Chapter 12:

Weiss was panting, utterly fuming with anger. In front of her were five targets, each about eight meters away. "Ha!" she waived Mytenaster in front of her, summoning five glyphs, every one aligned with their respected targets as a single icicle shot out of each.

*THM* *THM* *THM* *THM* *THM*

"Rrrr, DAMMIT!"

"Weiss, that wasn't bad. You hit all the bullseyes" Winter said.

Weiss shook her head, "But my accuracy is off by a whole THREE centimeters!"

"We know Lady Schnee, and it is very unfortunate. But you mustn't lose yourself to your anger. You must remain calm and keep adapting to this as best as you can" said General Ironwood.

Weiss turned to glare at him. Her left eye had finally scarred over…but not without a price. Due to the injury, she was now only able to open it halfway; and the pupil of the eye itself was left a ghostly, lifeless grey, its vision gone entirely. "I know that. I'm trying. *sigh* I swear Lady Belladonna will rue the day she did this to me" she seethed turning back to continue her practice.

Winter and the General looked at her with pity. Winter then walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Come on Weiss, let's take a break"

"I CAN'T Winter! Monty Oum, you two don't get it! This injury is going to be with me for the rest of my LIFE! I can't stop until I've completely overcome its hindrance!" Weiss shouted. She shrugged off Winter's hand, "… …I need to be alone" she said walking past her and the general out the exit.

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When she entered her bedroom, she immediately went to her full sized mirror. Once stood in front of it, her sight instantly beamed to her left eye. It disgusted her; the scar traveled from her cheek bone to above her eyebrow and was colored an unsightly reddish-pink.

Tears welled up in her eyes. Gritting her teeth, she summoned an icicle in her hand before stabbing it through the mirror where her left eye reflected.

She fell to her knees and clenched her fists, the tears in her eyes starting to fall, "*sob* You'll pay for this"

"Grimma Sonastre" Blake chanted with her right hand raised. Within an instant a demonic wolf creature appeared in front of her.

"Excellent Lady Belladonna. Now all you have to do is focus on the target you want it to attack" said Cinder.

Blake nodded before looking at the training dummy in front of her. "Kill her" she thought.

The wolf then roared as it dashed towards its target. Using its hand-like claws, it sliced the head of the dummy clean off, afterwards grabbing it by the arms before gruesomely ripping it in half. "Wow"

"Beautifully done milady. Just imagine how fast we'll be able to take over Atlas with this much power"

"Indeed" Blake said as the wolf came back and sat in front of her, "Cinder, you said there are more of these we can summon than the three you showed me. What are they specifically?"

Cinder giggled, "Well I'm glad you asked milady" she said, "Grimma Evance" she chanted, summoning a demon like bird. It was at least ten feet tall, and it had claws on its wings like a bat, "This is one of my personal favorites"

Blake stared at the new creature, at a loss for words. "Is there something wrong?"

"… ...This… …this changes everything" she muttered.

"Pardon milady?"

Blake walked up to the creature to examine it closer, "We can use these to pull off an aerial assault. The Atlesian forces will never expect something like this. I need you to come with me, we have to show this off to my generals"

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"And once we arrive at Atlas, we can use these new creatures to send two battalions over the border and into the heart of their kingdom. There they will infiltrate those wretched mines. Once they've killed the guards, the first battalion will take the women and children and bring them back to the safety of our ships, while the second battalion rallies the remaining men into an uprising, making us able to attack Atlas from both the inside AND outside" she explained.

"That's brilliant Milady, but won't we need more time in order for our troops to learn how to control these creatures?" asked General Levin.

"That won't be necessary" Cinder chided, "All they have to do is summon them, then they'll be in their complete control"

"Then who will be the ones leading the battalions?" asked General Lagoose.

Blake took a moment to contemplate this, "Adam, you will lead the second battalion; with your leadership and authoritative personality, you're the best one here to do it. As for the first battalion… …Cinder?"

"Yes milady?"

"Do you think you're up to the task of bringing the slaves back? Because your calm and nurturing qualities and ability to control these creatures better than any of us here, it'll be easier for you to convince and guide the slaves back to our ships"

"Lead the first battalion? L-lady Belladonna I couldn't possibly…"

"I agree with Lady Belladonna" said General Levin, "Even though you are human, you've granted us and all our soldiers the power to win this war. We would be honored if you took upon the most delicate task of this mission"

Cinder was genuinely surprised by this. Smiling, she bowed her head, "Then it would be my pleasure"

*Ting*…*ting* *ting* *tang *tang*

Over and over Jaune and Pyrrha's swords clashed as they sparred in a reserved room on the ferry. Off to the side, Ren and Nora watched closely in hopes of helping Pyrrha judge Jaune's skills.

Jaune was started to get winded, and Pyrrha made sure to take advantage. Delivering one massive strike after another, she pushed him back to the wall. And as soon as his back touched, she threw a kick into his midsection knocking the wind out of him; afterwards she spun and used her left arm to throw a backhand, her shield stopping a mere inch from his face.

"Very good Jaune, I think we can call it a day"

Jaune clutched his stomach as he gasped for air, "*cough* *cough*…yeah. So how'd I do?"

"Hmm, well your form has improved from last time, but your stamina and endurance could definitely use more work"

"You also missed at least eight openings to land a blow" Ren chided.

"Not to mention four chances to parry, which could have led to more" Nora chided as well.

Jaune nodded listening to the constructive criticism, when a thought came into his mind, "Hey guys, I have a question"

"What about?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well…it's just that we're almost at Patch to meet Lady Rose so I can receive her power, which I'm not entirely sure how to do yet, and I have still yet to learn any magic. When will I?" he asked standing straight up.

"You will once we're confident you can defend yourself in a real fight" Ren said

"And when will that be?"

"Once you've bested me in a spar" Pyrrha said.

"Oh…so not for a while"

"Precisely" Pyrrha said earning laughs from Nora and Ren.

The duo stood up themselves, "Come on, let's get some lunch"

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After they grabbed four bowls of ramen, they made their way to the main deck of the ferry, where they walked to the guard rails in order to eat. "Wow…" Jaune awed looking out at the miles upon miles of water.

"Is this your first time out at sea?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, I just never thought it'd be so…big"

"Hey, there's a first time for everything" Nora said

"And sometimes it's best to take your time and enjoy it. That way you can remember these moments for the rest of your life" Ren said.

Jaune smiled hearing this before setting his sights back out at sea, ready to enjoy this meal along with his retainers.

To Be Continued…