I never thought I'd be so bored by a history class. I mean, Professor Artrus knew what she was talking about, but all of it was nothing I hadn't read before. She spoke like a regular college lecturer, except most history teachers weren't as in depth and knowledgeable as Professor Artrus. Seeing as I had done a lot of reading of the history of Remnant and Mistral on my own, I was simply listening to her. I looked to the rest of my team, who were paying rapt attention to the lecture and taking notes.

"Mister Roame!" Our lecturer called me. Upon to turning to meet her attention, I could see her golden irises, which were normally warm and kind, bore upon me with a coldness that made me flinch a bit. It was like she flipped a switch; she was very aloof and calm while she lectured, and now she looked rather… angry at. Her golden orbs flicked between my empty desk and my face. "You must be rather knowledgeable and cocky to think you shouldn't take notes in my class."

"Well…" I wasn't sure how to respond.

"In that case, could you tell me the downfall of the first defense against the Grimm, made by the First Official Mistralian Militia?" She demanded with an even tone, but her eyes told me that I'd be punished severely if I couldn't answer her.

"Basically, the climate was their downfall." I answered after a moment of deliberation. She nodded slightly, but gestured me to go on. I glanced to Elysia, who sat next to me, who observed my predicament with slight panic and unease. Returning my gaze to our teacher, I continued my answer. "The first defensive line for the militia was poorly planned; they made the mistake of having built their point in the valleys just before the Libestraum Mountains in the middle of winter. The moment the first wave of Grimm had approached, Nevermores on the mountains were intelligent enough to crash into the mountainsides and cause avalanches, which took killed a good third of the First Militia's forces and sending the rest into massive disarray. As such, the Grimm took advantage and devastated the remaining forces."

"Impressive, Roame." Professor Artrus complimented. Her golden eyes warmed up a little but their intensity remained. "And what would you have done to improve the situation?"

"Split up the group." I stated normally. "The group leaders, along with the rest of the militia's forces, had no real military or even Hunter experience. No one really listened to them, and they were really close to mutiny any every point of their development. It would have been easier for plans to be enacted and they wouldn't have to argue and end up giving up to build their fort in the valley."

"Interesting point." Artrus smiled, then turned to the rest of the class. "Anyone else with any additional remarks? Anyone refute those ideas?" When no one spoke up, she turned back to me and said, "Mr. Roame, while it does seem you have a firm grasp on Mistralian history and some strategy, it doesn't hurt to still take notes in class for the more obscure things that will come up on exams."

"Right…" I sighed my answer, and went to pull out some paper and a pen. After that, the class went on without any other interruption. I could just make out Jack on Team MSCN with his head in his arms, quietly napping. I followed Professor's Artrus as she walked over to Jack, and drilled him with questions he had no idea about. Poor buddy could use some tutoring.

. . . . .

Now, we had arrived at our second and only other class for today. Looking to our team leader, I could see that Railen was a bit… uncomfortable. I remember him saying that he had history with Professor Apocrypha, I just didn't really know the true extent of it. He kept his focus on the man's very move, as if accusing him of something. After a few minutes of watching him fidget in his seat, I spoke up.

"Railen, are you alright?" I asked him. Apparently, I had taken him out of a sort of stupor, because he jumped at the sound of his name.

"Uh, yeah." His answer was uncertain. "Why, what's up?"

"You're rather tetchy about this class." I remarked.

"Just not used to having him in a classroom setting." He answered. "Combat practice for me was always one-on-one with him, so I don't know what to expect from him and—"

"Railen Roame, please come down for the first round of combat!" Professor Apocrypha called our team leader.

"Fuck."

I slightly recoiled at my leader's curse and watched him walk down to the combat arena. It was a large arena, about the size of a small running track. His opponent, chosen by the professor, was taller and broader than Argos, but with shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes. He hefted a large hammer over his shoulder.

"C'mon, teach!" He laughed at Railen's approach. He pointed at the smaller, scrawny-looking student and asked, "You're gonna have me go against a second year?"

All Railen responded with was a raised eyebrow and a flat expression. He looked to Apocrypha with a silent question, and the teacher pointed to a room behind him. Minutes later, he emerged fully dressed in his armor, with his short sword at his side and his dagger in a clasped compartment on his right arm.

"Sol," Apocrypha began. "Vytal Festival is next year, and you'll be made to face students of every year in their academies. Age makes no difference here."

"Whatever. Yo, Roame!" Sol rolled his eyes as he called out his opponent. "I know who you are, buddy. And I don't care. I just know that I'm gonna drag you through the dirt today."

A holographic display appeared above the arena, showing the two fighters' names and Aura levels. I took this time to really see how Railen would fight. He did mention something about living in the Junctions in Southern Mistral, so he might have some experience fighting against other people, with the region's given reputation. At the sound of a whistle from Professor Apocrypha, the two drew their weapons and the battle officially began.

Immediately, Railen kept himself far from his opponent, taking several steps back from his original position. At this, Sol laughed aloud and changed his grip on his hammer so that the smashing side of the hammer pointed out at Railen. With a twist and a bit of a shove, his hammer launched a few projectiles at Railen, who dodged in time to look beside him and see that the projectiles had exploded. His blue eyes flashed once and the smaller combatant dashed in. Smart move, I thought. Wait to see what the opponent can do from a distance and make a beginning strategy from there, there should be a lot of flow from—wait. I noticed something important was missing. Did Railen not draw his dagger? Indeed, even though I knew Railen used both his sword and his dagger during initiation, he had chosen not to draw it here for some reason.

"What are you planning to do, Railen?" I asked quietly. Thanks to his speed, Railen was able to close in with a few slashes at Sol's core, which translated to about a fourth of the latter's Aura level to be depleted. Suddenly, with Railen closer, Sol's grip on his hammer changed and he started swinging. A sort of dark blue aura enveloped his figure, alluding to the use of his Semblance which was…?

"Aaaaaarrrgh!" A mighty swing of his hammer came down in front of him, where Railen had stood a millisecond before. It slammed into the ground with an unexpected strength; even with us being in the last row of seats, we could still feel it in our legs. The doors shook rather violently as well. In the ground was a shattered part of the protective shield, the mere power of this swing had broken through the barrier and cracked the ground. A sigh could be heard from Professor Apocrypha. After this powerful strike, Railen took advantage of the opening to unleash a barrage of strikes with his sword, gradually bringing Sol's Aura down and his ire up. Blows from Sol effectively made space, but the smaller student would always manage to get a few strikes in.

Suddenly, Railen hopped out and away from Sol's effective radius. His head tilted up to check the Aura -levels; he had gone through that entire time without losing any Aura. Looking around, I could see many other student looking on in either curiosity or awe. Jack was absolutely ecstatic at the sight of his favorite semi-celebrity doing so well in battle.

Railen's eyes flashed once more; I glared to see what that did for him, but apparently it was nothing physically obvious. He then dashed once more, short sword ready, and spun clockwise and delivered a slash that knocked back Sol's hammer swing and gave a wide opening. But, with given Sol's heavier chest armor, it's gonna take much more to finish this fight. I noted, and was somewhat confused as Railen spun counter-clockwise in a way that he stood in a lunge into Sol's middle. However, as his whole left side faced Sol, his sword in his right hand would be forced to be a stabbing blow that wouldn't do much to Sol to take out some Aura.

Sol sucked his middle in, and with how much smaller Railen was, the latter was basically given a full opening to Sol's stomach if it weren't armored. What surprised me was his following move: right as his stabbing arm crossed under his left arm, time seemed to slow down in the room. My eyes watched as his left hand went deftly to his right arm to his dagger, unclasped the weapon, and with his second spin's momentum brought it out and upward towards a vital area that Sol's armor did not protect: his throat. Oh, I thought. That's how he's going to end it. That's… really smart.

Time seemed to come back to normal as Railen's dagger came up to Sol's throat and with a harsh slash! The match's final blow was landed, and Sol's Aura was completely depleted with a strike to a vital area of his body. However, the larger boy crashed to the ground, clutching his throat and having some difficulty breathing. A deadly glare from the loser bore into the apathetic victor's own eyes.

"Roame, that last strike was overkill, and was not necessary to end the fight." Professor Apocrypha said, a smirk on his face betraying his serious tone.

"Well, I'm supposed to end the fight somehow, right?" Railen queried. "Seriously, overkill?"

"Yes, overkill and unsportsmanlike." Our professor said. "This is just combat training, we're not trying to kill each other here. Detention."

"What?" Railen exclaimed. I wasn't exactly happy with the order either, but I did agree with our teacher's comments. That strike should be reserved for killing monsters or actual dire situations against another fighter.

"You're staying after class with me, Roame." Apocrypha stated plainly, before calling out. "Any volunteers for the next bout?"

"I wish to battle!" Anora Orabelle raised her hand, and our teacher allowed her to get her armor on. Upon her departure, Apocrypha called to the class for another combatant, but was interrupted by Orabelle. "Actually Professor, I was wondering if it would be alright to battle Railen?"

The teacher looked to the mentioned student, who was already halfback to our seats. He sighed, before nodding his approval. Railen looked to me with a look of annoyance before returning to the arena floor.

This fight, between a young champion and a member of a legendary Hunter warrior-class family would be very interesting to say the least.

(A/N: Eyo, BleachCadelina here with another short, but action packed chapter. Here, you get your first combat practice battle, and with another interesting one on the way. With that said, I need to let y'all know that classes have started again and as I have declared my English major, I might not have a lot of free time to write for this story. I'll definitely try my best for y'all, though.

Also, if you didn't see the last update (previous chapter), I have a dilemma on deciding what to write next in terms of a Crossover. So, go on over to the previous chapter to see what choices there are, then go onto my profile and choose your preference on the poll I made there.

That's all for now. See ya next chapter!