A/N: Hello, hello! Welcome to the newest chapter of APOTS! Which is very surprising of me to pump out given that I have all my finals this week.

... Yes, that's stupid of me to do, but thoughts demand I write, and they will be written.

This time, all of the reviews are going at the bottom. Why? Because there are a lot of damned questions that make a good point and my explanations are going to be bloody long. This way, if people don't wanna spoil themselves for reasons, then they could just ignore it safely... unless they want to read the bulletpoints about the chapter, but I can't remember them at the moment cause I just finished this minutes ago.

Also, just to let everyone know, this is only half of the original planned chapter. Somehow, it outgrew itself and wanted to make itself something that was over 10,000 words long. Yeah, not gonna make anyone suffer from this. I know long fics, and they tend to make you're eyes drag down until you finish. Again, not gonna make you guys read and wonder when the hell it's going to end.

... Any disclaimers are already written on my page. So no one will complain about that right? Right.

Now on to the show! Er, chapter!

Chapter 7: Now, Fly! Into the Danger of The Forest!

This is seriously becoming one of the weirdest week of my life. I was sent to the RWBY-Verse(Right, this world is called Remnant. Forgot about that.), I meet Jaune out of all the people I could meet here first. Then I almost got my head/body cut in half by Ruby and made friends with her(I think? She did say she had no idea if we were or not. And quite frankly, when people almost accidentally kill you, you don't make nice with them). I met Pyrrha, unlocked my Aura, she freaked on my ass, and then proceeded to make goo-goo eyes at Jaune right after(Bi-polar much?). Then I met Ren and Nora, had that stereotypical 'Not everyone is gonna pass' speech, lunch, training, rants, observation to my own state and sleep.

And that was only the first day.

Now I'm flying through the air with many others ahead of me by a spring-loaded metal panel that somehow launched me with enough for that I was sent a good approximated 300-1000 feet above forest level.

I never said I was good with approximations.

Looking on ahead, the first person I can see was Jaune... who was still screaming his heart out. Great. Ahead of him, I can see Ruby setting up Crescent Rose... Right before she crashed into a bird.

"Birdy no!"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

I couldn't help it! It was just so damn funny! Was this in the show? It couldn't have been. I would've remember something as great as this! Honestly this is some awesome... wait...

DISCARDED AMMO SHELL!

Screaming, I tried to twist away from the shells. Despite my efforts, a single shell grazed my face. The fuck!? What if one of those hit me in the face!? What if, on a reactively small chance, hits my temple with enough to force myself to go unconscious? I would die! Oh yes, 'Beacon Initiate Dies From Tree' would be a wonderful way to end my life! God fucking damn it! Why? Why are so many things/people trying to kill me? Avarice not bad boy, Avarice good boy.

... No one will ever know of Tobi moment. Ever. And I lied, I'm more of a neutral than anything. Wait, why am I still thing on this?

I tried to relax myself before I felt myself tense for some reason. I could hear this whi...stling...

Woosh

Suddenly, as if moving in slow motion, the tip of a weapon appeared.

I took note of the detail of the weapon, the slowed motion allowing time to engrave it into my mind.

The edge of the weapon was a bronze-gold, almost symbolic with something. The color beyond the edges were red with a slightly transparent line three-fourths the way down. Affixing the blade in place was a... nail? That held the blade and handle in place. The handle itself was no ordinary, for instead of simply being made of wood or metal, it was an intricate piece of advance technology. Despite its appearance, I could see what it really was. The top yellow half contained the barrel cartilage and ammo. The bottom red half seemed to have no function other than to act as the brace/sight in order to fire it. The end came into sight, and what looked like to be a characteristic opening for a bullet to be launched from.

I took all those details in and time resumed its regular pace.

A surge of cold overcame my body, no longer alarmed by the near-miss on my life. I clinically noted that it nicked my face before I was falling into the trees.


First thing first, survival.

The tree were rapidly approaching at an alarming rate. At the rate of the fall without any assistance from outside sources or parachutes, I would be crashing through branches, still landing with a significant force. That's not taking account how a fall like that would normally kill any mortal being. If I were to add this apparent body's strength plus Aura as both a cushion and something to negate the force, I highly doubted that even with those factored taken, I doubt I would survive. Both my body and Aura are not at the level of what I assume to be a top-class hunter/fighter or even that of a mid-class or even that of a low-class. So I'm going to have to be a little innovative here.

I flared my Aura.

I don't mean 'flare' as in release in a burst, but 'flare' in a way that is controlled. The things about my Aura is that they are, at best, average. I can still feel the aches from using it from yesterday and finding uses for it. This is an impromptu one. Instead of letting my Aura go to waste by leaking it out, I'm forcibly controlling both its shape and density.

During training, I noted that Aura didn't usually have a solid form. Yes, its energy and, yes, it can form fields and barriers, but it has to be willed into another form before being able to do so. Aura is also supposed to be a natural defense, so it interacts with the physical plane. My theory is that the natural defense has stages of power, each one higher requirements.

The first being imbuing the body with strength to survive events that it couldn't normally handle like being hit with a steel girdle or smacked in the head by a baseball bat multiple times. Second being the reduced damage from said attack so the individual is no longer able to feel it. Then there is the stage, god knows how many levels, where Aura can act at a suit of armor instead of a thin sheet over an area. The requirements, I have no idea, but it probably has to do with the amount a person can naturally store. Maybe super charge it?

Anyway, Aura is not naturally fixed. Only someone like Jaune; who has both what I suspect to be a large amount of Aura and his rigid thinking of it being a force field probably has the strength to do it. But I have to force it, mold it to my will and fix an image to it. And I'm not stupid enough to think of a Jetpack of all things would help, that would just burn me out. Instead, I fixed the image I had to my back, flaring my Aura into a controlled shape in which I can hopefully reabsorb later on. I don't have any high hopes though, there are bound to be problems along the line.

So with my Aura construct, my speed has marginally decreased.

The only possible problem with this is what I fixed the image to.

Hopefully, Batman won't mind if I think of it as his cape. It IS awfully floaty whenever he drops.

Let's just hope I don't drop into that Verse and explain it to him. I'm afraid of the Copyright and his lawyers.

Despite the fully formed cape, my speed hasn't dropped that much at all. If anything, I was still dropping at the relatively same pace as earlier. At this rate, it wouldn't matter if it worked, I would still become a flat pancake (... No Nora, you cannot eat my pancaked remains. Damnit insanity). And that still doesn't matter, because I just entered the copse of trees and am now falling straight towards a tree with a branch a few feet from it.

But that's alright, the cape wasn't meant to completely slow me down. It had another purpose. One that I hope works.

My body struck the tree with tremendous force, rattling every bone in my bone. But if I didn't do anything, it would just bounce off like a ball and I would still be falling to my doom.

Since my back struck first, then the cape was attached to the tree. So the second ability of my cape, hopefully, came into play.

Just as my body began to leave the tree, something stopped it. Without looking, I knew what happened. My cape was acting like it was attached to the tree. And like a child being pulled away from candy, was very reluctant to leave where it got attached too.

Relief coursed through me at the unexpected success of the idea. But I wasn't out of the woods yet, I still had to get down and bleed the rest of the force from the fall.

The force didn't just 'stop' because of the cape, it just let me stick to the object in question. I'm still falling at a rather fast pace. With the cape active, I would just slide all the way down, encountering branches and I probably won't live after the first one because it just might bisect me in half. So here goes part B.

Just as I arrive at the first branch, my body was already tense at the get go. My legs prepared to move or jump at my command. My arms ready to reach for anything for survival. My eyes scanning for the best way possible to get down while my mind had a plan in place.

The moment my feet touched the bark, I tried to jump to the next branch at the opposite tree while simultaneously releasing my cape from the tree.

This was much harder than it sounded. First off, the shock to my legs nearly paralyzed them, so it was all I could to move. Second, I had to remove the property that allowed my to stay on the tree to leave. So it was very odd.

In the end, I ended up rolling.

I fell from the tree, only having enough strength to head in the general direction of a branch, with my cape decreasing the amount of speed I was falling at little by little. As soon as I felt a stable hold, I rolled.

So repeated the process. Falling and rolling, the flimsy yet solid cloak of Aura bleeding out more force. With each fall I saw a blur of green and brown. With each roll the world fell into chaos as hues blended with each other. Sound no longer hand any meaning. Only the wind can be heard, singing a vicious whirl for each drop. Down and down I went, time no longer having any meaning. Instinct taking over and my mind blanking out. A dream that never ends, that what it was.

The next thing I knew, the world span across my vision. Was I still moving? Why did all the trees look like they're standing? Shouldn't I be falling? Am I done falling?

Ugh, too dizzy.

Must... resist... throwing.

Can't take. Must.

I promptly ran to a bush and began throwing up.


Ugh, how embarrassing. At least no can see this.


After dry heaving for a good few moments after I emptied my stomach, the cold finally left my veins. And everything sorta just rushed back to me. Seriously? I almost got killed before the exam really started!? Honestly, who tries to kill someone midair in the middle of an exam!? Granted, they said destroy all in your path, but who puts that into terms of killing others!? The bloody fuck!

I shivered. My landing strategy was no strategy at all. I was flying from the seat of my pants. In fact, I wouldn't have tried any of that unless I was absolutely sure that all the conditions were safe and then some. Why in gods name did I think it FINE to do something that I thought might work!? I could have died damn it! Screw it, where am I?

With a quick glance, there were only a few things I could note. The first being I am surrounded by a LOT of greenery. Shrubs, bushes, trees, and vines. If there was anything you could find in a stereotypical forest, it's probably here. The second is that despite it's vibrant state, there isn't that much noise around here. It actually seems as if certain spots have more noise than others, in a slow constant shift. Three, it smells terrible here. But that just might be my vomit.

Thank you Jaune for the small bottle of Mouthwash. What a lifesaver.

So first things first. Gotta get outta here.

Problem: I have no idea where the 'north' of this goddamn forest is. Did they give us a compass or something? Wait, 'North' technically wouldn't be north. Sure, on a map it would, but given humanities' skewed ass vision of direction (i.e., New York. Despite what people think, you cannot determine north just be looking at it.), I'm probably looking to the West or so.

Hmmm...

Oh well. Eeny meeny miney moe, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And I go to that direction with the trees!

And I am absolutely sure that's north! Sorta... kinda... not really. Man, where are the nice pedestrian people around here?


After stumbling around and trying not to trip over vines and roots, I finally entered a clearing.

... A clearing which so happened to have a pack of some of the most odd ass looking wolves I've ever seen in my life, most of them just laying around or sleeping. And given that I've never seen an actual wolf in real life and have only seen pictures on Google and stuff.

The first notable feature of these wolves were the bone-like masks. It had two separate red lines that led down to the eye hole of the mask and then split itself in to bleeding lines of red, symmetrical on both sides. There also appeared to be small circles in the red that only appeared at the top of the mask, connected to the lines. The mask itself is strange, give that the shape seemed to cave in itself and conform to the shape of the skull, which quite frankly, made them seem less of the scary variety. The second thing of note was that it had bone protrusions EVERYWHERE. Their arms had those protrusions on the side, looking reminiscent to some weapons from games where the blades appeared from the sides of the bracers and a set of tri-bones at the elbow. The back had long serrated sections of bone, looking more like the spinal fins of a stegosaur, except more scaled down and looks a little cool. On the shoulder also, for some reason, had bone spikes, as well as the shins and the back of the heel of its foot. The next thing of note was the fact that they were freaking bipedal and they were semi-ripped with what appears to be abs on them (... not abnormal)?. And the thing that made a semi-legitimate danger of any animal, sharp claws. Aside from that, they had red eyes (which I reluctantly admit, it cool) and pearly white teeth (... those just can't be found in nature. I mean come on, no one has real pearly white teeth! ... Maybe I should check around this world first before saying anything). And such a nice fluffy tail. ... Fur pelt.

And I was slightly disappointed from what I saw.

You know how in TV shows, movies, manga, and anime they show someone acting shocked when they see something so different from their personal views that it as if their whole world has shifted and they either begin to deny it or accept it. Here, not so much. I mean, sure, Grimm, something that's so radically different from real life that it's actually pretty damn cool that I'm even seeing this. But then again, it fails when it comes to natural design and possible environmental growth. If they grow naturally that is.

I mean, look it! It's a freaking costume reject! First, let's start with the head, shall we? It's misshapen, the skull itself looks like it got smacked my a hammer and then they added a skull in order to keep people from screaming fugly at it. The design of the skull isn't so bad, but it could do with some work. Another thing, what the hell is up with the skull? It doesn't jut out or anything, it's smooth like a baby and it makes it look that it has no actual head, the top part anyway. Also, what the hell's up with that body? Did you guys decide to be athletes and then got bitten by a werewolf? Because all I see is a very humanistic stance instead of anything that should be legitimately threatening. Oh, sure, it's bipedal! Let's all run from the semi-humanistic things and let them claw our backs! Pft, it's not even that scary looking!

Look, I expected my reactions to be more than passing amusement. I expected my mind shutting itself down from the impossible thing in front of me, that the nonexistent monsters told in stories are actually real. The terrifying fear of something so far removed from the concept of humanity that it excluded its own aura of unnatural properties that it literally reeked of miasma. Just not being able to believe that this is real is something I expected. But this thing in front of me is semi-disappointing. I mean, come on! They are fucking lounging around like lazy people!

I think I watched too much anime and read too many books and manga. I honestly expected more.

But problem: how the hell am I going to get by this? I want to walk across the clearing, but the Grimm are there. Then there's the option of walking around the clearing, but I'm sure I could be ambushed or meet something worse than these Grimm (I think they're called Beowolf?). If I go back the way I came from, I waste even more time and there's an increased probability of becoming even more lost from that. And let's not forget that I need to find a partner. Gods, why couldn't this be easy? This is why I'm agnostic damn it.

Eh, let's roll.

"Hello there!" I greeted.

Instantly, all the wolves were on their guard. The ones that were lazing around had their eyes on me, the ones that looked like they were asleep looked the same, but I think I could tell if they were faking or not. The surprising thing was that they weren't attacking me in this instant. Instead, they were... weary(?) Of me. Looking at me with eyes trying to see something.

I strode forward. "Hello, hello! Never mind this crazy guy here. Just copying the Doctor, saying nonsensical things in order to keep you distracted. Is that you Bob? Why, you lost weight. Is that for Amy over there? Why she MUST be flattered."

The Grimm looked confused. Obviously, they never talked to Bob about his romance with Amy. But then again, Bob isn't his real name and Amy is going to be quite shocked when she finds out who he really is. Wait, what am I talking about? This is all bullshit! There doesn't need to be a reason for this, I just need to spout off more crazy before they realize, yes, a human (prey) has just evaded them by talking like a nutter. And that they don't have mind-reading bullshit powers to hear what I said about them earlier.

"Why do all of you looked confused? Is it because the butterscotch of Ireland came and took the duech of Rome away? Then be the wolf to sell that cream. Yes, sir, we have cinnamon, chocolate and intestines from the world order of cranzyfth. What am I saying again, right, nothing."

Halfway across, I think it's working!

"Man, I really hope that none of you realize that this long-winded nonsensical talk is really just a really really really really really really," Inhale, exhale. "Really long way just to get your attention. Well, not your attention specifically, but I have to get the crazy to get your crazy to make you crazy to get confused at the crazy and not realize how crazy this really sounds. I actually am wondering something, but if you realize then I might get jumped, and man am I glad you don't know slang." Inhale, exhale. "So as you can see..."

I finally reached the other side.

I spoke rapidly. "That this was all a distraction. So good bye, farewell, hope to never see you again. Bye."

Well, that's what I tried to say. It just sounded like gibberish, which was the point to get them to not attack me. But since I couldn't move too fast without provoking them to attack, I continued walking.

I just hope they don't chase me.


Safe. Oh my god, I can't believe I just did that.

Walking for what seemed to be a good few minutes, I began to breath in a rather exaggerated manner. Why oh why did I think it was a good idea? Oh, sure, let's provoke the not-killing you monsters be speaking gibberish! Oh dear god, that could have backfired so hard.

So aside from my minor freak out after, I just continued walking while berating myself on why its stupid. Using circle logic, I began an argument with myself about the pros and cons of doing what I just did and if that made any sense. Given that I was arguing with myself, let's just say that I am VERY bad at arguments and am currently losing/winning against myself. If that makes any sense. Probably doesn't.

"Uh, hello?"

I mean, really, who does that? Try to distract Beowolves by talking nonsense? Madness. But then again, I'm not exactly native to this world am I?

"Hello."

Can you really blame me though? I mean, sure, I wasn't scared but I could have gone about this in a different way. Honestly, why? I don't think I was thinking rationally.

"Uh, excuse me?"

Wait, someone is talking.

"Yes?"

"Ah!" The rather feminine voice sounded startled. I wonder why? "Um, would you be my partner?"

Partner? For what? Wait, right, in the middle of an exam. Forgot about that. Wait, when did they...

Abruptly stopping, causing the person who was apparently walking behind me to bump into me, I turned to see a small girl.

Aside from her height and her appearance, nothing about her screamed special to me.

She was, at best, around 5'2, reaching right about my chest. She has long gray-ish hair which switched to a lighter or darker color depending on the lighting. her face was that of a cute appearance, with a cute nose, pinchable cheeks, and a small mouth to go with it. Oddly enough, her eyes were a stormy gray, shifting more towards a lighter color for some reason. Aside from that, she's wearing a dark blue cloak that hugged her figure, denoting that she was a petite girl, while flaring out with what appeared to be a cape. Under that was a pair of dark blue army(?) shorts. And with what appeared to be a black spandex suit under all that as it covered her legs and arms.

"Uh, hi?"

I never said I was eloquent when meeting a new circumstance.

"Hello." She greeted again.

"So... I guess we're partners now?" I awkwardly asked.

"Yes."

"Alright, alright. Cool." Geez, what's up with those one-liners?

For a moment, we walked on silently. I think this team might want to work on relationship work. Because I don't think we're gonna work well if we can't even talk. Also, why did she approach me? Why not someone else?

I brought up a topic starter. "Right, so, my name's Avarice. Yours?"

"Lucia." She said after a moment. "Lucia Geist."

I offered my hand. "Nice to meet you."

She stared at me for a moment, looking as if the gesture was odd, which was really weird. "... Nice to meet you."

Of course, that was when shit went to hell as the bushes started rustling.


Instantly, we set our selves apart and prepared ourselves.

I got into a brawler stance, right in front and left behind, legs spread apart for support. My eyes scanning for more movement.

While looking for the source of the sound, I can see that Lucia on the other hand withdrew her arms into her cloak and pulled out a pair of what appears to be daggers. Lowering her upper body while spreading her legs apart.

This was not good. Not good at all. I don't know about Lucia, but I have no combat skills whatsoever. In fact, I've never been in a fight in my life, aside from a scuffle from elementary and bullying in middle. People say I have a mean looking face that kinda makes them not wanna talk to me. Others say that if I were a bodyguard, they wouldn't want to start a fight with me because I look to scary. Aside from that making it a little hard to make friends, it doesn't change the fact that all I know is how to punch, and that's it. If Lucia is as good with the dagger as I hope she is, she can probably, possibly kill whatever is here. Seriously, I'm not sure how bashing whatever's looking at us at the face. Hell, I don't know how to kill with fists! I knew I should have watched more of those Kung-Fu movies!

The rustling got louder. And what emerged was something that legitimately scared me. I've never seen a bear in real life, but if they were as large as this thing, then I am glad to never have seen one, except in this case when I wish I had experience to deal with them.

The bear is stupidly large, maybe seven feet tall if it was un-hunched and packing a lot of fat and muscle. The gleaming red eyes covered by a skull mask (which, ridiculously enough, was much cooler in design then the wolves) that had bleeding red lines starting from the top that formed a pattern with a red circle in the middle of triangle of red which bled down to the eye sockets and spread itself out that blended itself with the eyes and made a whirling pool of red. The fur seemed to be of the same type of the Beowolf, except I feel as if it's a little more rougher than the wolves have. The beast has the same basic bone protrusions as the Beowolf except that it had no arm spikes. But that didn't detract from the hulking mass it has, making it seem stupidly strong or brolic. Hopefully, with all that brawn, it has no brain.

It then drew to its full height and roared.

It rattled me, I'll admit that, but I've seen too many shows and books where hesitation killed you. In the corner of my eye, I could see my partner freeze up, unable to do anything. It rose upward, arm in the process of swinging downward, with its legs tense, ready for movement. But all I did was tense for a moment before I felt myself moving. I didn't give it time to think, neither had I given myself any real thought in my actions. Instead, I bum rushed up to it and promptly smashed my fist into the side of its face.

Its face turning from the force I put into it, I sent fist after fist into its face once more. There was no more thought, only action.

Before I knew it, everything became a blur. All I saw was a flash of black and then the world flew through my eyes once more. I flew through the air, flipping into a full three-sixty before I saw the ground again. Acting, I reached for the grass and as soon as I could feel it across my fingers, I extended my arm in the grass. My hand burned at the sudden friction, but that was an inconsequent as far the fight was concerned. The force finally dropped enough for my legs to join the ground, reducing the drag to near zero, only skidding back a few more inches. I dropped to my knees, unused to such an event. Disoriented, my head lazed downward before the world reoriented itself back into place and my focus slid towards the bear.

And I was a little shocked to be honest.

Wrapped around the apparent arm that threw me (I was several feet back, a little further than the point I bum rushed it) was the blade of one of the daggers. Attached to it is a long thin wire (I assume steel or some other material enhanced my Dust to increase the durability) that connected back to the pommel of her dagger. She had apparently withdrew her other dagger and held the pommel with both of her hands, futilely tugging it to prevent movement. Roaring, the bear pulled, and the girl flew through the air and into the trees. I feared for her for a moment before she started looping herself around a thick branch in a tree. She looped several times before she stopped, flipping her self over such that she landed on her feet. The bear roared once more, struggling to move its' arm.

I'm not sure if that was her plan, but incapacitating the arm of the bear was brilliant. In one move, she deprived it of it weapon while distracting it with its bound arm. It also focused the rage of the Grimm to her, leaving it completely open to me, if I had any weapon to kill it. But it seems that it still had some focus on me, particularly because it was still looking at me like I was easy prey. Which I'll give, was pretty true? I had nothing that could possibly hurt it, and I was certainly not strong enough to do any real damage to it. So I needed to take it down in one hit. But how?

And wow, I am surprisingly thoughtful right now. Fuck, focus! I need an i... de... a...

Bingo.

"Throw a dagger to me!" I yelled. My balance was mostly restored at this point.

She didn't seem to understand my request, which I'll give under the circumstances of a bear roaring while tugging at a wire that made the branch she was standing on wobble a little. But then she pulled out her other dagger and threw it to me. Tracking the arc of the blade, I could see that it wouldn't land anywhere near where I could just reach out and grab it. While she threw it straight towards me, it would stop about a foot or so, still far enough for the beast not to intercept it, but I would't have the time to charge at it with it.

But that's alright, it's still doable.

I started sprinting towards the Grimm, catching the sheath of the weapon and discarding it a moment afterwards. The surprisingly light steel clung to my hand as I suicidally charged straight at it. The bear took noticed and reared back its other unrestrained arm in an over head smash in an attempt to stop me. It soon became a race of who reacted too soon first, the monster that could break my body in two or me, the weak human who shouldn't be able to match this thing.

It swung first, the moment I passed a certain threshold, it brought the arm down like a hammer. But I would not fall. I saw the flash this time and unlike last time when I was focusing on damaging it, I could clearly see the direction where it came from. Reacting to the flash of white and black, I spun towards the bound arm and the sharp claws of death missed me by a small width.

But I was in the clear.

Literally a few inches away from it, I stomped down with my leg and held my ground. I stared up at the beast, looking straight into its eyes. All I could see was the mindless rage it held, immensely angry for some reason or other. But I didn't care, it tried to kill me, intimidate me into submission.

So with all the force I could muster, I pivoted and rammed several inches of steel through its head with a strike from below.

The forest was silent for a moment, as if waiting to see the conclusion.

And then I withdrew the blade, slick with red-purple blood, and jumped back a little as I watched as the Grimm corpse fell to the ground.

That... was not how I imagined killing something to be like.


It was only a few moments, but the world didn't change like I thought it would.

I'll be the first to admit that I've never killed anything larger than a roach, which admittedly, can grow to a rather large height (in my eyes), but never more than an inch or so. This is the first time I killed something that was vastly stronger than me and it felt... unchanged. I've read how this was supposed to be a traumatizing experience, but I felt nothing. Guilt at killing it, yes. But nowhere near the world ending pressure that was imposed on the materials that I read. If anything, this is a much more neutral experience. Then again, I can't say that the shock of going through the motion is blocking emotional response, but that's less important at the moment.

The girl dropped out of the branch, her dagger's pommel already unwound around it and she then proceeded to take back her blade, the steel biting into the arm of the corpse. Despite the rather grizzly job, it only took her moments to have her dagger back in the shape I first saw it, with the wire somehow winding itself back into pommel. She looked her face no longer held that slightly scared expression, no looking more what seemed to be, now becoming a familiar look (somehow), nervous expression.

"Good job." I raised my arm.

She startled. "Ah," she seemed to blush a bit. "You too."

My arm stood still in the air. I don't think she quite got the idea of a 'high five' yet. So not wanting to keep my arm hanging, I took hold of her arm and guided it to my open palm. I don't think she liked it from her expression.

I dropped all three arms. "Ah, sorry. My bad."

She simply stayed red. Yeah... I don't think she got much physical contact as a kid.

"Ah," Apparently, that was her quirk. "Why... why didn't you use your Aura?" She asked.

I opened my mouth to answer... before I snapped my jaws closed as I realized, no, I did NOT use my Aura through out the whole confrontation.

Note to self: Aura does not activate on instinct for me. It appears that I have not reached the stage where Aura is a passive boost and I have to have some thought in the activation of it. Why? Because right now, it's thrumming in what appears to be an agitated state, most likely because I just did something very, very stupid. Yeah, not gonna argue with that. Next time, I'm bringing out the training arsenal.

"Uh, why didn't you?" I countered.

"I'm... not good with it." She admitted. And I felt kinda crappy when she said it. I think I just kicked a puppy.

Before I could apologize, a loud, feminine scream came from the surroundings, a sound which was distinctly human as far I could tell.

... Damn it. I always wanted to help someone like this. But I couldn't just rush into there without the consent of my partner. Even though we don't know each other, I can't just force her to sacrifice herself if she didn't want to save them. But... my emotions wouldn't calm. I wanted to rush over there, an aching that I didn't know I had compelled me to go. But I couldn't. Not yet.

I looked at her in the eyes. I couldn't tell what she was thinking or if she had anything on her mind at all, but they seemed a little darker before they lightened up a bit.

She nodded. I grinned.

As we rushed over to the next fight, I couldn't but think of a few amusing words.

Time to nut up or shut up.


I think I want to shut up.

Why? Because I'm staring at more than one bear. I mean, like, five of them in a frenzied rage.

Not accounting for the one that's TWICE AS BROLIC AS THE OTHERS!

Ok, so we jog to the area where we thought the scream originated. Jogged because, you know, saving energy in case we need to full on sprint and crap. And wow, I am getting into this too easily. Anyway, we jogged (well, I fast walked. My little partner on the other hand, well...) to another small clearing which was, from what I could tell, connected to a larger one through a few trees. And fighting there were two girls against a fucking hoard of bears that again, were TWICE as brolic as the one I killed and I think they were even taller? The hell man? Why the hell do they have to have the height gene while I'm short as fuck? Come on genealogy, share the love!

... Right, another mental note, I can think of ridiculous shit despite the rather pressing situation. That's... a rather bad reaction in any combat scenario. Real or not.

Despite my rather ridiculous thought at the moment, I didn't really give it any more thought. Instead, I created a small sphere, the size of a baseball, in my hand. Even without looking, I knew what it looked like. An orb of transparent light, containing lights of red and orange hues, looking more like a combination of colors than anything else. But I knew how dangerous it was, and how I could use it.

The pair of girls dodged from the bears once more, the distance between them more than a few feet.

I acted.

"Hey!" I shouted. Already pulling back the arm that held the sphere.

The attention of the pair snapped to me for a brief second, and I immediately threw it.

"Get back!"

They saw the sphere and then they started sprinting towards us while the sphere was still in the air. The bears gave chase, mostly because I thought that they knew they were losing prey if the prey joined together to make a larger group. But by then, the sphere hit the area where a few feet from where the pair was.

Then it exploded.

It was a conflagration of fire. Concentrated around the area it detonated was a bloom of orange of red. It didn't smell of smoke nor did it create clouds of smog. It was just a corona of flames that expanded beyond its original size. Tails of fire licking at the fringes, looking for something to tend to ashes.

Unfortunately, it didn't get any of the bears because the size of the fire wasn't large enough to reach them. However, they were now weary of more of those orbs if their rather fast paced attack to slow gait was any indication. Thank god for the instinctive reaction to fire. Mammals and animals have an instinctive fear for fire since the only action fire can cause them is pain and fear. I assume Grimm are mutated animals, so the fear of fire is understandable in my head. And the fact that they were wandering about an invisible line helped too. Maybe they thought I had a range?

And then I had a staff and blade stuck under my chin.

"Who are you? And what are your intentions towards us?"

I took a moment to observe the pair, both annoyed with the apparent threat to my life even when I saved their asses and why was it that women were apparently threatening the end of my life! Seriously! For gods fucking sakes, can I not meet someone that attempting to kill me!? Especially of the feminine persuasion? I like to still be attracted to them thank you very much.

The first of the female pair I took note of has shoulder length silver-ish aqua blue hair. Her facial features were of the stern type of woman, with slightly narrowed eyes, which were brown-blue by the way for some odd reason, small nose and a tiny mouth that was more neutral if I could tell. Odder still, the chick is wearing a maid costume, except more streamlined for combat situations with pieces of white (no idea what they're called) all around and her skirt was actually a pair of shorts which just looked like a long skirt. Aside from her remarkably clear white skin (like, model smooth, which is scary) nothing else popped up to me as strange. Oh, and she was the one pointing the metal blade (sword?) that held a faint blueish glow.

"Indeed. Answer well and we shall not destroy you like the insect you are." Spoke the other one. Wow, haughty bitch much? Now I kinda regret calling Weiss what I said earlier. Indeed, this one is a vain, prissy, aristocrat. Pretty and Princess still apply, but in different terms.

The second of the female pair is very... annoying really. She has long blonde hair that also releases a silver-ish gleam. Her face held a haughty expression, with her eyes downcast on me (even though I feel like I was taller) with blueish-green condescendingly judging me. Her mouth was set in a smirk that I wanted to straight off smack off. She is wearing, much to my disbelief, a dress. Not just any dress though, she is wearing a bright pink monstrosity that looked more fit in the snobbish European High Society types. The frills that clung to Everywhere just astounded me. At the very least, it looks like a combat dress than a Victorian nightmare. And her stance just rubs me the wrong way. Seriously, stop looking so damn smug. I don't care that you have a staff against my throat that disturbingly has a green wisp-like glow.

"Seriously? That's what you say to someone who saves your asses?" Incredulous, I couldn't help but say that. "And while you have some very nice asses, it doesn't mean you can be an ass, ya know?" Wait, what the hell did I just say?

The pair didn't seem moved by my words. "What should I do with him, mistress?" Bluey asked.

Fake Goldy ignored her. "Explain your actions from earlier. And I might decide to be lenient with you."

"Really?" I deadpanned. "We're in the middle of the forest in the middle of an exam and in the middle of a pack of Grimm waiting to rip us apart and you want me to explain why I helped you?"

"Yes." Goldy declared.

"... I have no words for the stupidity I am seeing right now." Before they could get started, I continued. "The reason I helped out was because it seemed as if you two were in trouble. Why would I have any other reason to help out?" Aside from the fact that apparently I'm reacting to my own inner thoughts in a more physical way? Seriously, it's like I'm trying to act like a hero.

"! How dare you presume we would need a pleabian's help!" Raged Goldy.

"Ah. Mistress. We were at a disadvantage before his intervention. Perhaps we could acquire his assistance?" Offered Bluey.

"Hmpf. Very well. Rejoice, peasant. You're life shall now belongs to me."

... Yeah, fuck that. Wait, is that... "Yeah, no."

"What!" Goldy raged. "What gives you the right to refuse my generosity!"

"The fact that my partner can gut both of you at any moment it seems." I calmly pointed out.

They froze.

Standing behind the pair is my own partner. I don't know how she got there let alone not alert anyone of us, people who were just recently fighting against a pack of bears of all things and her own partner who thought that she was hiding right next to him, the jump on them and managed to put herself in an advantageous position for our side.

... Holy shit I'm partners with an assassin.

... That is kinda cool and somewhat terrifying.

"Look, this is what I ask right now." I continued. "You see over there?" I pointed to over their shoulders, where the Grimm bears were starting to get over their hesitance about attacking. Not good. "Yeah, those things about to bum rush our asses and most probably will rip us to shreds. Even if you leave us to fight them, they'll probably split up and continue to hunt you down even at the cost of reduced numbers." Please be as smart as I hope you are.

"... Then what do you recommend we do?" Bluey asked.

Thank you, lord. "I think we should team up. Not just for this fight, but until we're all safe."

The pair glanced at one another, a silent communication between them. And it also made it apparent that they knew each before this and have probably known each other for quite awhile. It only took moments, but it still made me antsy. The bears were finally overcoming their hesitance over the results of my attack and crossed over the invisible boundary they made. Crap.

"Quickly." Jittery, I rushed them. "Some friends of yours are coming to play, and they are not happy."

"Fine. Be grateful for my acceptance of our situation else you would be the first thing I would use as bait." Said the blonde.

Once the blonde accepted the deal, my partner immediately decided that they were of no importance and changed her targets to the more fatal beings behind her. Bluey, I think noticing the fact that a certain sharp instrument is away from their organs, also pivoted around to face the incoming threat. Goldy didn't move, her eyes cooling down and intelligence seemed to blossom from there.

... I really didn't want to contemplate on the apparent fact that she doesn't see me as human. I really don't.

"So. Did you have a plan to enact or is your barbaric mind too primitive to create something so complicated?" She airily queried.

... Want to punch you so badly. "No, I don't."

"Hmpf. I knew you would say that." She glanced at me, as if she were assessing me. "How many of those orbs do you have in your possession?"

Orbs? Oh, right. "As many before I run out." I admitted.

She hummed in thought. "I see. I have a plan." She finally turned her back at me to observe the incoming threat. "Judging from the current assets at hand, defeating a group of ruffians like them should be simple."

Of course she would be someone to say something like that. Not to be judgmental since I don't know her at all, except the fact that she's from the upper crust of society, but she's verily over-confident.

"Throw four of those orbs in their midsts. One each for the east and west, one in the center of their formation, and the last one towards the leader in the back. Immediately afterward, I want you," Here, she tossed a glance at me. "To charge into the fray and disorganize them. A brute such as yourself should have no trouble with the distracted Ursa. Meanwhile, your friend should go about doing her own specialty, taking down as many Ursa as she can or ensnare them so that they can be taken care of at a later time."

... Where in gods name did this plan come from? What is she referring to when she is doing this? Am I missing something? Seriously. Also...

"What about you?" I couldn't help but accuse. Hey, when people only specify their plans for a select few, that plan tends to sacrifice them while the makers of said plan escape.

"We," Here, she emphasized, as if imparting an important role. "Will be preparing our own strengths to deal with them. The only reason why they were not defeated before your intervention was due to their ambush. If we had an opportunity to set up, then taking care of them would have been child's play."

... Right, and I believe in the easter bunny. Che, whatever, this is better than me just bum rushing them and hoping for the best. Man, RPG's don't really show this type of stuff at all.

In a moment, I created two small spheres in each of my hands. Taking another moment to make the fire and amping up the pressure going into it and setting up a pattern, the orbs took on their reddish-orange colors once more. My arms were tense with anticipation, shivers shaking my arms terribly. And I'll admit, I was kinda nervous. Honestly, my throw earlier was pure luck. While I have some accuracy when it involves throwing, it's not good enough to do what I did earlier. The first two throws would be easy, but for middle and the back? There's a chance I'll miss. But I have to try now. No re-trys, no re-dos, only one shot.

God, I wish I played those FPS games now. Actually, no, fuck that. Still liable to shoot my own head off by mistake.

I strode forward, holding the spheres in from of me. But a thought came into my mind. I can hold the spheres in my hand, but I could also have them float around me and I would have more ammo and do more potential damage. But if I were to do this to that...

Glancing down to my right hand, which is my dominant hand, I placed my attention to one of the orbs. Focusing my intent, idea, and my Aura into it, I willed it to change the function of that orb and what it's new purpose was. It took only a moment, but in truth, that was all the time I really had. The orb went from its reddish-orange color to a wisp-ish white one.

This slightly concerned me. Despite the fact that it did what I wanted, it took a good more chunk of Aura then I thought. Yeah, the orbs themselves weren't exactly draining, but the effects in them were pretty low costing really. The thing I wanted... pulled way more Aura than I wanted it. Ok, if I survive this day, several things to investigate: Why did the cost in Aura increase for xxx effect? Do I have to train that effect in order to reduce the cost? Is there a different factor I'm not taking account for the effect to take place? Does it have something to do with an affinity for that effect or is simply due to my ineptitude?

Fuck, too many questions. Just gotta go for it now.

Shaking my head, I reinforced my body to a higher capability, allowing for a greater defense, strength and speed for this situation. And then I reinforced the fabric of my clothing, despite the fact that its not really helpful. Right now, I'm just hoping it would absorb some of the impact by acting like light armor or something. Since the Aura was still, literally, apart of my body, I decided to spread a thin layer, as evenly as I could anyway, above the skin so it would act like chain-mail or a secondary layer of protection. God knows how I survived my first hit really.

After taking those precious moments to enhance myself, I ran.

The change in movement was incredible. When I first ran here, I noted that my endurance has risen significantly and my speed raised slightly. I wasn't exactly slow, but I knew that if I were to ever chase anyone here, I would always lose. Worlds like these tend to have the average speed to be well beyond the regular speed of a world that doesn't have energy enhancement or that the natural limits are way above those in a base reality like mine. But the with how fast I moved at this moment... I felt like I could do anything. But that would be fallacy wouldn't it? Falling for that stupid thought. That's villain thinking. Fuck, act first think later.

I was covering ground between the two groups quickly. With a quick glance, I could see the first two bears (Ursa?) coming from the rears as the one in the front stood tall like an immovable wall. Reacting, I threw the first two spheres in my left hand towards the bears that were approaching me. As they detonated, I was literally a few feet from the one ahead, arm overhead prepared for a smash for this fleshy thing. Instead, I threw down the white sphere in front of the Ursa.

Then it exploded into steam.

Taking advantage of the fact that it flinched away from the superheated water, I formed another two spheres in my left hand with a third one appearing just short of my right hand. Creating the heat reaction for them while I snatched the third orb, I used my Aura to increase my jumping strength, allowing me to fly overhead of the over muscled freak of nature and grabbed one of it's bone spines when it became apparent that I hadn't jumped hard enough. With the power of gravity plus my naturally large mass, the poor flailing thing almost impaled me when it started falling backwards. I leapt forwards once more, taking a back glance just in time to see its own bone spines stab itself into the ground, forcing it to struggle in order to get up. It probably couldn't though. It was well and truly stuck.

Turning back forward, I noted the two lumbering things attacking me, each one already in the process of mid-swipe. Leaning into a roll, with the disorientation of someone who wasn't experienced with rolls, took a moment to re-orient myself. Immediately as soon as I could see things in normal view, I spun around and simultaneously released an orb from each of my hands, both of them gliding to hit the backs of the bears who stumbled from missing. Ignoring the blossoming heat and the uncomfortable amount of fire that seemed to blind me, I turned around once more and threw the remaining spheres at the largest one. One aimed at the torso and the other aimed at the head.

Then I closed my eyes, the sudden change of everything just causing me to reflexively take a moment to rest. It was only for a few seconds, really.

Then I could feel pain.

Opening my eyes, I could see the ground flying past me at a rather rapid rate. Startled by the pain and scenery, I couldn't even react before I was tumbling on the ground, bouncing slightly. If it weren't for the fact that I had Aura covering me I would probably be knocking out right now. Getting into a kneeling position, I looked up. I really wish I hadn't. Seriously, that's going to become my christmas wish.

Coming right at me were four large, burnt, Ursa looking to tear me limb from limb. And those eyes. Oh god, those eyes. Are they supposed to be glowing like that?

I shivered.

I got up just in time to feel their wrath.

The first came pounding down, a side-swipe coming my way.

And once more, thought had no more hold on me. Now I was just as mindless as they. Going by instinct instead of rational thought.

Bringing up my left arm to defend against the blow, which wasn't as hard as I thought with Aura increasing my natural durability and resistance to pain, I smashed in its throat with my right. It then tried to roar before it realized its throat was no longer in working condition. It began to thrash away from me when the second contender appeared. Then the third and fourth appeared at its flank, making me realized that it was three stupidly strong Grimm against little ol' me. Why, ain't I flattered. Not.

Not giving them a chance to work out anything, if they could communicate at all, I rushed over to the one right of the middle. Raising my right arm, I charged like I was going to punch. In reaction to this, the Ursa used its left to swing at me, probably trying to intercept. But instead, it swung at midair as I changed directions and decked the middle one in the face. Roaring in pain, both for me and it, it swung at where I was. I ducked; and then I heard the sound of something hitting another thing, specifically, a very fleshy thing. I whirled around to see that the bear had hit its comrade and that comrade is now rather pissed at it if it attacking the other one was any indication. Thus, I was unaware for a single moment, amused by what I saw.

And then pain blossomed.

My back arched, the sharp feel of what appears to be a claw raking down it. In response, I threw a backhand at the attacker, feeling a sting as I realized that wasn't exactly the smartest move I could make. I pivoted around to see a snarling fanged face trying to take a chunk from my face. Reeling back in shock; and from the terrible smell of whatever it was once in its mouth, I at least had enough presence of mind to at least jump away from the fighting pair behind me. But a single glimpse from the corner of my eye showed another damned bear rushing forwards, looking to head-slam be into the distance. Crossing my arms in front of me, I felt the numbing force of a six-hundred pound bear running at full-tilt. Once again, I flew perpendicular to the ground, this time landing on my back and skidding further away from the charge.

Let's be honest, I was kinda dazed at this point. I was just kinda staring at the sky for a bit, thinking of how nice of a shade of blue it was and how it complemented the light/dark green of the forest and how I could photograph it later. Then the pain ebbed away and I realized that I shouldn't be dazing off when I still have to take away the attention of the damn bears. Seriously, I need a new name for them. Calling them bears and Ursa is so boring.

Wait, still in combat.

Getting back on my (shaky)legs, I stretched my back. And I could feel and hear the sounds of popping coming from my back, which was very, very nice. Rolling my neck around a few times, which also cracked, I got ready to get back into the fight... if I didn't notice a large ass shadow that just stopped about below my head's shadow. Stiffly, I twisted around to see the thing that overshadowed my shadow.

Which was the big boss from earlier. Great. Did I mention that this one was somehow armored with bone segments that appears to reduce the physical impact of attacks and just hard-hitting things in general? Yeah, there's that.

I tensed. My legs became rooted to the ground, my arms crossing into an x like stiff branches. My body became a steel frame, just waiting for the inevitable impact that soon awaits. My own surprise has completely screwed any chance of movement. My whole entire body was seized in surprise to see such a monster waiting behind me like a predator. And the fact that I just naturally seize up when something surprises me has nothing to do with it at all. Wait, why the hell is it... oh. This is gonna be fun. Not.

The bone-encrusted monstrosity roared, taking advantage of my immobile state to swing back one of its massive arms and swung it in a move similar to an uppercut. Thankfully, the attack was caught in my arms, which I pumped in more Aura to take in the attack. Unfortunately, I was sent flying... in a manner which was looking to be really similar to my initial launch. Just with a different thing to throw me upwards and another thing for me to hate.

As I flew over the trees, I couldn't help but think I really hated those damn bears.

On second thought, I hope that there was no craziness where I land. This forest just sucks.


A/N: Welcome to the end corner! If you want to skip this, then just ignore it in favor of getting on to more goodies.

So, let's bring in the reviews!

Claros and Ixen: ... I have no idea what that means.

Golden Sheath: Yes, I can most definitely feel it.

FanFictionFan247: Unfortunately, Avarice will not have a Black Aura color. If anything, that's going to tie into plot and I don't wanna spoil it for anyone. Maybe, still not sure if I should make it plot or not.

Guest: Ha, no. Avarice will pull on elemental themes because Avarice is a manga reader, anime watcher, and a gamer. Because seriously, who doesn't wanna pull outrageous shit outta their asses? And no, Avarice is not going to become a Mage Class character. If anything, his mainstay is Close-Combat. Avarice is going to be a complete miss where it comes to long-range anything. And I mean EVERYTHING. Unless he has lock-on and supreme accuracy. But thats never gonna happen.

Curevo Blanco: Oh. MY. GOD. Your points make me cry. This is what I wanted to answer and so shall it be! I will now answer all your questions below!

1) Yeah... this is actually a character personality. Avarice tends to forget things. Like, a lot. Expect this to be some of the reason why he makes mistakes.

2) Pyrrha. Yeah, didn't mean for her to come off like that... I think. Anyway, Pyrrha has her moments and I'm trying to make them human, not anime-ish. I would like to think that by adding my perspective there, things will seem more real than what is portrayed in anime. Not everything will be slapdash, but there will be some odd behavior developments. But she will have her moments and they will tend to be displays of... something. Avarice will be terrified at said points. Beware of the kickass redhead whose name literally means Victory.

3) Avarice's Semblance will be revealed in 2-3 chapters or so. How, I won't tell you. But I'm sure you guys can guess it from the previous chapter.

4) Oh. This is gonna be a plot mark, so I can't expose anything. But trust me when I say that they are VERY suspicious. It's just that the Ozpin and Glynda have very good poker faces/priorities over a concern with a student. Avarice is going to be in a surprise, I tell you.

5) Yep. That's why I'm trying not to make them TOO long. But as you can see, Avarice is a character that takes notes of some of the oddest things. Since we're seeing things from his perspective, we will also see his insane thoughts. That's why I had to split this chapter in half.

6) No idea who David Copperfield. And it will go darkish in the future, after all, not everything can be going right, right? There has to be some adversity in order make this a story.

7) Ha. Now if only if he was intelligent enough to do that... or stupid enough to get kidnapped and experimented on. I have no plans on turning any characters into shifters... no matter how amusing or cool it will be. Because now I'm imagining Ruby evolves to Cookie-Eater Ruby!

8) Yes, there will be various types of Grimm. But given that I'm not well-versed in mythology and anything else that would give good background history for monsters or events, the naming will be simple. Like by species names. But yes, I do have something like that here. However, my character is much too weak to fight anything stronger than an Ursa. He can probably endure shit a lot stronger from that, but he doesn't have any real means to take down something like a Nevermore, only delay injuries and stuff.

Well, that's it for the review corner. Now for the notes! If I remember them anyway.

1) We're going to be in this forest for a while.

2) Say hello to three new OC's! They're half the reason why the chapter didn't finish earlier: I'm still trying to make a background for them and how to describe their appearances. Just think of Goldy as a blonde ojou-sama and Bluey to be a maid. The connection should be obvious at this point. Lucia... yeah, in my head they have images. I need someone to draw something so I can say they look like that.

3) Combat. Whoo, we have fights! Please note that I've never written a fighting scene before like this so, hopefully, you guys like this.

4) No POVs. I was actually planning on doing this this chapter but since my OC's were of recent make, I'm not exactly sure how to write down their thoughts. It would have helped with describing the fights, but yeah, couldn't do it. And I don't think I wanna use 3rd POV to do it because then it's no longer than 1st POV I wanted to do.

5) Ursa fighting patterns. Not exactly creative are they? Hopefully, my thoughts will make them evolve. Or if they're so boring, they'll just become killing fodder.

6) Goldy. Regardless to say, her no-name is intentional at this stage. Also, her planning. As you can see, she can make up plans if she has enough to go on. Like my physical features, Lucia's stealth, and how to use them to her, and in Avarice's case, their advantage.

7) Bluey. Not much to say here. As always, there is always something there.

8) My use of Aura. This is also a plot mark so I can't say anything about it. Much. You'll hear Avarice's theories on why his Aura can do xxx and such abilities and why the natural inhabitants can't do the same.

So that's all I have to say about this. Now all I'm doing now is waiting to be done with Finals, the next season of RWBY and watching Katanagatari.

On a side note, fucking Nanami, yo. OP and nerfed because of an ailment.

So good readings and so. Ask about potholes in the story, why xxx happens and so. I will be glad to answer. As long as they don't spoil anything that is.

Read, Review and Enjoy.

Matuso Hateshi, out.