Arc Of Embodiment (Hiatus) - Chapter 61

-Orario-

Within the Hephaestus Manor, Jaune was sitting on a sofa and in front of him was Hephaestus and Tsubaki. For the past ten minutes that Jaune arrived, they haven’t said anything to each other except stare at one another. Ais on the other hand left and head back to the Twilight Manor.

Tsubaki has been observing her Goddess and lo and behold, she was acting like a girl in front of her crush, but she can also see that Hephaestus was trying to hold herself back from doing anything embarrassing.

“Well…What were you doing in my place last night?” Jaune asked.

“Ahem…I was just trying to see if you were settling alright in Orario,” Hephaestus said while clearing her throat.

“I see, well…you’re welcome in my place anytime. I would also like you to meet my friends, especially Ruby,” Jaune said.

“Oh. How come you specifically name this Ruby person?” Hephaestus said.

“That’s because she loves weapons, there isn’t anyone I know that is more passionate at creating weapons than her, and if you and she got together, I fear that you both might create one of the most powerful weapons in Orario,” Jaune said.

“Hmm…Now I’m interested in this person,” Hephaestus said.

“Well…You can come by tomorrow and I can introduce her to you,” Jaune said.

Jaune and Hephaestus made small talk and enjoy their conversation. The whole time they were talking, Tsubaki was observing them, the two even forgot her presence in the room, which made her like a third wheel, but she needed to stay since she promised to observe Hephaestus, to be able to know more about Jaune and to tell Hephaestus about her behaviour.

After a while of talking, Jaune left the Manor of Hephaestus and headed back to his base since he was notified by Veronica that someone was at the door looking for him. According to Veronica’s description, it was Bell, he was there for his test to be eligible for Jaune’s training. Meanwhile, Hephaestus and Tsubaki were in Hephaestus personal quarter and started talking.

“See, I told you I didn’t have a crush on Jaune,” Hephaestus said.

“I’m sorry to correct you there, Hephaestus-sama. From my perspective, I saw a girl in love with the person that she was talking to. I don’t know how you developed feelings for him so quickly, but I can only suggest that you admit your feelings and work out what you’ll do next,” Tsubaki said. Hephaestus contemplated on what Tsubaki said.

Back on Jaune’s base, Bell and Hestia were waiting for Jaune as they came here to take Bell’s training test. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he knocks, nobody would answer, that was until he clicked a buŧŧon and a voice came out. According to said voice, Jaune was not in but was now informed of his presence and would arrive in about ten minutes.

And just as the voice said, Jaune arrived in ten minutes. Jaune then invited both inside his base and brought them to the training ground. From there Jaune told them that Bell’s test would be simple, yet, incredibly difficult.

“Alright, Bell. For me to accept you for training, you need to pass my test. It’s simple, all you have to do is touch me,” Jaune said.

“That’s it?” Bell asked.

“That’s it. Now shall we begin?” Jaune said and he received a nod from Bell.

The moment Bell started to approach Jaune, he felt like his body was getting heavier and heavier. That’s because the closer he got to Jaune the more of Jaune’s Aura he would feel, and this is causing him to be pressured down.

Bell was fifty metres away from Jaune in the beginning, but the moment he reached forty metres, the more pressure he felt. When he reached twenty metres, he could bȧrėly move, but no matter how much pain he was feeling due to the pressure, he kept moving no matter how slow.

When Bell reached ten metres, he could bȧrėly keep his consciousness, his body felt like it was being pressed down by a giant monster, his bones were being pushed down so much that it felt like breaking. What Bell didn’t know was how amazing this feat he was doing, as not even Level 3 would be able to achieve what he was doing, let alone a Level 1.

When Bell was five metres, he already lost consciousness, but his body kept going until he reached Jaune. In the end, he was able to touch Jaune, who was smirking at Bell’s determination to complete the test even when he was already unconscious. Jaune then took Bell to the guest room with Hestia to let him rest.

“He did well to be able to touch me,” Jaune said to Hestia.

“What do you mean?” Hestia asked.

“The amount of pressure that I released was enough to knock out and immobilize a Level 4, but he was able to overcome it, that’s impressive. And just like I promised, since he passed my test, I’ll be training him just like my friends, so, he better be prepared,” Jaune said. The way he said it made Hestia gulp.

“H-How hard exactly is your training?” Hestia asked.

“Extremely. I train to break the limits of the human body, which means that he would have to break the limits of his body over and over again…plus when we head to the dungeon, we will be staying over for more than a few days,” Jaune said.

Hearing what Jaune just told her made her worry for Bell’s safety, but she knew that Bell was determined to get as strong as Jaune, it was the reason that he received Liaris Freese in the first place, but looking at Jaune, she knew that he wasn’t a bad person, she just hoped that Jaune would protect her Bell.

A few hours later, Ruby and the others have finally woken up after the conversion of Aura to Mana. They were a bit dizzy since they just woke up from a twenty-four-hour deep sleep and needs food. Jaune and Hestia helped them head to the kitchen to get something to eat, which he already prepared the food that he bought during the day with Ais.

While eating, they noticed Hestia. They asked Jaune who she was and they were shocked to meet a God, which looked like a child…with huge bȯȯbs. This made Yang laugh the loudest since she found thought that it was a joke.

“That wasn’t a joke, was it?” Yang said.

“No, she is Goddess Hestia. The Goddess of the Hearth, Home and family,” Jaune said.

“Seriously?! I thought a Goddess would be more…Regal,” Yang said. This made Hestia pout.

“Hey! I can be regal if I want to,” Hestia said while making a regal pose, but it just looked adorable.

“Ohhhhh! She’s so cute!” Yang said while proceeding to hug Hestia.

This made Hestia struggle to get out of Yang’s hug, but to no avail, since Yang was stronger than her even if she has her powers sealed, then again, even Hestia has her powers sealed.

“By the way, Jaune. Where’s the person you said you hired to help us learn magic?” Glynda asked.

“Right, wait here while I call her,” Jaune said. He then went towards Rossweisse’s room to call her, and introduce her to everyone.

When Jaune arrived in her room and knocked he was happy that she was not yet asleep since it was already late.

“Rossweisse. Are you there?” Jaune said.

“Jaune, do you need something?” Rossweisse asked.

“My friends that I wanted you to teach magic have finally woken up. I was planning to introduce you to them, are you free right now?” Jaune asked.

“I’m free. I just finished making my teaching materials for magic beginners, hopefully, that would be good enough to answer the questions that they may ask,” Rossweisse said.

Thus, Jaune introduces Rossweisse to the group.. When Rossweisse saw Ruby and the others, she was surprised to see that they have a lot of Mana for beginners…no, they have enough Mana to match a High-Class Magician.