"Body, Blade, Dust, and Soul." Professor Goodwitch began her lecture from the center of the largest sparring room. "These are the four pillars of success in battle for a Huntsman or Huntress."

"In this class we will call them by their proper names: Martial Arts, Weapon Evocation, Dust Sorcery, and Semblance." She stood with perfect posture, hands clasped behind her back, while the enormous screen cycled between images in step with her words. "They have been studied for centuries and, even though new discoveries occur on an annual basis, the basics still apply today. None worthy of the title Hunter fail to attain mastery of at least one pillar. Most are proficient in two or three."

"Now that we have finished the review of basic Aura techniques this class will be moving on to these advanced topics. You will become acquainted with each of these techniques through both study and hands-on practice."

That brought Ruby back to attention. The weeks of review were so boring that she almost fell asleep in what was supposed to be sparring class! It should've been the most exciting part of the week, not a long lecture and re-doing stuff she learned literally years ago.

Most of her team, and half of team JNPR, were bored out of their minds too. It was a constant struggle to not just goof off. She didn't know how Weiss, Ren, and Pyrrha did it. Those three were always taking notes, even though she knew they didn't need to.

"I'll call out each one by one. Please raise your hand if you have experience in any advanced techniques." Professor Goodwitch changed the screen to an empty graph.

"First, Martial Arts." A bunch of people raised their hands, including Yang, Ren, and Pyrrha. Ruby wasn't sure if what Uncle Qrow taught her counted, so she didn't.

"Weapon Evoking." More of the class this time. Jaune and Ren were the only friends of hers who didn't know any.

"Dust Sorcery." Almost no one, which wasn't all that surprising. Getting good Dust was really expensive and you'd waste a lot of it making mistakes. Weiss was the only one Ruby knew with her hand up.

"And finally, Semblance." All of team RWBY raised their hands this time.

Ruby could feel her cheeks getting hot when she realized how many people were looking at them now. Most teams didn't have anyone who knew their Semblance and if they did, there was just one person. Team JNPR, the second most experienced team in every other category, only had Nora. Team RWBY was awesome!

The graph filled up, letting them see just how badly skewed the numbers were. No category had more than half of the class in it, but Sorcery and Semblance were slivers on the bottom.

"As you can see, there are some topics that need more detailed introductions to than others. Unfortunately, there is little that we can do to assist you in discovering your Semblance. Everyone has their own, unique, Semblance and the path to discovering it is equally unique."

She pointed at one of the side tables and raised her hand slowly. Her finger emitted a purple glow while the table hovered to her. "The color of your Semblance and Aura are also unique. However, as all of you should know, there are potential dangers related to specific colors. Does anyone present wish to state that their Semblance's color is similar to silver or gold?"

Yang very slowly raised her hand.

The soft background chatter slowly stopped as people noticed Yang. Again, all of the eyes in the room turned towards team RWBY. This time they alternated between shock, worry, fear, anger, and all sorts of other really bad feelings for the most part. A few people, including team JNPR, seemed sorry for her instead.

Yang was gripping the edge of her seat so hard that Ruby was surprised it hadn't broken. She managed to keep most of her anger from showing on her face, but it was pretty obvious what she wanted to do to them. Ruby glared for her, along with Weiss and Blake, but only people really close to her were cowed.

"Thank you for letting us know Miss Xiao Long. What does it display as?"

"Golden fire." Yang was just barely loud enough for the room to hear.

Professor Goodwitch nodded and Yang lowered her hand.

"As for the rest of you!" She snapped her riding crop on the table. "Your reactions are not only unwarranted, they are actively dangerous. As Huntsmen and Huntresses people will come to you guidance, leadership, and protection. They will come with potentially incorrect information that may be catastrophic if acted on rashly."

"Color. Intensity. Iconography." She hit it again after each word. At the same time several images of men and women who were brightly glowing gold or silver appeared on the main screen. Each had a different symbols on their forehead. "Without confirming all three qualities, all that you would do is create a needless panic."

Professor Goodwitch took and deep breath and looked over the room. When she spoke, her voice was much softer. "Consider what might happen in the field if people saw one of you react this way. If they saw you look at someone that they thought of as another Hunteress protecting them with anger or suspicion; would you see anger, fear, or panic in their eyes? How would you assuage their worries about every unknown Hunter? The same worries that could draw a horde of Grimm at any moment. How would you protect them from their fears if you let yourself be ruled by your own?"

Ruby didn't have an answer for any of those questions. Figuring out what people were feeling was tough enough for her already. Maybe she could just fight the Grimm all by herself and drive them off, but that wasn't something that could work in the long run.

Professor Goodwitch continued after a moment, "There are many elite Hunters who would never have finished their education if someone jumped the gun on an accusation. The Professors here at Beacon are well aware of the potential danger that the Anathema present. However, we have a system in place for a reason. If you notice something, then tell us. But, you're here to learn, to make new friends, and grow into the great Huntsmen and Huntresses that we know you can be."

Almost everyone who had been looking at them badly was looking away from them now, most of them at their own laps. The few who weren't still couldn't meet Yang's eyes.

They sat in silence for almost a minute before Professor Goodwitch continued. She moved to the edge of the arena, hovering the table behind her. "With that said, we will begin with Martial Arts and focus on that topic for the next two weeks. It's a diverse field, comprised of both pure Aura techniques and those based on specific types of weaponry. In order to achieve mastery, you must have control over the form and flow of your Aura, along with how it interacts with the world around you."

She pushed her glasses back up and looked over the room. "Do we have any volunteers to give a demonstration?"

A few people raised their hands, including Yang. She'd bounced back and had her game face on.

"Come on pick me. I'll show them," She said just loud enough for her team to hear.

Professor Goodwitch looked around the room, considering each person in turn. After a moment, she pointed at their section. "Lie Ren and Yang Xiao Long, please come down for the first match."

Both stood up, nodded at the other, and jumped down to the arena. They walked to the center, Ren calm and Yang smiling. Their faces were cast to the screen and the Aura meters filled.

"For this fight, please restrict yourselves to just the techniques of one style. Which one will each of you use?"

"White Crane." Ren stood near the center of the arena with his hands open and at his side. If she couldn't tell how tense his muscles were, Ruby would've thought he wasn't about to fight at all.

"Scarlet Pulse." Yang rapped her knuckles together, but didn't get into any sort of combat stance. Was she going to do that thing where she flirted with people, then punched them? Was that even part of her style or just a thing she liked doing? Either way, Ruby didn't think Ren would fall for it.

Her sister walked around the circle lazily. Her boots clicked on the stones while the room waited in anticipation. She rolled her head back and forth, humming to herself. Eventually Ren relaxed, that was when she moved.

In a fluid motion she punched the air twice, then pulled her right first back. Yang burst forward before Ren could get himself ready again. She went in low.

Her uppercut smashed through Ren's guard and caught him in the chin. As he rocketed up, her head snapped to the side. Even though he couldn't stop the punch, he still got a knee in after getting launched. Both of their Auras dipped, but Ren lost a lot more.

"Heh, good shot." She hopped back as he fell, getting ready for another strike.


Ren knew the attack was coming before he saw Yang. A falling opponent was a perfect target, especially for such an aggressive style. He'd get hit again, but he wouldn't make it easy for her. At the apex of his air time, he flipped over and gathered his Aura into his hands.

She came at him with a powerful straight at the face. He caught the blow with both hands and pushed against it. The force sent him flying backward. He flipped over again and landed with his feet on the ground.

Ren dropped a hand to control his slide, but before he could get back up another attack was coming in. He rolled to the side just in time to avoid the leaping ax-kick. The floor cracked with the force of the blow. Yang threw another kick instead of catching her balance and caught him in the side.

She pushed him to his feet with the blow, as she tumbled to the ground. But, a quick glance at the screen told him how bad the situation was. He dashed forward and threw a single kick to keep her down. It wasn't a good blow, but it did the job.

Ren hopped back, just out of her range, and kept his weight forward. Yang was still down, holding herself up on one arm. She could either stand, leaving herself open, or attack from the ground, and also leave herself open. He channeled his Aura into his back leg in preparation for his next blow.

"Kick his butt Yang!" One of her teammates yelled while Ren waited.

"No! Ren, you kick her butt harder!" This time it was Nora.

"Nora, that's not a very good target." He replied without looking away.

"I don't know." Yang grinned and shifted her weight to show it off. "I think it's pretty great."

She tapped her side with her free hand. While she looked even more off balance, open to an easy hit; he wasn't falling for that again.

Ren didn't know too much about her style, but he wasn't taking any chances. He could wait for her to make a real mistake.

It didn't take very long.

She started with a goofy smile which quickly changed to a look of irritation. Yang made a few motions with her head, inviting him to come closer. Ren waited.

Yang's eyes flashed red as she shifted her weight, one hand was on the ground and one leg was bent. With a roar she launched herself into the air, coming at him with a spinning hammer strike. He went low and caught her forearm with his. Ren shoved her up with his arm and brought his back inches from the ground to kick her in the gut. Her own power was used against her to make the blow that much worse.

Yang flipped through the air and landed on her feet. She flashed him a smile and a bright laugh. Ren couldn't help matching her with a smile of his own. In a way, this was just like sparring with Nora.

Once they were both ready she brought her hands up and shuffled forward. Ren got back into stance and waited for her to reach him.

They came together in a flurry of jabs, blocks, and elbow strikes. Yang was lightning with her punches, throwing a second before he could recover from the first. Very few of them landed, but without a chance to strike back he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. He'd only managed to get a couple light hits in, always after she did something ridiculous.

Her headbutt missed and he caught her in the throat. A spinning kick turned into another tumble when he threw her leg up. The flip kick when she got up was too close to his face for him to respond in time. He couldn't do anything about the assortment of jabs she threw between them though. They slowly ran his Aura down without any risk to Yang. She was too fast to punish and too strong to throw off balance.

He saw her pull back slightly more. With a quick stomp and a twist of her hips, Yang threw a straight. Ren took it on the shoulder and turned with the blow. He stepped in, ran his right hand along his left arm to empower the strike, and hit her with an open palm to the chest. His Aura pulsed and sent her skidding backward.

As she slowed, he stepped forward and snapped a kick. She caught his leg and twisted it; he had to turn in response. He moved his arm into the best guard position he could. Where would she kick? His head and back were completely open. Would she move in to wrestle instead? There wasn't much he could do to protect himself against that.

The buzzer sounded after her foot hit him just below the lower back. It wasn't a very strong hit, but it was enough.

"Really." He let his arms fall with the deadpan statement. Yang responded with a thumbs up and a giggle.

He glanced at the screen after she let go. He'd barely gotten Yang to halfway. Ren knew he was at an Aura disadvantage compared to her, but didn't think it'd be that bad. If he could've mixed up his styles, he would've done a lot better. Then again, in a normal fight she would've been hitting a lot harder thanks to her Semblance.

Yang stepped forward, hand raised. "Come on. That was awesome and you know it."

Ren gave her a nod before shaking his head. It was… an experience.


Ruby didn't get a chance to jump into the ring all class, but that was ok. She got to see Yang kick butt, literally, and all sorts of cool fighting styles. None of them seemed really useful to her, Crescent Rose was kind of a unique weapon in that regard, but it was still fun to watch them.

On second thought, one of the ones Ren used might be nice in case someone like Yang got in really close. He did pretty good against her. Ruby also didn't know if anyone else noticed, but both of them cheated in the fight. Well, assuming breaking the rules and using something else counted as cheating anyway.

They mostly stuck to just one color though, so it was probably fine.

Professor Goodwitch waited for everyone to be seated again before she continued the class. "Thank you once more to all of our volunteers. You fought well."

"As you can see, there is a very wide diversity between styles. Each has its own strengths and its own weaknesses, but all can be incredibly useful no matter what you choose to specialize in." She looked over the class again and paused when she reached team RWBY's section. Ruby glanced back and found Weiss holding her hand up. "Miss Schnee, you have a question?"

"Yes," Weiss stood up as she spoke. "Professor Goodwitch. What do you specialize in? If it isn't martial arts, how are they still useful to you?"

The Professor smiled and gestured at the side of the room. She levitated a thick sheet of steel and two short, sturdy tables over to her.

"I'm glad you asked." She placed them in front of her with the tables separated and the sheet spanning the gap between them. "I specialize in use of my Semblance along with Sorcery, but I am familiar with both Martial Arts and Evoking as well. Before I took them up, I was at a major disadvantage if enemies closed in too quickly."

She raised a fist to shoulder height and closed her eyes. A brilliant blue sound built as she gathered energy. Ren had the most consistent beat among the students and Yang was by far the loudest, but this combined both of them. Professor Goodwitch's pitch was perfect and her music resonated with the entire room.

She opened her eyes and snapped her arm down in the same moment. A metallic ring sounded as she hit the sheet and part of it fell to the floor. It wasn't deformed at all; instead a perfectly circular hole had been punched through it.

Professor Goodwitch hovered the disk in front of her as she spoke, "That strike would be more than enough to deal with an unintelligent attacker, such as most Grimm. None of you will be expected to have the control or power necessary to replicate that feat by the end of this class, unless this proves to be your focus."

She hovered the disk back into the sheet and fused them back together. "Your assigned reading for the next class is chapter seven of your 'Aura and the Body' book. Dismissed."

Ruby gave Yang a pat on the shoulder while they headed to the door. Before she got there Professor Goodwitch called. "Miss Rose, could you come over here for a moment?"

Ruby looked to her teammates and shrugged. "I'll see you next class."

She jumped down to the arena as the Professor was cleaning up. "Hello ma'am. What did you want to see me for?"

"Doctor Oobleck and I noticed how much time you spent in the engineering lab during the past few weeks and wanted to ask you about your project." She was completely unreadable.

"Oh, umm," Ruby blushed and looked away, "I'm really sorry about how much stock I ruined. I've never worked with some of those materials before so it took a couple of tries to get the channels right."

"The Orichalcum stock?" Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to worry about that. We have enough for some experimentation. We wanted to know more about what you were trying to make."

"Ahh, well." Ruby pulled a specification sheet up on her scroll. "Weiss showed me some of the work that went into Myrtenaster and I thought that I could use some of that design to make Crescent Rose's shots more powerful. I haven't managed to get them drawn to the right length yet, but I think the theory is solid."

"You're trying to replicate cutting edge development from the SDC engineers?"

"I think it was the STC that did this one." Ruby checked the schematics again. "Yeah, Schnee Technology Company. Right there." She pointed to the signature block on her scroll.

Professor Goodwitch brought her hand to her chin and looked at Ruby while she thought. Ruby tried to keep a straight face. She could feel the pressure again, but had no idea what it was about this time. Just like it normally was with Blake and Weiss.

"There's a project that Doctor Oobleck is working in a similar field," She said while breaking her gaze. "He's been looking for an assistant who can keep up with him and I think you may be a perfect fit."

She already had Ruby's interest, but what she said next cinched it, "There are also more advanced machining tools available in his lab that I'm sure he would be happy to let you use."

"Really!" Ruby was shaking with excitement. "I-I don't know how to, but I would be… Should I go and ask him now?"

Professor Goodwitch smiled. "Don't worry. I'll let him know you're interested. He'll get in touch with you about when to stop by."

"Thank you so much!" Ruby didn't hug her professor, but she really wanted to.