say the least, it didn't go well at all.
But after Fiora brought my aura down low after a good five minutes of sparring and was about to go beat the tar out of the Jingliu. I asked her about the lessons that were brought up earlier.
"Fiora I had a favor to ask."
An elegant eyebrow rose up in curiosity before Fiora said calmly. "Speak then, the worst I will say is no... Unless it's an offer of courtship, then I will be saying no and then stabbing you."
It was the utter banal way of saying she would stab me that made me pause before I coughed as Fiora's calm expression became awkward as though she was actually afraid of me saying something to that effect.
"No Fiora... That wasn't my intention, I was hoping I could get an hour or something in the afternoon for more sparring and if possible. Your aid in finding a water-aligned saber martial art style."
Fiora blinked at hearing my question and she slowly nodded. "I see... Frankly speaking, I am more of wind alignment but I have several dozen water-aligned sword martial arts... Specifically saber ones?" She drew off in thought before nodding.
"I at least have a couple, but yes I will teach you at let's say... Eight O'clock tomorrow sharp, and you will be there yes?" She finished with a bit of terseness in her tone making me hurriedly nod.
"Yeah that should be perfectly fine, that gives me plenty of time to finish my magical lessons with my master in the afternoon along with working on my project for the class trial next week," I spoke firmly with her giving a slight smile before she twirled her sword and said.
"Good on you then for being organized, Jake. Now excuse me, I have other lessons to imprint upon the minds and bodies of the other students. You have ten minutes to recover your aura, then I expect you back in a sparring ring young man."
With that, the Grand Duelist strutted out of my dueling pit with her heading for Jingliu to go beat some more elegance into her apparently.
In my small break, however, I got a good bit of amusement watching Pyrrha stomp Weiss into the ground. The petite white-haired beauty having decided to challenge the Hoplite-themed Amazon for pointers, which went as well as expected.
With both of the girls ending their sparring session after Pyrrha disarmed Weiss with a punch to the throat... Which was thankfully blocked by Weiss's aura.
"So Weiss, why are you acting so anxious," Pyrrha asked calmly as she leaned upright against the bleachers I was sitting at the edge of while Weiss took a seat a bit away from me as well.
My lips twitched and I gave Weiss an amused look as she huffed and then she visibly chewed on her thoughts before she said dryly. "I have been roped into doing something distasteful against my will."
Pyrrha frowned and then she said with some heat. "Is it something just mildly inconvenient or is it something bigger?"
And Weiss looked like she sucked on a surprise lemon before she spat out. "It's humiliating."
There was a pause before Pyrrha shrugged and said frankly. "My mother had me fight naked with several of her retainers on separate occasions... Humiliation and embarrassment is merely a state of mind."
I gave Pyrrha a long look before I said in a drawl. "So does Ozpin bully your mother as much as the rumors say?"
Pyrrha's expression twisted before she brushed a hand through her admittedly beautiful hair and said awkwardly. "It's not just my mother in particular... It happens to all of the Sages of Mistral, as Ozpin abhors slavery and even now he bullies at least one sage of Mistral each week."
I shook my head at how ridiculous that was. But then Pyrrha spoke up again. "So in any case, is our team members set for the Class Trial?" Pyrrha asked for clarification.
"Yup, I got a couple of students to replace my retainers in a light mage and Light God worshipper, along with a student of Lady Calia who is helping me with a project," I explained.
Pyrrha nodded in understanding and after a minute Weiss spoke with grudging curiosity. "What project are you working on?"
And I remained silent for a minute to make Weiss flush with anger before I spoke calmly. "Oh, I got a plan to make a ghost ship of a sort that I can control with my semblance, yet also be piloted remotely and automatically by the enslaved souls bound to the ship."
Both girls looked nonplussed at my words, but Weiss was a royal and was used to people serving her... And Pyrrha came from a clan that was based on Sparta's culture and dealt with their slaves no differently than the Spartans of my old world treated Helots.
Either way, I looked at Weiss and Pyrrha and asked curiously. "Are you two getting magical lessons from any of the teachers here in Vale?"
To which both paused before Pyrrha chuckled and said. "I have an inheritance from lightning and metal magic-wielding sages. That will at least get me to the Grandmaster tier in magic."
And Weiss shrugged and said calmly. "I also have the inheritance of several ice magic-wielding Sages. So I will be quite fine."
'Well, that's fancy.' I thought rolling my eyes but then Pyrrha asked. "So Jake, how are your own lessons with your master Miss Crownsguard?"
"Well enough, I suppose. Today is supposed to be my first dedicated lesson with her after she helped me form my magical core. In either case, we should probably get back to sparring... We probably don't want Fiora to have to personally remind us to keep going."
Both ladies nodded quickly in agreement and I got matched up with Pyrrha for some sparring while Weiss went to go fight another student.
-
With combat training done I went and took a good long shower with my shipgirl's following along with me while Nora had to limp behind a bit as she decided to try to see what limits her Semblance allowed her to absorb electricity to strengthen her.
Which was in fact a large amount of electricity... But she did find a limit that she found and was now working on extending that limit to access greater amounts of strength.
But with Beacon Classes over for the day, I grabbed myself a quick snack before I headed down the tower to the ritual room where Lux was supposed to meet me for our first lesson of magic.
As I sat in the thick mana-filled ritual room I continued working on the Wisdom Cube to make another Shipgirl, but honestly, I was thinking about saving up two Wisdom Cubes to guarantee a stronger Shipgirl.
Because it would be really... Really awkward if I got unlucky enough to get one of those preschooler ship girls that made up the majority of the 1-star ships.
But as I was waiting for Lux to make it here, I twitched as my scroll bleeped in warning as one of my few contacts messaged me.
Taking my scroll out with one hand as my other kept filling the Wisodm Cube with my aura, I hummed as I read the message.
[Morgan- Jake my mother Artoria has agreed to become your retainer along with my older sister Sapphron as well. Lady Crownsguard who was meeting with my master hearing this has already given a couple of spare passes to the tower so you do not need to worry about letting her in or anything.]
Then my scroll vibrated as she sent another message. [Thank you for the help with this issue Jake. And Jean is very excited to begin work on that ghost ship project with my siblings sparring no expense to tease her... In any case, I wish you a productive rest of your day Jake.]
'Jeeze... Morgan definitely is rather formal.' I thought with a wry smile before I messaged her back. [I am glad to hear she has agreed to the proposal, and I will try not to bully Jean any further... But yes I also wish for you to have a productive afternoon as I will be.]
And with that I put away my scroll knowing that Morgan wasn't going to message me back, allowing me to get back to work on filling out and creating another Wisdom Cube.
A soft thumping noise rang out and I looked over at the entrance with my lips twitching harshly as I saw a fucking fat stack of books floating into the room with a book having fallen down when Lux had opened the door.
"Hello, Jake!" Lux spoke in a sing-song of excitement making me deadpan as I stared at the stack of books taller than Lux was herself.
"Dropping a massive pile of books on me... Doesn't count as magical lessons Master." I said dryly making Lux pout as she looked at me with blame.
"You! Bah, I got in trouble due to not helping make your magic core but how was I to know Cinder was such a go-getter!" She muttered making my deadpan turn to sarcasm as I retorted.
"Because you got easily caught due to me making my magic core while you were off playing hooky with the princess!"
Lux covered her chest with her hands as though my words were an arrow through her heart making me roll my eyes as she just stuck her tongue out at me before giggling.
"Anyway, nope! These books aren't merely just for reading Jake, they are Grimoires, books in which Grandmasters and Sages have written their very core understanding of their styles, and magic, into said books before they die typically!"
I blinked as I looked at the books and as they came closer I shivered as the stack of books seemingly emanated their own mana that only when closer to me overpowered the dense ambient mana that filled the ritual room.
"I mean... I knew you were rich and the Crownsguard family had history, but I imagine these are exceedingly rare aren't they?" I asked respectfully.
But instead, Lux pouted and she grumbled. "You are damned right they are rare, my family whose lineage spans literal millennia... Millennia! Only has twenty-six of them. I had to borrow these from the first princess which is why I was meeting with her yesterday buster!"
And as she said that, she poked me with one of her pointer fingers with blame clear in her eyes making me smile wryly so I said softly. "Alright Lux. Next time Miss Goodwitch is on the warpath on you, I will see if I can take the fall."
Lux sniffed and said with some flat amusement. "That will just make Miss Goodwitch punish both of us and make it into a team exercise... Trust me, Jake, don't put yourself in Miss Goodwitch's sights."
"Now! Back to the fun part, so as Cinder probably told you. With your individual mana pool, you will need to build a spell matrix inside of your mana pool." Lux began to explain.
"In order to cast a spell you need to carefully build a spell matrix that will basically act as a program for the spell inside of your mana pool. And then when the spell matrix is complete you will be able to use the spell from the mana within your mana pool whenever you want!"
I nodded slowly in understanding before I asked curiously. "And these Grimoires will help me form a spell matrix I assume? And would having the book helping me, hurt me in the long run?"
Lux shook her head swiftly and said firmly. "Although the books certainly help a good deal Jake, they basically just form the outline of the spell matrix inside of your mana pool for you. You still need to be able to draw within the lines inside your mana pool with your own mana."
She smiled wryly and said with a shudder. "Trust me... These Grimoires will cut down literally months of training in mana manipulation within your mana pool to days if not weeks at most. Especially when you are concentrating on your mana pool and having to look at a mundane spell book to copy that spell matrix."
After a moment the stack of books slowly hit the ground with a soft thump as the various books gently flew off the tower and then floated down to meet my sitting form on the ground.
Lux then spoke. "Each book is authored by either a Sage or Grandmaster of water elemental magic and a part of their immortal will resides in the book in deep slumber... I won't tell you which is written by a sage or grandmaster so you gotta find which one accepts you."
I stared at the books before I dryly asked. "What if they all reject me?"
And after a short pause Lux retorted flatly. "I accepted you as my student... If they all reject you then something is wrong with the books of course!"
'Damn... My master is shameless.' I thought in amusement as I started on the leftmost grimoire.
[Transcendent Waves]
And the moment my hand touched the book gently I yelled in pain as spikes of water shot through my hand making me wrench my hand back in surprise as I held my bloody hand that had three coin-sized holes shot through my palm.
"Fucking bitch, I told her not to give me a cursed book!" Lux snapped as she took my hand from me with unforseen strength and I bit my lower lip as I held in a scream as a freezing icy sensation covered my wounds.
And then Lux said more quietly. "I numbed the pain Jake, I am a Grandmaster of Light Magic which includes healing magic... I will have you as good as new in a couple of minutes, just close your eyes and count to ten."
I did as Lux said even as sharp lances of pain shot up my arm and then as I slowly counted beside Lux who was verbally counting for me to center my mind obviously I felt the pain leaving my hand but I didn't open my eyes...
As Lux was pouring out enough holy light energy that my eyes were burning even with my eyelids closed.
Finally, the light darkened down with Lux huffing and saying. "Ok, my adorable disciple it's all better." I felt Lux patting my head as I opened my eyes and instantly took in how my hand didn't even have a scar on it.
But I just blinked and with a cough, I asked the obvious fucking question. "So what the hell just happened there?"
And Lux scowled with heavy mana escaping her form along with a disturbing swirl of rainbows in her eyes as she growled. "Only technically the book wasn't cursed... It's got a bloodline lock on it, so the spikes that pierced your hand were only to graze your skin but seeing as you weren't related to the Sage of Waves you got spikes through your hand."
I gave Lux a long look and I with a wry smile. "Master... Please inspect the other books for such issues. I don't want to get cursed, or more spikes through my hands. It hurts quite a bit in fact."
After a couple of minutes, Lux pushed three more out of the dozen-plus large tomes out of the stack with her muttering embarrassedly. "Yeah... With more bloodline locks, the Princess didn't exactly have a chance to choose the books at length besides grabbing all the water element Grimoires. So please don't blame her."
I exhaled and said with a slight huff. "I mean you healed the wound... So I can't blame her for loaning out such valuable treasures that rightfully have their own protection."
Though a part of me definitely blamed Lux for not checking the damned books beyond making sure they weren't cursed with something lethal or something.
Either way, I looked to the next book on my left, and with my left hand, I gently laid my hand on the top of the book with one eye closed as I waited for some kind of violent reaction.
[Needle Rain Drops] The name filled my mind and from within my Mana core, the pool of liquid mana that made my core I saw a large three-dimensional raindrop floating partially inside of the pool of mana with much of the spell matrix outside of the pool of mana.
"Huh, old Needle Storm accepted you huh." Lux muttered as she pulled the book away from my hand and I shook my head as the foreign mental energy was pulled away as well with the book leaving my hand.
"Anyway, you will be able to read the book here in the ritual room where it has some protections against the will of the Needle Storm Grandmaster polluting your mind," Lux spoke as she waved her hand with the Grimoires flying across the room and then stacking themself into a trio of neat piles on a table near the wall.
"Now! Here comes the worst part about becoming a mage... Actually drawing the spell matrix and filling it with mana." Lux said with fond annoyance in her tone which clearly expressed how annoyed she was.
Lux began a long-winded explanation on how I needed to basically mentally form a paintbrush that I could coat in my mana. And then from there, I had to pain over the three-dimensional spell matrix within my mana core to form the spell matrix.
Which to say the least was far easier said than done especially when A- I had no art experience, B- It was a bitch forming a pain brush out of mental energy when I had never formed anything with mental energy before.
And finally, there was the fact that if I failed even slightly, the spell matrix frame implanted by the Grimoire would shatter the spell matrix and make me start completely over so I was forced to make a basically perfect spell matrix.
"Alrighty so within the mental scape of your Manacore, magic is made manifest so go ahead and begin working on your paintbrush," Lux spoke as she levitated a couple of chairs for us to sit and get comfortable within.
And as I sat down Lux asked quietly. "Do you mind if I watch you try to make the mental energy paintbrush?"
I opened my eyes and asked simply. "Will it be like... Show my memories or something weird like that?"
And Lux giggled and said brightly. "No not at all Jake. Also don't worry I will be leaving you with some general magic books for you to study at your leisure. I just want to make sure you have at least one spell matrix done in your mana core before you rush off to the Class Trial."
I nodded in understanding and said calmly. "Go on ahead then."
And I just kicked back in the seat and relaxed. My eyes closed as I tried to lull myself into a stupor so I could begin the process of fully moving my mind into my mana core.
I felt Lux's hand gently take my own, not fully holding my hand intimately or anything. But she was gently holding my four main fingers in her smaller hand as her mana gently entered my body.
And softly I heard Lux speak. "Well well, you really do have a very strong water alignment. I wonder what your semblance is, and if it aligns with that as well as if your magic core is as water-aligned as possible."
I didn't interrupt as I just focused on drawing as much mental energy as I could into my mana core.
Several minutes later I felt a spark of something and Lux hummed gently with her saying. "There you go, Jake. You congealed enough mental energy to spark to life within your mana core, now do it again but maintain the mental energy glow to create the paintbrush."
And I quickly realized why being a mage was such a difficult task and why there weren't countless more of them compared to warriors who specialized in simply using aura.
Coaxing mental energy to the point of solidification was... Literally a migraine on demand as when I ran out of mental energy as I clumsily tried to make the mental paintbrush which meant I was out of mental energy.
"Here Jake, drink this. It will help your mind become more active so your mind can supply more mental energy." Lux spoke as she opened a rip in the air and I watched her hand disappear into the rip before she handed me a small vial that she opened.
'Was that like a pocket dimension or something?' I wondered before I knocked back the small vial and shuddered as the horrid taste seemingly continued all the way down my throat with the taste lingering within my stomach.
"Just relax for a minute, and when the headache goes away. Continue working on the brush, I will be paying attention in the background with my mental partitions while I do my own reading." Lux spoke calmly as I nodded slowly in understanding.
I kept working at the mental brush while Lux gave occasional pointers and some actually helpful anecdotes that made sense the more I thought about them. But either way, I spent a good couple of hours just working and practicing making the paintbrush.
With Lux having me break the paintbrush down and how to make it better as the better the paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil or whatever you used to make the Spell Matrix, the easier it would be to correctly form the Spell Matrix.
And for some higher leveled spell matrices like Master and Grandmaster Spell matrix, Lux told me quite bluntly that even for her, who could split her mind into dozens of independent minds to form the Spell Matrix with multiple brushes, chisel, and other tools.
It would take her a couple of weeks without a single failure to correctly create a Master Spell Matrix that she could cast at will when it was created... Now imagine how long a Sage spell would take for a normal person who didn't have Lux's cheat ability to be able to divide up her mind into partitions.
"Alright Jake, the mental quickening potion will be running out soon. I suggest you work at making the paintbrush after dinner until your mind runs out of energy, and then right before bed." Lux spoke making me nod in understanding.
"I will do that," I said with Lux giggling and saying.
"Just don't pull a Cinder and make me rush to the infirmary... She overworked herself and gave herself a wee bit of a brain hemorrhage by overusing her mental energy when she first started."
My lips twitched before I said dryly. "I... I will make sure to be responsible then."
Lux then stood up from her chair and said. "Alright! Come with me Jake, I got some books over here I want you to read over the next couple of days."
I followed her out of the Ritual Room with myself shuddering a bit at leaving the cloying mana rich room and as we left through the thick enchanted door I was reminded about my semblance.
"Lux I do have something to talk to you about. I found out what my semblance is from Mr. Kharisma."
She listened carefully as I explained how I could create a door that could connect to other doors and how I opened a 'Back Door' to my own bedroom here in Lux's magical tower.
Lux's face became pinched before she said flatly. "I didn't clear you for any spatial magic to be used within my tower... In case a Grimm ever ate you, I didn't want that Grimm to be able to use your soul as a ticket to teleport into my tower after it devoured your memories."
I shuddered at the way she spoke but I swallowed and continued. "Want me to show you here? I can summon up the 'Back Door' to my room?"
And damn Mr. Kharisma for telling me my semblance was the creation of 'Back Doors' now whenever I thought of being in a stressful situation and shouting. 'I am opening up a back door!'
All I could imagine is someone looking at me and people whispering about a butt hole or something...
But Lux nodded and said firmly. "Go ahead Jake, open a door to your own bedroom right here."
And I concentrated on making the door... And I realized it was using a tiny amount of mental energy to do so. Making me wonder if the quality and the detail of the door matter at all.
But soon enough I formed a door in front of myself and Lux stepped closer to inspect it with her eyes glowing with mana.
"Yup... It's made entirely out of your aura, so it is indeed your semblance. A pity it's not a semblance like mine but this is... Utterly ridiculous! My wards aren't picking up the door at all!" Lux snapped at the end and looked ready to stomp on the ground in frustration.
So I helpfully said. "Mr Kharisma said it's me opening 'Back Doors' Maybe the fact that it's a back door instead of a front door is why your wards can't pick them up."
Lux slowly turned around and looked at me with a deadpan that was complete with her eyebrow twitching and then she said flatly. "That... Is distinctly unhelpful Jake. Wait one second."
My master took out her scroll and then she dialed a number that bleeped twice as she put it on speakerphone. And then the call was picked up with a calm but firm voice speaking.
"Luxanna, what do you need? Did Jake have a brain hemorrhage like Cinder did due to you not warning him about overusing his mental energy?"
Lux just stared at her phone in betrayal as though Miss Goodwitch just sold her up the river into slavery.
But she took an audible breath and spoke bluntly. "No Miss Goodwitch, He learned his semblance is a teleportation type. Stable material and non-portal form of teleportation. The issue is I didn't clear him in the wards to use any spatial magic or anything which should include semblances."
There was a pause before Miss Goodwitch hummed and asked calmly. "I assume you wish for me to test if Jake can teleport into my own tower due to my much stronger wards that totally disable any spatial abilities?"
"Correct," Lux said shortly.
There was a pause before Miss Goodwitch said. "Very well, tell Jake to open a door to the entertainment room he was in yesterday, with my disciple Morgan. I have the mundane security cameras watching the room currently."
"I am doing so Miss Goodwitch." I spoke aloud and I blinked as I realized I could open more than one door at a time though it seemed that the second door cost more aura than the first one did despite them being the same door essentially.
To the side of the first door, was a second door. And just like before I could feel the connection with the second door and while Miss Goodwitch was silent on her scroll I saw Lux's eye twitch as I pushed the door open revealing the inside of Miss Goodwitch's tower and poked my head through the door to look around.
Both ladies were silent for a long minute before Miss Goodwitch said flatly. "I see you Jake... And my wards as well only registered you when you stepped into the door."
Left unsaid was how Miss Goodwitch, the literal Sage's wards couldn't sense my Back Door opening inside her magical tower.
"Luxanna, Jake, do not tell anyone you can open these doors behind wards, if Masters from Mistral hear about that. Who are still heavily involved with their slave trade, they will stop at nothing at kidnapping you Jake." Miss Goodwitch said honestly making my lips curl at hearing that.
I brushed a hand across my face and said. "Alright thank you for the warning Miss Goodwitch."
And with that Lux added on. "Yes, thank you master for your aid, I imagine you will wish to do some testing as well. But my disciple needs some rest after working on his mental paintbrush for the last couple of hours."
"Very well Luxanna, you and Jake have a good night. Maybe in a few days once Jake is done with making his first spell matrix I will take him for a couple of lessons and do some more testing with his semblance if you would agree Luxanna."
Lux looked at me with all but teary eyes and a quivering lip and I nodded with Lux doing a small fist pump before she said 'calmly'. "Of course, Master, Jake would be honored to have your tutelage for however long you are willing to teach him."
And with that, there was a bit of pleasantries before Miss Goodwitch hung up with Lux sagging in relief at not being scolded by the very strict Vice-Headmistress of Beacon.
"Well, I am glad Miss Goodwitch didn't snap on me." Lux said with honest relief making my lips twitch in amusement.
Looking at my own scroll I raised an eyebrow seeing a message from Jean messaging me that she was free now for our project. "Lux, I have a large-scale project for the Class Trial to make sure I win. Is it ok if I give Jean Arc, Morgan's younger sister a pass to the tower?"
Lux's lips curled into a frown for a moment before she nodded slowly. "Yeah... I know Jean is a good girl, even if she Calia's student. Go ahead and give her one I don't mind, but make sure you escort her through the tower and take the pass back when the project is done."
I nodded in understanding as I was well aware that Lux had some issues with Calia the necromancy teacher due to Ferid being her bitch self.
"Alright, then I am going to go let Jean in so we can get to work. When will our next lesson be Lux?" I asked curiously.
My teacher gave a slight humming noise before she spoke.
"Two days from now probably. Continue to practice and empty your mental energy three times a day, five times at most spread out across the day and I will message you so we may, if the mental construct is good enough. Begin working on your spell matrix."
I then shared a few pleasantries with Lux and then I left her as I went down to the bottom floor of the tower where I met with Prinz Eugen who would be guarding and spending time with me.
With New Jersey helping spar with Ren to help him get used to his new body... And speaking of which, I also need to make his more advanced body as well.
Either way, when Prinz came down I was immediately greeted with a teasing smile as she playfully demanded. "Jake! Are you abandoning me and New Jersey?"
I huffed and pulled Prinz in for a hug making her freeze slightly as my hands wrapped around her waist and I said softly. "No, I would never abandon you Prinz."
A soft squeeze around her waist was given before I let go of her and spoke softly but still firmly. "I am making a ghost ship so that we can have a mobile fortress basically. And you girls still have all your firepower even if you don't summon your actual ships."
I then leaned back to cutely poke Prinz on the forehead as I said with humor. "You and New Jersey will be far more effective just climbing up into the crow's nests and then blasting the landscape with your rigging with the height advantage.
With that Prinze just rolled her eyes and danced out of my arms with her saying pointedly. "Sticking far stronger ships atop a far worse ship doesn't make you right Jake?"
I raised an eyebrow and retorted. "I know you and New Jersey can fly... But the rest of us can't."
"Such is the weakness of mere humans. As Nora would put it... That is a Skill Issue my Admiral." Prinz finished with a throaty pur that made me want to jump her.
But that would only play into the hands of the horny Iron Blood ship so I did the best thing and just snorted and said. "Either way, having a mobile fortress I can literally carry on me will only be for the better."
Nothing was saying I couldn't keep upgrading the ghost ship after all. Adding more people's corrupted souls to it that we collected from the Grimm we killed. Or the captured souls of criminals and such.
To say nothing of using magical reagents to improve the frame of the ghost ship I had in mind.
Soon enough however Jean arrived at the tower and I went and brought her into the tower giving her the pass to the tower while making sure to tell her that it was a temporary thing due to our masters... Colored history.
Which Jean understood all too well especially knowing how Calia had used some kind of soul hypnosis on me to coax me into becoming her own student.
"Hmm, you certainly have better taste in fashion than the majority of the rest here," Prinz said with a small smile seeing Jean in black and dark red goth clothes in a tight-fitting short dress and spider web-themed lace gloves.
Which also fit Prinz Eugen's darker Iron Blood clothes as well.
"Thanks, I think?" Jean said with a wry smile before she shrugged looked at me and said. "Mistress Calia spoke with your master and she said that the materials have already been moved into the workshop under your master's tower. Are you ready to get to work?"
I nodded firmly. "Yes, I already got part of the planned process complete," I spoke proudly.
We headed down to the workshop and I proudly showed off the enchanted bottle I made with my semblance and explained. "With this bottle, I will be able to suck the ship into the bottle and carry it around without the bottle weighing anything extra!" I announced.
"Something about the connection between lost ships being captured by a black magic user and kept in a bottle Jake?" Prinz asked in good-natured curiosity.
And I nodded before shrugging and saying. "Something like that maybe. I don't know honestly, its part of my powers as an inborn Admiral. Anyway, so Jean we need to make the frame of the ship to be anchored to reality."
Jean knowing what I meant nodded in turn with her saying with a small smile. "Correct Jake, even if the ghost ship you manifest can be powerful, a spiritual entity will be dozens of times more powerful if it has a host structure to use."
I pushed some aura into the ghost ship that was within the bottle and it glowed a dark green with us being able to see through its ghostly form as it gently floated back and forth on the enchanted waters filling the bottle.
"Also... I am naming the ship the Black Pearl, and I can't be dissuaded from that." I said firmly with Jean raising an eyebrow as Prinz snorted in amusement.
But Jean just shrugged and then she pointed towards the large covered pile across the workshop. "That's fine. It's actually a pretty good name for a ship of undead and ghosts... Anyway so let's get to work making the frame."
She brought me over to the large covered mound of materials and after we pulled off the large tarp I had to hold in a retch... As there were quite literally several metric tons of corpses on the platform.
"So the larger corpses at the bottom are elephants and some magical creatures that consumed magical reagents and mutated with them unlocking their mana pool along with unlocking their aura." Jean explained happily while I swallowed as I realized there wasn't any stink of death or rotting.
"How come it doesn't smell?" I asked dryly.
And Jean blinked before she gave a wry smile. "Ahh... All Necromancer's clothes are enchanted to get rid of the smell of decay and foul smells in a large radius around them. So we are looked a bit better upon when everyone loses their body odor smell."
Prinz and I both gave the shameless necromancer a look before I brushed a hand through my hair and said. "Alright! So first thing we need to do is build the keel. To do that we will need the biggest spines and strongest magical bones to fuse together to form the keel which is the backbone of the ship."
And so we got to work, and I realized that Jean although dabbling slightly in Morgan's soul-eating fire for offensive magic to defend herself. Her major study in necromancy was in fact fleshcrafting more specifically in bone manipulation.
With Jean's magic, she could all but mold the bones together like they were clay with the bones becoming whole new structures with Jean commenting. "Honestly this is far easier than my normal extra-large ghouls I make to be sent to the Walls. I don't have to worry about sticking muscles and ligaments to the bones or anything."
I nodded as I took in the keel of the Full Rigged Ship styled ship and from there I called down the rest of my group to help make frames to hold the ship's outer shell as Jean worked hard to fuse countless bones from the various corpses into huge bone planks.
And with the meat and organs from the corpses... She used them as glue and ligaments basically between the planks with Jean saying. "With meat between the bones the ship will be more alive, and thus be able to fix itself without our intervention... So long as we throw more corpses into the depths of the ship as I am setting the bottom back as the stomach."
"Will the ship... Like, come alive or something?" I asked with a wry smile as I already saw the literal stack of soul jars next to the corpse pile that was filled with glowing candle flame-like souls of people who had died next to a necromancer.
It was Jean's turn to give me a dry look before she said flatly. "You literally have two ships that have been brought to life with souls you created from your own. Does it even matter?"
And I obviously didn't have much of a response besides the ship's loyalty being an issue and Jean then responded. "Loyalty won't be an issue, the ship's brain module will be basically scrambled with all the conflicting souls. With only our commands being able to cut through the din of all the souls who will be bound to the ship."
And that was fair enough.
Though beyond the ethics of keeping souls bound to the mortal earth and keeping them from going... Fuck all who knows where as not even the God of Light Church could say where the souls went.
At least on the Black Pearl, the souls would be free to roam about the ship freely when they weren't at work during a battle or repairing the ship afterward.
"Woah this ship is going to be huge isn't it!" Nora asked excitedly as she helped move one of the massive masts made out of bone with the sails made out of the fused skin of humans and creatures.
And I had a wide fucking grin as I called out back jokingly. "Yup! It's going to be a hundred meters long! More than big enough to carry your back bumpers haha!"
Nora waved a fist at me in warning as she shouted back. "I will have you know, my back bumpers are perfect floatation devices! If anything my perfect behind will help the ship keep afloat haha!"
-
A few minutes later however as we were deep in work I was welcome to a new face and another one I had seen the previous day. "Sapphron, it's good to see you again," I spoke with a smile before I turned to the Arc matriarch.
And dear fucking god the fact that she had eight kids was evident as Artoria Arc was built like a honey blond-haired and blue-eyed fertility goddess.
Her long honey-blond hair was tied up in a loose ponytail that still cascaded down past her ample backside and she was wearing a sweater with a very wide cut across the top that exposed her cleavage.
But not only was she beautiful, but she had the welcoming smile of an angel. But she was carrying food!
"Hello, guys! I brought pizza for you all to snack on, just make sure to also have some of the grilled chicken salad I made for you all as well." She announced.
And like the teenagers we were. Even Prinz and New Jersey flooded towards the milf with her handing out stacks of pizza boxes and giving everyone their own premade salad.
Afterward, though Artoria followed me to a table where Jean, Prinz and I were eating while the rest of my retinue in Alice, Velvet, and New Jersey were sitting at another table.
Nora and Ren were also sharing a table... But Ren was carefully eating his nutrient 'fish' flakes to keep his disembodied head in good health, while Nora was just eating his pizza as well.
"So Jake, what made you agree to take me on if you don't mind me asking?" Artoria asked gently.
"Well, I am extremely busy, and several of my retinue are rather... In-the-moment thinkers. So frankly having a den-mother will help my group be kept far more on task." I admitted.
Artoria gave a soft hum before she smiled and said. "Well, I am well used to taking care of more than half a dozen children at once."
I gave the blond woman a look before saying with a raised eyebrow. "I would be careful in being... Too motherly in any case, most of us are orphans frankly."
And Artoria's face pinched as Prinz helpfully explained how Nora and Ren were orphans with Ren having died before I revived him using his head. And then I said with a wry expression.
"Can't forget Velvet and Alice are also orphans... Their grandfather literally up and died in peace at hearing the two finally had someone to rely on and they weren't going to become homeless."
"Should we just call our group the Orphan Brigade?" Prinz asked teasingly making me almost choke on my pizza.
Jean snickered which made sense with her goth and darker sense of humor. But Artoria just awkwardly laughed as it was a joke a bit too far for her apparently.
I coughed and then said more pressingly. "Alrighty! So Artoria how is moving into Lux's tower?"
Artoria glad at the change of subjects about orphans put on a more natural smile and said. "Oh, it's certainly roomy enough. Though it's a change of pace I will need to get used to."
I nodded and then added. "Do you need any help moving any of your personal belongings from your old home here? I imagine this was kinda a rushed thing right?"
There was a pause before Artoria's smile faded and she said uncomfortably. "Yes... I will probably need some help truthfully. My landlord has been.-"
She had to visibly chew on her response before she sighed and said. "He is a man of the cloth, but his heart is darkened with the secular world, to say the least. He is trying to use old tenant laws for settlements outside of Vale to compel my staying within his owned property."
I snorted as I was well aware of those laws from my huntsmen and nobility laws classes.
Basically, the nobility outside of Vale's walls were legally able to compel the commoners to stay within their homes in order to root out bandits, and abominations that might have infiltrated the settlement.
"Those laws are to enforce stability within the settlements past Vale's walls. If he tried to pull that in court, a judge would laugh him out of there." I said with disdain.
But seeing her mother's awkward expression Jean spoke. "The man is not only a Baron, which is still nobility, but he does have standing in the Church of the God of Light. That would allow him to get a judge more... Appreciative of his goals."
I was silent for a minute as I chewed my pizza at the reminder of Artoria's shitheel of a landlord... But to be honest it was only now that I got to see Artoria that I could actually respect the Landlord's choices.
Hell if I had a mortal fertility goddess living all alone on my owned properties and I was a scum bag like this pastor was. Artoria was literally perfect bait beside the bevy of connections her daughters had.
Actually... "Jean, I am curious. Did you talk to Lady Calia about your mother's landlord?" I asked.
Jean's face darkened and she said dryly. "Lady Calia only avenges her disciples if they die. We are told very bluntly not to rely on her for political games as she has even took Ferid to task for the Flesh Automaton incident."
Jean continued with a now wry smile. "If I did ask her what I should do or for advice... She would tell me to just kill the man, reanimate his corpse, and then have it leave Vale through a convoy and be devoured by the Grimm."
The table went quiet at that. And we just finished our pizza before I said with a wry smile. "Well Artoria, how about I help you today to go get your stuff while I am free? Jean you are going to be busy for the rest of the day fusing the bones into planks right?"
At Jean's nod, I continued. "Alright, so I am basically free for the rest of the day. Would you like to go then Artoria?"
Artoria considered the thought before Jean who had a wry smile said. "Mom, you probably want to get the clothes you couldn't fit in your suitcase right?"
And I could see Artoria blink before she firmly nodded and then she threw me a thankful smile and said. "I appreciate you offering to help me Jake. Then how about we go in now if you are done eating?"
Truth be told I did already have three slices of pizza so that was enough to sate me for the rest of the night.
"Alright let's get going then." I spoke as I stood up with Artoria standing up and I looked over at the table where New Jersey was eating next to Velvet and Alice.
"Prinz and I are going to help Artoria move some stuff from her old home to Beacon." I called New Jersey just threw me a big thumbs up and a one-eyed wink as her mouth was stuffed with pizza.
From there Artoria and I headed over to the Flightdeck, where dozens of Bullheads were leaving Beacon every hour to ferry supplies and huntsmen back and forth between the city and Beacon.
So we were able to easily get a ride back to the city of Vale, and I learned that the arc's used to live just outside the noble quarter's as apparently a couple of generations back they did have a Baron within the family who allowed them to own land.
But said Baron died and for the last couple of generations, they hadn't been able to get a true landed noble.
The Arc's home was a rather large townhouse surrounded by a pleasant picket fence and we were dropped off out of the taxi in front of the house. Jean spoke dryly. "Father Elijah owns practically this entire street and the next one over."
I hummed at the thought of land-owning religious figures but I just followed Artoria who was clearly in a rush as she went inside her home. But then as I approached the house I paused as I realized that going inside could be fairly rude so I just called out to Jean as Prinz went into the house as well.
"I will just stay here for a bit so you guys can pack anything sensitive... If you ladies need anything heavier moved just ask me." I spoke out.
And I saw Artoria's face tighten before she nodded with a sad smile. "I... Yes thank you, I need to put away Jaune's things if I am leaving this home behind and I don't want the landlord tossing his belongings into the trash."
I gave a grave nod of understanding knowing the mother was probably going to be in a bad mood having to do that so I just closed the door leading into the house and sat on the stairs and just stared up into the darkening sky above my head.
A few minutes passed by as I just relaxed with the only distractions being the sound of distant cars, and of course the distant sounds of siege weapons shooting constantly from the massive walls surrounding Vale.
But then that peace was shattered and my hand slid down to my enchanted saber lying across my lap as a white luxury vehicle came to a stop in front of the house.
'Zero guesses needed for who this is.' I thought flatly as I saw mounted atop the front of the car was a golden dragon which was the iconography of the God of Light.
And I actually let out a flat groan of fucking exasperation as I saw the so-called Father Elijah.
He was literally the definition of an Ugly Bastard. Being even taller then myself at like six and a half feet compared to my six feet flat he stretched out his white, red, and gold trim pastor outfit with each lumbering step his fat ass took.
"Ah, are you a friend of the Arc Family?" The man asked with false cheer as he eyed me with beady eyes and I raised an eyebrow.
Then I stood up as I wasn't going to play any games with this man. I took a step forward to block him from entering past the fence as I stood on the other side and I said calmly. "No, I am their lord, Artoria Arc is my retainer and serving me within Beacon."
The man paused before his cheeks flushed as he actually glared at me and I noticed with a raised eyebrow as the gold trim in his pastor outfit glowed slightly so in warning I glowed with my aura with my hand resting all to clearly on my sword.
"Do it Fatman... Before you even react, your head will be rolling across the ground. My name is Jake Bariss, disciple of Luxanna Crownsguard." I said with a cold smile.
He sneered and he retorted flatly. "So what if you are the disciple of some other noble. I have the church behind me!"
A loud scraping rang out as I slowly drew the sword with it flaring with its enchantment. "My master isn't like Miss Goodwitch, she spoils me you see... If I tell her an uppity pastor whose only value to the church is the money he brings in is being an issue, she will have no problem using a Duke house's influence to crush any issues that come about from me killing you."
I wasn't playing around with this guy. I knew that nobility in this world ran everything... And if I played at being a common civilian he would likewise try to play me to death.
Because he had gotten the completely right idea basically. He wanted me dead already for basically cucking him of Artoria Arc who he had clearly had his eyes on.
There was a long pause as the man glared at me and seemingly considered his options before he blinked and then my free hand that wasn't on my saber snatched up with a loud crack ringing out as his fat meaty fist hit my palm.
I saw him wince as his fist met mine and I was honestly bewildered at the dumbass who tried to punch me even without aura. "You... Are obviously too stupid to live, let alone breed." I said flatly.
A meaty crack rang out as I flexed my aura and muscles and his knuckles popped out of place as I crushed his fist. Then as I let go of his fist when he hurriedly pulled back. I kicked the wooden gate into his fat form and made him squeal as he fell back.
But as I raised an eyebrow at seeing the golden glow around his pastor robe that blocked the fence from properly hitting him. Almost like it was a shield of aura for himself.
And unbidden I thought with amusement. 'Ahh... A shield of faith I see.'
Drawing my saber fully out I slashed just above his head and with a loud scream of metal being sheared the enchantment on my enchanted saber sent a wave of magical energy that sliced the top of his care off making it into a convertible.
The noise had seemingly drawn out the Arc's from their house along with the neighbors peeking out of their windows and doors. But those people looking out of their doors and windows quickly looked away when a wounded squeal rang out as I stomped the groin of Father Elijah.
Making a loud cracking noise as I blew up his balls. "Ladies, I see you are packed?" I said with forced nonchalance seeing the girls standing with several large boxes.
Prinz approached me and seeing I was ok she gave the pastor long look who was clutching his bleeding groin before she picked him up the past by the back of the neck with one hand and then a loud thump rang out as she threw the large man into his topless vehicle to get him out of the way.
"Yup, come on Jake. It's time for us to go back to Beacon, Artoria just shoved all her more needed belongings into these boxes."
And then Prinz leaned in and kissed my cheek before she whispered. "That was hot... You should have just killed him though."
The Iron Blood ship pulled back with her heels clicking on the concrete as she picked up a stack of boxes and called out. "Darling, please call a taxi to pick us up at the end of the street... That wreck car is a bit in the way."
To which I did as I heard Jean mutter. "Damn... I don't think even I could flesh craft that much fat."