The medical wing doors slid shut behind them with a quiet hiss.
Jaune stretched his shoulders as he walked beside Pyrrha through the wide corridor that circled the inner ring of the coliseum. The faint echo of the crowd drifted through the concrete and alloy structure around them like distant thunder.
Considering that they were without injury, they had already been cleared by the med staff.
They walked in silence for a few moments before Jaune spoke.
"Well," he said with a quiet sigh. "That's the tournament for us, I guess."
Pyrrha glanced at him.
"Perhaps."
Jaune gave a small shrug.
"Let's be honest here."
They stepped through another hallway that curved toward the outer spectator access.
"Even if we were still in, Vale's probably not gonna win."
He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully.
"From what I've seen so far, you and I were probably the strongest pair Vale allowed to compete."
Pyrrha didn't disagree.
The only other Vale team that was still in the tournament consisted of the sword and shield user and the rifle specialist. Both were competent fighters, but neither possessed meta runes. Their abilities were respectable but conventional.
Against the kinds of competitors present in this tournament, that gap probably mattered more than it should have.
Jaune continued.
"Without meta runes it's basically impossible to keep up with the top teams."
Pyrrha shrugged
"Indeed. Then there's that starlight girl, as well."
Pyrrha let out a quiet breath.
"Yes."
The memory of her metal constructs being converted into starlight limbs still lingered unpleasantly in her mind.
Jaune rolled his neck. Pyrrha looked at him again.
"You fought well, you know?"
Jaune smiled faintly.
"I know."
They reached the junction where the corridor split. One path led up toward the spectator seating while the other curved back toward the preparation rooms used by the competitors.
As they stepped further down the lower corridor he noticed something curious. Or rather someone.
Jaune paused and gestured toward the seating path.
"You should go ahead," he said.
She tilted her head slightly.
"And you?"
"I'll catch up."
Pyrrha studied him for a moment before nodding.
"Very well."
She continued toward the stairs that led up to the stands.
Jaune lingered behind and made his way towards the figure.
He leaned casually against one of the massive structural pillars that supported the stadium above. The light from the arena filtered down through the entrance archways nearby, illuminating his broad shoulders in rune frame armor—and unmistakable brown hair.
Cardin.
He stood with his arms folded, watching the next match through the open corridor that faced the arena floor.
The hall itself was mostly empty.
Jaune approached.
"Hey."
Cardin glanced sideways.
He gave a small nod.
"Arc."
The two of them stood there for a moment watching the arena. The sound of combat echoed upward.
Jaune leaned casually against the pillar beside him.
"What'd you think of my fight?"
Cardin snorted.
"Pathetic showing."
Jaune chuckled.
"That bad, huh?"
Cardin smirked slightly.
"You got flattened by glowing hands."
Jaune rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Fair point."
Neither of them took the jab seriously.
Over the past year they had crossed paths often enough around LUCID's training facilities. What started as casual acquaintanceship and possibly a small rivalry, had slowly turned into something closer to friendship.
Though it had developed in a strangely casual way. Neither of them had ever bothered exchanging contact information.
They just ran into each other when they did. Sparring had become the main reason for those meetings. More during recent months.
Jaune had won every one of those matches and surprisingly, Cardin had taken it in good stride.
After a while the competitive edge turned into mutual respect.
Jaune tilted his head toward the arena.
"So what are you doing down here instead of up in the stands?"
Cardin shrugged.
"Quieter."
Jaune nodded.
"Fair."
Cardin glanced at him.
"I did a little digging. Got some info about their runes."
Jaune blinked.
"You?"
Cardin's eyebrow twitched.
"Yeah. Me."
Jaune grinned slightly. "That's unexpected."
Cardin looked mildly annoyed. "How is that unexpected?"
Jaune shrugged.
"You don't exactly give off the 'research enthusiast' vibe."
Cardin rolled his eyes.
"Loose lips get looser when you buy people drinks."
Jaune stared at him for a moment, then he nodded slowly.
"Huh."
He reassessed the large brunette beside him with new interest. There was definitely a story there but judging by Cardin's expression, it wasn't one he intended to share anytime soon.
Cardin jerked his head toward the arena.
"You want to hear about their runes or not?"
Jaune raised both hands placatingly.
"Alright, alright. I'm listening."
Cardin nodded toward the fighters below.
Jaune shifted his gaze toward the arena.
The next Menagerie team was already engaged in combat.
This team was the one who had the tall thin man and the shorter dark haired man. The space rune user and the Earth rune user.
His opponent from Vacuo launched a powerful forward strike that should have connected cleanly.
Instead the attack missed not because the short man moved but because the space between them changed.
The Vacuo fighter's fist simply stopped short as if the air between them had stretched like elastic. Then the short man stepped forward.
His punch traveled only a few inches.
Yet the Vacuo opponent flew backward twenty meters.
Cardin nodded.
"Short one's name is Rajah."
Jaune watched the fight carefully.
Rajah advanced again. Another Vacuo attack came and once again the space between them warped.
The strike fell short while Rajah countered.
This time his fist barely moved at all yet the impact was strong enough to launch the Vacuo fighter across the arena floor like a cannonball.
Jaune let out a quiet whistle.
"That's… nasty."
Cardin folded his arms.
"Meta rune."
Jaune nodded slowly.
"What's it called?"
Cardin glanced at him.
"Distance."
Jaune tilted his head.
"That's…a more straightforward name than I thought it'd be."
Cardin shrugged.
"Straightforward and terrifying. I couldn't get his second rune, but it's probably type of impact multiplier."
Rajah dodged beneath a massive burst of sand manipulation from the Vacuo fighter.
Space compressed again.
His next strike landed with devastating force.
"Hmm. Impact multiplier, you say? I would've put my money on some other pure enhancement rune." Jaune murmured.
Cardin looked at him while Jaune continued watching the fight.
"Could be. Though... we might just be looking at it the wrong way. He could just be manipulating space at such an extreme that its mimicking the effect of an enhancement-type rune. You never really know what comprehension can bring, after all."
Jaune nodded. "Something like... during the moment of impact he collapses the space in between to generate stronger force?"
Cardin nodded.
"That makes sense to me."
Jaune scratched his chin.
"If that's the case, he's basically bypassing acceleration."
Another punch from Rajah sent the Vacuo opponent skidding across the arena.
"Every hit lands like it traveled a long distance at full speed."
Cardin smirked slightly.
"Impressive ain't it? Puts your aura echo to shame."
Jaune exhaled slowly.
"Yeah… that's also just a damned disgusting ability."
Below them Rajah twisted his body sideways. A spear of compacted sand shot toward him.
The space around his body stretched suddenly. The spear slowed as if it were moving through syrup before drifting harmlessly past him.
Jaune shook his head.
"A ridiculously versatile rune."
Cardin nodded again.
"And that's just the short one."
Jaune glanced sideways.
"What about his teammate?"
Cardin gestured toward the other side of the arena.
The thin earth rune user stood several meters behind Rajah, calmly raising his arms.
The arena floor trembled.
Massive stone funnels erupted upward like cannons emerging from the ground.
A barrage of compressed earth spears launched into the air toward the Vacuo fighters.
Jaune watched the devastating volley.
"That guy's clearly not subtle."
Cardin snorted.
"Nope."
One of the Vacuo fighters tried to evade by leaping into the air but Rajah moved instantly.
The space between him and the airborne opponent collapsed. He appeared directly in front of the man mid flight.
The punch that followed launched the Vacuo fighter straight into the descending rain of stone spears, triggering his seal and kicking him out of the fight.
Jaune winced slightly.
"Ouch."
Cardin nodded.
"Menagerie might actually take the whole tournament."
Jaune watched the fight continue for a moment longer. Then he leaned back against the pillar again.
"Yeah," he said quietly.
"I wouldn't bet against them."
.
.
Below them the match continued to spiral toward its inevitable conclusion.
The Vacuo team had already been pushed onto the defensive and now that only one person was left....
"Yeah," he murmured quietly. "They're not winning this."
Cardin grunted beside him.
"Not even close."
The second Menagerie fighter finally raised both hands calmly, and the arena floor trembled in response.
A circular ridge of stone surged upward around the Vacuo fighter like the lip of a rising crater.
Jaune straightened slightly. "Oh he's doing that thing again."
The ridge kept rising.
Stone folded inward and sealed itself overhead. Within seconds a thick dome of compacted earth enclosed the Vacuo fighter completely.
From the outside it looked like a massive boulder that had erupted directly from the arena floor.
The crowd above began to murmur.
Cardin tilted his head slightly.
"Here it comes."
Jaune sensed the shift before the next move even began. Rajah stepped forward and placed his palm lightly against the outer surface of the dome.
The space inside the stone warped.
Jaune watched, a little curious as the distortion rippled across the battlefield.
Inside the dome, the Vacuo fighter must have been trying to escape. Jaune could feel the movement of sand shifting violently within the enclosure as the man attempted to break through.
But the distortion of distance prevented it.
Every time the fighter moved toward the walls, the space stretched just enough to keep him contained.
Like a rat running inside an endless corridor. Then the earth user lowered his hands and the dome, in response, shuddered, flowing inwards like liquid.
Hundreds of narrow spikes began to grow from the interior surface of the dome, forming a brutal lattice of stone spears that pointed toward the center.
The entire structure had become a gigantic stone sieve.
Cardin whistled quietly.
"Brutal."
Inside the dome the Vacuo fighter reacted instantly.
Jaune felt a massive dip of aura as the man desperately gathered sand around his body. Through the cracks in the stone Jaune could see glimpses of swirling amber particles forming a defensive cocoon.
"Sand shield," Jaune muttered.
The spears struck.
A thunderous cracking sound echoed across the arena as hundreds of stone spikes drove inward at once.
For a brief moment the sand cocoon held, then, the spears punched straight through it.
Jaune winced as the impact reverberated across the structure.
The Vacuo fighter's seal activated immediately.
In a burst of white light his body vanished from the center of the collapsing stone dome, safely transported out of the arena before the lethal damage could fully register.
The dome disintegrated seconds later, crumbling into harmless rubble.
Ozpin's voice rang across the coliseum.
"Menagerie takes the round."
The crowd erupted above. They stood there for a moment longer watching the Menagerie pair exit the battlefield.
Then Jaune tilted his head slightly.
"Hey."
Cardin glanced at him.
"What?"
Jaune rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That starlight girl from the match earlier."
Cardin nodded once.
"Auberyn."
Jaune raised a brow. "So you did get her name."
Cardin smirked faintly.
"I said I bought people drinks. And... well, that girl's a real looker."
Jaune chuckled under his breath.
"Fair enough."
He looked back toward the arena floor where the staff were already clearing the battlefield for the next match.
"What's her rune called?"
Cardin leaned his shoulder against the pillar.
"Stellar."
Jaune frowned.
"Stellar?"
"Yeah."
Jaune scratched his head slowly.
"That's… kind of vague."
Cardin snorted.
"You're telling me."
Jaune thought about the fight again. The starlight limbs. The way Pyrrha's metal constructs had been converted.
The brief clone she had created to counter Pyrrha's sneak attack.
"If it has something to do with stars…" Jaune muttered thoughtfully. "Then shouldn't it be something closer to heat or radiation?"
Cardin shrugged.
"That's what I thought too, but I guess not."
Jaune frowned.
"Stars are basically giant nuclear furnaces."
Cardin gave him a sideways look. "Since when do you know astrophysics?"
Jaune shrugged.
"Since I got dragged into the Dream realm, obviously."
Cardin rolled his eyes.
Jaune continued thinking aloud.
"But the stuff she was doing didn't really look like heat manipulation." he paused. "More like... some type of energy shaping."
Cardin nodded slightly.
"Or... it could just be a product of her rune synchronicity."
Jaune hummed, nodding slowly. "Yeah. That would make sense too."
If her attacks had something to do with rune synchronization involving her second rune, then combining it with Stellar could allow her to manifest those strange constructs.
Starlight hands and clones.
Jaune sighed.
"That rune was a nightmare matchup for Pyrrha."
Cardin smirked.
"Lucky for them."
Jaune chuckled quietly.
"Yeah."
Cardin cupped his chin and analyzed the information. "Well. I think it's just a natural counter to all constructs of any kind. Not just Nikos's rune."
"Hmm. I thought about it too but..."
He glanced sideways.
"Anyway. Thanks for the info."
Cardin shrugged casually.
"Don't mention it."
Jaune tilted his head slightly.
"What about that other Menagerie guy? The one who almost wiped out Coco and Yatsuhashi."
Cardin nodded.
"The heat guy." Cardin folded his arms again. "His rune's called Thermal."
Jaune hummed.
"Thermal…"
"That fits a lot better than Stellar, I guess."
Cardin shrugged.
"Guy's name is Coppal."
Jaune nodded slowly as he processed the information.
He and Pyrrha had already talked about how they might handle that fighter if they had faced him later in the tournament.
The plan had been risky but it might have worked. Unfortunately they had never made it past Auberyn's team.
Jaune sighed quietly before glancing toward the arena again.
"What about that Mistral team?"
"The one that wrecked those Atlas guys earlier."
Cardin shook his head. "Couldn't get anything on them. Except for their names. Mercury, the gray haired one, and the green haired girl, Emerald."
Jaune raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing about their runes?"
"Nothing."
Cardin scratched the back of his neck.
"They keep things tight. But... I did get their names. Emerald and Mercury."
"Hmm. Fair enough." Jaune nodded slightly as his thoughts drifted. Regardless of the tournament outcome, one thing was fairly obvious.
The Shadow Realm expedition was coming soon. And people like him and Pyrrha were exactly the kind of fighters Qrow and Raven would be looking for.
He wasn't entirely sure how they would judge the other selections.
But strength mattered. And betting on strong operatives was never a bad strategy. After all, the Shadow Realm wasn't a place where weakness survived long. At least from what he heard about it. truth be told, Jaune didn't know much else about it. Qrow and Raven were surprisingly tight lipped about it.
A few more matches passed while they talked casually, commenting on the fights and occasionally arguing about strategies.
Eventually Jaune pushed himself off the pillar.
"Well, guess I should head back up before my friends assume I got lost."
Cardin snorted. "That would track."
Jaune laughed. "See you around, Winchester, and thanks for the info."
"Anytime. Later, Arc." Cardin gave a lazy salute.
Jaune turned and walked down the corridor toward the staircase that led back to the spectator stands.
As he climbed upward, the sound of the crowd gradually grew louder again. Soon he spotted the familiar group waiting among the rows of seats.
Ruby was practically bouncing with excitement while Nora gestured wildly at the arena below.
Jaune smiled slightly.
The tournament might be over for him.
But the real challenges were only just beginning.