Chapter 1: The Day You Tasted Destruction's Power

You can hardly believe the competition you're seeing during these matches. This is the first time you've ever seen the Vytal Festival Tournament, let alone have the honour to participate in it. Though, technically you're not supposed to be here. Lucky for you, you were offered to fill in for a team who unfortunately lost a member during a mission that didn't exactly go as planned. Some could say you're not fit for this kind of battle considering you're constant failure to graduate Signal, but you more than make up for that with your enthusiasm. At least… that's what you tell yourself.

Still, today is the day you get to meet that team and likely practice for your first tournament match tomorrow. You're looking forward to finally fighting in some sort of battle outside of training at Signal. Maybe you'll finally prove you're strong enough to become a Huntsman here and now.

Either way, the match is over and boy was it a spectacle. A two-man team vs. a full one, but those two more than made up for their lack of man power. It was a brilliant fight and you can't wait to step into the ring so thousands of people can see you do the same. You feel your scroll vibrate in your pocket so you quickly snatch it and read the message.

"Hey, so we wanna get our team sync all proper before our match. We're not far outside of Vale training in the Emerald Forest. Meet us as soon as you can."

You reply with a simple "Okay" and dash out of your seat, passing by the others who are eagerly awaiting the next match. You leave the arena and head to the docking area where they transport people from the arena to Vale and Beacon. You take the ship to Beacon, sitting beside some very quiet students – a girl with green hair and a boy with grey hair. You don't bother conversing with them since they don't seem the friendliest, but the time passes by fast enough. You arrive at Beacon Academy and look for a Bullhead to take.

The only one currently there is already being taken. You don't know by who, as they're already in the aircraft, but another Huntsmen seems to be seeing them off. A young girl in a red hood, by the looks of it. Considering her blushing cheeks it seems like she's close to whoever's on that Bullhead, but before anything more can happen it departs. The girl walks away, and you're left alone waiting at the docks. You take a seat on a nearby set of stairs and rest your head in your hands before huffing.

"I wonder what my team will be like… I wonder if they'll like me. Maybe I can be part of their team permanently!" You smile, but it quickly goes away and you pout. "Or maybe I'll just be sent back to Signal again…"

Suddenly someone approaches you. His steps are clear and loud, leading you to believe its dress shoes of some kind. You look up and see a silver haired man. You'd know his face anywhere. You quickly bounce to your feet.

"Ah, Headmaster Ozpin. It's an honour to meet you," you bow.

Ozpin remains immobile to your actions.

"You're the student from Signal… I've heard of you and your… struggle to succeed."

Your persona drops completely.

"Y-Yeah…"

"Well, I look forward to seeing you in the tournament. What are you waiting for, anyhow?"

You point towards the docking area.

"I'm waiting for a Bullhead to meet my new team!"

Ozpin chuckles.

"You would have to request one," he informs as he takes out his scroll. "But I shall do it for you. You're not an official student, after all."

"Oh, hehe, thank you! I would've been waiting here all day!"

"That's quite alright. If you need anything, feel free to ask the teachers all around campus."

You eagerly nod.

"Yeah, I will. Thank you very much, Headmaster Ozpin!"

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The Bullhead did indeed come and the pilot agreed to fly you to your destination. As the Bullhead descends to the ground you see the three boys watching you arrive. They're nothing special, just average teenage Huntsman-in-Training but you're sure their personalities will more than make up for their rather bland look. You hop out of the Bullhead and it takes off, leaving you to your new team.

"Hey! I'm (Y/N)!" You wave.

"Yeah…" One steps up, making you think he's the leader. He sizes you up, then shrugs. "Could be worse, I guess. Might as well get to training." He says as he turns away. "You're with me, newbie. It'll be a two v two." He explains as you follow him. The others take a few steps away.

"Now, don't worry about me. Lucky for me, I can slow down time in my proximity."

"I, uh, didn't as-"

"What can you do?"

You feel a little insulted for being cutoff but you answer his question.

"I… heh…" You rub your arm. "I… don't know my semblance."

His shoulders drop.

"Well, that's just great. Whatever, lets see what you can do. I'm Reh, by the way."

You grab a small button out of your pocket and click it. A dim light shines across your body as a leather holster wraps around your front and back, as well as a sword that makes its home in the holster. You unsheathe your simple blade and ready yourself.

"Alright, I'm ready!"

"Doh, you take them!" Reh calls out.

"Does that mean I get you?" The third happily points out.

"Yep, I'm all yours, Mih"

The four of you square off then rush at each other. Doh slides across the ground then gets onto one knee to block with his small knife. Thinking this will be easy, you ready your blade behind you and come down with a heavy strike. Before your blade can reach him it stops, seemingly unable to go forward anymore. Doh smiles as he plants his hand in the ground and drive his foot into your chin. You tumble into the air and are quickly kicked again, this time spiraling into a nearby tree. You slam against the wood hard then slide down the rough skin of the tree. You rub the back of your head as you whine.

Before you can get up you feel a blade against your neck. It lifts your head up to see a cocky Doh looking down on you.

"I win, newbie," he declares before taking back his knife.

You sigh. This entire scenario is too familiar to you. Every battle at Signal ended with your defeat as well. Every battle had the other person standing over you. You and Doh look over to the other two, and what a spectacle it is. Mih is moving at such a slow pace that it's comparable to a snail, while Reh is moving normally. This is a perfect example of the semblance he mentioned minutes ago.

In a swift motion Reh brings Mih to his knees and the fight ends. Reh turns to you two.

"I'm guessing they lost?" He says.

You both nod, causing Reh to huff.

"Whatever. Let's just keep training."

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Hours upon hours of training was forced upon you. Though using the word "training" is being generous. You constantly got your butt kicked each time. These three weren't too happy about that, though. In fact, they were becoming furious with your so-called "inept" fighting style. In fact, every fight you were criticized on your fighting. Nothing new to you, of course, but it still didn't feel too good.

Reh currently stands over you with his hands on his hips.

"Are you kidding me? That's fundamental to fighting! How did you not know that, you moron," he scolds you.

You lay on the ground, not daring to look into his eyes out of shame and discomfort. But all these words, all these emotions swirling in this area has finally taken its toll. Before anyone can react a Beowolf leaps out from behind Reh, sinking its claws into his back which results in a bloodcurling cry from the young student. You catch him before he calls to the ground while his teammates begin combatting the Beowolf. He's bleeding heavily out of his back and coughing up blood. Normally an attack like that would be nothing, but considering all the training you've all done your auras have taken their toll.

"Gah… I…" Reh attempts to spit out any words he can, but it all dies into moans. You place your hand on his face to force him to look in your eyes.

"It's okay. Just…"

Suddenly your hand starts glowing. You look down at it, wondering what that means. Within a second you hear gargled screaming from Reh. His body, starting from where your hand makes contact, begins melting. Those melted segments are vacuumed into your hand. This continues until his entire body, clothing and all, are completely gone. You, on the otherhand, feel a rush of aura and power. Images, thoughts, processing power overwhelms your mind and body at a rate that you can barely fathom.

You fall on your butt, breathing heavily as you attempt to cope with everything that just happened.

"What… What did you do to him?" Doh angrily shouts at you, his weapon drawn.

You turn around with a scared and confused expression.

"I… I don't… I-"

"You killed him! You erased him! You monster!" Mih screams.

You try to speak but your throat is locked. You can't say anything even if you used all the air in your lungs. The two students rush you, closing in to avenge their friend. You close your eyes and plead for them to stop….. but everything seems to stop. You open your eyes to see where the two students are. They are indeed in front of you, but they're moving at an extremely slow pace. The moment you recognize this you feel your aura being drained.

Am I… how… but…

You slowly get to your feet and grab your blade. The two students look to you, unable to respond effectively. You look at that with fear and worry. They tried to kill you. They don't understand. They'll kill you if you don't do anything… you have to fight back. You tighten the grip on your blade and attack, running Mih through with your blade. You shimmy around him and stab Doh, effectively ending both boys' lives. You pull your blade out of Doh and look at your left hand. You return your gaze to Doh and decide to try one more time. You slowly make contact with the boy's shoulder, and, just like before, he's absorbed into your hand. You can feel even more aura and power surge through you. It… feels good. Really good! You feel like you could take on the world! You turn to Mih, who's slowly falling to the ground, and forcefully grab him too. He's quickly absorbed into your hand and the same sensation takes over, filling your brain with a euphoria you've never felt before.

You let the semblance stop, allowing time to flow normally around you. You fall to your feet and look around. Nothing is here anymore. It's you alone as always… but for once you're okay with this.

Huh? They aren't supposed to be there.