Hello everyone! Not much to say today, here's another chapter.

Professor Port stood by the caged grimm, passing his gaze over the class. "Now, class. I have here in this cage a creature of grimm. The creatures of grimm are the reason why this school exists: to train you to defeat them. Thee grimm are fierce and dangerous. It takes a true huntsman to face them without fear." I could swear he was looking at me as he spoke. "Are any of you brave enough to come down here and demonstrate a huntsman's courage?"

No one raised their hand. I made a point of sinking lower into my chair, but it was for naught. "Well then." Professor Port said. "If no one will volunteer then I might have to call on someone." He made a show of looking around the room. "Why not… Mr. Silvers. I've heard wondrous things about you from Professor Goodwitch. Come on down now."

I heard Russell snicker slightly. I stood up, determined to not let my frustration show. This kept happening, people kept talking up my abilities higher and higher. I only hoped I could survive the fall. I made my way down, keeping my eyes in the cage.

Despite the shadows inside I made out the form of a beowulf. This would be fast. Port pulled a lever. "Begin!" He shouted, as the cage opened. The beast spotted me, and in that instant my qualms vanished, replaced with the rush of adrenaline and clarity that came with combat.

The beast rushed at me in a mindless charge, no thought on its mind but the kill. I sidestepped the charge, a flick of my sword injuring a back leg. The grimm came crashing to the ground, and I walked over to it. My blade rose as I stared at the despicable creature before me, hatred burning in its red eyes, then fell in an instant. The corpse began to dissolve, a shallow scrape in the marble floor where my strike had landed.

"Bravo!" Port exclaimed. "An absolutely flawless performance." I headed back to my seat, sheathing my sword as I walked. "Class, did you see how calmly Gadiel reacted when the grimm was charging? That actually reminds me of a time when I was in a very similar situation, surrounded by monsters…"

It was around this time that I along with the rest of the class began to tune out whatever it was that Port was saying. "Great job, as usual." Oran said, pulling out his scroll, probably checking messages or whatnot.

"Alright, what's your problem." Nikki said, turning to me. "You're obviously the best fighter in our class but you refuse to believe it. I wanna know why."

I sighed. "I don't feel like I have a right to be good."

Nikki looked exasperated. "Of course you do, idiot!" She said.

I shook my head. "I have so little training, so little experience. I got in here because I caught Professor Goodwitch off guard, not because I'm so skilled or anything like that."

"That doesn't matter." Oran said. "What matters is the fact that you are a step above everyone else in this class."

"Yeah." Russell said. "Stop being so damn unsure of yourself."

I sighed, looking down at the desk. "Can you guys give it a rest, for now at least? Give me some time to think things through." I said, still not looking up.

"Alright." Nikki said. "You can't run from this forever, though, you're gonna have to face it eventually."

It was late, probably after midnight. I had gone down to the weapons locker so that I could work while everyone else slept, making the final adjustments. The past few weeks had consisted of me rushing through my work and study so that I could continue to tinker with the anti-grav pack, and I had spent little time sleeping. It seemed that as time went on people seemed to expect more and more from me. I feared the day when I would fail them.

I made the final adjustments, adjusting the power settings on the downwards thruster, tightening the screws. I slipped the backpack sized device on, my excitement building. I hurried outside, I would need room to test this. The moon was out, stars bright in the sky, a picturesque night.

I sent an electrical impulse to the correct thruster, a mere thought activating the anti-gravity generators. I pushed myself up, a slight jump sending me soaring. The feeling of weightlessness was strange, but I was in control. The entire system ran off of a single dust crystal, far more stable than any liquid or electrical power cell. The pack was quiet, a soft whirr barely audible over the wind. I set myself down on the ground. The first test was a success, but my work wasn't done. I had to keep testing, finding and eliminating any flaws. I would betting my life on this machine, I couldn't afford to be negligent.

I took off the pack, carrying it with me as I made my way back to the dormitory. I gently opened the door, careful to not make much noise for fear of waking the others. I stepped inside, only to be faced with Professors Oobleck and Goodwitch. "Mr. Silvers, if you would come with us. We have something we need to talk about." Oobleck said, adjusting his glasses.

The elevator ride up Beacon tower was long. I still had no clue what this was about, had I done something wrong in making the jetpack? The professors stood behind me, not saying a word. The lift door opened, revealing a large room with clockwork mechanisms lining the ceiling. We were at the height of Beacon tower. Ozpin sat behind a desk, the holographic image of a man in military uniform projected upon it. He adjusted a camera on his desk, pointing it away from him and towards me. "Greetings, Gadiel. Sorry to keep you up later than it already is, but General Ironwood here noticed the light from your invention there while we were talking." I exhaled, only then realizing that I had been holding my breath. I wasn't in trouble then.

"Luck of God, then." The man, Ironwood, said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

Iron sighed. "Gadiel translates to luck of God. And it's damn well accurate! Look at that thing, it's made from scrap. It's a miracle it didn't explode and kill you!"

"I beg to differ, sir." I said, frowning. "It doesn't look great because I had to buy all the parts myself, and couldn't get anything custom made, but exploding is out of the-"

Ironwood cut me off. "And how does this thing control! If there was a way to make jetpacks that functioned without hand controls then the entire Atlesian military would be outfitted with them in a week!"

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't think that anyone but me could control this." I said, measuring my words.

Ironwood sputtered slightly. "But you're just a kid, if you-"

Ozpin cut in. "James, calm down. I'm sure you're tired but I've rarely seen you this flustered. Gadiel's semblance gives him an extremely accurate control over electrical current. I would think that is how you control this device." Ozpin addressed me directly.

I nodded, silently.

"Gadiel is a very talented student. He is far and away the best fighter in his class, and he designed and built his weapon as well." Oobleck said. I looked down at the ground, but said nothing.

The General looked me over. "Let's see it then. Show me the best Beacon has to offer, Gadiel."

Glynda walked up, standing opposite me. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to." She said.

I shook my head. "It's fine." I set my stance, drawing my sword and holding it ready.

"Begin!" Ironwood barked, and so we did. Glynda and I began to circle around, each waiting for the other to attack first. She wasn't going to attack, I realized. She was waiting for me to demonstrate what I could do. I feigned an attack, quickly reversing my grip and attacking from a different angle. She blocked the strike, her speed still so far above me. I pressed the attack, flicking my blade in a circle to place a strike on her wrist. She reflexively dropped her riding crop, and with my right hand I made an open palmed strike, connecting with her stomach, sending an electric shock coursing through her.

I gave her a few seconds to catch her breath, as she telekinetically retrieved her weapon. We stared eachother down again, each waiting for the other to move. She went on the offensive, swift repeated strikes raining down on me. I blocked them all. I blocked with my sword to the left, metal plated glove to the right. Glynda was barely holding back.

I saw my chance. A strike coming towards my left, angled just so… I blocked, switching open my sword, a shot striking true. Glynda staggered back with the force of the shot. She glanced over at Ironwood. "Satisfied?" She asked.

Ironwood nodded. "Looks like there's going to be stiff competition at next year's Vytal festival." The General then addressed me directly. "Oobleck is right, you're certainly outstanding."

"He trained under Slade for three years." Ozpin cut in.

"I see. That explains things." Ironwood said.

"I still don't know what you mean by that, Headmaster." I said. "You mentioned Slade when we talked before, but I still don't get why. Yes he's skilled, but how does that mean I can learn so much so quickly?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "That's Slade's responsibility to tell you. If he hasn't, I won't. Now, go get some sleep. It's late, and you have classes tomorrow."

I headed back to the elevator, the eyes of Ironwood watching me as I went, lingering even as the elevator doors closed.