Chapter Seven: Taking Class Part One:

September 12th 1462 of the Vytali Calendar:

Greta felt both excited and nervous as she and the rest of Team GRAP filed into class that day. It was the Tuesday of their second week in Beacon and their combat classes, supposedly the most difficult and important class in the curriculum, had finally started.

Like everything else in Beacon the combat training stadium was state of the art and as much an artistic expression as it was a practical facility though compared to some classrooms it was rather subdued. The room was circular, the usual layout of tiered desks now placed in a ring that was broken by four aisles, one on each major point of the compass, and surrounded a large raised platform. Overhead holographic projectors displayed a stat screen that - at the moment - was blank, waiting for some kind of data input.

All the students that walked in were dressed in the more casual clothes that they had designated as their hunting outfits. Greta herself had donned her favourite dress, wearing it over the trousers and t-shirt she enjoyed and felt far more comfortable than in any of her other classes because of it.

Professor Smith stood on the platform, adjusting his bow tie and scanning his open scroll. Aside from that he was standing perfectly in place, dressed in the tweed suits that every student saw him characteristically wear. On his face was an expression of anticipation that Greta had never seen him make before.

She went down to one of the seats on the lower tiers, her team following after her. She saw Team TEAL sit down on the seats next to them. The two teams had eaten breakfast together, a habit that had quickly become almost ritualistic for the two of them. Tom and Lach waved at her and she responded. Lach had an excited expression on his face, a wide smile threatening to split his face. Greta had seen Elizabeth give a similar look and even Adelheid, whilst trying to keep up her familiar detached expression had strode to class faster than usual.

Her own team weren't that different. Peter had grabbed his weapons more quickly than the others on their way to class, strapping them to his overcoat with an excited air around himself. Rapture and Aurora, on the way to the classroom, had also been exchanging their own thoughts on what the class would be like. It was honestly relaxing to see her friends and team-mates getting on.

Despite Professor Smith being in the room there was a lot of murmuring. All of the students had been waiting for the chance to try out their techniques on one another and see who was in fact the best fighter in the class.

'Alright class, quiet down,' Professor Smith said, his voice carrying over the noise of the excited students.

It took several seconds but everyone stopped talking. The deputy headmaster was still a surprisingly intimidating figure, exuding an aura of authority that few seemed to question despite his rather elderly appearance. Greta paid full attention to him, watching as he straightened himself out, adjusted his cravat again and then looked over the students sitting in front of him.

'Right,' he began again. 'Today is going to be your first day of combat classes. Now you've all been through some form of prior training, many of you were likely students at Signal and know your way around something similar to our particular training regimens.' He then paused and looked back around the room again.

'Some of you, however,' he said, 'have likely had private tutors or were self-trained so I'm going to go over the rules now.' A couple of students groaned quietly in response. This wasn't the first teacher who had begun their class by repeating what most of the students already knew.

'I'll be calling you up to this stage in pairs that I will choose," Professor Smith began, his voice developing a more professional tone. 'Your Aura will be linked to both your scrolls and the screen above me while I, and the class, will be monitoring your skills. Over the course of this year we will also be assessing your progress as a combatant. As future Huntsmen and Huntresses your ability to fight will be one of your most important abilities and may decide not only your future career but also whether you live or die.'

Greta was taken aback by what the professor had said. While she knew full well that what he was saying was true and had come to those conclusions years ago the way he said it made the words sound so much more ominous. His expression had also become more bitter, like he hated saying the words that were coming from his mouth.

'So,' the professor began again, 'I'll be calling up the first pairs. I would like you all to link your scrolls to this room's server first so we can monitor your Aura levels.' the entire class pulled out their scrolls, opened them and selected the link that was now flashing on their screens. It took only a second for them all to make the link and connect to a larger database.

'Now would Ernie Custodi and Peter Hamlin please walk onto the stage.' The moment professor Smith had finished speaking Greta turned to her partner and saw him standing up, a confident smirk on his face.

Several rows away a massive burly faunus boy stood up. He was huge, taller even than Rapture and substantially thicker as well. Whilst he was wide he wasn't fat, having thick muscular arms and a powerful looking torso. On the boy's head were two large curling ram's horns that curled around his ears, covering the sides of his head in thick bone. He was dressed in black trousers with a plain brown t-shirt covering his chest and a sleeveless leather jacket on top of that.

As Ernie stood he flexed his neck, an audible crack of his bones limbering echoed around the room, unnerving several students. He then reached down next to his seat and picked up a large warhammer. The weapon had several visible mecha-shift components that made it apparent it had another form. The face of the warhammer also had several seams indicating that whatever function the hammer possessed likely involved firing projectiles.

The two of them walked down, Peter still having a smile on his face while Ernie seemed to wear a more blank expression. Greta wondered if anything was really going on in the faunus' head since he didn't seem to do anything other than lumber onto the platform and then lean on his hammer, staring ahead at Peter who put his left hand on his hip and smirked at his opponent.

'You will both fight until I tell you to stop,' Professor Smith began again. 'Once you're finished I will call up another pair. The first few classes will continue like this until the entire class has had at least one bout. Then we will begin marking your progress in future classes. I don't expect immediate improvement but your grades will be dependent on the skills you display and any noticeable changes in your abilities over the course of the semester.' He then turned to look around the room. 'Are there any questions?' he asked.

He was answered with shaking heads and quiet denials as the class waited to see the first fight of the semester. 'Alright then,' Professor Smith continued, turning back to Peter and Ernie. 'Both of you will fight until you reach the red of your Aura or step off of the stage. If, however, I tell you to stop you will stop.' He fixed both boys with a withering glare and they nodded.

'Very good,' the professor then continued. 'You begin on my mark.' Peter and Ernie, both took a pose of readiness, Ernie crouching low and keeping his hammer raised in his right hand. Peter, on he other hand, was standing tall and straight with his arms spread at the elbow. He even gave a small bow with his head and shoulders to the faunus boy.

'This is gonna be good,' Greta heard Lach mumble excitedly. She was interested in seeing what would happen when the two fought. She had seen Peter practice and his technique was difficult to follow properly. She didn't, however, know much about Ernie Custodi. Team BAGE weren't anywhere near her team's social circle and hadn't done anything to make themselves that noteworthy.

'Begin,' Professor Smith said as he stepped off of the stage and turned to watch them.

Both combatants took a step forward and then froze. Both of them remained in ready positions, leaning forward and crouching slightly. They then each took a step to the side and began to circle one another, Ernie clutching his hammer tightly and Peter twitching his fingers as he spread his arms out, ready to react. Greta could tell they were sizing each other up, waiting to see who would make the first move.

The atmosphere remained tense though Greta could tell a couple of people were already getting bored. It had only been a few seconds but the sight of both students slowly making a circuit of the stage wasn't particularly interesting for some people. Others were at least perceptive enough to realise both combatants were merely analysing one another or had noticed the professor was paying attention and decided it was better for their grades that they do the same.

Suddenly Ernie broke from his steady rightward pacing and leapt to his left, hammer raised, towards Peter. The faunus boy let out a loud warcry as he brought the hammer over his head and then around in a diagonal arc. Peter took just enough to sneer at his opponent before activating his semblance. In a flash of light he was across the stage. He twisted as he re-materialised and thrust his right arm out.

One of his stakes rocketed out of his sleeve, the thrusters embedded inside the weapon forcing it at the faunus across from Peter. Attached to the end of the stake was a thin golden chain that led back into Peter's coat sleeve. Ernie quickly stepped aside, the stake going past him. Peter smirked and immediately pulled on the chain. The stake jerked back, looped slightly as the taught chain lurched and hit Ernie in the back of his head, butt-first. The chain rapidly wound back into Peter's sleeve, pulling the stake with it an back into his hand.

Ernie, meanwhile, stumbled forward from the blow to the base of his skull and wobbled. He kept a hold of his hammer though and steadied himself, glaring at Peter with almost animalistic fury. Peter flashed the stake out of his hand, using his semblance to replace it with one of his sword hilts. Another appeared in his left hand and then he deployed them, mecha-shift parts unfolding as the blade components curled out and slid into place. Peter took another stance, standing straight with his arms spread and both blades sticking out to his sides.

Ernie charged at Peter, his eyes narrowed in anger and concentration. Fury leant the faunus speed and he closed the distance quickly, spinning on his heel as he approached Peter. The hammer swung in a wide arc as Ernie span and then, just as it was about to strike he fired a shot, a large explosion of dust rocketing out of the face of the hammer head.

Peter flashed out of the way of the strike, reappearing an instant later behind Ernie. He was already spinning on his heel, his blades held in a position to strike. He hit Ernie on the back of his head, first with his left-hand blade and then his right-hand one as he completed his spin. Overbalanced, Ernie tipped forward and then began to topple over. Kicking off into another spin, Peter raised his left leg and then delivered a swift kick to Ernie's back, sending him over the edge of the stage and onto the floor of the classroom below.

'And that's enough,' the voice of Professor Smith cut through the room. 'Ernie Custodi you are disqualified due to exiting the stage. Mister Hamlin,' he then said, turning to Peter, 'that was a skillful display of manipulation and utilising the rules of engagement to your advantage.'

'I try sir,' Peter said in a smug, self-satisfied tone as he bowed to the teacher, his blades once again held out to his sides. He then refolded the swords and teleported them back into his coat.

'Mister Custodi,' Professor Smith then said, turning to look at the furious faunus boy who was lifting himself off of the floor. 'You need to improve your awareness. You let your opponent goad you into overextending yourself. You showed initiative in the initial stages and a healthy respect for analysis of you opponents but you lost control once the fight itself began.' His assessment of the boy complete, he let them both return to their seats.

Greta saw Ernie was frowning in annoyance and restrained anger, grumbling under his breath as he sat back down with his team. Peter, on the other hand, took his seat next to her, his smug expression still fixed to his face. He turned to look at her and smiled, nodding slightly. Unsure what exactly he meant, she nodded back to him.

'Good job,' she said.

'Thanks Greta,' Peter replied. 'Glad I'm doing our team proud.'

The next pair – a girl in green with a double-barrelled rifle and another girl in red holding a mecha-shift enhanced broadsword in front of her – walked up onto the stage. They took their stances and then, when Professor Smith gave the signal, leapt at one another.

Adelheid Schnee was not impressed by the combatants she was seeing in front of her. She had spent so much time assessing her classmates and speculating on their potential skill but the realities she was seeing unfold in front of her did not inspire much in her. Peter Hamlin had, of course, conducted himself with skill and no small amount of grace but his opponent had clearly not been as much of a challenge as his first impression would have indicated. He was a brute who had been goaded into exposing himself far too quickly – not unlike a certain team-mate she could name.

Despite her growing discontent at watching her classmates' abilities Adelheid intently analysed the combatants. The green girl was keeping as much distance as she could between herself and her opponent, using the force of her rifles Dust-rounds to blow the red girl away from her. The red girl, on the other hand, was far less impressive and seemed to have no counter-ability for the green girl's ranged attacks. Adelheid knew the red girl's sword was a mecha-shift weapon but she still didn't know what the sword could do.

Despite forcing herself to keep an eye on the fight her mind still wandered to her existing assessments of her team. Lach and Elizabeth, despite their infuriating personalities, were effective fighters and proficient with their weapons. Elizabeth was far too temperamental for her own good but she had the power to back up her aggressive fighting style. Lach, surprisingly, seemed to display a more complex style and knew how to use a blade. As a swordswoman herself, Adelheid appreciated his dedication to that particular martial art and did applaud the skills he had developed. He was still unbearable to be around though and after having undergone so many elocution lessons she found the way his dialect butchered the standard tongue to be incredibly grating.

Tom was the weak link though. Judging by his performance over the weekend she could tell he wasn't much of a combatant. She had also not seen much evidence of his combat abilities during Initiation. Granted she had been rather occupied at the time but she had little recollection of his contributions to the actual fight, at least beyond his strategies.

As Adelheid continued to assess her team-mates in her head the balance of the fight in front of her was beginning to change. The red girl finally revealed her sword's secondary feature. With the press of a large button and a flick of the girl's wrist the blade extended out, revealing interlinking chains between several separated segments of the original blade. With the way the red girl began to swing her new chain-blade around I was hard to tell how much reach the weapon really had but Adelheid guessed it was now a little over two metres long.

The fight became a lot less one-sided as the red girl began to flick her extended weapon out at her opponent. One moment the green girl had been lining up a shot and then a second later she found her rifle had been wrapped up in the chain and she had to struggle to keep a hold of her weapon.

Even as she watched the fight with renewed interest Adelheid kept thinking about her team. By her own assessment Thomas Underhill was a disappointment. He was supposed to be their team leader – a position she still believed was a mistake on the headmaster's part – and yet he struggled to actually lead them. He was good enough at organising them and setting up team related schedules but he seemed to stumble whenever it came to giving actual orders. A team leader also represented their team and if he failed to improve his combat abilities he would end up making the rest of them look bad.

Shortly before she had shipped her off to Beacon, Adelheid's mother had given her a few pieces of advice. Most of it had pertained to her safety whilst she was out of the country and managing her personal finances. It was simply a repetition of what her tutors had told her many times before. The only thing that was different from her tutor's lessons was when her mother had told her to be careful about judging people too quickly. Adelheid liked to think she had taken her mother's words to heart – after all, despite a poor first meeting, she had given time for her team-mates to prove themselves.

Of course she had realised that her own first impressions with others hadn't been that good. Aside from Peter, who she already knew about thanks to his family name, she had been rather short-tempered and snippy with most of the other students she had met. Mind you that hadn't entirely been her fault. She had still been getting over being shipped halfway across the world by her parents and had been in a rather poor mood because of it. Once again her mother and father had ignored her protests and forced her into the position they wanted her to be in. This time they had given different justifications, dropping the usual explanation that it was for the good of the family and instead saying that it was for her own good. Her mother had been especially insistent on that part.

The combat on the stage finally came to an end when the green girl brought her opponent into the red zone of her Aura with several well placed shots. The red girl looked annoyed but retracted her chain-blade and walked off of the stage as Professor Smith gave his assessments of their skill and technique. Adelheid wasn't paying that much attention to what the teacher was saying. Despite her better judgement she was trying to make her own assessments of her classmates so she could form counter-strategies at the same time.

Her mind, however, kept returning to her team-mates. They were integral to her performance in school and their performance reflected on her. She may not have been granted the leadership position but she swore to all the gods that she would make sure her team shaped up to be the very best in the school. She had already begun to plan out a schedule for them that would allow them to maximise their time effectively and cram in all the training and studying they would need to achieve the lofty position she desired. Of course she had been forced to adjust it to accommodate the issues her team-mates possessed but she was confident she could convince them to follow her plan. After all, she could do anything when she set her mind to it.

'Will the next pair, Thomas Underhill and Arthur Raconteur please come onto the stage,' the voice of Professor Arc said, finally jolting Adelheid from her introspection.

'Looks like you're up Tom,' Lach said with a hint of amusement in his voice. 'Do us proud.'

'I'll do my best,' Adelheid heard Tom answer, sounding slightly nervous as he stood up and got out of their row of seats.

'Break a leg,' Elizabeth said to him, a gleeful tone in her voice and a grin on her face as she watched her partner get on the stage.

Adelheid paid more attention when she saw his opponent take his own place on the opposite side of the stage. Arthur Raconteur was another member of team BAGE and what little she knew about the man said he was the talkative sort. Looking at him properly, though, she made several assessments of her own about the man.

In her opinion, he looked ridiculous. Even by the standards of Huntsmen and Huntresses he was dressed in a very flamboyant fashion with bright red trousers and a white dress-shirt that had a couple of buttons undone at the top. He wore black leather riding boots over his feet and a large red travelling coat on top of everything else. Unlike his team-mates he was not a faunus but a human with features that looked like they were starting to wear slightly and a shock of unkempt blond hair.

It was his weapon, however, that was the most ridiculous part of his ensemble. It looked like an acoustic guitar but was made largely of metal, had been painted red with a gold trim and had a trigger mechanism in the main body. An ammunition stock, muzzle and several handle grips could also be seen attached to the bizarre contraption. Adelheid wasn't even sure how such a weapon could possibly function. Assuming the guitar portion actually functioned as a musical instrument it left large areas of the weapon hollow to accommodate the acoustics, had no use as a melee weapon unless it was simply used to club people and looked too unwieldy to aim in any way other than at the hip.

Even when compared to her more flamboyant team-mates and acquaintances he was the most bizarre person she had ever seen. His looks aside he was clearly going to be one of the easier opponents. Adelheid was sure he was the type of fighter that needed support and, if his outrageous weapon was anything to go by, would be easier to face alone.

Tom took his place on one end of the stage and drew his short-sword. He didn't waste any time, thankfully, and slotted a small Dust cartridge into the chamber on his weapon's hilt and then settled into a wary stance. Though she didn't show it, Adelheid approved of him holding back from immediately firing off his Dust. Whilst she didn't hurt for Dust her team-mates didn't have access to the kinds of resources she did. The ability to conserve was definitely a virtue in their cases.

'Begin,' Professor Smith said as both combatant's profiles flashed onto the screen.

In an instant Arthur pulled his guitar up to his chest and squeezed the trigger. A hail of light Dust rounds shot out of the muzzle at the end of the guitar-gun and hit Tom. By some miracle Tom managed to throw himself to the side as he was hit, avoiding getting knocked off of the stage. His Aura had taken several bad hits though and he was lying prone on the ground. Before Arthur could adjust his aim to hit his downed opponent Tom disappeared from view.

Adelheid frowned at her leader's decision. He had already given away his semblance to an opponent. The fact that he was forced to resort to his invisibility when the match had barely started was also a poor sign of his ability. His semblance was no an aid in combat, it was a tool to facilitate sneak-attacks and he couldn't afford to activate whenever it looked like his opponents had the advantage.

Arthur was looking about calmly as if expecting Tom to just appear in an instant. He held his guitar-gun close and ready, his finger on the trigger. Suddenly he was thrown to the side as he was hit by an invisible blow. The strike was followed by several arcs of electricity that shocked Arthur as he fell, taking a chunk out of his Aura. It seemed Tom's weapon remained invisible even when it was channelling Dust. Arthur tried to aim his weapon at where the blow had come from but his body had trouble responding due to the shocks he had received. He kicked out instead and it seemed his foot connected with something as Tom reappeared, falling to the floor as on of his legs gave out.

Arthur, still lying on the floor, turned his guitar-gun on Tom with a scowl and fired again. Tom's Aura dropped steadily as round after round struck him savagely. Flailing slightly, Tom hit the stag with the flat of his blade and managed to fire off another round of lightning at Arthur as he was trying to stand back up whilst maintaining his rate of fire. The other boy fell back to the ground as he received another shock but he controlled his fall and managed to land in a better position. Tom jumped back onto his feet and disappeared again just as Arthur regained control of his senses and aimed his weapon at him.

Arthur looked very frustrated now. He held his guitar-gun at his hip and then span on his heel, firing as he did so. A spray of bullets flew in a circle around the boy, ricocheting off of the shields placed in front of the seats and causing a few students to flinch. His tactic was a desperate one but it worked as Tom appeared again, thrown off balance by several of the shots. Coming to a halt, Arthur opened fire again, hammering Tom with Dust-rounds and chipping his Aura down into the lower yellow portion of the meter. He then ran forward as Tom tried to ward off the shots, ceased firing and swung his guitar-gun. His weapon, smacked Tom in the side of his head and sent him sprawling on his side.

'That's enough,' Professor Smith quickly said. 'Mister Raconteur is the victor.'

Tom picked himself up but he was a lot more unsteady on his feet. Arthur, on the other hand, walked off of the stage after hearing the professor's assessment of his abilities and then went over to his seat, his team-mates congratulating him.

'It's alright,' she suddenly heard Lach say. 'Ya can't win them all.'

Tom had returned to his seat, giving a small smile to Lach in response. Elizabeth was not looking his way, instead watching the rest of the class with a bored expression, her chin resting on her hands.

Adelheid was now deeply annoyed. She had been disappointed in her leader's capacities as a fighter before but now she was infuriated. His fight with Arthur Raconteur should have been an easy win and yet Tom had been so easily beaten by the flamboyant idiot. She didn't say anything to him when he looked at her expectantly, only letting a thin frown show her displeasure at his loss and then turning to look at the next pair as they were called up.

Her mother had told her not to judge people too quickly and she was prepared to give her new team-mates a chance. It wouldn't really be advantageous to immediately write them off as incompetent or incapable but there were limits to how long she could wait to see them either prove her assumptions wrong or improve by themselves. Sooner or later she would have to take matters into her own hands and in Tom's case she was sure it would be sooner.

September 13th 1462 of the Vytali Calendar:

If there was a day that Greta did not relish it was Wednesdays. As the middle of the working week the day stood out as a frustrating midway point that seemed to dangle the weekend in front of her like a carrot on the end of stick. Even though it was still her first full week of classes in Beacon she couldn't wait for the weekend and the chance to finally unwind after all the work.

Combat classes yesterday had revealed something very important to her; her team-mates all had very different fighting styles. Whilst that was useful strategically when it came to combat situations she had quickly realised that coordinated training was going to be almost impossible. Rapture's hand-to-hand brawling didn't match Peter's rapid multi-weapon swordplay and Aurora's ranged focused sniping wasn't something she could really work alongside with her own close-ranged fire-fighting. In short; they all needed different parts of the training facility to workout in.

Whilst none of them had any problem going to their own sections of the training grounds to improve their skills Great was a little annoyed that they couldn't properly coordinate their progress with one another. The only time they could all get together and evaluate each other's abilities was during the unarmed basic exercises and obstacle courses.

That was why she had said that Wednesday's open sessions would be devoted to organising their training regimens. It had been surprisingly difficult to convince the rest of the team to actually agree to working this problem out. It seemed they were content with sticking to their own personal routines and had looked sceptical at the idea of giving up the routines they had already decided on and coordinating in the way she was suggesting. Greta had been especially surprised that Peter had been resistant to giving up his own personal schedule and the slight frown that appeared on his face every now and then – indicating his dissatisfaction with her decision – did unsettle her.

'Okay,' she said, clapping her hands together and putting a slightly strained smile on her face. 'We're all here to deal with a problem I've noticed.' Ignoring the sceptical and uncommitted looks everyone immediately gave her, she continued on with the speech she had been planning. 'I can see we've all trained hard but I've not really been able to get a good look at how good you really are.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Aurora said, giving Greta a pointed look.

'Um, I mean,' Greta floundered as she tried to figure out how to word her thoughts. 'I mean I haven't been able to, um, uh, analyse you. I need to be able to get a good look at how you can fight and then I can figure out how we can work as a team.'

Her team-mates relaxed after she was done stuttering out her reply. Greta hoped that her explanation had pleased them and the fact that the frowns had shrunk down into more thoughtful expressions helped settle her own thoughts and concerns down again.

'Alright then,' Peter said, his usual relaxed look back on his face. 'What would you like to do?'

'Oh,' Greta perked up again. 'I have this whole plan set up to work our schedules out. We'll all set out practise sessions but whenever one of us is training the rest of us will watch them to see how they're doing and try to make plans on how to best use our skills.'

'That's going to make keeping our regimens difficult,' Rapture said, still looking sceptical of the idea.

'Well I was hoping that after we do this for a couple of weeks we can figure out a way to train together,' Greta replied sheepishly. 'I mean, I know its hard for us all to do the same routine but if we figure out how we all fight then we could come up with something. Right?' She looked at her team-mates who were once again thinking things over. They glanced at one another a couple of times, gauging what the others were considering.

'Alright then,' Peter said with a hint of sigh. 'I'll agree to it.'

Greta's face lit up as Aurora and Rapture gave in and agreed to follow her new idea as well. With any luck she would be able to make this new training evaluation exercise work. Now all she had to do was work out a schedule for everyone. The sooner she got that sorted out the sooner she could relax and let run itself.

'Right, so I want to get his worked out soon,' she said. 'If we figure this out now we can all work out our new training scheme.'

'I'll go first,' Aurora immediately said, beating Peter who had opened his mouth to likely say the same.

'Great,' Greta said, adding Aurora's name to the mental map she was already working out. 'Peter will be next and Rapture after that. I'll go last. Is that alright?'

Her team-mates slowly nodded and mumbled their agreement with her proposal. Despite the initial setback Greta was proud of herself. Her new plan to organise the team and set up a schedule to ease things along was going perfectly. The sooner she worked everything out in the beginning the less she would have to do later on. Watching her team-mates train would also save her having to run around and chase them up if she wanted to figure out a team exercise.

Though there wasn't a formal schedule worked out yet Greta had agreed to let Aurora train during the afternoon open session like they had all originally planned to. They had all walked into the training rooms and picked one of the firing ranges to watch Aurora practise.

Greta was currently sitting in one of the aisles to the side of the firing ranges, Peter and Rapture by her side. Rapture had her scroll out and was browsing something whilst Peter was watching other students who were firing at the targets on the other side of the room. Aurora had taken out her sniper-rifle, Dark Majesty, and was lining up to take a shot at the Grimm-shaped target in front of her. It took barely a second for her to finish aiming and fire, hitting the target close to the centre of its chest.

'Good start,' Rapture said, having shut her scroll and sat back to observe her partner.

'She certainly doesn't lack skills as a sniper,' Peter said offhandedly as he leaned back in his seat.

'Yeah but I remember her not doing that well with the pole-arm during Initiation,' Rapture continued, still watching Aurora as she efficiently took shots at the vulnerable areas on the Grimm target.

'Well we'll see if she does any close-combat training and see how she does,' Greta said to placate the group. She was doing her best to watch her team-mate and was surprised at how easy she made hitting the target. The dark-skinned girl was barely putting any visible effort into repeatedly hitting the vulnerable portions of the Grimm simulacrum.

Aurora eventually stopped when her ammunition was depleted. With a fluid motion she released the spent clip, picked up another one, slotted it into place and primed her weapon again. She didn't, however, take her old position on the firing range. Instead she walked away from the range and towards the combat rings, taking a moment to indicate that she was moving on to another part of the training ground.

'That's our que,' Rapture said as she lifted herself out of her seat.

The three of them moved to the seats that looked over the rings and found another place to sit down as Aurora walked into a ring. This portion of the training ground featured holographic projectors, recent additions to the academy's facilities that had been imported from Atlas. The projectors could simulate a range of opponents, both human and Grimm that those using the facilities could interact with and fight. Whilst the installation and maintenance costs could be expensive it was a cheaper alternative to old fashioned targets and robotic dummies. The rings were also surrounded by reinforced glass borders that prevented ranged weapons from hitting anything outside of the ring's boundaries.

They all watched as Aurora stepped into the ring and switched Dark Majesty into its glaive form, spinning it over her head as she did so and then bringing the blade out in front of her. Like so many other students she preferred to indulge in a little showmanship that had probably become almost ritualistic to her. Once her weapon had completed its transformation she pulled it back and placed the butt down on the ground, holding it upright as a holographic menu appeared in front of her.

'I wonder what she's going to pick,' Peter said absently as he watched Aurora flick through a scrolling menu of icons.

'Probably something low tier,' Rapture answered.

A second later Aurora stepped back from her previous position, the holographic menu disappearing as other projectors were raised into place and activated. A second later a perfect digital replica of an Ursa appeared on the other end of the ring.

Greta raised an eyebrow at Rapture's prediction coming true. There was only a single Ursa standing across from Aurora and it wasn't a particularly mature example either. Was she going to just start off with one and work her way up to more difficult opponents or was this going to be it?

Aurora lowered her glaive again as the simulated Ursa roared at her and then barrelled forward. She span it one more time, the bladed end of the weapon facing outwards in its arc and brought it down on the Grimm's head as it ran at her. The blow connected, the unique properties of the ring's projectors giving the Grimm a form of false mass. Aurora jumped back after her initial strike, steadied her weapon and thrust forward at the Grimm's forehead. The glaive cut into the Ursa's head in a single clean strike and the simulation ended as the fake Grimm expired.

'Not bad,' Peter commented offhandedly. 'She seems to know how to use that.'

The projectors shut off and the menu reappeared in front of Aurora who made several selections, scrolling back and forth through the holographic image as she made her choices. It took only several seconds for the primary projectors to reactivate as Aurora took position again.

This time a pack of Beowolves appeared, roaring as Aurora adjusted her stance again. The simulated Grimm then leapt at Aurora who span on the spot and lashed out with her glaive. One of the Beowolves was slashed in two by the heavy blade but the others evaded and clawed at her. Greta winced as Aurora was clipped by one of the Grimm and sent off balance. The dark-skinned girl was able to right herself again but she was clearly still struggling, swinging Dark Majesty at anything that came close. It took her several seconds to get her balance back and she was still uninjured but her Aura had been reduced a little and her opponents were still largely unharmed.

'Well we can certainly see where she has problems,' Peter commented as he watched.

'I think I saw the same thing when I first met her,' Rapture then said. 'Numbers don't seem to be her strong point.'

'Especially when they're up close,' Peter continued for her. His tone showed an almost clinical detachment as he seemed to study his team-mate.

Greta wasn't paying that much attention to the conversation that was going on beside her. Instead she was trying to analyse Aurora's movements. A small part of her was also a bit concerned. Solid-light holograms were supposed to be safe but they packed as much of a punch as the real-life creatures they simulated and were unpleasant to be attacked by.

Aurora eventually managed to slay the Grimm simulations, slicing open throats and dismembering limbs with a precise grace but her Aura had taken some damage. Her exercise finished she took a more relaxed pose. Several locks of her hair had come loose from her head-dress and she was currently putting them back into place, ignoring the menu which had returned when the primary projectors had shut off. Once she was done she pushed another symbol on the menu and strutted off of the ring as the projectors folded back into the stage.

'Looks like she's done,' Greta said, lifting herself out of her seat.

All three of them got up and walked down out of the spectator seats and down to the periphery of the training ground. They found Aurora waiting for them, standing tall beside the door into the training area, her weapon leaning on her shoulder. She looked like nonchalant but Greta could tell she was both expectant and nervous. She had experienced that sensation enough times to recognise it in others.

'So what do you think?' Aurora asked, sounding more confident than Greta had first guessed.

'Nice,' Greta said. 'I can see you're a range specialist.' Greta tried to to dredge up as much professional terminology as she could remember, trying to sound insightful. 'We just need to work on your melee skills. You know how to deal with Grimm one-on-one, it's just groups that make you struggle.'

'You think I don't know that?' Aurora snapped suddenly. 'I'm well aware of my shortcomings. No matter what I do I can't stand up to so many Grimm at once.'

'Sorry,' Greta quickly said. 'I'm just trying to help get everything out in the open.'

'All this aside,' Peter suddenly butted in, breaking up the argument before it could continue. 'What shall we do to remedy that?'

'Well that's easy,' Greta quickly replied. 'We have to formulate a strategy that ensures Aurora is always where she can get support from someone else. She works best at a distance but if she has some backup she could get closer to the action and be able to help out more.'

'That'll probably be easier when we all know what we can do,' Rapture added.

'That's right,' Greta said. 'I mean,' she paused as she recollected her thoughts, 'what this is all about is seeing what we can do and then trying to think how we can fix it. As soon as we're done we can start thinking up strategies.'

'Alright then,' Peter said. 'Since we're done here shall we go back to our room?'

'Yeah,' Rapture added. 'I've got studying to catch up on anyway.'

'Alright guys let's go back to the room,' Greta said. 'We'll check out Peter tomorrow.' She immediately regretted her words when she saw her partner raise an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything, blushing instead and trying her best not to see if her other team-mates had noticed what she had just said.

As the four of them left the training ground Greta felt elated. "It's working," she thought. "If this is all I need to do then leading won't be that hard after all. I've just got to set things up so they'll run themselves and I'll be set for the next four years." Confident in her new plan she felt more relaxed then she ever had since coming to Beacon. With any luck the little bits of effort she put in early would save her from trouble later on.

'I know its only a been week guys but I was expecting more than this,' Geoffrey Strong said in an exasperated tone, sighing as her sat down on the bed of the dorm room his team had been given.

'Like you said,' Selene Lupina of Team SWRZ replied. 'It's only been a week. What did you expect us to find?'

'A bit more than "they've gone underground."' Geoffrey answered back. 'We have access to the Academy's records and the police files. Something should have come up.'

'Well we checked everything,' Zarina Ocula cut in, 'and they all say the same thing. All individuals who were suspected of having a connection to the Elder Grimm Society disappeared over a month ago. All we found that could give us anything on their movements is that Ruby Rose was dispatched to Atlas to follow some kind of lead shortly after they vanished in Vale.'

Geoffrey sighed again in frustration. About a day after their arrival they had finally been given access to the logs Professor Arc kept on their order. They had been permitted access to the files, bypassing the security protocols and encryptions with no effort but the intentionally labyrinthine organisation of the database was infuriatingly difficult to navigate.

His team and Team SWRZ had nearly a week to go through the more recent entries in the database and all they had been able to dredge up was that the enemy had gone underground weeks ago and had not been sighted since then. It had been rather disheartening to find that their diligent work had brought up nothing.

'Looks like we'll have to change tactics,' Geoffrey said. 'We'll start combing the town. It's going to be hard but if we can get access to the police records again and maybe the CCT logs we could find something.'

He sat up and looked around the room. The rest of Team GOLD were all sat at their assigned beds, listening intently at his instructions. Team SWRZ were crammed into the middle, standing expectantly as he gathered his thoughts.

'My team will deal with the police,' he finally said. 'We can't just flash badges and get admitted in though. Darius,' he turned to the other boy in his team, 'I want you to go to Headmaster Arc and see if he give us anything to make it easier to get into the police. If you can't we'll just have to improvise.'

'Right,' Darius replied, nodding in affirmation.

'We'll head over to the northern districts,' Selene said before Geoffrey could continue. 'It's notoriously crime-ridden so it should have a few leads we can needle out of the locals. It'll give something for Rex to do.' She smirked and threw a significant look to the albino who glowered but didn't seem to especially offended by the implications of what she was saying.

'Alright,' Geoffrey said. 'Try not to attract too much attention though. We're supposed to be covert and there's a lot riding on us.' he wasn't fond of the idea of stretching themselves so thinly but Selene's plan had merit. It was also likely to be the best use of Team SWRZ's talents.

'If we're done here me and my team are going to call it a day now,' Selene quickly said. 'We've got a long day ahead of us if we're going to set a route in the north. We'll keep contact with you but I don't think it would be clever to talk all the time.'

With that she span on her heel and led her team-mates out of the room. Geoffrey sighed again and rubbed his eyes, sitting back on his bed and leaning on the wall it connected with. He had never been a covert operative and if their headmaster and Atlas high-command hadn't chosen him especially he probably wouldn't have agreed to take the position they had offered him. Still he had made his choice and now all he could do was perform his duties to the best of his abilities.

'In the name of the king,' he said, almost like a mantra as he sat back, shut his eyes and contemplated the mission ahead of him. Whatever happened, he was sure it was definitely going to be more than he could ever expect.