He gets a couple of hits

Over the course of the night, Pyrrha noticed a marked improvement in Jaune's sword skill. He wasn't good enough to actually beat her, but his new motivation was bringing something out in him. And Pyrrha would be sure to nurture it.

Jaune tried several more times to catch Pyrrha with a feint, like in the first round. Unfortunately, now that Pyrrha was expecting it, she was able to better defend against them. But she wasn't successful every time.

About 15 minutes into the exercise, Jaune managed to get a glancing blow on Pyrrha's left arm, nicking the circlet she wore on her bicep. True to her word, Pyrrha swiftly removed that and added it to her leg armor off to the side.

About 20 minutes after that, Jaune surprised Pyrrha again by feinting a left strike and actually going for an overhead slice. As Pyrrha had said, her aura protected her from taking any real damage from the attack. However, it didn't block the clang that was heard when Jaune's sword made contact with Pyrrha's headdress. Smiling at him, she slid it over her head and tossed it off to the side.

Unfortunately, that one strike took a lot of her aura away. They were **** to stop just over an hour in, for fear of Pyrrha actually getting hurt.

"You did very well, tonight," Pyrrha said, attaching her weapons to her back as she walked over to her discarded armor.

"Uh...thanks," Jaune responded, his eyes drawn to Pyrrha's butt as she bent over to pick up her armor. "It helps when I have a good teacher."

"A good teacher is only half of the equation," Pyrrha said as she turned around, armor slung over her arm. "The student has to want to learn. And you want to learn, Jaune. I can see the difference already."

Jaune blushed at her compliment.

"You sure that's not just because of what you promised me?"

Pyrrha smiled and walked closer.

"That may be part of it, but not all. I saw how you reacted when you got your first hit in. You were more concerned with your achievement than you were about seeing me strip for you."

Jaune looked down and thought for a moment.

"Huh...yeah, I guess you're right."

"But that doesn't mean I'll stop," Pyrrha chuckled, walking past him to the stairs.

Jaune stayed back, however. One question stuck in the back of his mind.

"Pyrrha?" he asked, turning to face her. "Why did you agree to do this? Strip when I do well?"

Pyrrha stopped short. This question was inevitable. Why? Well, she knew why. But was she going to reveal the true reason to him? Confess her feelings that she's been hiding all year?